AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s fine,” Dominic says, not even looking up from the food in front of him. “I dropped her off this morning in front of the Psych building.”
“All the more reason to worry,” Bastian mutters. “I just don’t like her hanging aroundhim.”
Dominic shakes his head. “Take it easy, Bas. Grab a bite. It'll help calm your nerves.”
“What time did you drop her off?” I ask, looking at the text again.
“Like eight,” Dominic says. He picks up his sandwich and takes a bite.
“It’s almost eleven,” I tell him. “Are you sure she wouldn’t have texted to get picked up by now?” A knot tightens in my stomach, hoping that she’s just distracted.
Dominic pauses and checks his phone. “Yeah, that’s odd. She was going to do some interviews later today too.”
Bastian runs a hand through his dark brown hair. “We should just go over there,” he says.
“Let’s just wait,” I tell him. “She’ll text back soon, I’m sure. Maybe she got caught up reading one of her research books.”
Bastian's hands shake as he slaps together a sandwich, his muttered curses barely audible over the pounding of my heart.
A knot tightens in my stomach, a silent warning that we're hurtling towards disaster with each passing moment. After making up with her yesterday, it feels out of character for her to go radio silent now. Her things are all still here, even her car. If she wanted to escape, she couldn’t have gotten very far.
The time ticks by and the longer we don’t hear from her, the more agitated Bastian gets. He barely eats his sandwich and by the half-hour mark, he’s actively pacing, his boots echoing across the hardwood with each step.
“Calm the hell down,” Dominic says, ever the reasonable one. “Sienna said herself that she’s not going anywhere. There’s no reason to worry she ran off. Her car is still here for Pete’s sake, Bastian.”
I shift on the couch, fiddling with my phone. Even if Dominic’s words are meant to soothe our fears, there’s part of me that can’t stop stressing, feeling like something is wrong.
“I’m going to call her again,” I say, standing up. I can’t sit still anymore. My hands tremble slightly as I dial her number again, heart pounding in my chest at yet another unanswered call.
“Something is wrong,” Bastian argues, a tic in his jaw from where he’s clenching it. His pacing grows more frantic. “What the hell's taking her so long to reply?”
“Maybe I can just check her location,” I offer, worry mounting. “If she’s on campus, we’ll see and then we can find her and ask her why she’s got her phone off.”
“You can do that?” Dominic asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I put a tracking app on her phone,” I tell them. “Thought it would be smart and look, now we can check.”
“Just go get your laptop, nerd brain,” Bastian grumbles. I jog up the stairs and grab my laptop, bringing it down to set it on the coffee table. The keys clatter under my fingers as I type in the website, the bright light of the screen casting a glow across my face.
Pulling up my tracker app, I ping her phone, squinting at the coordinates. “Where is that?” I ask. “That doesn’t look like anywhere near Watford.”
Bastian kneels down, pulling the computer roughly towards himself.
“Hey, careful,” I warn him.
“Does that look familiar to you?” He looks up at Dominic and jabs the screen. “Right there. What does that look like?”
Dominic inhales sharply, breath catching in his throat, then curses. “That location's near Serpent turf. Why would Sienna be anywhere near there?”
I feel nauseous. “You think Sienna's working with the Serpents?”
“No way,” Bastian says, shaking his head. “She didn’t even know what the Serpents were until the other day.”
“So, either she’s in with them or they’ve … they’ve taken her?” I ask, feeling bile rising inside me.
Dominic clenches his fists, conflict in his eyes as he struggles to rein in his emotions. “That fight,” he growls. “That shit was a distraction. Why else would the Serpents hang around after tossing the dry cleaners? If they wanted to send a message, they didn’t need to stick around to do it.”
“They’ve got her,” I whisper, voice hoarse. “They distracted us and took her when we weren’t paying attention.”
