Page 128 of Ruin Me Gently

Silas

Where are you?

I hit send and set off again, pressing harder on the accelerator, scanning the sidewalks, the bus stops, the crosswalks. But there was nothing. Not a goddamn trace.

The knot in my stomach climbed higher, coiling tight beneath my ribs, pressing against my lungs.

I tried calling her.

No answer.

I swore under my breath and tried again, switching hands on the wheel, the other clenching my phone so hard the glass creaked.

She was fine. She had to be fine. She probably—what? Forgot to charge her phone? Turned it off? Left it at work?

Then why couldn’t I breathe?

I was about to speed towards her house when I caught sight of a group of people clustered on the sidewalk, phones out, screens glowing in the dim light, brows furrowed as they watched something.

Fuck it.Desperate times called for desperate measures.

I swung the car toward the curb and rolled the window down. “Hey!” My voice came out sharp, cutting through the murmurs of the crowd. One guy turned around, brows raised.

A high-pitched scream of static rattled my skull.Christ. What was that? Were they filming a break-in?

“Have you seen a woman? Tall. About five-eleven. Long black hair, down to here,” I gestured roughly to my chest. “Probably wearing boots and a black coat?”

He shrugged. “Uh… dunno, man.”

Then—another voice. “That’s the guy off the news, right?”

My stomach twisted.What?

“Yeah,” someone else chimed in. “That Clark guy.”

I was out of the car, yanking my hood up before the name even fully hit me, my pulse hammering, instinct snapping into place.

Clark.

No.

A sharp shriek cut from just beyond the crowd.

My blood turned to ice. It was happening again. It was happening again.

No. No. No.

“Lilith!”

The small crowd wasn’t moving. They were watching. Fucking watching. Like this was some kind of entertainment for them. Like it wasn’t real. Likeshewasn’t real.

I detonated. “Fucking move! Do something! Don’t just film it!” I tore through them, the ringing growing louder with every step.

Lilith was curled up on the cold, wet ground, not moving.

Andhim.His chest heaved as he towered over her like a predator, foot pulled back, ready to strike.

The sound that tore from my chest wasn’t human as I sprinted across the slick concrete.

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