Chapter 129

** Paige’s POV ** The cabin is quiet except for the soft hum of my laptop. I’ve been staring at the same line of text for at least five minutes, pretending to work while my mind keeps wandering to the patrol. Ryder and Parker are out with the new enforcers, and I have an uneasy feeling about it. I glance toward the window, where the trees sway gently in the moonlight. Everything looks calm and still. Then it hits me. It’s subtle at first, like someone brushing a cold fingertip along the back of my neck. The tiny hairs on my arms stand up. My heart stutters. The bond that usually thrums steadily in my chest flickers, and then goes silent. “Ryder?” I whisper, even though I know he can’t hear me out loud. I reach for him through the bond, the way I always do when he’s not near me, but this time, there’s no warmth, no pulse of his presence pushing back. Just emptiness. The air leaves my lungs all at once. No. I try again, harder this time, trying with everything I have to open the mind-lin