Sebastian answers, “She took off in the height of the fray. When we went to clear the room after the outburst, she was gone, and when we questioned Brittany, she said Sam ran out right after you did. We just didn’t see it.”
Of course she did— she’s in on this. She’d need to make a quick exit.
Piecing the events of the day together— everything becomes very clear.
I turn to my friend, still bent with his head in his hands.
“That’s why you called the emergency meeting. You needed to move fast,” I stammer and then face a distraught Donald Edgewood. “Do we have a location?”
Mr. Edgewood’s jaw clenches, “We’re working on it. Right now, they’re scrambling the signal. Thomas has a friend he believes can hack into the network and lock in on Owen’s location.”
Wes’s father looks up, squeezing his eyes shut to compose himself. His mask is firmly back in place when his stare meets us again.
“I need you boys to go get Ariah. If this person went this far to ensure Sam was chosen, it means she isn’t safe. When you bring her back, we can devise a plan. Once Owen is back, we can call off the sham engagement and make an official choice. The Chosen won’t be selected under duress, and the Fraternitas won’t fall at the hands of some usurper,” he commands.
“I want to wait to hear about Owen,” I say.
As much as it pains me. I know Ariah would be more pissed if we went to her and she found out Owen’s missing, and we chose to rush to her aid instead of his.
“We won’t have any updates for now, and she’s not safe,” Mr. Edgewood’s tone allows no room for arguments.
Wes stands from the ground, wiping the remainder of the blood from his face with the back of his hand. “My dad’s right. Let’s go get our girl.”
* * *
I openAriah’s front door and immediately know something’s wrong.
The house is too quiet.
Kell and Ky aren’t running around wreaking havoc. I can’t hear Jamie anywhere. There’s no noise.
I take off for the stairs— my feet carrying me to her room on autopilot.
Ariah’s bedroom door is ajar, and I push it the rest of the way open.
Clothes and boxes are everywhere.
I rush into the room, hoping I’m wrong and she’s just thrown a fit, but I know. I know it before I see it.
She’s gone.
Storming out of her room, I run to her siblings’ rooms, checking their closets and drawers— empty.
Racing back to her room, I don’t hear the guys approach.
“Where is she?” Sebastian asks, looking around at the state of Ariah’s room.
“She’s gone,” I mutter.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Lev balks.
Wes storms into the room, searching through whatever remains of her things.
“How-how could she be gone?” he mumbles, barely loud enough for us to hear as falls to his knees, pulling at the roots of his disheveled ink-black hair.
I want to punch him again, but I know this isn’t his fault.
He should’ve said something and let us all decide together. Instead, he was high-handed—now Ariah’s left, and we’re stuck in some fucked up arrangement to marry quicksand pussy.
