Page 64 of Forbidden Mischief
Alice goes still. “What does that mean?”
He pulls out his phone. “Good ol’ technology,” he mutters. “The car’s near the grocery store. Northern end of town.”
“I sent him there,” Alice whispers, her voice trembling. “I just wanted vanilla ice cream… with sprinkles, caramel, cherries, cookie dough bites… oh, and pickles.” She’s rambling now, blinking fast, like if she keeps talking she won’t start crying.
“Alice!” my dad snaps. “He’s going to be fine. We know he’s alive, that's what matters, right? We’ll get our boy back.”
“I’m going,” I say, already halfway to the door.
“No,” Dad says, voice hard.
“Youhaveto let me?—”
“No, Zayne. You’re too worked up. You can barely stand.”
“Ihave to find him.You don’t understand—this feeling—” My voice breaks again, the raw fear of it catching in my throat. “It’s like I’m breaking. I can’t breathe without him.”
Alice nods slowly, rising. “That mark won't let him rest until he sees Asher with his own eyes.”
Dad hesitates. His jaw flexes. Then he grabs his keys and hands them to me.
“You’re not going alone,” he says. “We go together. I’ll drive. You focus. If he’s in danger, we’ll handle it.”
Alice’s hands tremble as she hands him the keys.
Mine do the same as I head outside to the SUV—not from weakness, but adrenaline, magic, and love.
Because this isn’t just some casual hookup.
This is the real thing. The cosmic, terrifying, fate-sealed kind of love.
And it’s tethered to my skin, to my soul.
And right now, it’s in pain.
I will tear apart every tree in the goddamn forest if I have to.
Asher, I’m coming.
CHAPTER 25
ASHER
Throbbing in my head forces me awake. My eyes feel heavy, my body groggy. What the hell happened?
When I open my eyes, I’m met with black.
Going to the store. Getting food. Coming out to find my dad in the parking lot.
It all comes back.
“Fuck,” I groan as my head spins, my hands pressing against my eyes as I fall back to the ground.
It’s cold in here, wherever here is. And smells of dirt and mold, making my nose run.
I want to say I can’t believe my father would do something like this, but really, I can.
He didn’t have control over something he wanted to control, and found a way to get it.
