Page 98 of Moonlit Thorns

There’s no answer.

My heart rate speeds up as I step back out of the bathroom, whipping my head in both directions of the hallway. There’s another ladies’ washroom farther down and around the corner, and I decide to check that before I really start to panic. She’s not there either.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I text Kol and Sid to meet me in the hallway. Nero is probably already gone, and there’s no sense bothering him when I’m likely panicking for nothing.

Except deep down, I know I’m not.

I spy Kol and Sid running down the hall toward me, leaving people staring after them.

“What’s going on?” Kol asks, and I see some of his military training kick in.

“Anabelle went to the bathroom, and she hasn’t returned. I checked the ballroom and both bathrooms out here, and she’s gone.” I push a hand through my hair and grip the strands hard.

“Okay, first… there’s no chance she just ran out on you? Did you guys have a fight or a disagreement? Did she seem off at all earlier tonight?” Kol asks.

I step toward him. “She didn’t run off and leave me. Something’s happened.”

Sid steps between us. “Okay, if she’s nowhere to be found, we have to assume that someone has taken her or hurt her, that it’s not a medical emergency or something.”

My chest squeezes at the idea of someone kidnapping her to do her harm.

“Let’s split up and have one more look for her before we hit the panic button,” Sid says. “Kol and I will look in here, and you check outside. Maybe she went to get some air.”

We all glance at the pouring rain and know that’s not likely, but it’s the one place I haven’t looked yet.

“Text if you guys find anything.” I run toward the door as though my life depends on it, and in some ways, it feels like it does. Because if something has happened to Anabelle, I don’t know how I would move on.

I push that thought from my head as I race out the entryway and under the portico. The two greeters are chatting and look startled when they see me. I probably look like a rabid animal.

“Have you seen a woman with a yellow dress come out here some time in the last twenty-five minutes?” I ask.

They shake their heads in unison.

“No, sorry,” the one says.

I don’t waste another word on them, running out from under the portico into the driving rain. “Anabelle!”

I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but I keep shouting her name, running around the building. It’s not until I’m on the opposite side of the building that I spot something gold on the walkway near where the driveway meets the curb—Anabelle’s mask.

I’m soaked through as I pick it up, feeling as if someone has stuck an ice pick in my heart. Though I want to crumble and fall apart worrying about what might be happening to Anabelle, I can’t allow that to happen. Instead, I let the rage take over.

How dare someone try to take what is mine?

I pull my phone from my pocket and fill Kol in on what I found. He tells me to meet him in the security office. I don’t know where that is, but I’ll find it.

I tug on the closest doors, finding them locked. They must be exit-only. In frustration, I let out a roar toward the sky, intent on destruction, then run around to the front of the building with the mask in hand. If this is the last piece of her I ever hold, I will rain down hellfire on whoever has hurt her.

The same two guys are standing at the entrance, looking at me wide-eyed as I approach.

“Where’s the security office?” I demand.

“Um… I’ll show you to it.”

“Hurry.”

I follow him there, and when I get inside, I find my two brothers already standing around a desk with a few monitors across it.

“Anything?” I push my way between them.

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