Chapter 50: Kidnapped!

Lara came back ten minutes later, sneakers crunching over gravel and grass, eyes already sweeping the park before she fully stopped moving.

That section of the Treasure Island buzzed—kids laughing, while they looked for treasures behind rockeries. Some even dug on certain mound while the nannies and teachers were giving hints nearby.

Lara’s gaze cut across the clearing where the from children from Shay’s school were “treasure hunting,” their bright backpacks bobbing between the trees.

Her pupils shrank.

Something was off.

She scanned again. Slower this time, carefully looking for that curly black hair.

Her heartbeat skipped.

Shay wasn’t there.

Lara moved. She did not walk but broke into a run.

One second she stood twenty feet away. The next she was in Sarah’s face, fist tangled in her collar, jerking her forward hard enough to choke the air out of her.

“Where is Shay?”

Her voice wasn’t loud.

It was cold.

Cold enough to freeze blood.

The man beside Sarah flinched like someone had pressed a knife to his throat. He took a step back without meaning to.

All around them, the plain-clothes guards stiffened. Hands drifted closer to waistbands. Eyes sharpened.

The Zuvel kid is missing?

They’re doomed!

Sarah blinked, confused. “What— what’s wrong with you? Shay is right there!”

She pointed.

A little girl with curly hair and an orange backpack laughed with the others.

Lara glanced once.

“Damn it,” she hissed. “That’s not Shay.”

Her grip tightened.

“Spread out. Now. Search every corner.”

It wasn’t a request. It was an order.

The man in black shirt froze. He was at the lead guard on duty that day.

For a second, he thought Ares himself had shown up.

Same tone. Same authority that made your spine lock straight.

No hesitation. No doubt.

But how the hell did she notice first?

How did he miss it? Zuvel’s little princess… gone on his watch.

He and his men were really doomed!

“Who do you think you are commanding us?” Sarah snapped, shaken.

Lara shot her a look so sharp it felt like frostbite.

“Call the boss. Tell him Shay’s missing.”

“But—”

“Now.”

Sarah’s throat closed.

Lara had already pulled out her phone, thumbs flying. Lines of code flickered across the screen.

She slipped into the amusement park’s surveillance system with ease, like she did it so many times before.

She accessed camera feeds from different angles.

Then—

She found it!

Two men carrying rolled carpets that looked suspicious –too thick, too stiff. too heavy.

They were obviously carrying not not rugs, but small bodies wrapped in those.

When a staff member asked, they smiled and muttered something about dirty teepee mats and laundry.

“A kid vomitted and spilled paint all over. This needs to be washed right away.”

Lara’s jaw clenched.

“The south gate!” she barked at Shay’s head guard.

Then she sprinted.

Wind slicing her lungs, heart hammering against her ribs. The world blurred.

But the laundry truck was already pulling away.

It was too far, too fast.

“Damn it—” Lara cursed.

Then, a motorcycle sat by the curb. The owner had just parked.

Before he could react, Lara snatched the keys and swung onto the seat.

“Emergency. I’ll pay you back.”

The engine roared to life.

She tied her hair up mid-motion and shot forward.

The man just stood there, coughing in the exhaust smoke, staring like he’d hallucinated.

Lara leaned low over the handlebars.

And realized— she knew this.

Instinctively. Like muscle memory from another life.

Earlier, she was purely driven by instinct. Her body moved before her brain did.

She pressed the clutch.

The engine’s snarl dipped for half a breath — a predator coiling.

She shifted.

Her sneakers snapped the gear up with a clean, metallic click.

The mortorcycle leaned and the world tilted.

The motorcycle wasn’t just a machine.

It was a bullet with handlebars.

The engine roared under her like something alive, vibrating through her thighs, rattling her ribs, growling heat into her bones.

Wind slammed into her chest and tore past her ears in a screaming rush. Streetlights stretched into gold streaks.

The road stopped looking like asphalt and started looking like a river she was slicing through.

She had done this before, not once, not twice, but many times over.

She slipped the clutch and the bike lunged forward, savage and eager, the front wheel almost lifting as torque punched through the frame.

Her body folded low over the tank, chin nearly kissing the speedometer, making herself smaller, sharper, faster.

She didn’t feel like she was riding it.

She felt plugged into it.

The truck grew bigger ahead. Almost there.

Almost—

Then a car swerved from the left.

It was too close.

She jerked right—

Thwip!

Something punched into her back. Heat spread through her veins and she started to feel numb.

A tranquilizer.

“Shit—”

She forced the motorbike to stop before the world tilted.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

…

Consciousness didn’t come back all at once. It seeped in, slow and heavy.

Like she was rising through black water.

At first there was nothing.

Then— she heard voices, muffled and arguing.

She heard metal creaking.

Water slapping against something hollow.

Her head throbbed. Every pulse felt like a nail being driven behind her eyes. Her tongue tasted chemical and bitter.

She must have been drugged.

Lara stayed still, pretending to be unconscious.

She didn’t breathe too deep, didn’t even twitch a finger.

Let them think she was still out.

“…Damn it, Stone!” someone snapped. “We are only supposed to kidnap one!”

“How the hell was I supposed to know the little brat would walk in?” a gruff voice shot back. “I panicked, okay? Couldn’t leave him there. Kid saw our faces, we’re screwed.”

Then came the sounds of footsteps and boots scraping metal.

“And the woman?” a younger voice said. Calm. Curious. “She chased us like a lunatic on that motorcycle.”

A pause.

“She’s the tutor. Always glued to the kid. Zuvel Princess’ shadow. We saw her at the Norse’s party. Wherever the family goes, she’s there.”

Another silence.

“She is not simple. For a woman to ride a bike like that, she must have some skills.” the younger voice said.

Then the gruff one again, colder this time.

“How about we just dump them in the sea?”

The sea.

The word cut through the fog in Lara’s head like a blade.

Sea. Not a truck. Not a warehouse.

They were in water. Her senses sharpened instantly.

No wonder she did not feel any road vibration nor heard the screeching of the tires.

Then, she felt a slow, uneven sway.

Up.

Down.

The vehicle tilted to the right, stayed suspended before it shifted back.

Wood and metal groaning with each shift, as waves hit the hull.

They were on a boat.

Her stomach dropped.

Changing vehicles meant time had passed.

How long had she been out?

Two hours?

Three Hours?

A day?

It must have been long enough for them to disappear.

Long enough that no one would know where to look.

She could not sense time. Everything around her was dark.

Her eyes were covered. Cloth tight across her face.

Her wrists pulled behind her back, rope biting into her skin.

Her ankles were bound tighter, heavier. The kind meant to stop struggling, not just restrain.

They weren’t planning to keep her comfortable.

They were planning to throw weight overboard.

Lara pursed her lips. “These men are very cautious,” she muttered helplessly.

Cold air brushed her face, damp and salty. She smelled diesel, rust, stale fish.

They must be in the open water.

But where exactly?

Had Ares already discovered they were missing? He should already have, right? He was powerful, and Shay was his only daughter.

Her heartbeat raised but she crushed it down.

Panic gets you killed.

Think.

She flexed her fingers slowly, testing circulation.

The knots weren’t sloppy. Those men were professionals.

She tilted her head, just a fraction, listening.

Three voices became louder.

One pacing.

One smoking—she caught the faint scratch of a lighter.

Another above deck, maybe. Boots thudding overhead.

There should be at least four. Maybe more.

She breathed through her nose.

She timed the footsteps. Mapped the space in her head.

Then she heard a smaller sound.

A whimper. It was soft, almost imperceptible.

Someone was trying not to cry, but could not hold it in anyway.

“Shay, don’t be afraid. Your father is powerful. He will find us.”

Another voice — a boy’s. It sounded unsure but the girl seemed to have been comforted.

“Really?”

“Hmmm.”

The boy must have bobbed his head up and down.

Relief hit Lara hard and sharp. Good. They were alive.

That was all she needed.

She slowly curled her fingers against the rope, feeling the fibers, testing friction, measuring slack.

Even if she could, she did not free her hands and feet from the bind. Better to let the enemies think that she was weak.

“We will reach the mouth of Praya in ten minutes. A boat is waiting for us. We’ll cruise through the river, then we enter Mount Ourea. Ares Zuvel should not be able to track us.”

River Praya. Mount Ourea.

Lara’s mind was clear now.

Let them talk.

Let them relax.

They had no idea—

They hadn’t kidnapped a hostage.

They’d dragged a devil onto their boat.

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