“I don’t know.” The thought of Boyle having any type of fascination with Isabelle made his blood run cold, but the demon’s words had made it sound as if he did.

“So maybe it is plausible Boyle snatched Stefan and took him beyond Gribben’s walls to kill him.”

“It’s possible.” Thomas paused. “But we’re going to operate on the assumption that Stefan tried to escape on his own for now and search every inch of Gribben.”

“You got it.”

From the corner of his eye, he watched Isabelle turn to look at him, her expression forlorn. The woman made him crazy. The thought of her being harmed made him crazier. Then, Isabelle turned and walked down the corridor. Thomas had to stop himself from following her.

He ripped his gaze from her retreating form. “Damn it all to hell.”

“We’re already there, boss,” came Adam’s flat voice from his left.

Thomas glanced at him, his jaw tight. “Anything new on your end?”

Adam shook his head. “But if Stefan’s still in Gribben, he’s not getting out.”

“Yeah.” He stared into the depths of the building. They’d been there for hours now and it wore on him, wore on all of them.

“What’s up?” Adam asked. “You don’t think he’s here?”

“My gut is saying no.”

“Isabelle thinks Boyle got him out.”

“We’ll know soon enough. No one can stay hidden for long in Gribben.” He debated asking and finally gave in. “Was Isabelle all right when you talked to her?”

Adam shrugged and glanced away. “She seemed kind of sad. Said you two weren’t working out. Said she was headed back to her condo in the city, felt like she was safer there. Safer from the demon or safer from you, I wasn’t quite sure which.”

Thomas went still, absorbing that information. “Did she say when she was leaving?”

“I had the impression she was leaving now. Too bad. You were a lot easier to deal with while you were getting laid.” On that note, Adam sauntered away.

So Isabelle had decided to leave the Coven in an effort to put some distance between them. Likely, she was afraid they were getting too close because he’d admitted he loved her.

The problem was he knew she loved him back. He sensed it every time she looked at him, spoke to him. He’d felt it downstairs in the corridor when she’d woken him up by running her fingers down his cheek over and over.

Isabelle was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him. She brought chaotic beauty into his existence. He brought stability and love to hers. No way was he going to let her run away from him. No way was he going to let her irrational fears ruin this for both of them.