Page 30 of Sanctuary

Before I could finish the word, a shrill alarm pierced the air. The fire alarm.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, jumping to my feet.

Connor was already moving, grabbing our wallets and phones. “I know you’re not an ass Mia. We’ll finish this conversation later. Right now, we need to get out of here.”

He stuffed my phone in my purse then handed it to me as we rushed out into the hallway, joining the stream of panicked guests heading for the stairs.

I put the purse’s shoulder strap over my head and settled it on my hip as I asked, “Shouldn’t we take the elevator?”

He shook his head. “If the power goes out, we could get trapped.”

I had a feeling this wasn’t a fire but didn’t say anything as panicked voices echoed against the walls of the stairwell. Instead, I kept my eyes fixed on Connor’s broad shoulders in front of me, but my mind raced as to what the cause of the alarm was. It felt like a trap, a distraction.

As we burst out of the emergency exit into the crisp afternoon air, chaos reigned. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second. Hotel staff shouted instructions, trying to organize the milling crowd of confused and frightened guests. The mist from the falls mingled with wisps of smoke, creating an eerie atmosphere.

“Stay close,” he said, reaching back to take my hand. But as our fingers brushed, a surge of bodies separated us. I was jostled and pushed, losing sight of him in the sea of unfamiliar faces.

“Connor!” I called out, trying to fight my way back to where I’d last seen him. But the crowd was too dense, the noise too overwhelming.

Suddenly, a strong hand gripped my upper arm. Relief flooded through me, but as I turned, I found myself face to face with a stranger. His eyes were cold, his grip painfully tight.

“Hello, Mia,” he said, his voice barely heard over the commotion. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Before I could react, a cloth was pressed over my nose and mouth. The sickly-sweet smell of chloroform filled my nostrils. I tried to struggle, to call out, but my limbs felt heavy, my vision blurring at the edges.

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Connor’s face in the distance, frantically searching the crowd. Then everything went black.

When I came to, I was in the back of a moving vehicle, my hands bound behind me. The steady hum of tires on pavement filled my ears, and I could make out low voices from the front seat.

“You’re awake,” someone said.

A face appeared above me, familiar and terrifying. It was him. The man I’d been running from all this time.

“Welcome back, Mia,” he said, his smile cold and predatory. “We have so much to catch up on.”

Chapter 15

Connor

“Rory! One minute she was there and the next she was gone!” I said, gripping the phone in one hand as I raked a hand through my hair. It’s been twenty minutes since she disappeared. “And it turns out that there was no fire. Someone pulled the alarm in the hotel and set a dumpster bin on fire outside. I think it was a hoax because someone took her.”

I heard Rory sigh on the other end of the line. “Look, Connor, I know you’re worried, but there could be a simple explanation. Maybe she panicked and took off. Getting married is a big step, even if it’s just for show.”

“She wouldn’t just leave,” I insisted, pacing the hotel lobby like a caged animal. “You didn’t see her face, Rory. She was about to tell me something important right before the alarm went off.”

“Alright, alright,” Rory conceded. “I’ll make some calls, reach out to businesses in the area to see if anyone has security cameras that might have caught something. The tourist district is crawling with surveillance. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

“And?” I pressed, knowing there was more.

“And... I’ll put out some feelers with our contacts. See if anyone’s heard anything about a woman matching Mia’s description.”

I let out a shaky breath. “Thanks, Rory. If we don’t find her, Wren is going to kill me.”

“Don’t thank me yet. In the meantime, try not to jump to conclusions. She might have just needed some air, you know? Probably stepped out for a bit to clear her head.”

“Maybe,” I said, not believing it for a second. The knot in my stomach told me something was very wrong. “I’m going to check the hotel security footage.”

“Good idea. Call me the second you find anything.”

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