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Of course there’d be no answer—she was asleep.
“Iris?” he called, knocking a little louder.
No response.
She was sleeping, like he and Luna should be. It was way too early and too cold to be standing in hallways knocking and pawing at people’s doors.
He hesitated, but when Luna whimpered and scratched the wood again, he shook his head and swore silently at himself.
He’d just take a look to reassure himself, and his dog, that she was okay. She was asleep—she’d never know that he’d snuck in like some creepy stalker while she was at her most vulnerable.
He unlocked the door with a quiet snick and stepped into the room.
The first thing that struck him was the frigid cold.
“Christ Almighty,” he muttered to himself, as the iciness hit his naked skin. Why the hell was it so cold in here?
He flicked on the living room light and immediately spotted the open window.
“For fuck’s sake, Iris,” he swore underneath his breath. “How could you leave the window open in this weather?”
He hurried over to close it, and then glanced around the empty room.
Something about the eerie stillness wasn’t right. Even if Iris was asleep in the bedroom, it was just too oppressively silent in here.
“Iris?” He could hear panic creeping into his voice as he made his way to the bedroom. The door wasn’t closed, and it didn’t take him long to realize that she wasn’t in bed. He hurried to the bathroom, but that room was dark and empty as well.
“Shit, shit… oh fuck, Iris. What did you do?” He surged back to the window and yanked it back up to peer out into the absolute darkness out there.
He was aware of his breath coming in short, panicky gulps as he desperately stared into the blackness hoping to spot her. He’d never expected her to call his bluff. Not in weather like this. He recalled his flippant invitation that she try to hoof it back to town if she really didn’t want to stay in a locked room.
Well, apparently, she’d decided that risking her life out in this mess was better than staying locked up in this room.
And he’d driven her to it. Driven her out in this weather, in the dark, because he wouldn’t listen to her, wouldn’t believe that her extreme terror of being trapped was so huge, so irrational, that she would do literally anything to escape it.
When had she left? How long had she been out in this? The rain had started only half an hour ago but before that it had been relatively calm, even the wind had died down.
Trystan ran to his room and yanked on his clothes and boots.
She didn’t have any waterproof clothes. She’d be soaked by now. And cold. She’d be so cold. He couldn’t stand the thought of it.
His breath came in desperate gasps as he made his way to the back door. He had to believe she’d head back to her car and follow the road from there. Because it was the only logical course of action for her to take. The route was familiar and she would know the general direction back to town. But in the dark, she could trip, get disoriented, turned around. She could find herself lost in the blink of an eye.
And even if she did somehow manage to head in the right direction, that fucking river was impassible. She’d never be able to safely cross it.
He dragged on his oil slicker and grabbed his heavy-duty flashlight.
Luna had been following him on his mad dash through the house, and she whined in disapproval when he told her to stay. He eyed the unhappy dog for a moment.
“Would you be able to find her if I can’t, girl?” he asked. “Can you find our Iris?”
The dog chuffed softly. She had never really shown any kind of aptitude for scent games, but she might well be his best chance of finding Iris fast.
Mind made up, he put on her collar and leash, and they both headed out into the rapidly building storm.
“Iris!” His voice was instantly swallowed up by the dull roar of the rain and wind. But it didn’t stop him from calling her name every few meters in the hopes that somehow she would hear him.
Luna had been pulling at the leash since the moment they’d left the yard, and Trystan let her lead, hoping against hope that she was actually taking him toward Iris and not chasing some small animal.
