“Keep close and stay alert. I have a feeling about this one.”

Jacob signaled to his team as they approached the door to the fourth house on the block. The first three they had investigated in Parkside had all been empty. Dusty rooms, splintered windows and empty cabinets were all that had greeted the men in their search for the rebel hideout. There weren’t even civilians around like the other team had reported on Hawthorn Circle. But that detail alone had convinced the security guard they were on the right track. Placing himself in the shoes of the people who lived in this district, he wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near the Scourge’s base of operations either.

They jogged quietly up to the front of the building, weapons drawn and eyes peeled as they watched out for any signs that the rebels knew they were coming. Nearby, the drone being operated from the palace’s security room hummed like a wasp in the air. Caspian was fixed on the screen from the same room, holding his breath as he hoped this house would turn out to be different than the last few. There were only three left in the part of the neighborhood his guard had pinpointed as a possible location, so they [i]had[/i] to be getting close to Iris. In just a few more minutes, she could be on her way back to the palace, and he could keep her safe from the rebels that had been tormenting her. He could hear his heartbeat thudding in his ears with the anticipation.

Meanwhile on the ground, Jacob stood back to watch one of the men on his team pick the lock open on the door, then, once it was open, he led the way inside. Like the other houses they’d passed through, there was no immediate sign of life, but this building didn’t seem quite as desolate as the others. The dust in the living room was settled irregularly, as if there had been people standing and sitting and using the table space not that long ago. He even spotted a plastic wrapper wedged halfway under the couch and narrowed his eyes. This had to be it.

“Fan out in groups of two,” he said to the others under his breath. “Henry, you’re with me.”

His team dispersed at his order to search the ground level, while Jacob took his partner up the stairs to cover the top. Everything was quiet, so there was no telling if there was still anyone around. It was possible that the rebels had even gotten wind of their raids in the other neighborhood and had already fled the area. He clenched his jaw, wincing at the creak of a floorboard under his boot. For Iris’s sake, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

With another signal to the man behind him to watch his back, he approached the door at the top of the stairs, bracing himself for anything, and levied his pistol in one hand as he took the knob in the other. After a short pause, he pushed the door open and raised his weapon, only to find himself eye to eye with the same man he’d seen in the video on Caspian’s phone—alone in the same room, with the girl’s crumpled body at his feet.

In a fraction of a second, his old combat reflexes kicked in, and he fired a shot at the rebel’s leg without hesitation, attempting to incapacitate the other man before he could get up from the bed he was sitting on. It was tempting to shoot to kill, but hostages were always a benefit when they could be taken. Nonlethal force had to be the default unless he was pushed to escalate the situation.