Page 262 of Lethal King

She needs this.

So do I.

For as happy as we’ve been, something has been missing. Something small. But something vital.

For a moment, all I can think about is how I sometimes catch Roz staring off into space, like she’s looking for something that isn’t there. I think of how I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, and roll over in bed to find her staring up at the ceiling.

I think of how she brings Kaja over to play with Mel, and how they both just sit there watching the cat play.

Mel…

My sister’s also been distant lately. Something is wrong there, too. I don’t know what. But I need to find out and fix it.

First, though, I need to help fix what’s right in front of me.

“Let’s go catch that cat,” I say.

Roz squeezes my hand extra tight before letting it go.

“You go left, I’ll go right,” she nods.

“No,” I tell her. “I’m not leaving you alone again.”

Those big green eyes sharpen as a fiery determination takes hold of my Black Cat.

“Rian, listen. You want me to be whole, right? This is a piece of me that’s been missing since I was a child. Help me recover it, please.”

I don’t have the strength to push back. At least Roz is telling me what she wants now.

Mel won’t even give me that.

“Fine. But keep your phone in your hand and keep your eye out for danger. I haven’t been to the other side of the stream yet. We don’t know what’s hiding in those woods.

“Hopefully a kitten,” Roz says, a small smile lifting her lips.

“Hopefully.”

Without wasting any more time, we follow the cat’s path over the stream, stopping at the forest's edge.

“Love you,” I tell Roz, knowing full well that there’s no point in asking her to be careful.

“Love you back,” she says.

Then, just like that, she vanishes into the forest. My chest tightens, but only slightly.

This is just another adventure, I tell myself. Another adventure with the girl of my dreams.

Unholstering my gun again, I step into the black woods. It takes a second for the flashlight on my scope to start working, but the second it does, I immediately realize the futility of our search.

How the hell are we going to find a cat in all of this?

Ahead, dark trees stretch off into an endless forest. Fallen trunks litter the ground, overgrown with moss and plants. There are countless places for a tiny animal to hide.

If this cat doesn’t want to be found, then we aren’t going to find it.

Fuck.

I’m already about to give up when I remember something that Roz once told me.