Strings and Schemes

Chapter 36

That truth settled between us like a lead weight.

I feel my stomach tighten. They always took them together - Louis and Raina. Not one. Both.

And now Raina was gone. Louis was still here.

And there was no explanation for why.

We start walking, aimlessly, not really knowing what the hell to do.

We move through the quiet morning streets, the city still waking up, but none of us were really seeing it.

Every few minutes, Louis checks his phone.

Every few minutes, Liam tries one of his contacts.

Every few minutes, I glance at my own phone, waiting for a message that didn't come.

The tension is suffocating.

Finally, Harry breaks it.

"This is starting to feel like a setup."

Louis' head snaps toward him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Harry exhales, rolling his shoulders, "think about it. If they changed protocol, they'd at least let you know, right?"

Louis doesn't answer.

Harry continues, stepping in front of us. "And if they didn't tell you anything, that means it's not protocol. It's something else."

I inhale slowly. "You think Raina was taken for something other than training?"

Harry doesn't respond immediately. He just holds my gaze. And I know.

That sick feeling in my gut—the one I had been trying to shake since she got in that car—came roaring back.

Because deep down, I had already suspected the same thing.

Louis' phone buzzes.

We all turn to him, breath held.

He frowns at the screen.

Then, before any of us could say anything, he answers.

"This is Louis."

Silence.

His brows furrows deeper. "What do you mean, 'We don't need you right now'?"

More silence.

Then his jaw locks. "That's bullshit, and you know it."

The tension in my chest doubles.

I step closer, trying to listen.

Who the hell was on the other end of that call?

Louis exhales sharply through his nose. "No. You listen to me. If you're pulling Raina and not me, I deserve to know why."

Pause.

Then—

A name.

A name none of us recognized.

"She's under Graham's directive now."

The second the call ends, Louis' expression is unreadable.

Liam, calm but firm, asks, "Who the actual fuck is Graham?"

Louis shook his head. "Dunno, mate."

That's when I knew—without a doubt—this is not training.

For the first time in years, Louis was out of the loop. For the first time in years, he didn't have the answers. Which meant this was bigger than him. Bigger than all of us. Bigger than anything Raina had ever been pulled into before.