Page 52 of Cinder (MC Fables #2)

L ars

She’s gone.

It’s the first thing I’m aware of when I wake up alone, and it’s followed by a surge of adrenaline, although I don’t know why.

I just feel that something is wrong, and my instincts have never let me down before.

The clock reads one o’clock.

Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I check for a message from her but there’s none. Without hesitation, I call her, but it goes straight to voicemail.

I try again.

And then again.

The only thing that stops me ringing a fourth time is the idea that maybe Ella feels weirded out by what I confessed last night.

Is she afraid of me?

Pain twists in my stomach at the thought.

I would never hurt her.

I’d fucking fall on my sword for her.

Then what is it?

Did I read too much into it, and she woke up with second thoughts?

No. There was no regret in the way she made love to me last night.

Then where is she?

The alarm begins to build in my chest.

I dress quickly and grab my bike keys, my mind racing with different scenarios.

The clubhouse is quiet when I leave my room and hurry down the hallway.

“Hey, where you taking off to in such a hurry?” Belle asks me when I pass her on the stairs leading down to the foyer. She’s holding a glass of milk and a plate of cookies.

I don’t have time to explain.

Or any idea of what to explain, considering I don’t know what is going on .

“I’ll explain later,” I say.

“If it’s Ella you’re after, I saw her leave earlier.”

That stops me.

“You saw her?”

“Yeah, she caught a cab. I was up with Lucy because she’s teething and saw Ella climbing into a cab at the end of the driveway.”

She left.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” I give Belle a fleeting kiss before continuing down the stairs and down to the parking garage where my bike is. Sliding onto the beast, I kick up the stand and take off into the night, roaring through the darkness toward the Blue Lagoon Motel.