I woke up and Sienna was gone.
My instincts didn't even register that she had left my side. Was it because I was exhausted—or because I finally felt at peace? It doesn't matter now. Panic crashed into me all at once.
Where has she gone?
Did mating with her not work?
Am I not enough for what she's searching for?
I felt her—felt that she was satisfied, real, present. So why was she gone?
Did she return to Vesper… or did Vesper take her?
My thoughts spiraled. How could I lose her when she was already in my arms?
I moved fast, retracing my path back toward Xerxes. I hid among the willow trees and saw them—Aron, Rocco, and Talon—confronting Vesper, who had somehow survived the rocks I buried him under.
"Where is Sienna?" Aron demanded.
"I don't know," Vesper said, wounded but smug. "Can't you see I'm injured? You're already too late. The wolf took her from me."
Aron stepped forward, ready to strike, but Vesper lifted his hand.
"Why attack me? I never hurt Sienna. I comforted her. I healed her broken heart. I'm just like all of you—a contender for her heart. We bonded, so treat me accordingly."
What a disgusting excuse for a beast.
"I don't believe you," Aron snapped. "Your kind killed Kowra."
"You shouldn't stand among us if you can't move on from your past lover," Vesper replied coolly. "Tell me who killed her, and I'll hand him to you myself."
"I moved on," Aron said through clenched teeth. "I just want justice."
I leaned against a tree, rubbing my forehead. Sienna hadn't returned to him. Relief and terror hit me at the same time.
Then where was she?
From a distance, I heard Rocco speak. "If the snake's telling the truth, then she must've gone back to Juno."
Talon flew off instantly. Rocco followed. I searched the marsh, the banks, every shadowed path—but found nothing.
I returned to Juno with a dying hope that she would appear there on her own.
The kings were already waiting.
"Gideon," Aron said sharply, "the snake claims you took her. How did you find her so fast? Where is she?"
"I did rescue her," I said. "But she ran. I searched everywhere. I couldn't find her."
My chest burned. I thought she forgave me. I thought bonding with her would make her stay. So why did she leave without a word?
Am I just another king she passed through?
My mind replayed the moment I rejected her—when she told me she had no control. If Eriu wasn't part of her… would she have chosen only me?
Nori suddenly stepped forward.
"Your majesties… maybe she went back to her refuge."
Her refuge.
The word alone shattered something in me. She had a place that wasn't any of ours.
We followed Nori into Sylva, to the crossing between river and deep forest, where vines hung thick like curtains and light barely touched the ground.
"We passed here so many times," Talon said. "How did we miss this?"
"She hides it," Nori replied, pulling the vines aside.
Inside was a world she built herself—waterfall mist, wildflowers, linen cloth, strange tools, pieces of another life. Her life.
We called for her.
Nothing.
We stepped inside carefully. Everything about this place told me something I didn't want to admit—if she chose me, would she even stay when the time came for her to return to her world?
Pain punched through me.
From the beginning, there was never a future for us. The very thing that bound us was the thing tearing her apart.
I needed her to live—even if it meant without me.
"She probably doesn't want to be found," I said quietly. "I'll return to Juno and wait. Nori, stay here. If she comes back, tell us."
Rocco nodded and handed Nori a glowing conch. "Blow this if she returns."
I turned away.
This time, I wouldn't chase her.
I would wait.