Page 59 of Bitten, Marked, Obsessed

And rings.

No answer.

I stare at the screen long after it goes black, thumb hovering.

“Come on,” I whisper. “Just pick up.”

But she doesn’t.

She’sout there, somewhere in this city, carrying half the truth and none of the tools to hold it.

I try again. The call rings. And rings. Then drops. No answer. No text. No ping-back. Just that hollow silence that comes when someone choosesnotto pick up.

I stare at the screen until my arm aches from holding the phone too tight. Then I slide it back into my hoodie pocket and press the heel of my palm into my chest, like I can push down the rising panic that’s clawing its way up my ribs.

“She’s okay,” I whisper to myself. “She’s smart. Careful.”

But my gut twists.

Because I know Adora. I know thatlookshe gets when something’s eating her alive and she doesn’t know where to put it. When she’s scared but too proud to say so.

I saw it last time. Right before she hung up. Right before she ran again.

What if she’s out there right now, doing something reckless? What if she’s not hiding? What if she’s looking for answers? For someone who can explain the shit I couldn’t, Dad can’t. Someone who might actuallyknowwhat’s happening to her.

A breeze cuts through the alley as I walk, tugging at the edge of my jacket. I pause beneath a dim streetlight, staring out across the city skyline like the answers are hiding between the rooftops.

“I’ll find you, Adora,” I murmur. “No matter where you run.”

Because the world may be falling apart, but we’re still sisters. And I’m not letting this place take either of us.

I cover my scent the way Callum said and slink into the shadows. I need to find him. Maybe he’ll have answers, be able to find my sister and help her. Or maybe I just need an excuse to see him again. Either way, I hone in on my newly developed senses and follow the faint scent and pull that I hope leads me to him instead of my demise.

24

CALLUM

Idon’t even hear Elias come in. One second, I’m face-down on the cot in my room, trying to scrub the taste of politics and bullshit out of my skull, and the next, he’s standing at the foot of my bed like a ghost in worn jeans and too much attitude.

“Get up,” he says, voice low.

I blink blearily at him. “What time is it?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

I groan, dragging myself upright. “Please tell me this isn’t another council meeting.”

He smirks, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “If it was, I’d bring fireball. Come on. It’s not a trap. Just… someone’s asking for you.”

I narrow my eyes. “Askinghow, exactly?”

Elias shrugs. “She found me. While I was doing rounds.”

My chest tightens.

“She?”

He gives me a look. “Don’t make me say it.”

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