The world blurs. Sounds fade. My heartbeat crashes in my ears.
And then—darkness swallows everything.
Elijah
The first thing I notice when I wake up is the silence. No soft footsteps. No humming from the kitchen. No scent of her coffee drifting from the counter. Just quiet.
I sit up slowly, rubbing sleep from my eyes—but something feelsoff. The side of the bed where she should be is cold. Her book is gone. So is her phone.
I glance at the clock.9 a.m.Damn. I slept longer than I should have.
Apparently, my body finally gave in. I didn’t even stir when Ava got out of bed.
A sharp pulse of unease flickers in my gut.
I push off the blanket and step into the hallway. “Princess?” I call, hoping—praying—she’s just in the kitchen. Maybe she needed space. Maybe she didn’t want to wake me.
No answer.
That’s when I see the note on the counter.
No mention of Keller. No escort. I freeze. The air shifts.
The silence turnshostile.
I snatch my phone and dial her. Straight to voicemail. Again. Voicemail.
“Damn it,” I mutter, trying a third time.
Still nothing.
I call Keller. He picks up on the second ring.
“She left alone,” I say, already moving, already pulling on clothes. “She’s at the store.”
Keller curses. “Tracking her phone now. ETA five minutes.”
My chest tightens with every passing second. She’d never ignore my calls. Not now. Not after what we’ve been through. Not after the threats. My blood runs cold. She didn’t just leave without telling me. Something settles into my mind, she’sgone.
And if someone touched her, if someonetookher, there won’t be a place on this planet they can hide from me.
I replay that note in my head over and over as I move, as I search, as I call again and again. Still nothing.
Then I call Mia.
She answers fast, cheerful at first. “Elijah?”
“Mia… Ava. Did she come in?”
A pause. Then, cautious: “Yep… I thought you knew…”
My stomach drops into a pit.
“Mia,” I snap, voice sharp as a blade, “when did she leave?”
“She… she hasn’t. She said she was going to her office…”
She doesn’t get to finish the sentence before I practically bark at her.
