(Alessandro’s POV)
For one, single, crystallized moment, the world ceased to exist. There was only the smirking, triumphant face of my brother on the laptop screen and the panicked, tinny voice screaming of a breach in my comm. The Citadel. Isabella.
The frozen horror lasted a heartbeat. Then, it shattered, and in its place was a fire so cold and absolute it burned away all thought, all strategy, all reason. There was only a single, primal command echoing in the void of my soul: Get to her.
“Go!” I roared, the sound ripping from my throat. I was already moving, turning my back on the dead men and the ghostly image of my brother. “Get us back. Now!”
My men, elite and disciplined, didn't hesitate. They fell in around me, a phalanx of silent, grim-faced soldiers, as we sprinted down the p
