MAXIMUS’S POV

“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?!”

My voice thundered through the office like a volcano about to erupt.

I could feel my blood boiling under my skin, my pulse hammering against my temples.

Lucien stood across from me, stiff and alert, but even he flinched at the roar in my voice.

“We went to her cabin like you ordered,” he said carefully, “but there wasn’t any sign of her. The place was completely empty.”

Empty.

Vanished.

Gone.

I felt something snap inside me—like a thread stretched too tight finally breaking apart.

My hands clenched on the edge of my desk until my knuckles ached. I forced...