I sigh and follow him down the street to the dive bar where we, again, don’t find Franklin.
“My feet hurt,” I grumble, collapsing onto the curb with a groan.
“They do not.”
Henry sits beside me anyway.
“Scent him out or something.” I gesture into the space between us. “Your sniffer is older than mine and you’ve been chasing after him for months apparently anyway.”
Henry tilts his head back and sniffs the air, then looks down at the ground, a small frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“Hey, big brother.” I pat him on the back. “Maybe it’s good news. Maybe we can’t find him because he left after all.”
“Maybe,” Henry agrees.
We lapse into another silence, and the night is quiet.
Too quiet.
I realize Declan isn’t shouting sex fantasies into my brain anymore, and my skin pricks with apprehension. I straighten my spine and close my eyes, trying to focus on him and find him again.
“What’s wrong?” Henry asks. “Do you know where Franklin is?”
I shake my head and press my eyes closed tighter. It’s like…it’s like Declan has gone missing and there’s a glaring hole inside of me that fucking aches.
“I can’t…” I tap my temple. “Declan.”
I spring off the curb and sprint toward the end of town where his apartment is. Henry keeps pace with me even though he doesn’t know where we’re going, and when we get there, for the first time in a very long time, I remember what it’s like to be afraid.
Liz’s car is out front, and the door to Declan’s apartment is kicked in. It’s off the hinges, the wood is splintered, and it’s lying at an awkward angle blocking the doorway. I step over it and into his apartment. Henry lingers in the hallway because he can’t come inside.
“Declan!” I shout.
No answer, and my mind stays silent.
There’s a mess near the front door, but the inside of the small studio looks untouched. The side table right beside the door is on its side, Declan’s keys on the floor beside it, and a smear of blood on the door frame. It’s not his, thank God, but it is Liz’s, and I think that’s probably worse because she’s human.
“He was here.”
I smell Declan, because everything in here smells like him, but that vile acid smell overlays everything in the hallway, including the sharp copper smell of Liz’s blood.
“He must have got them in the hallway.” I survey the doorway again because I know there is no way Declan would have invited him in.
“Fuck.” Henry pulls out his phone and taps out a text message when Declan’s terrified whimper infiltrates my brain. I collapse to my knees and hold my head in my hands.
Are you okay? Where are you?I shout at him.
Ezra.
It’s all he’s thinking. My name, over and over, and he’s fucking terrified, and I’m terrified, but I honestly can’t tell if it’s just because he is or if I really am. Henry hauls me to my feet and my hands are shaking.
Ezra.
Ezra.
Ezra.
Please help me.
