And so, I cling to the hope that somehow, someway, we’ll find our way back to each other.

Chapter 49

Liam

Ihave barely made it three steps into the apartment building when I come across another fucking body.

This fucking night. I am so exhausted.

Before me is the crumpled body of my next-door neighbor, Helwig. His lifeless form lies on the ground, fang marks visible on his neck.

With trembling hands, I reach out to check for a pulse, but it’s futile. Helwig is gone, another victim of the night’s senseless violence.

I curse under my breath and race to my apartment.

Dread coils in the pit of my stomach as I scan the room, but Selene is nowhere to be found. Instead, I find Emmett lying on the floor in a pool of blood and struggling to breathe.

”Emmett!” I choke out. “Why aren’t you healing?”

“Knife,” he moans as his eyelids flutter rapidly.

That makes no sense. He should be healing. Why does he keep bleeding?

“Where’s Selene?” I ask.

“Gone. Levi!”

Fuck! Emmett reaches his hand to take mine. His palm is sticky with blood. I have seen enough blood to last me a lifetime. “Hang in there, buddy. Help is on the way.”

But even as I speak the words, I know it might be too late. Emmett’s injuries look severe. I feel the cold grip of fear tightening around my heart.

Desperate, I reach for my phone, my fingers fumbling as I dial my mother’s number. It rings and rings, each moment stretching into eternity until finally, she picks up, her voice thick with tears.

“Liam,” she gasps in a trembling voice. “Your father just told me about Lennox and Elara. I can’t believe—”

I cut her off, my own voice breaking as I try to hold back the flood of tears threatening to overwhelm me. “Mom, Selene’s gone. I think they took her.” I say, my words barely more than a whisper. “And Emmett... he’s hurt. Bad.”

There’s a long moment of silence on the other end of the line, broken only by the sound of my mother’s ragged breathing. I can hear the fear and anguish in her voice as she speaks again. “I just put a spell on Alyssa to help her rest,” she says. “Raskogr’s with her now. I’m on my way. We’ll help Emmett and Liam. I promise. We are not losing anyone else tonight.”

“Mom.”

“I swear it, Liam. No other deaths.”

“Thanks, Mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Less than ten minutes later, the front door bursts open, and Layla, Colt, and Grayson come rushing into the house.

“Dad asked us to get here as soon as possible,” Layla says as she takes in the scene.

They find me cradling Emmett on the floor, his pale face a stark contrast to the blood staining his shirt. Colt’s eyes widen in shock as he absorbs the gravity of the situation.

“What happened?” he asks.

“Levi attacked,” I reply in a strained voice. “When I was out looking for Lennox.”

Layla rushes to my side. “I’ll explain everything to Colt,” she says, her tone soothing. “Grayson, help me with Emmett.”

Grayson nods, tears glistening in his eyes as he takes Emmett’s hand. “Why isn’t he healing?”