Chapter 78

Chapter 78
I’m going to forget Lucien.
I’m going to forget Lucien.
I’m going to… I kept repeating it over and over as I packed my bag for the beach. He had been ghosting me again this week, and I was so done. Until Monday—today—I was going to the beach. To think I was supposed to go with Sarah, but she wasn’t taking my calls. She said she’d meet me there.

But her not picking up made me remember Lucien. He was just leading me on. He didn’t love me. He was just taking me for granted.

Why did he always do this? Why did he pull away just when I was on the verge of understanding him? It felt like trying to grasp smoke, like he was always just out of reach, leaving me fumbling in the dark with more questions than answers.

I tossed my phone onto the bed in frustration, running my hands through my hair as I tried to steady my breath. My fingers trembled, betraying the anxiety gnawing at the edges of my mind.

I needed to focus. I needed something to ground me before I lost myself in the spiraling thoughts of what Lucien’s evasiveness could mean.

Just then, my phone rang. I checked it—it was Mei, my classmate who used to hang out with Sarah and me.

“Hello,” I said when Mei picked up.

“Hello, my lover. Where are you? Are you still going to the beach?”

“Yeah,” I said. “My bags are already packed, but Sarah isn’t taking my calls at all.”

“That’s why I called,” Mei said.

“Uh-huh… do you know where she is?” I asked, still packing as I spoke. I zipped up my bag and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I was wearing a yellow crochet skirt with a matching crop top, a flower pinned to the side of my hair. My curls fell loosely around my face as I moved. I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself for a moment. I looked good—really good.

“What’s up?”

“I heard from Jordan that she saw Sarah going into Jacob’s apartment,” she said.

“Wait, what?” I froze. My heart skipped hard, the shock hitting me all at once. “Are you sure, Mei?”

“Yeah… but I’m not sure it’s anything though. Probably just text her.”

And then, suddenly, as if from nowhere, I heard it.

“Sarah.”

The voice was clear in my head, cutting through the fog of my thoughts. It was the same voice, the same inexplicable pull that had driven me to the garden that night when I’d found the wolfsbane. But this time, it was sharper—more urgent, more insistent.

“I will call you back, Mei,” I said quickly.

“Sarah!” the voice called again, and this time my heart stuttered. A cold sweat broke across my skin. I dropped my bag, my hand shaking as I reached for my phone.

Was this real? Or was I losing my mind? Either I was an open channel for something—some wolf slipping into my thoughts, planting seeds of confusion and dread—or I was genuinely losing my grip on reality. Neither option brought comfort.

I quickly dialed Sarah’s number, praying she would pick up and put my fears to rest. But the call went straight to voicemail.

“Hi, it’s Sarah, the prettiest blonde you know. Leave a message after the beep, and I’ll reply ASAP.”

Her cheerful voice only deepened the unease twisting in my chest.

“Sarah, where are you? I need to see you,” I blurted after the beep. But as soon as the message ended, panic returned. My hands were clammy as I redialed, but it went to voicemail again.

Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my bones—a deep, sinking certainty that wouldn’t let go.

Without thinking, I called a taxi and headed to Jacob’s apartment.

The ride felt like an eternity, every minute dragging on as I stared out the window, trying not to let my mind wander to dark places. But it was impossible. Every thought circled back to Lucien, to the cryptic words he’d left me with, and now to Sarah, who seemed to have vanished into thin air.

When I got to Jacob’s high-rise apartment building, I paid the driver hastily, barely waiting for my change before sprinting inside. The receptionist, who already knew me, let me in, and in the elevator ride up to his penthouse floor, my breath turned shallow. The walls seemed to close in on me as I fought the urge to scream.

When the elevator doors finally opened, I practically flew down the hallway. I didn’t know what had made me anxious, but I just hoped Sarah was safe.

If anything happened to her, I felt like it would be my fault. She had already been hurt once because of me.

But as I reached the door, I heard voices that made me freeze.