Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

FIONN

“Good morning, little rabbit.” I groan, stretching my limbs, a grin curling over my face at the thought of doing what we did last night all over again.

She doesn’t say anything, and when I open my eyes, I realize why.

The bed is empty.

My pulse quickens, and I rise to a seated position, staring down at what I was holding. Instead of her, I was hugging a damn pillow.

“Fuck!” Rushing to my feet, I look around my suite, running into the shower, not finding her there.

She probably went back to her own room.

Grabbing a clean pair of boxers, I slip into them and throw on some sweats, running a hand down my face as I head toward the door separating our rooms.

But it’s locked. She’s definitely there.

“Emily? Wanna get breakfast?”

I knock once. Twice. But no one comes to the door.

“Fucking hell.” With the universal keycard in hand, I open the door and walk right in.

As soon as I do, my rage pummels through my blood.

The room is empty. And her luggage? It’s gone.

“What the hell?” I open a drawer, the one she put her swimsuit into, and find her clothes gone.

She left. Why the fuck would she do that?

“God damn it.” I hurry toward the exit, and as I do, I notice a piece of paper on the nightstand.

It’s in my hand in seconds.

When I read her words, there’s no doubt that she’s gone.

She fucking left me.

I’m sorry, Fionn.

But we knew this was nothing more than a one-night stand.

Thank you for everything. I’ll never forget you.

Emily

“Fuuuck!” I crumple up the piece of paper in my palm and stuff it into my pocket, stalking out of the room toward the security office.

When I make it to the lobby, I find my brothers there with Devlin, my baby sister, Eriu’s, husband.

Not even saying hello, I march past them.

“What made you angry as shit this morning?” Cillian calls out, trying to get my attention. “And where’s your shirt?”

He chuckles while I shut my eyes, curling a fist. I’m so not in the fucking mood.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Tynan calls as I turn to face them. “You sure as hell rushed out of the wedding pretty quickly, and we never saw you again.”

“Leave him the bloody hell alone,” Devlin says in his heavy Irish drawl. “She still in your bed? Gonna get her some breakfast?” He smirks.

“That’s husband material right there.” Cillian has another laugh at my expense.

“Speaking of husbands…” Tynan starts to get up. “I gotta get my wife some coffee before she chews my head off for being slow.” He grins, like the thought is pleasing.

I don’t crack a smile, and they definitely notice from the narrowed expressions on their faces. Usually I’m the one who’s cracking jokes, but not this time.

I can’t believe she’s gone. I thought we had a connection, but she just fucking left like it meant nothing.

I need to find her.

“She’s gone.” My jaw clenches.

That gets even more of their attention.

Tynan’s brows crease. “Where?”

“How the hell do I know? She left while I was sleeping.”

I’m so damn pissed at myself for not waking up.

“I’m heading toward security to look at cameras to see what time she sneaked out. Maybe I can still catch her at the airport.”

Getting off the island isn’t that easy. She’d need to catch a ferry first.

“You did always sleep like a log.” Cillian snickers.

Devlin smacks him on the chest. “Read the room, man.”

He raises his hands in apology. “Is her phone turned off? Can we track it?”

“Don’t have her number.”

“Oh, come on,” Cillian scoffs. “Why the hell not?”

Definitely feel like an idiot. Don’t need him reminding me.

“Things happened fast. Didn’t have time.”

“Got it.” He smirks. “What’s her name?”

“Emily Daniels, and she lives in Boston. That’s all I know.”

“We can work with that.” Tynan slaps me on the shoulder. “Let me text Elara that I’ll be a bit late.”

“No, go. This is your wedding weekend. You don’t have to be stuck with my shit.”

But he’s already got his phone out, typing to his new wife.

He laughs. “Elara said you’re an idiot.”

Groaning, I run a hand through my hair. “Tell her I already know that.”

That’s what I get for growing attached to a girl I had no business sleeping with.

Maybe I should forget her. Let this go. She’s not right for me.

But the thought of never seeing her again, someone else having what I’ve deemed as mine… I can’t live with that.

My fingers tighten into fists. Her boyfriend stayed here. All I need to do is find him and get her number and address.

“Come on,” Tynan says. “Let’s see what we can get from the security cams.”

We start for the back of the hotel, finding the head IT guy before a set of computers typing some shit.

He glances up, scratching the grays at his sides. “Sirs, what can I do for you?”

“Move,” I demand.

His eyes expand as he gets to his feet, letting me have at the computer.

When I find the boyfriend’s info, I snap a picture of it before going through the security cams from last night.

Moments later, I find her.

Four a.m. She left at four in the damn morning so I wouldn’t see it. Because she knew I’d stop her.

Her eyes scan the hallway as though she’s afraid of getting caught. And for a moment, she glances at the security camera, and I freeze it.

“A flight to Boston left here an hour ago at eight a.m.” Tynan’s voice only infuriates me.

When he clasps my shoulder, I fling it away.

Tracing her face with a finger, I remember how much she trusted me with her body last night. I know it took a lot for her, but she trusted me anyway. That meant something to me.

Switching screens, I type in her boyfriend’s name and number, and after a few minutes, I have a face.

“What the hell?” Cillian mutters behind me. “That’s not him.”

“No. It’s not.” My chest tightens, heaving with fucking rage like I’ve never felt before.

He used a different name.

Growling, I slam a fist to the top of the desk. “Gonna need to look up every Emily Daniels in Boston, assuming she didn’t lie to me about that too, and run her through facial recognition once we get back home.”

One way or another, I’m gonna find you, little rabbit, and I’m gonna punish you for this.

AMARA

Wiping a tear from my eye, I press my face against the window of the plane, finally in the air and able to breathe easier.

I hated just leaving him like that, but I had no choice. I didn’t want him to stop me.

There’s no way he’ll be able to find me. He doesn’t know my name. He has nothing, except Xander. But Xander never uses his real name when he books hotels. He’s crazy secretive about people knowing his identity, and I’m pretty sure he paid for the room with his father’s business card.

When I shut my eyes, Fionn is there, those green eyes searching mine as though reaching into my soul.

It’s stupid how much I liked him after knowing him for a few hours. There was something there. Something tangible and real. It held potential. I know it did.

But it’s gone now. And my heart is broken.

He’ll wake up soon, if he hasn’t already, and find my note. I wonder if his heart will break too.

I don’t want it to. He’s a good man. I’m sure he’ll get over it. Any woman would be happy to take his pain away.

Me? Well, I’ll be thinking about him long after I get home. Hanging on to every moment we had together because it was something incredible.

Invisible Amara. That’s how I’ve always felt. But with him, I wasn’t invisible at all.

He saw me. Really saw.

The back of my throat stings, but I ignore it, taking my soda and drinking a few gulps.

Maybe if I sleep, I’ll feel better.

With a sigh, I shut my eyes and fall into darkness, unsure what’s waiting for me on the other side.

“Look!”

A little girl with eyes that look like mine grins at a woman. Her face is blurred, but the baby girl this toddler is holding is clear as day.

Her little mouth pinches and she coos, grabbing the toddler’s finger.

“Look, she loves me.” Her eyes round with excitement and love. So much love, I can feel it.

“Yes, she does, sweetheart.”

The woman doesn’t say the child’s name, but she’s me. I know she is. Everything about her feels familiar.

But the newborn? I don’t know who she is.

The baby starts to cry, but the little girl shushes her, calmly rocking her as she smiles. “Don’t cry.”

But as she continues to rock her, the baby flickers, like she’s withering away on a television screen.

“Mommy?” Terror fills the child’s voice.

My voice.

“Mommy! Help!” She rocks her faster. “Don’t go! Please! Mommy, help me!”

The girl wails, but the woman is gone now, the baby in her arms slowly disappearing.

Her legs.

Her chest.

Like in slow motion.

Until her face is gone too.

The child screams, her body trembling, tears leaking out of her eyes.

The room is now empty. Black.

And soon enough, the girl…she disappears too.

Gasping, I startle awake.

The woman next to me gives me an annoyed look.

I clutch my chest, my heart beating frantically.

That dream, it’s back. It’s been weeks since I’ve had it. Why now?

I hate it. Every time it comes, it scares me, and I don’t know why. It started when I was maybe ten. Like out of nowhere. I’d have the same dream a few times a week.

I was happy when it stopped a few months ago, and I thought it was over.

Clearly I was fooling myself.

I still can’t make sense of it. I’ve asked my mother, but she tells me it’s just a dream. Means nothing. Yet I have this sense that it somehow does. Like it’s telling me something.

But what? What does it mean? That I’m losing myself? That I have no one to care about me?

I already knew all that.

Maybe it’s some kind of sign that I should look for my father. That I’m missing some connection to my past or something.

I don’t know, but once I get home, I intend to find him. To find what’s missing.

Maybe that’ll help me stop thinking about the man I left back on that island and all the things we could’ve had.