“Yeah,” I mumbled as my gaze drifted up.
That’s when I noticed the deep divots on the side of the road. My eyes followed the lines until it hit a dark smear, something barely visible in the light of the moon.
Unable to stop myself, I dragged myself toward the mystery substance. My fingers dragged along the still warm surface as I brought it closer to my eyes.
Most people might have been confused, especially because there wasn’t a pool, but thanks to my line of work, I recognized it as blood almost immediately.
“Do you think someone took her?” Benji whispered.
My entire body tensed, because that was exactly what I’d been thinking. Worse than that, it wasn’t hard to guess who took my omega.
Chapter 23
Violet
My eyes felt as if they’d been super glued together. They were impossible to open, and everything felt heavy, even breathing felt impossible. Almost like I was swimming through honey and unable to find the surface.
I tried to force my eyes to open, but they fluttered uselessly and remained mostly closed.
Then, the scents of rotten citrus and burnt rubber drifted to my nose. Footsteps followed the smells.
No.
A hand brushed my cheek, and I shrunk into myself.
“Shhh, take it easy,” Logan whispered. “You’ve been so tired since you came home, don’t push yourself.”
My eyes slid open, and my heart skipped as I stopped breathing.
For a split second, I told myself this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.
Since escaping, I’d been having recurrent nightmares of Logan and everything I’d lived through in the Stellar Mansion.
When I woke up, I’d be in my nest or in Vinny’s bed, safe and warm, my bunny tucked under my chin.
Logan’s face hovered above me, still just as deceptively handsome as he’d always been but he looked older in ways he hadn’t when I left.
His mousy brown hair was a mess and exhausted crescents framed his eyes. There was something feverish in the way he looked at me, like he hadn’t slept properly since I’d disappeared and it’d been my fault.
“There’s my Dove,” he breathed, relief flooding his features.
My brain still clung to the idea that this wasn’t real. That any second now I’d wake up in my nest, Skye snoring softly nearby, Benji humming in the kitchen, Vinny’s scent wrapped around me like armor.
Then Logan slid his fingers under my chin and tilted my face up.
“Look at me,” he murmured.
My eyes lifted against my will.
Carefully, he adjusted something on my face, and something foreign rolled in my throat, and whatever he shifted made something in my throat slide.
My body reacted, causing me to gag. A sharp, tearing pain flared behind my nose and down my throat, and the pain was made worse by the unbearable pressure in my stomach.
My eyes squeezed shut as my hands flew to my face.
Tape.
There was tape on my cheek.
