Alex stepped out, a Covenant dagger in her white-knuckled grip.

The strained set to Alex’s face as she stepped into the hall and saw me was like stepping out into icy, winter rain. I knew it. In my bones, I knew it.

“Do you know where he is?” she asked, striding toward me. Every muscle in my body locked up. When I didn’t respond, she stopped in front of me. “Aiden just found Luke out of commission in the room we had Seth in, and I found Gable in the same condition in the living room. We can’t find Seth.”

“Oh God,” I whispered, leaning against the wall. I gave a little shake of my head, and it hit me fully then, what I already knew. The intensity behind the way he came to me. The heaviness in his voice. The reason he didn’t want to talk then. The softly whispered “I love you.” Oh God, what had he done? I lifted my head, meeting her gaze. “He didn’t hurt them.”

She nodded curtly. “Looks like he got hold of Solos’s blade, the one with the Pegasus blood on it. They weren’t hurt, but we need to find him. Do you know where he went?”

What I’d said hadn’t been a question, but Alex was wary—she had been wary of Seth the moment she set foot on Covenant University soil. So had Aiden, and Seth had seen that. None of that helped him, not when he got lost in his own head.

Pushing off the wall, I stepped around Alex. “He’s gone.”

“Yes.” She turned to me. “He’s—”

“He’s left.” I drew in a breath, but it got stuck and it expanded in my throat. It hurt as emotion crawled up. I took a step forward and stumbled as pressure sliced across my chest. “Oh God.”

Seth had really done it.

“Josie?” Alex put a hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”

Stepping away from her, I wheeled around and headed for the front door. Alex was hot on my heels as I reached the door and threw it open. I burst out onto the stone porch, coming to an abrupt halt as I scanned the circular driveway.

One of the vehicles was gone.

My hands fell open at my sides as I slowly shook my head. He’d really left, and with a vehicle he had hours on us, and I doubted he was planning to stay in Southern California.

“Dammit,” I heard someone say. Deacon? I had no idea when he’d gotten there. “He’s taken the damn SUV.”

Something cracked in my chest.

Pivoting around, I walked back into the house and I kept walking, even when Alex called out my name. I needed space. I needed a couple of minutes where I could think. I needed to be alone.