Author’s POV

Smoke filled the air, thick and blinding, everything turned blurry. The gunmen scurried in different directions as chaos exploded in all corners, disappearing into the fog. Lorenzo stepped into the haze, pushing through it with sharp eyes, trying to get hold of Ryder. Minutes crawled by before the smoke started to fade, slowly, like it was peeling itself away.

“Where is he?” Lorenzo muttered under his breath, his eyes scanning the space.

He turned sharply toward Thorne, whose ...