I bolted outside, my shadows flickering weakly at my feet, their erratic movements a reflection of my own turmoil. I stopped in the clearing, listening, straining to hear any sound that might lead me to her.
“Vivian!” I screamed, my voice raw. The sound carried through the forest, but there was no response.
The bond flickered again, like a candle struggling against the wind. She was still alive, still fighting, but I could feel her slipping farther away.
“Vivian!”
Silence.
I ran my hands through my hair, my mind racing as I tried to piece together what to do next. The Ashen Faction’s territory was miles away, but Izo could traverse the waters faster than Icould cover land. He had a head start, and I had no idea what he planned to do with her.
Iwouldfind her. The bond would guide me. I would follow it to the ends of the earth if I had to.
I turned back toward the house, grabbing the books I’d dropped and slinging them under my arm. The answers might be in those pages, but answers wouldn’t save her right now. Action would.
“I’m coming, Vivian,” I muttered. “Hold on. Just hold on.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, I sprinted toward the edge of the clearing, letting the bond pull me forward like a compass pointing to the only thing that mattered.
Every faint pulseI felt from Vivian was weaker than the last, her emotions muted and distant, but the fear was still there—a sharp, cutting edge that sliced through me every time it surfaced.
My chest ached, not from the exertion of running but from the hollow, crushing pain that came with the distance between myself and my wife. It felt as though my heart was being torn from my chest, and the helplessness that accompanied it was unbearable.
I stopped abruptly, bending over with my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath. “Think, Raffaele,” I muttered to myself.
Izo needed water. The bastard always stayed close to it, whether it was a river, a lake, or the open sea. Water was his lifeline, his escape route. If he’d taken Vivian, he wouldn’t waste time dragging her across land when he could use the waterways to get back to his territory.
I yanked my phone from my pocket, nearly dropping it as I pulled up the map of the area. The screen glowed in the dim forest light, the topographic details of the mountain standing out in sharp relief. I scanned the map, searching for anything that stood out.
And then I saw a river, just four miles south.
“Please,” I whispered, my voice a desperate prayer to any god that might be listening. “Please let me be right. Please let her be safe.”
I didn’t wait another second. Shoving the phone back into my pocket, I took off in a dead sprint, my legs burning as I pushed myself to move faster than I ever thought possible. The forest blurred around me, the branches clawing at my arms and shadows flickering weakly at my feet.
The bond screamed for me to find her. Every step felt like a lifetime, every second an eternity, as I prayed I wasn’t too late.
The sound of rushing water reached my ears before I saw it, the river roaring in the distance. My heart thundered as I broke through the final line of trees, skidding to a halt at the riverbank.
A towel lay discarded on the ground, stained with bits of dirt and grass. My knees nearly gave out as I stumbled forward, dropping to the ground and grabbing it with shaking hands.
“Vivian,” I whispered, the word a broken plea.
I could feel her fear growing stronger, sharper. She was still alive.
I stood, clutching the towel. He’d taken her into the river. From here, the water would carry them downstream, toward the Ashen Faction’s territory. He was taking her back to his stronghold.
Rage blazed through me.
“I will find you, Izo,” I swore. “And I will kill you.”
The bond flickered again, pulling me forward.
“Hold on, Vivian,” I whispered, my voice shaking with equal parts fury and desperation. “Just hold on.”
I took off again, running at full speed back to the cabin.
The SUV’stires screeched as I swerved onto the main road. My knuckles were white as I gripped the steering wheel, my thoughts a tangled mess of rage, desperation, and the faint thread of hope that I could still feel Vivian through the bond.
