Cane's POV
The night was the longest of my life. Stephanie didn't stop crying for hours. It wasn't loud crying. It was worse. It was quiet, hopeless sobs that shook her whole body. She sat on the edge of the bed, just staring at the wall, and the tears would not stop falling.
I sat beside her, my arm around her. I felt useless. Completely and totally useless.
"We left them," she whispered, her voice broken. "We left our babies in a field."
"We didn't leave them," I said, my own throat tight. "We're going to get them back. This is… this is a different kind of fight now."
"A fight?" She turned her red, swollen eyes to me. "They're children, Cane! Not pawns in one of your fights!"
"I know that!" I said, too loudly. I took a breath. "I know. But someone has taken them to hurt me. To get to me. That means they want something. They'll make contact. And when they do, I will get them back. I will burn the whole world down to get them back."
