Chapter 73 Cufflinks of Lysander
The silence that followed Deborah’s question was so sharp it sliced through the chaos around them. It was the kind of silence that didn’t simply linger, it pressed down on their chests, heavy and suffocating, making it hard for her to breathe.
The moment her voice faded, the brothers froze.
Knight’s eyes flickered away first, his jaw locking tight. Lucio inhaled sharply, like the answer hurt physically. Casper clenched his radio hard enough that his knuckles turned white. And Caelum… Caelum stood completely still, as if turning to stone.
The dread in Deborah’s stomach twisted into something cold and stabbing.
“Why aren’t you all answering me?” she whispered, her voice already cracking. “Where is Lysander?”
Caelum finally lifted his eyes to hers, and what she saw in them made her knees weaken, fear smothered under responsibility, guilt tucked behind command, panic barely reined in.
“Deborah,” he said slowly, “listen to me very carefully—”
“No.” She shook her head quickly, stepping back. “No, Caelum. Don’t talk to me like that. Just tell me.... where is he?”
Lucio dragged a hand through his hair, accidentally smearing the blood from his temple onto his cheek, but he didn’t notice. “We got separated from him when the second wave of gunfire started.”
Deborah stared at him, disbelieving. “Separated? Lucio, how do you lose Lysander? You were all together!”
Knight took a step toward her. “Deborah, you need to calm—”
“Do NOT tell me to calm down!” she snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut marble. “He HATES gunfire, Knight. He freezes. You know he freezes when shots go off! You all know he has trauma.”
The look Knight gave her wasn’t defensive it was guilty. Deeply guilty.
Caelum stepped closer, placing both hands on her arms, grounding her even as she trembled. “Deborah… he pushed people out of the way. Guests. Staff. Security. He....he stayed behind to help them escape.”
Deborah’s lips parted, breath catching.
Of course he did. Of course Lysander would throw himself into danger for strangers.
It was who he was. Too brave. Too kind. Too selfless for a Valmere.
Her throat tightened painfully. “Then where is he now? Why isn’t he with you?”
Casper lifted his radio slowly. “We lost visuals when the lights went out in the east wing. There was a blackout. When emergency lights turned back on… there was no sign of him.”
The blood drained from her face.
“No sign…?” she whispered, voice small.
“Not yet,” Casper added quickly. “We’re working on—”
A burst of static cut him off.
“—Valmere security, respond—”
Casper pressed the radio to his ear. “Casper Valmere. Report.”
“Sir… we found signs of a struggle in the east wing corridor. Blood on the floor. Bullet casings. And… a silver cufflink with a V engraved.”
Deborah’s heart stopped. Her breath vanished. Her entire body swayed. Lysander’s cufflinks.
He wore them every formal event without fail, bragged they were “lucky,” teased her endlessly about how sparkly they were, her gift to him on his birthday.
Knight immediately grabbed her arm to steady her. “Deborah.....hey look at me—”
But she couldn’t. All she could see was Lysander smiling, laughing, alive....now replaced with the image of those cufflinks lying on cold marble, surrounded by blood.
Lucio muttered a curse under his breath and punched the wall so hard the marble cracked. “I swear, whoever touched him—”
Caelum’s eyes shifted from fear to something darker, colder, a quiet controlled rage that only surfaced when the world dared touch someone he loved.
Deborah forced air into her lungs and stepped forward. “We need to go to the east wing. Now.”
Caelum instantly blocked her path. “No. You’re staying here.”
“No,” Lucio echoed. “This area’s secured. You stay with Knight.”
“It’s not safe,” Casper insisted. “And you’re already—”
Deborah shoved past them, her voice suddenly thunderous. “I am NOT staying behind while my brother might be bleeding somewhere in this building!”
The weight of her words slammed into the group.
Even Caelum’s breath hitched.
“Deb—” Caelum tried again.
“Don’t you dare,” she bit out. “If you try to keep me here, I swear I will walk out into that hallway alone and you know damn well I will.”
Knight exhaled sharply, leaning his head back. “She’s serious.”
“Of course she’s serious, she's a valmere,” Lucio muttered. “She’s a nightmare when she’s scared.”
Caelum closed his eyes briefly, then opened them with resolve. “Fine. You’re coming with us.”
Deborah inhaled shakily.
“But,” Caelum continued, voice like steel, “you stay behind me at all times. You obey instantly. You run when I say run. You stop when I say stop. Understood?”
She nodded.
Knight checked his weapon, reloading it with terrifying efficiency. “Then let’s go get our idiot brother back.”
Lucio cracked his knuckles, eyes dark with fury. “Someone’s going to wish they never touched a Valmere. We're doomed to Dad and Fundano if something bad happened in any of us. They might burn each company.”
Casper tightened his grip on the radio. “Deborah, stay alert. Breathe steady. If something happens, duck first, ask later.”
Deborah lifted her chin, forcing her shaking legs to still. “Let’s move.”
They moved together as a unit fast, silent, lethal.
The deeper they walked into the dim hallway, the darker the air felt. Decorations were shattered, tables overturned, glass crunching under their footsteps. Emergency lights flickered on and off, casting red shadows across their path.
Deborah’s heart hammered but she kept moving, each step fueled by one prayer beating in her head:
Please. Please let Lysander be alive.
Knight suddenly lifted his hand. “Stop.”
They froze. A smear of blood stretched across the wall, long, dragged, like someone had been pulled.
Deborah’s breath caught.
Lucio knelt, touching the dried edges. “This is recent.”
Casper scanned the floor. “Shell casings… three different calibers. Multiple shooters.”
Caelum gripped Deborah’s shoulder gently but firmly. “Stay close.”
They advanced farther.
At the end of the corridor, a smashed vase lay beside.... Deborah gasped softly, a second cufflink.
Lysander’s other cufflink.
Her chest collapsed inward. “No… no, no…”
Knight knelt. “Deb… don’t touch it. Let the team photograph it first.”
“I gave those to him,” she whispered. “He wouldn’t...he wouldn’t just drop them.”
Lucio hissed a breath between his teeth. “He didn’t drop them. They were ripped off.”
The realization hit them all like a punch.
Someone grabbed him. Someone fought him. Someone took him.
Deborah’s hands shook violently.
Caelum caught her before her legs buckled. “Deborah. Look at me.”
She lifted her tear-filled eyes.
“We are going to find him,” Caelum said, voice low, lethal, unwavering. “And whoever took him… will regret ever breathing.”
Knight turned toward the darkened stairwell ahead. “Footprints. Multiple. Looks like they dragged someone down.”
Casper lifted the radio. “East wing corridor. We found more evidence. We’re following the trail.”