Page 180 of BounBound By Scars

Empty.

The bed untouched.

The room cold.

Bathroom—empty.

Not even a towel out of place.

I stared at the sterile space for a full five seconds, then turned and walked back toward the lounge.

The hallway felt longer. Like I was walking through molasses. My chest was clenching tighter with every step.

By the time I walked in, the team had mostly dispersed.

Zarek and Leora were gone. Delara had already left.

Only Logan, Kaylan, Sebastian, and Zane remained.

Zane was hunched over his laptop, fingers flying, probably pulling up satellite footage or combing black web data streams trying to figure out what the hell happened at the Romano estate.

I stopped dead in the doorway.

“Where is he?” I asked.

Their heads snapped toward me.

“Dylan,” I clarified, my voice sharper now. “Where thefuckis he?”

Sebastian stood—frowning. “He’s not in his room?”

I shook my head. My fists were trembling at my sides.

Zane was already typing.

“Give me thirty seconds.”

No one spoke. No one breathed.

My heart thundered in my ears.

Zane’s brows furrowed. His expression dropped.

“He’s not here,” he said. “Dylan’s not inside the compound.”

That’s when everything cracked.

The numbness peeled away like flesh, and all the screaming I’d swallowed came rushing back like a dam breaking inside my chest.

He was gone.

Kabir was gone.

And now—so was my brother.

I let out a sound—half-sob, half-scream—and dropped to my knees right there in the middle of the lounge. My weight no longer mine.

My hands covered my face, but it did nothing to muffle the shaking breath that broke from my throat.

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