The phone hit the floor of the car with a soft thud, but the image was already burned behind my eyes.
"Elena?" Dominic's hand was on my shoulder instantly. "Elena, what happened?"
I couldn't speak. My chest had locked tight, air refusing to move in or out, my whole body frozen around the picture of Vera's terrified eyes staring out from a chair I didn't recognize, a strip of fabric tied cruelly over her mouth.
Kian's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching sight of my face, and something in his expression shifted instantly from confusion to alarm. "Pull over," he said to himself, already easing the car toward the shoulder of the highway. "Marcus, get the phone."
Marcus twisted around, snatching the phone up off the floor before I could stop him, and I watched his face drain of co
