Chapter 126 DAWNING AUCTION
CHAOS.
I lost track of how many days it had been.
Time didn’t work the same way anymore. Hours blurred into each other, one miserable stretch of consciousness bleeding into the next. I’d wake up—if you could call it that—stare at the ceiling, and try to convince myself that what I’d done was necessary.
It never worked.
The apartment was a disaster. I’d stopped caring about that too. Empty takeout containers I never touched. Ashtrays overflowing. The curtains stayed drawn because I couldn’t stand the thought of daylight, of the world moving on like nothing had changed.
Like I hadn’t destroyed the one good thing in my pathetic existence.
My phone was still missing. I’d torn the apartment apart looking for it after Valtor left that day, but it was just out of sight enough that I’d given up.
I kept replaying different moments.
Not just the field.
The way she laughed when I said something stupid. The way she’d burrow into my side when she was cold. That little crease between her eyebrows when she was concentrating on something.
The way she’d looked at me in that resort bedroom, trust written across every feature, whispering that I wouldn’t hurt her.
And then I’d gone and proven her wrong in the worst possible way.
Some days I wondered if my father knew what he’d done when he gave me that ultimatum. If he understood that forcing me to push Merrielynn away was worse than just killing me outright.
Because that’s what this felt like.
A slow death.
Worse than when Lorelai died. Worse than watching my mother waste away.
Because Merrielynn was still out there, alive and breathing andhating me, and I had to live with knowing I’d put that hatred there myself.
Tonight something broke through the fog.
I don’t know what it was. Some shift in the air, maybe. Or just the realization that I couldn’t spend another night drowning in my own misery.
I needed to see her.
Just once. Just to know she was okay. That she hadn’t—
I couldn’t finish that thought.
The auction was tonight.
She’d be there. Had to be. She’d poured everything into making that event perfect.
I didn’t let myself think about what I’d do if I actually saw her. Didn’t plan what I’d say. I just grabbed my keys and left.
The drive to Pinnthorpe felt wrong. Every mile closer made my chest tighter, made it harder to breathe. Part of me wanted to turn around, to leave her alone like I was supposed to.
But I couldn’t.
I parked and sat there for a minute, staring at the building.
I got out before I could talk myself out of it.
The second I walked through those doors, I knew.
Something was very, very wrong.
People were clustered together, whisperingbetween themselves.Faculty members had that panicked look they get when something’s gone sideways and they’re scrambling for damage control.
And then I saw what they were all staring at.
The projectors.
Every single one of them.
My brain short-circuited.
Those photos.
Playing on a loop for the entire fucking school to see.
I just stood there, frozen, trying to make sense of what I was looking at.
This wasn’t possible.
Those photos weregone. I’d deleted them.
“What the fuck,” I heard myself say.
The shock gave way to something else. Something hot and vicious that made my hands curl into fists.
Who did this?
Because I sure as hell didn’t. Those files were deleted. So someone—
Someone had access to my phone.
My missingphone.
The realization hit me like a freight train, but Ihad to shove it aside. I’d deal with that later. Right now, I needed to find Merrielynn.
My eyes swept the room frantically. Too many people. Too many faces. I couldn’t find her anywhere.
Where was she?
Panic clawed up my throat.
Fuck.
I pushed through the crowd, not caring about the stares, the whispers. I needed to find someone who knew where she’d gone.
I spotted Emorie near the wall, phone pressed to her ear, looking like she was barely holding it together.
“Emorie,” I called out, closing the distance fast. “Where is she?”
She looked up, relief flickering across her face before worry crashed back in. “I don’t know. She’s gone, Chaos. She just—she ran out after the photos went up and I can’t find her anywhere.”
Gone.
The word made my stomach drop.
“What do you mean gone?Where would she—”
“Tobias went after her,” Emorie cut in quickly. “Maybe he found her.”
Before I could respond, Tobias appeared, slightly out of breath.“She’s not in the building,” he said immediately.
My jaw clenched. “Then where—”
“I saw her outside. With Valtor.”
Everything stopped.
“What?”
“He was leading her to his car,” Tobias continued, and I could see he was choosing his words carefully. “She got in. Juniper was driving.”
The world tilted sideways.
Valtor had her.
Valtor and Juniper had Merrielynn.
Every alarm bell in my head started screaming at once.
“Where did they go?” The words came out dangerous, barely controlled.
“I don’t know,” Tobias said, frustration clear in his voice. “They were already pulling out when I got there.”
I didn’t wait to hear more.
I turned and bolted for the exit, my heart slamming against my ribs.
Something heartbreaking was clicking into place.
Valtor.
He’d been at my apartment a few days ago. Came over, made himself at home like always.Went to my room. And after he left, my phone was gone.
The one with those photoslikelybacked up to the cloud.
“Fuck,” I breathed, shoving through the doors into the night.
Valtor stole my phone. Accessed the photos. Planned this whole fucking thing.
And now he had Merrielynn.
I’d pushed her away to keep her safe, and it hadn’t mattered at all.
“Cormac!” It was the headmaster’s voice."You will report here—”
“Not now,” I bit out, heading straight for my car.
The headmaster didn’t matter.
The school didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except finding Merrielynn before Valtor did something to her that I couldn’t fix.