Chapter 38

Raphael~

It was a race against time. The goddess must have been raining curses on all of us because as soon as we prepared to get Lucianne back, it began to rain. And it was raining heavily.

She would never want to see me after what I had put her through, but we would get to that point later. Once she was out of the woods, Reiner would not be able to get to her.

"Are we all set?" Lance asked, tucking a blade into his belt.

I nodded, the weight of my own weapons feeling light compared to the guilt I felt. "Let's move," I said. The rain pounded against us as we left the castle, our cloaks quickly becoming soaked and heavy. Each step felt like a penance, a small price to pay for the chance to right the wrongs I had inflicted upon her. I had been such a fucking fool.

As we plunged into the dense woods, the rain obscured our vision and made the ground treacherous. Branches reached out like skeletal hands, scratching and clawing at us as we pushed through. My mind spiraled with all the horrible things I had called her, how she wept inconsolably, how her face had crumbled with each blade I slid between her ribs with my words. How I had refused to listen to her no matter how hard she tried to get me to listen. How I had her thrown in a dungeon. My stomach lurched with each memory.

Her tear-streaked face haunted me, her eyes wide with disbelief and hurt as I hurled accusations at her. "You are a bane..." I had screamed with so much hatred, my voice echoing off the stone walls of the room. Her silence haunted me.

But she had only looked at me, her lips trembling as if she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. I remembered the way she had crumpled to the ground when the guards dragged her away, the way she had clung to the hope that I would come to my senses. Yet, I had been blinded by anger and betrayal, too consumed by my own pain to see the truth.

"Keep your eyes open," Lance shouted over the roar of the storm. "We can't afford to miss any signs of her."

We reached the cabin with the rain still falling heavily, the windows rattling in the storm's fury. My heart pounded as we approached, fear and hope warring within me. But the cabin was empty. Lucianne was not there. But that could not be possible.

"Lucianne!" I called out, my voice hoarse with desperation. "Lucianne, where are you?"

The echo of my own voice mocked me in the silence that followed. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, my eyes scanning the dark interior.

Knox picked up her scent fast. "She was here not too long ago," he informed.

"Check every corner," I ordered my throat tight. "She has to be here somewhere." I tried to think past my desperation but my thoughts were in a haze.

Lance and Logan spread out, tearing through the small cabin in a frantic search. Drawers were yanked open, cupboards emptied, and every shadowy nook was scrutinized. My heart sank deeper with each passing moment, each space that confirmed our worst fears.

"Lance, anything?" I called out, my voice cracking.

"Nothing," he replied, frustration and worry etched into his features. "She's not here."

"Damn it!" I slammed my fist against the wall, the pain a welcome distraction from the growing dread. "She should be here," I growled in frustration.

"Lucianne!" Logan yelled, his voice echoing in the storm. "Lucianne, please answer us!"

The rain continued to pound against the roof, the wind howling as if in sympathy with our despair. The oppressive sound filled the cabin, amplifying the silence that followed our calls. My chest tightened with each unanswered cry, the weight of my guilt almost unbearable.

Logan looked around, analyzing. "It looks like someone left in a hurry. She must have tried to leave," he said.

"We need to check outside," Lance suggested, his voice grim. "She might have left a trace behind."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Yes, let's go."

We stepped back out into the storm, the rain quickly drenching us again. The ground around the cabin was churned into mud, our footprints mingling with older ones that led away from the door. My heart leaped as I saw a small, familiar dagger lying in the mud. It was hers. She had been here.

"Over here!" Lance called out, holding up a piece of fabric that had snagged on a branch. We followed the trail of discarded belongings, each item tightening the knot of dread in my chest. We would find her. She was close.

"Lucianne!" I shouted again, the wind stealing my words. "Where are you?"

We moved as one, a desperate team driven by the need to find her before it was too late. The rain showed no sign of letting up, turning the forest floor into a slippery, treacherous path. I scanned the ground, searching for any sign of her passage, any clue that might lead us to her.

"Here," Lance said, pointing to a footprint partially filled with water. "She was heading this way."

We followed the trail, our eyes peeled for any sign of her. The rain made it difficult to see, but we moved on. She was in danger. With that bastard free, he would find her and...

We reached the edge of a steep drop. My heart sank as I looked over the precipice, the stormy abyss below swallowing any hope I had left. The ground was disturbed, footprints leading to the edge.

"She was here," Knox growled.

"No..." I whispered, the word torn from me as if it were my very soul. "No!"

The realization hit us all at once. Lucianne had jumped. She had been so desperate, so terrified, that she had chosen to face the unknown depths rather than be caught by her pursuers or return to the nightmare I had created for her.

My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground, clutching at the wet earth. "Lucianne," I screamed, the rain mixing with my tears. What had I fucking done? I had saved her from one monster, just to turn into one and finish what Jameson had been unable to manage.

Lance and Logan stood in stunned silence. The rain continued to fall, a relentless torrent mirrored the sorrow and regret that filled us. Logan punched a tree in my periphery, kicking it and hitting it, as though it would be enough. But I knew death was not the kind to show mercy.

"We will find her," Lance said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We will not give up." But there was barely any conviction in his voice.

But I could barely hear him over the storm and my grief. I knew I had lost her, and with her, any chance of redemption. As the rain fell and the thunder roared, for the first time since I watched my mother and siblings get slaughtered, I wept.