Chapter 48

Ramon POV

The scream tore through the early morning silence like a blade, piercing through layers of exhausted sleep and pulling me from dreams I couldn’t remember. I was moving before my mind fully registered what I’d heard—that high-pitched, terrified sound that could only belong to a child in distress.

Ollie.

I bolted down the hallway, my heart hammering against my ribs as Elena’s door flew open ahead of me. She was already rushing toward Lake’s room, her nightgown billowing behind her as she moved with the kind of urgency that suggested she’d heard something worse than a simple nightmare.

The door to Lake’s suite stood open, and the scene inside made my steps falter even as I continued forward. Lake was on his knees beside the bed, his hands reaching toward Ollie with desperate, pleading gestures. But Ollie was backed against the headboard, his small body pressed into the corner as if he could disappear into the wallpaper, his face streaked with te