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His hand found my thigh. I looked down. He didn’t seem to realise he’d done it. His attention consumed by the call. “Rail. Bus. Airports. Private terminals too.”

Rafe glanced at him through the mirror.

Alaric continued.

“I don’t care how unlikely it is. Check everything.”

The call ended. Another began almost immediately. Then another. Names I didn’t recognise. Places. Questions. Commands. His hand never moved from my leg. I stared at it. The same man who’d told me to stay where he knew where I was now had half the city looking for Bethany.

I wanted to be angry with Him.

God, I tried.

But his thumb moved once against my thigh. Absent. Reassuring. Maybe himself more than me. I covered his hand with mine. He stopped speaking. Only for half a heartbeat. His eyes found me. There he was. Alaric.

Then the voice on the phone dragged him away again. The Revenant returned. I looked out the window. Buildings passed. Traffic. People walking beneath umbrellas. Normal lives. Nobody knew one of us was missing. Nobody knew what that meant.

I did.

The closer we came, the tighter my chest became. I remembered the house before I saw it. Doors slamming. Girls shouting. Someone laughing too loudly. Stacey stealing someone’s curler. Mel crying over a dress she hadn’t even tried on. Bethany sitting against the wall.

I’m too broken.

Then the house came into view. Nothing moved. No one stood outside. No music spilled through an open window. No voices reached us through the glass. Rafe pulled in. Killed the engine and silence rushed into the car. I stared at the house.

Something was very wrong.

Not because Bethany wasn’t there.

And for the first time since I’d known that place…

I couldn’t hear a single one of them.

Rafe climbed out first and Alaric followed. I reached for the handle, but Alaric was already there. The door opened and cold air rushed inside. His hand appeared. I stared at it for a second, then took it. He helped me out. Ghost and Brick were already moving toward the rear of the house. The other scanning the street before turning toward the neighbouring properties.

No one told them where to go. They simply knew.

Alaric’s phone rang again. He answered without taking his eyes from me. “Yes.”

I left him there and walked toward the house. The front door opened before I reached it. Vivienne. She looked terrible. Hair pulled back carelessly. No makeup. Her face pale enough that the shadows beneath her eyes looked bruised.

“Nyssa.”

That was all she managed. I crossed the final distance and she pulled me against her. Hard. For one second neither of us moved.

“Anything?”

She shook her head against me. “No.”

My stomach sank. “When did you last see her?”

“Yesterday. After lunch.”

“She seemed okay?”

Vivienne pulled away. “She’s Bethany.”

I understood. Okay had always meant something different for us. For the ones who survived The Order.