21. Silas
Silas
The phone rang again and again. Each unanswered call pushed deeper under my skin. “Come on, Ember!” My voice was tight, like holding something volatile between my teeth. “Pick up.”
The calls continued to go straight to voicemail.
I didn’t even wait for the tone before hanging up and calling again, my thumb slamming against the screen harder than necessary.
My other hand gripped the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles turned white.
This whole thing was a fucking mess. Knox had been unable to find a goddamn thing last night, and then this morning, I watched her walk up to that mirror and open those pictures.
The engine growled as I moved faster, matching the restless thing beating in my chest.
I had left as soon I realized what was happening, but I was still over forty-five minutes away. I knew that was too long, especially now with her phone off. The moment she had jumped into a cab, I was screwed.
I didn’t know where the hell she was.
The thought was like a knife to my chest. I needed to protect her, and I couldn't do that if I didn't fucking know where she was.
Suddenly, I felt everything I was trying to stop.
I slammed the car into park without thinking, the sudden jolt not helpful to the adrenaline that coursed through me.
My breathing stuttered, like I was unable to pull in enough air.
I tried to focus, but all I could focus on was the invisible weight that pressed down on my chest.
“No.” The word came out strained, uneven.
“Not now.” But my mind didn’t care as my vision narrowed, and something sharp and suffocating grew in my lungs.
I knew this feeling well, and that made everything worse.
Because the last day I had experienced this was the day I stood beside a casket.
The day everything inside me hollowed out and collapsed in on itself as I attended my mother’s funeral.
The memory hit like a blow to the chest, and suddenly, I was there again—black clothes that were too tight and the sound of people talking in hushed voices like it meant anything, like it changed anything. My hands curled into fists in my lap.
I squeezed my eyes shut, dragging in a shaky breath.
I needed something real, something tangible to ground myself back to reality.
Instantly, her brown eyes filled my vision.
The warmth in them was everything I needed.
The fire that lay behind them, that unyielding spark that refused to dim. I latched on to it, to her.
My chest loosened, but just slightly. Breathing in and out, the pressure eased just enough for me to think.
Soon after, the panic loosened its grip.
I opened my eyes to a world that was still a little unsteady but no longer collapsing.
Reaching for my phone again, I searched for the one specific number I needed.
I scrolled past Kyrin’s contact. He was useful for many things, but his heart was soft. Ember was going to fight being found. I needed someone who could handle that, someone who enjoyed the darker side of things.
Greyson answered on the first ring.
“What do you need?” he asked.
I chuckled softly, swallowing the fight I just had with myself. “Nothing. Yet.”
There was a pause before his voice laced with amusement, “What do you want, Silas?”
I smiled, realizing the chaos I was about to start. “Want to play a game?”
There was a low, delighted laugh. “You’re serious?”
He sounded interested, and that was all I needed to find her. “Dead.”
“I’m in,” he said immediately.
I started my car back up, facing all the air vents toward me. “A woman named Ember is hiding. She belongs to me, and we need to find her.”
“So, she’s running?” he asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.
“Hiding,” I corrected. “She knows better than to run from me.”
He hummed as if in thought. “What’s the prize?”
I minimized the call, letting my eyes drift over the feeds in my phone, searching for her.
“If you find her first,” I said calmly, “you get to run the club for the week and offer those special nights you wanted.”
“Hmm,” Greyson responded, before inhaling slowly. “And you're just going to let that happen?”
“If you win, yes.”
A small laugh cracked through the phone. “Do we have rules?”
I appreciate the fact that he even asked. Greyson without rules could be…inconvenient.
“There’s only three,” I said, confirming she was still nowhere I could reach her.
“Go on.”
“One. No one can see you. If someone spots you, you forfeit.”
He scoffed in my ear. “You act like I’m sloppy.”
“Two,” I continued, ignoring him. “You can’t hurt her.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” he replied, as if offended.
“You would, which is why it needs to be said.”
Another quiet chuckle, but he didn’t deny it. “And I mean it, not even anything remotely close, or the deal is off.”
Another pause, this one edged with something darker. “And three?”
“If we run into her roommates, we avoid them at all costs.”
Greyson outright laughed this time. “You want to find her bad, huh?”
It’s not a want, brother, it's a need.
He exhaled slowly, as if in preparation. “When do we start?”
“Now. You have a ten-second head start,” I said lazily before lowering my voice. “Go.”
He hung up without another word as I sat there for a moment with my phone still in my hand.
Either way, she loses.
If I found her, she’d learn hiding from me was pointless.
If Greyson got to her first, she’d learn that I was always the safer option.
I decided to head to the club first. When I did find her, I would need supplies, and I could get everything from there. Making a mental list, I thought of everything I would potentially need, including a few different masks.
Ultimately, I understood why she would do this.
I wasn’t angry with her for choosing this road.
I actually felt the opposite. This was the exact thing about her that made me feel alive, that gave me the rush I craved.
I looked out the car window as I pulled back onto the street.
“Hide all you want, Ember,” I murmured under my breath. “You’re still mine.”
I kept that same mentality as I ran into the club, packed a bag, and then jumped back on the road.
For the next thirty minutes, I repeated that same thing in my head, over and over.
Then for the next hour, I said it louder as I searched every park, coffee shop, and bookstore.
Anywhere she might go, any place she might stop.
At the two-hour mark, Greyson hadn’t had any luck either.
We decided to join forces and follow behind each other, taking turns securing the perimeter of different blocks.
The three-hour mark passed, and I finally got a ping on my phone to her location.
The alert was from Ember's front security camera at her house, and the footage showed her sneaking back in.
From the video, it was clear she was spooked and uncomfortable.
I turned the wheel, peeling down a side street. I smiled at the rearview mirror when Greyson followed, apparently aware that I had a lead.