Chapter 130: Cracks in the Storm
Lorraine’s POV
I could barely hear anything past Felix’s sobbing, but the sound of Kieran’s voice, shouting Thorin’s name, cut through the haze like lightning splitting the sky.
"Thorin!" he barked from the hallway, the command in his voice raw, cracked, and thunderous.
I froze.
Kieran never shouted. He was always composed, always calculating, always in control of every breath, every movement. But the way his voice ripped through the air.... something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
I pushed myself up from the floor, one hand still aching from the cold tiles, and ran out into the hallway. Varya was already a few steps ahead of me, her eyes wide with alarm. Kieran stood near the wall, fists clenched, his eyes blazing an unsettling shade of crimson. His chest rose and fell like he was fighting to stay in his body, barely tethered to it.
"Kieran!" I called, but he didn’t answer. His jaw was set tight, his gaze darting across the hallway like he was seeing ghosts.
"What’s going on?" I demanded, stepping closer. "Why are you shouting? What happened?"
Still, nothing. He didn’t even look at me. He just growled low in his throat and inhaled deeply, his head tilting slightly as if trying to catch something in the air. Varya stepped beside him, frowning. "Thorin’s scent is faint," she muttered, "I can barely pick it up."
But Kieran didn’t respond to her either.
He was too focused. Too... off.
There was a wildness in his expression, something I’d never seen in him before. He wasn’t just trying to find Thorin. He was trying to hunt him. Like his life depended on it.