Aria’s POV
It was the third day.
Three days since Klaus’s voice had last reached me, since the last shudder of warmth through our bond before it dimmed into silence. He had warned me this would happen—that the mountains of Europe would swallow signals, that their mission would push them into the dark—but knowing it didn’t make the ache any less sharp.
Every morning since, I’d woken hoping for some sign. A call. A flicker through the mate-bond. Anything. Instead, silence pressed around me like a second skin.
I couldn’t keep moping.
At breakfast, the smell of buttered bread and fried eggs filled the dining room, but the mood was subdued. Everyone pushed food around their plates instead of eating. Mandy yawned as she poured herself tea, dark circles beneath her eyes.
“I need to stop doi
