Lora's excitement dims into confusion. "Left? Like... left the city?"
"I don't know." I drag a hand through my hair, frustration bleeding into my voice. "I don't knowanythingabout her. I didn't get her last name. Didn't find out where she lives. We had one night and then she ran, and I haven't been able to find her since."
"So you've been looking."
Of course I've been looking. I've done nothingbutlook.
"Every day." The admission feels like pulling teeth. "Every gods-damned day I've been out there, checking the markets, the squares, anywhere she might be. Nothing."
Lora's quiet for a moment, processing. Then, softer, "What was her name? Her first name?"
"Senna."
"And you're sure—" She stops herself, then starts again. "You felt it, didn't you? The bond."
The tightness in my chest flares, and I press my palm against it without thinking. Without meaning to confirm what she's already guessed.
But Lora sees it anyway.
"Oh, Lorenth." Her voice goes gentle in a way that makes my teeth grind. "You found your mate."
"Maybe."
"Not maybe. You wouldn't be this fucked up over a woman you barely know unless the bond snapped." She moves closer,her wings brushing the wall as she leans against the counter again. "What happened? Why did she run?"
I don't want to talk about this. Don't want to relive the way Senna looked at me when the daybreak bells started ringing—like she was terrified. Like being with me was the worst mistake she could've made.
But Lora's staring at me with those sharp gold-ringed eyes, and I know she won't let this drop.
"We were together," I say finally, the words clipped. "In the gardens. And it was—"Perfect."—good. Better than good. And then the bells rang and she panicked. Tried to leave. I asked her to wait, to talk to me, but she just kept saying she had to go. That it was a mistake."
"A mistake?"
"Her words."
Lora's quiet again, and I can practically hear her mind working. Turning over the pieces, trying to make them fit.
"She was human," I add, because that detail matters. "Not xaphan."
"That shouldn't matter if the bond is real."
"I know."
"Then why would she run?"
That's the question I've been asking myself for two solid weeks. Why would someone run from their mate? From a connection that's supposed to be sacred, unbreakable?
Unless she didn't feel it.
Unless I imagined the whole thing.
Except IknowI didn't. I felt that thread snap into place. Felt her soul reach for mine even if she doesn't have the language to name it.
"I don't know," I say, and my voice comes out rougher than I intend. "But I need to find her."
"Then we'll find her." Lora straightens, determination settling across her features like armor. "You can't just give up because she got scared and ran. If she's your mate—if the bond is real—then youhaveto find her."
"I've been trying?—"
