Page 201 of Without a Trace
Alden joined me. Hands on the railing. Silent.
“You feel it too?” I asked.
“Not like you. But yeah.”
Zeke came to the door. “She must’ve triggered something. The manor is tied to the bond. You feel her because Thirelin recognizes her.”
“What does that mean?” Kane asked.
Zeke looked at him. “It means the bond isn’t dormant anymore. And it didn’t just wake up.”
He looked at me. Then Alden.
“It chose her back.”
Scarlett
The manor was too quiet, even the shadows were holding their breath.
I stood at the edge of a circular room deep underground—stone walls, iron sconces, a floor carved with the same three symbols from the tapestry, A dagger, a veil, an eye. But here, the center knot was no longer unraveling.
It was glowing.
Faint silver light pulsed beneath the stone like it was alive. Like it was listening.
I stepped closer, barefoot, the cold seeping into my bones.
And then I heard it.
A voice.
Soft. Male. Familiar.
“Scarlett…”
I spun, heart in my throat. No one was there.
But I felt him.
Trace.
And
Alden.
My knees buckled, and I dropped to the ground, hands pressed flat against the carved knot.
They were coming.
And part of me wanted to run.
Trace
The jet wheels hit the tarmac with a groan of steel and heat.
I didn’t wait for the staircase to fully drop before I was moving—boots hitting the ground like the air still burned with her name.
Behind me, Alden didn’t speak. Zeke tossed the strap of a worn leather satchel over his shoulder, flipping through a half-crushed map like he could force it to make sense.
