It was a clean, believable lie, and the Elders bought it without hesitation. But Donovan didn’t.
My other brother knew me too well.
He saw right through my story. Donovan knew how much I cared about Finn, how losing him wasn’t something I could simply accept.
“Let him go, Asher,”Donovan had told me, his voice heavy with the weight of his own grief.“He made his choice and he chose that vampire over us.”
But Donovan didn’t understand. He couldn’t.
After our parents died on a mission, I’d sworn to myself that I’d keep what was left of us together.
That promise had carried me through every battle, every close call. It wasn’t just duty. It was survival.
Family was all we had left, and I wasn’t about to let that slip through my fingers. Not without a fight.
Donovan’s words still echoed in my head as I stood in the empty apartment, the faint scent of coffee and Finn’s cologne lingering in the air.
It wasn’t just about protecting Finn anymore. It was about proving to myself that I hadn’t already failed.
I ran a hand through my hair, frustration and determination warring within me.
Somewhere out there, Finn was with Gabriel, convinced he was safe. Convinced he was happy.
But Gabriel was a vampire. A predator.
No matter how much Finn thought he understood him, it didn’t change what Gabriel was or what he was capable of.
I clenched my fists, the edges of Finn’s letter digging into my palm through my pocket.
He’d asked me to stop looking, to let him go. But I couldn’t.
Because if I did, who would protect him? So, no. I wasn’t giving up. Not yet.
Maybe they left clues here that I could use to track their next destination.
The apartment was a dead end.
Of course, it was. Gabriel and Finn were both trained hunters. They knew how to leave no trace, no loose threads.
It was as if they’d evaporated, leaving nothing behind but the faint scent of coffee and lingering frustration in the air.
I searched every corner, pulling open drawers, flipping through the trash, even checking under the bed.
Nothing. No receipts, no scribbled notes, not even a stray hairbrush.
They’d scrubbed the place clean, as any good hunter would.
Frustration churned in my chest as I stood in the middle of the now-sterile space.
My gut told me they’d been here for months, judging by the wear on the furniture, the faint imprint of their lives in the details the eye might miss, but they’d left no clues as to where they’d gone.
I clenched my fists, trying to calm the storm in my mind. Thinking of Gabriel keeping Finn under his thumb made my skin crawl.
I needed answers.
I headed out into the night, letting the cold air snap at my face and clear my head. Usually, the nearest bar was a good place to start.
People talked. They let things slip.
