Page 122 of Shattered Souls
I’m only half listening as I reach their vacant seats, turning on the spot but not finding anything out of the ordinary. They’re just… gone.
Staring down at my phone, I navigate to the app that enables me to track her phone. We all have it. Grayson insisted on it as a precaution, although I’ve never had to use it until now.
It says her location is still in the stadium, and I frown, zooming in on the blue dot. The relief nearly takes me to my knees when I realize she’s in the bathroom.
“It’s fine,” I tell Royce. “They’re in the bathroom. Aurora probably had to go.”
“Which one?” he barks, not sounding the least bit reassured.
“The one right outside the entrance to where you were sitting.” I climb the steps, intending to meet him there.
Standing in front of the bathroom, I knock on the door, calling Riley’s name through it. When I don’t get a response, I poke my head in, frowning when I find it empty. That relief I was feeling becomes acid in my stomach when I notice Riley’s phonesitting by the sink and her and Aurora’s belongings piled on the floor beneath it.
Fuck.Fuck.
Why is her phone here? Where isshe?
Grabbing it, I fist the device, surprised that the plastic doesn’t crack beneath my grip. The door slams open behind me, and I whirl as Royce storms into the bathroom.
He takes one look at the scene, and his expression turns lethal.
“She's gone, Royce,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “She's gone.”
“I don’t get why we’re still fucking here,” I snap.
Royce barely spares me a glance as he paces the length of the women’s bathroom, continuing his phone conversation with Dax.
“We know who has her.”
Royce’s glare is withering, only I don’t fucking care. We shouldn’t just be standing here twiddling our thumbs. We should be out there looking for her—heading back to that apartment to see if they’re there.
Grayson finally makes his grand entrance, striding into the bathroom with enough force that the door ricochets off the wall.
“What the fuck happened?” His fury is a match to the flame in an already gasoline-riddled room of frustration. Not bothering to wait for an explanation, he barrels into Royce, the momentum sending them both tumbling into the wall. Royce’s phone goes skittering across the floor into one of the stalls. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her!” Gray snarls, glowering at Royce like he could actually take him onand win.
“I was!” Royce shoves Grayson backward before standing straight. “Youwere the one who calledme. I stepped out to take your call because Riley was worried you were giving yourself alcohol poisoning all alone in your office.”
Teeth gritted, I see the flash of remorse in Gray’s eyes. “I wasn’t drinking. I went because something about the way Dad said he’d see me Monday made me think he was up to something. So I went to snoop around.”
“Hewasup to something,” I chime in as Royce ducks to retrieve his phone. “Just nothing to do with work.”
“Are we sure it’s my dad?” Grayson asks, swiping a hand through his hair and looking entirely ruffled in his suit from this morning.
“Who else would it be?” I question while Royce goes back to his conversation with Dax.
Grayson shrugs. “Lydia? How do we know she actually got on a plane and left?”
I had opened my mouth to argue, except then I snapped it shut, realizing he was right.
“Fuck,” I snarl instead, whirling to face the mirror. Leaning over the sink, I see my eyes are bloodshot, bags pronounced beneath my eyes. I’m fucking wrecked after giving that game my all to ensure we won. All because I wanted to win Aurora’s first game. Hanging my head, I close my eyes and remember their happy smiles every time I skated past. Aurora’s enthusiastic waves and her screaming my name.
We will find them.
We have to.
The alternative isn’t an option.
“Here,” Royce calls, and my spine snaps straight as he stalks over to me and Gray. He holds his phone out so we can all see, and presses play on a video clip. I swiftly realize it’s video footage of the stadium. Then, a moment later, when Riley andAurora come into view, content and oblivious as they enter this very bathroom, I realize it’s of the hallway right outside.
