Twice.
Gone.
The mirror blackened. Smoke spilled across the surface like ink in water. The room twisted again, pulling me back into the dark.
I stayed standing.
Even as my legs screamed.
Even as my mind frayed.
Because for the first time in weeks… I remembered something that wasn’t pain.
Her.
And the way she looked back.
Chapter 6
Slade
Where the hell did she go?
Elira was an expert in evasion. I’d known that from the start.
She’d spent most of her life surviving by vanishing—slipping through cracks, ducking behind shadows, disappearing the second someone tried to pin her down.
It had kept her alive. But right now, it was driving me insane.
Maddie was supposed to stay with her. That was the plan. But here Maddie was—standing in the ballroom, alone.
And Elira?
Nowhere.
I walked up to Maddie, silently fuming. She swallowed guiltily at my approach.
“I know what you are going to say. But she said she would be here,” Maddie said, playing with the drink in her hand.
“You weren’t supposed to leave her alone,” I growled.
“She wanted space. We can’t keep crowding her all the time.”
“You give her space and she runs,” I snapped.
“Trust her, Slade. No matter what is going on with her, she wouldn’t run from here. Even you know that.” Maddie sighed. “Where would she even go now?”
Before I could answer, Leo and Phoenix stepped into the ballroom—both dressed in Shadowmere finery. Sharp lines, formal crests, ceremonial blades.
They scanned the crowd until their eyes found me, and crossed the floor in long, deliberate strides.
“So much for a small gathering,” Leo muttered, casting a glance around. The ballroom was overflowing—music swelling, tables buckling under gold-trimmed platters, nobles pressed shoulder to shoulder in a sea of finery.
There had to be over a hundred people here.
“Where is Elira?” Phoenix asked, his voice low, direct, already braced for bad news.
Before I could answer, a sudden blare of horns split the air.
