Alec’s hand slid from my shoulder, dropping heavy and cold to his side. The silence that followed his words hit me like a physical force, sucking all the air straight out of my lungs.
"Gone...?" I repeated, my voice barely a breathless squeak. "What do you mean, gone? Gabe doesn't just go missing. He has guards, he has subordinates to do his work, he has-"
"I know what he has, Kelsie," Alec interrupted, his voice dropping into an icy, razor-sharp edge. He stepped around the desk, his towering, scar-littered frame looming over me. "And what he doesn't need is a runaway teenager sprinting into the middle of an active crisis zone!"
I flinched backward as his sudden, booming shout echoed off the high ceiling of the office.
"Are you completely out of your mind?" Alec roared, slamming his br
