Page 84 of Knot Your Romeo
“She’s my soul match,” I blurt out, not bothering with pleasantries. “Beck, she’s my fucking soul match. I can feel everything she’s feeling right now, and she’s terrified. She’s so scared I can barely think straight.”
Silence on the other end, then Beck’s voice, deadly calm: “Are you certain?”
“I’m certain. I can feel her fear like it’s my own.” I pace across my small living room, running my free hand through my hair. “We have to find her. We have to find her now.”
“We will,” Beck says with absolute conviction. “This pack doesn’t go down without a fight. Eli and I are already mobilizing resources—“
“What resources? Blake has a head start, professional security, probably multiple escape routes planned.” The panic in my voice is climbing toward hysteria. “He could take her anywhere. Out of the country, somewhere we’ll never—"
“Jude.” Beck’s Alpha authority cuts through my spiral. “Breathe. If you really have a soul bond with her, then you have an advantage Blake can’t account for. You can reach her.”
He’s right.
If Emmie and I truly are soul-bonded, then distance is irrelevant. I can maintain direct mental contact, assuming I can calm down enough to focus.
“I need something of hers,” I say, already moving toward my bedroom. “Something she’s worn recently, something that’s touched her.”
I know she borrowed a T-shirt after her shower. I find it crumpled in the corner where she’d tossed it—a soft cotton shirt in pale blue that still carries traces of her natural scent. I press it to my face, breathing deeply, using the familiar smell to anchor myself.
“I’m going to try to contact her,” I tell Beck. “If this works, if I can reach her mentally, I’ll get whatever information I can about their location and plans.”
“How long will it take?”
I settle cross-legged on my bed, the T-shirt clutched in my hands like a lifeline. “Could be minutes, could be hours. The bond has to be strong enough, and she has to be receptive to the connection. She might be a little scared to focus right now.”
“Do whatever you have to do,” Beck says fiercely. “And call me the moment you learn anything.”
The line goes dead, and I’m alone knowing that Emmie’s terror is still echoing through my consciousness. I close my eyes, focusing on the sensation of the soul bond, that invisible thread connecting us across whatever distance Blake has already put between us.
Breathe,I tell myself.Center yourself. This is just like the meditation exercises you teach your students.But it’s nothing like those peaceful academic exercises. This is a desperate, clawing need to reach the person who’s become essential to my existence. The fear that if I fail, I might lose her forever.
I hold the T-shirt against my chest and reach to the golden thread of connection, going deeper and deeper until—
Jude?Her mental voice is faint, confused, hardly a whisper in my mind. But it’s definitely her, and definitely real.
Emmie.Relief floods through me so intensely I nearly break the connection.Oh God, Emmie, I can feel you. Are you hurt?
I don’t...There’s wonder mixed with the fear sliding through our bond line now.We really can do this.
Yes. We’re soul-bonded, love. I can reach you anywhere as long as you’re receptive.I pour every ounce of love and reassurance I can manage through the connection.Where are you? What’s happening?
Helicopter. Blake is... he’s talking to the pilot about flight plans.Her voice grows stronger as she focuses on our connection.Wait, let me listen.
The bond goes quiet for a moment, then her voice returns with urgent clarity.He’s asking about fuel stops. The pilot is saying they need to land at... Lawrence Municipal Airport in New Hampshire. Small private strip. Then they’re changing to a plane and continuing to Aspen.
Aspen, Colorado?
Yes. Blake has a house there. He’s telling the pilot about landing clearance for a private residence.Her fear spikes again.Jude, I’m so scared. He keeps looking at me like... like I’m a prize he’s won.
Help is coming,I promise her, already reaching for my phone to call Beck with the location information.Beck and Eli are mobilizing everything. We’re going to find you.
What if you can’t? What if he takes me somewhere you’ll never find me?
That won't happen.I pour absolute conviction through the bond.Emmie, listen to me. You are my soul match. My other half. I will move heaven and earth before I let him keep you.
Soul match,she repeats, and I feel her latching onto the concept like an anchor.I love you, Jude. I love all of you somuch. Please let Eli and Beck know in case I don’t come back. I’m glad I got to loveyou,even if it was for a short time.
I love you too. More than I knew was possible.The admission comes easily, naturally, carrying my absolute truth.Stay strong, love. Keep the bond open if you can. I’m going to call Beck with this information, then I’ll contact you again.
