NIKOLAI
Reaching the side of the building in seconds, my breath was ragged, and the jacket clutched in my hand tightly, like I was holding to Hunter himself. The bench where the woman said she had found the jacket sat in the far corner where the lights didn’t reach.
Only a dull spill of glow from the lit area brushed across the ground, leaving the rest swallowed in shadow. “Hunter?” My voice cracked under the strain, but there was no response. Just the crash of the ocean a few feet away, louder than before, as if the waves were answering me instead of him.
“Hunt!” I tried again, stepping closer as I forced my eyes to adjust to the darkness. But there was still nothing, no movement, no silhouette, not even the faintest sound of someone shifting or breathing.
Moving past the bench, I
