LAURA’S POV
I couldn’t get Elina’s screams out of my head.
Even though I hadn't heard them myself—only seen the aftermath in Richard's eyes and the footage Astrid sent—her pain haunted me. A child's voice stripped of innocence, begging for her toy, her father… her safety.
My hand hovered over the table, fingers trembling above the still image of Elina frozen on the screen. Her cheeks were red from crying. Her small hands clutched her dress, now wrinkled and stained. The camera had caught her mid-sob, mouth open in agony, her plush bunny nowhere in sight.
I wanted to rip the screen apart.
“She’s escalating,” Elijah said from behind me, his voice low, tight, dangerous.
I turned to face him. He looked like a man on the brink—one more push and he’d burn the world down.
“She wants us to
