Chapter 213: Nowhere to be Found
Sebastian~
5:40 AM
The shadows in my home stretched and danced like ghosts across the floor. I’d walked every corner, torn through every drawer, checked and rechecked every door, closet, rooftop—hell, even the chimney. Nothing. Not a single hair. Not a footprint. No scent. Just... absence.
Cassandra was gone.
My mind spiraled. I sat on the edge of the couch one second, paced the kitchen the next, then found myself standing in my now-empty room again. My fingers brushed the corner of the dresser she always leaned on when she smirked at me. The jacket she loved so much—gone. The boots I used to tease her about—gone. Even her damn silver dagger was gone.
I was unraveling. Completely. Utterly.
Then, twenty-five minutes later—though it felt like hours—I heard the faint thudding sound of rotor blades in the distance. My head snapped toward the noise like a hound scenting blood. It grew louder, sharper, until the air itself vibrated.
The chopper.
I bolted out of the house barefoot, ignoring the biting cold of the marble floors underfoot. Out in the yard, the sky was still bleeding dark blue, dawn barely brushing the horizon. The trees around my compound bowed under the weight of wind as the sleek black helicopter descended, blades slicing the silence open. It landed with practiced ease in the open field near the courtyard fountain, stirring leaves and gravel into a frenzy.
I saw him the moment the door opened. Zane. He was dressed in a simple black shirt and combat pants, not a wrinkle in sight, as if he hadn’t just jumped into a helicopter at 5:00 a.m. to deal with my crisis. In his hand, he held a small, sleeping figure. Alexander. The kid’s curly blond hair was flattened on one side, his face soft with dreams, his hand still clasped tightly in Zane’s.
Zane looked like hell—but the determined kind. The kind that could tear through a battlefield just to get to you.