“Ashton!” Christina’s voice was panicked, breathless. “You need to get here. Now.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. The panic in her voice, the way she struggled to get the words out—something was wrong. “Christina, what’s happened? What’s going on?”
The silence that followed sent a chill through me. And then she spoke again, her words tumbling out in a rush, panic threading every syllable. “Ashton… It’s Dove. The house—the houseis trashed. Everything is—everything’s ruined… It’s cold. It’s like someone was here. And… and… she’s gone. Ashton, please, I—I don’t know what happened, but I think someone took her. I—I’m scared.”
My world tilted. My pulse thundered in my ears, my vision narrowing. I could barely comprehend what she was saying, but I didn’t need to hear the details. Dove was gone. Gone. And the only thing that mattered in that moment was finding her. The name Bentley James flashed in my mind like a violent, haunting reminder of everything I had failed to protect.
“What?” The word was ripped from my throat, guttural, raw.
My eyes darted toward the door, as if expecting to see her standing there, smiling, teasing me like she always did. Butnothing. Just emptiness. The mansion, cold and silent, felt like it was closing in on me.
Christina’s frantic voice continued on the phone, but my mind was already elsewhere, spiraling. The rage surged up in me, mingling with fear, and every bit of doubt and regret I had buried began to eat me alive. Ishould have known—I should have never let her go. Never. But now, the only thing that mattered was finding her, bringing her back before she fell victim to the madness that haunted both of our lives.
“You—you—” my hands trembled, the phone slipping from my grip. It fell to the ground with a dull thud, and I didn’t care. I was already moving, already past Lilith, already at the door.
“Dove,” I muttered under my breath, the sound of her name like a prayer, a plea, a promise. My heart pounded as I rushed toward the motorcycle, my thoughts consumed by the only thing that mattered now. “I’m coming for you, little bird. I’ll kill anyone who tries to stop me.”
As the engine roared to life, the cold air slapped against my face like a reality check. I sped out of the estate, leaving everything behind. My hands gripped the handlebars with a desperation that made my entire body shake.
Someone had taken Dove. And I wasn’t going to stop until I found her, no matter who I had to burn to the ground to get her back.
The motorcycle screechedto a halt outside Dove’s apartment, the roar of the engine dying into a quiet hum. My heart was hammering in my chest, the air around me thick with fear,guilt, and a seething anger that threatened to consume me whole. I didn’t know why I had come here first. Maybe it was because my gut told me it was where I needed to be, or maybe it was the sheer panic of not knowing where else to look.
The building loomed in front of me, worn and weathered, its brick facade as tired as the surrounding city. Hollow Hills was too quiet, too perfect, like some idyllic dream, yet the cracks beneath the surface always seemed to deepen when things went wrong. And right now, everything was wrong. Dove was gone, and I had no fucking clue where to start.
I rushed up the stairs, my boots clanging against the metal with each frantic step. When I pushed open the door to Dove’s apartment, the first thing that hit me was the cold. The place felt empty, like it had been abandoned, but it was still hers. Her scent still lingered faintly in the air, a mix of vanilla and something soft and familiar.
But that wasn’t what caught my attention.
It was Christina.
She was sitting on the floor by the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, her face hidden in her hands as her body shook with sobs. Her hair was wild, eyes red-rimmed and swollen, like someone who had been crying for hours. She didn’t even look up when I entered.
“Christina,” my voice was tight, barely a whisper, but it was enough to get her attention.
She looked up, eyes full of frantic terror, her lips trembling as if she had no words left to say. The sight of her, so broken and helpless, only pushed the fury inside me deeper. My stomach churned with helplessness. I hated seeing her like this. I hated that I hadn’t been there for Dove, hadn’t protected her, and now her best friend was crumpled in despair, the weight of it all settling in the silence between us.
“What happened?” my voice cracked as I dropped to myknees beside her. My hands hovered near her but never quite touched, unsure of what comfort I could offer.
“I don’t know,” she sobs. “I got back. The apartment was empty, everything was a mess…and…Dove was gone.”
My eyes narrowed, scanning the room as my mind went into overdrive. My heart pounded as I took in every detail—the overturned furniture, the broken glass on the floor, the way the curtains had been torn from their rods. Whoever had come in here, they hadn’t just been here to take Dove—they had been sending a message. But what? What was the point of this?
I stood, my hands fisting at my sides as I walked across the room, eyes darting everywhere. I checked under the couch cushions, the kitchen cabinets, anything that could hold a clue. But nothing. The apartment felt… wrong. Empty. Like something was missing, and it wasn’t just Dove.
The silence pressed against me, thick and oppressive, every second dragging on longer than the last. My thoughts were a blur of chaos, and I couldn’t make sense of it. There had to be a reason why this was happening, why Dove had been taken, but my mind kept coming back to Bentley James. Had he come back for her? Had he found her?
No, my inner voice screamed, and I shoved the thought away. I wouldn’t let it be him. Not Bentley. I couldn’t let that monster be the one to take Dove from me. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again.
“Christina, do you have any idea where she could be?” I asked, my voice growing desperate. My fingers clenched as I tried to think of a place—any place—where Dove could be.
Christina wiped her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know where she went, but I… I don’t think she left on her own, Ashton. She wouldn’t have done that. Not without saying something.”
A creak of the floorboards broke through my thoughts, thesound of footsteps approaching from the hallway. My breath caught, my body going rigid, every muscle in my body tensing. I was still on high alert, my instincts telling me something was wrong. My gaze shot to the door as it slowly creaked open.
And there she was.
Lilith.
