Kaia’s POV

The sirens weren’t the worst part.

It was the silence inside the squad car.

The kind of silence that wraps around you like a noose.

Tight. Suffocating.

I sat motionless, my hands cuffed, my wrists raw, my mind a vortex of rage and disbelief.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Not to me.

Walter sat beside me, stiff and red-faced, saying nothing. He hadn’t said a word since they shoved us into the car.

Good.

Because if he had opened his mouth, I might have screamed.

He ...