Gabriel’s POV
Five days.
Five fucking days and we still didn’t know a fucking thing.
We had been scouting the area but still didn’t come up with anything still. We haven’t found the entrance. There were no people lurking around. Nothing. Fucking nothing.
I hadn’t been sleeping or eating. I was drowning in anger, despair, and fear. I was going crazy without her. I have been irritable, and I snap easily. Yesterday, Jack and I got into a fight. I don’t even know why. He said something that made me angry, and I couldn’t hold back. I knocked him to the ground, and he fought back. Both of us now have a black eye, split lips, and bruises on our faces. We were not a pretty sight to see. But I didn’t fucking care.
The others weren’t doing much better either. None of us were eating or sleeping much. Jacob lost control over his magic a couple of times. Luckily, no one got hurt. The girls were a crying mess most of the time. They were trying to keep it together, and they were completely dedicated to learning everything they could about Victor, but I saw how hard it was for them.
Nick was not Nick. I’ve known him my whole life and I have never seen him like this. I didn’t recognize the man. He hadn’t slept at all. He had been eating, but barely. He wasn’t talking much. He mostly communicates with growls and death stares. I had a feeling he was having a really hard time keeping Nate inside. He was becoming more of an animal than a man. He shifted a couple of times and we had to hold him so he wouldn’t run off and try to find her. He almost bit Mike, but we managed to stop him in time.
The good thing was that we didn’t hold anything against each other. All of us understood how scared and angry we all were. We fought and threw punches, but when we were done, there was no bad blood between any of us.
Right now, Nick and I were on our designated post. It was 6 am and we had another two hours until we were replaced by Mike and Jack. Nothing was happening. The forest was quiet.
Nick was tense. His eyes were bloodshot. He hasn’t shaved in days. I could see his jaw twitching. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was staring at the forest around us.
My body was tense. Days of not sleeping or eating properly were making me feel like shit. But I was not tired. I couldn’t be tired. The anger and fear that was burning through my body kept every other feeling from consuming my body. I couldn’t feel anything else.
I was leaning on a tree and clenching my fists together. I needed to find something. Anything. I can’t go on without her for much longer.
Yesterday, Nick and I talked for a while. I was surprised when he spoke because it was a rare thing these days. Nick told me that he couldn’t think about anything else other than her being tortured. He said that the images of her, broken and beaten, were constant in his mind now.
I knew exactly how he felt. I couldn’t seem to keep those images away from my mind as well. I was terrified that he was hurting her. I was terrified of the things he was doing to her, and I can’t think about anything else. It was breaking me. I needed her back. She was the only one who could fix me.
I didn’t really figure it out until she came into my life, but I hadn’t been complete until I met her. It was a twin thing. She was my other half. I hadn’t been whole until her. And now that she was gone, I was so painfully aware of the fact that my other half was missing. I can’t believe I didn’t notice that before. I couldn’t believe I lived twenty years without her. Looking back, I had no fucking idea how I did it. How didn’t I notice that half of me was missing? She had been gone for five days now, and I couldn’t fucking breathe.
“Do you think Cassie made a mistake?” Nick asked me and interrupted my thoughts.
“What do you mean?” I asked him quietly.
“What if she is not here?” he asked, his voice trembling. “What if there is nothing here and we are wasting time? What if she never sent Cassie a message? Or what if there is another place this plant grows, and she is there, not here?”
If I was being honest, that thought did cross my mind a couple of times. But I didn’t want to believe that. I can’t believe that. She has to be close by.
“She has to be here,” I mumbled. “We will find something.”
“We have been doing this for five days now,” Nick said angrily. “And we haven’t found a fucking thing.”
“I know, Nick,” I sighed. “But I have to believe she is close. I have to. I can’t let myself think otherwise. I will go insane if I do, man.”
Nick sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair.
“I know,” he said after a few quiet moments. “I am dying inside, Gabe.”
I looked at him and saw despair in his eyes. I am pretty sure they mirrored mine because that was exactly how I felt.
“Me too, Nick,” I said quietly. “I just want her back.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, his eyes were filled with unshed tears.
“We will get her back,” he said. “And when we do, I will lock her up inside my body where she will be safe.”
Oh, if only we could do that. If only I could lock her up somewhere and keep her there for the rest of our lives. She would be safe, and I would never have to feel like this again.
I sighed and focused my attention on the forest around us. We will find something today. We have to.
Jacob’s POV
I was holding my sister in a tight embrace. She was sobbing on my shoulder, and it was breaking my heart.
“It will be okay, Cass,” I whispered, not believing that myself. “She will be okay.”
“How do you know?” she asked me.
The truth was, I didn’t know. I didn’t know where she was. I didn’t know what they were doing to her. When I saw him hit her, I wanted to burst into flames and burn the world around me.
I love her.
Goddess, do I love her.
I had no fucking idea how I will love another woman after her. She was my everything, my family, my first love. I knew she had a mate. I know she loved him. But I knew she loved me too. I knew she would be happy with me. She deserved a choice. She didn’t deserve to be tied down by a mate bond.
When she disappeared four years ago, it took me a very long time to accept it. I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, and I stopped talking to my family and my friends. I couldn’t accept the fact that she was gone.
Just like I can’t accept it now.
I will get her back.
I have to get her back.
“Because she is a fighter,” I said to my sister after a few moments of silence. “She is my strong girl and I know she will be okay. She will fight until we find her and bring her home.”
Cassie lifted her head off my shoulder and looked at me. “I miss her.”
“I miss her too, Cass,” I whispered and wiped the tears from her face.
We were interrupted when Blake entered the room.
I narrowed my eyes on him.
Fucker.
“Is everything okay, baby?” he asked Cassie.
“Yes,” she said and pulled away from me. “I miss Aria.”
Blake looked at me, and I could tell that he was embarrassed. Good. He should be.
“I miss her too,” he mumbled. “We will bring her back.”
I huffed. “She wouldn’t be gone if it weren’t for you.”
Blake sighed and ran his hand over his face. “I did a stupid thing, I know. I was protecting Cassie. He threatened her. What would you do if he hurt Cassie?”
“He wouldn’t be able to!” I growled. “He wouldn’t be able to hurt either one of them if you just came to us and told us what happened!”
When Blake told us what he did, I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. I couldn’t accept that he would do something like that. He loves Aria. He wouldn’t hurt her.
But he did.
She was gone because of him.
“Enough!” Cassie yelled. “I am tired of the two of you fighting all the time. Blake screwed up. He apologized and he is doing everything he can to bring her home. I know you are hurting Jake, but he is your friend. Aria wouldn’t want you to fight.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Cassie was right. Aria wouldn’t want us to fight. And Blake was really doing everything he could to bring her back.
When I heard that I would have to pair up with Blake to scout the area, I was pissed. I was sure I would kill him and bury his body in the forest.
But I didn’t.
I saw how hard he was trying, and it made me realize he really was sorry.
I couldn’t help the anger though. I needed somebody to blame, and he was really easy to blame.
“Cassie is right,” I mumbled. “I am sorry, Blake. I am just hurting.”
“I know,” he sighed. “It is my fault you are hurting, and I understand why you are angry. I am angry at myself as well. But I didn’t think straight at that moment. I was blinded by fear. The only thing I could think about was him hurting Cassie.”
I can relate to that. Just the thought of somebody hurting Cassie made my blood boil.
“And Aria was convincing,” Blake continued. “She insisted on fixing this. She told me she would be okay. She told me she couldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of her. And it made sense. I was just trying to protect Cassie. I didn’t want or mean to hurt anybody else in the process.”
I nodded. “I know. I am sorry, Blake.”
“I am sorry too, man,” he said with a small smile.
I gave him a smile in return. But it didn’t reach my eyes. I won’t be able to smile for real until I have Aria back.
There was a knock on the door, and Mike peeked inside.
“Jack and I are leaving,” he said.
“What time is it?” I asked him.
“7 am,” he said. “Gabriel’s and Nick’s shift ends in an hour.”
I nodded. “See you soon.”
Mike gave us a weak smile and closed the door behind him.
“Wow, 7 am,” Cassie said quietly.
“Try to get some sleep, Cass,” I said and motioned for Blake to follow me outside.
“No way,” she said. “I can’t sleep.”
None of us got much sleep since Aria was taken. I was walking to my room to try to close my eyes for a few hours when I heard Cassie crying in her room. She woke up an hour ago after she dreamed that Aria was dead. I got inside her room to comfort her, and she was crying on my shoulder until Blake interrupted us.
I sighed and grabbed her hand. “Okay. Come on, let’s go grab a cup of coffee.”
Blake and Cassie nodded, and we walked downstairs to the kitchen.
I was pouring the coffee into the cups when we heard the doorbell.
I looked at Cassie and Blake in surprise.
Who the hell was that?
Gabriel and Nick were in the forest.
Mike and Jack left.
None of them would ring the doorbell. They would just come inside.
What the hell was going on?
Cassie stood up and started walking toward the front door.
“No!” Blake and I said at the same time.
Blake grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Wait here,” I said. “Blake and I will see who it is.”
