Page 119 of When the Smoke Clears

“Who owns you?”

The question lands like a blade. His grip stutters. Something frantic moves behind his eyes, then shutters. “You don’t want that answer.”

“You’re right,” I say. “Luke does.”

He leans in, forearm pinning my collarbone, weight pushing me toward open air. The gun rises, angled down. “People take wrong turns.”

Below lies Wildhaven, the small town of my childhood, blissfully ignorant of the evil lurking above in the mountains. Luke hasn’t found me. There’s no time left.

The thought of my future vanishing like tendrils of smoke finally breaks me, and I begin to sob. My life is poised to end here, at the base of this unforgiving ridge.

There was so much more I wanted from this life.

CHAPTER 29

LUKE

“What do you mean, Isla is missing?” I roar into the phone, the sound ricocheting off the shredded walls of my father’s office.

“I don’t know, Luke,” Gabe fires back, voice tight, hurried. “But I’m trying to find out.”

My pulse slams in my ears. “How long?”

“Less than half an hour. She woke up, freaked when you weren’t there. I calmed her down. She went to change. I heard the shower running. Fifteen minutes later, I kicked in the door. The window was open, and her car was gone.”

Rage and disbelief claw up my throat. “And you didn’t hear any of this?”

“I was checking the perimeter and strategizing with my guys. I didn’t expect her to pull a damn John Wick,” he mutters. “Shitty shoes, no backup, concussed boyfriend. She picked a hell of a day to be brave.”

His sigh hisses static through the line. “I’m sorry. But we’ll find her.”

My hand trembles on the phone. “Isla’s out there, Gabe. And so is Nathaniel. And Ares. And who knows how many more? If she dies because I wasn’t there⁠—”

“Listen to me.” His voice cuts like steel. “She had your watch, right? The one with the tracker?”

Relief crashes through me, so sudden it nearly drops me to my knees. “Yeah.”

“I’m running the signal. The mountains are interfering, but I’ve got a general location. She’s close to your parents’ place. That’s where she went. She was desperate to find you.”

I clutch the phone so tightly my knuckles crack, every nerve in me straining. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m on my way to you.”

“Turn around,” I snap. “Go back to my cabin and grab anything from Isla's—shirt, sweats, whatever you can find. The dogs will need her scent to track her. Then swing by your place and load up on every weapon you own. Meet me at my parents’ house as soon as you can.”

“Copy that.” The line goes dead.

I shove the phone into my pocket and reach for my gun. But as I push off the desk, the world tips like a carnival ride gone wrong. My vision tunnels, black creeping in at the edges.

Not now. Not when Isla’s out there.

“Luke!” Eden’s voice cuts through the ringing in my ears. She’s there in a heartbeat, her arms bracing around my waist, small but steady, holding me upright. “Whoa. You need to take it easy.”

My voice scrapes raw with frustration. “I can’t take it easy, Eden. Isla is missing. Nathaniel’s out there. Every second we stand here doing nothing could mean her life.”

“I understand. But what happens if you pass out on the ridge? You’ll be no good to her if you’re lying unconscious in a ditch.”

I bite back the urge to shove past her, anger tangled with helplessness boiling under my skin.