The lights were off. Her car was gone. He told himself she'd just gone to Freya's, or Twyla's, or anywhere else in this small town where someone might have offered her comfort.
He knocked anyway.
No answer.
He tried the door. Unlocked. That wasn't like her. Chloe always locked up, a habit born from years of being an outsider in places that didn't want her.
The cottage was dark and still. He moved through it slowly, his bear's senses cataloging every detail. The kitchen was clean,dishes put away. The small living room looked the same as always, books stacked on the side table, a blanket folded over the arm of the couch. Everything untouched besides the bedroom.
Her closet door hung open. Empty hangers where her clothes should have been. The dresser drawers pulled out, half their contents missing. Her suitcase, the battered green one she'd had when she first arrived in Hollow Oak, was gone.
He stood in the doorway in a sense of knowing shock.
She'd packed. She'd actually packed and left.
The way she'd looked after the meeting. The hollow sound of her voice when she'd asked what she'd ever done to deserve this. The careful way she'd said she needed time, like she was already saying goodbye.
He'd seen it. He'd known, somewhere deep in his gut, that she was closer to breaking than she'd ever been. And he'd let her walk away because she'd asked him to, because he'd thought giving her space was the right thing to do.
His phone was in his hand before he'd made the conscious decision to call. Elias answered on the second ring.
"She's gone."
A pause. "Gone where?"
"I don't know. Her cottage is empty. Clothes missing, suitcase gone. She left."
"When?"
"I don't know. Hours ago, maybe. Her scent's fading." His voice cracked on the last word, and he hated himself for it. "I should have seen this coming. After the meeting, the way she looked, I should have known."
"You gave her what she asked for."
"I gave her a chance to run." He slammed his palm against the doorframe, the pain grounding him. "I should have stayed. Should have made her talk to me instead of letting her disappear."
"Corin." Elias's voice was steady, calm. The voice he used when things were falling apart. "Panicking isn't going to help. Where would she go?"
"I don't know. She doesn't have anywhere. That's the whole point. She came here because she had nowhere else."
"Then she hasn't gone far. Think. Where would she feel safe?"
Safe. Chloe had spent her whole life not feeling safe. The only places she'd found comfort in Hollow Oak were Freya's shop, Twyla's cafe, and his arms. None of those were options if she was running.
"The inn," he said suddenly. "Diana's place. She mentioned once that Miriam had been kind to her when she first arrived. If she needed somewhere to stay without being found..."
"Then that's where you start."
Corin was already moving, phone pressed to his ear as he strode out of the cottage and toward his truck. The night air was bitter, the kind of cold that warned of coming snow. If Chloe was out there somewhere, driving mountain roads in the dark...
"I'll meet you there," Elias said.
"No. Stay by the phone. If she calls anyone, it'll be Freya or Twyla. Let them know what's happening. And check the roads out of town. If she's trying to leave..."
"I'll handle it."
Corin hung up and threw himself into the truck. The engine roared to life, headlights cutting through the darkness as he pulled onto the road.
The land felt wrong. He noticed it as he drove, a creeping wrongness that really had absolutely nothing to do with the poisoned well or the dying plants. This was different. Quieter. Like the earth itself was holding its breath.
