Chapter 0695

Nina

Luke's eyebrows drew together at the mention of a portal.

He shook his head. "I don't think it could be a portal," he said, his voice low so as not to be overheard. "Portals are only able to be opened in places like Mountainview, where the veil between realms is thin."

"What's to say the veil isn't thin here?" I asked. I thought back on my first visit to this city with Enzo, when I had noticed a strange woman in the crowd. Then there was that so-called fortune teller, too.

"There should only be thin spots within thousands and thousands of miles of one another," Luke replied thoughtfully." It just wouldn't make sense for there to be one here."

I furrowed my brow as my thoughts raced wildly. "If Enzo really was taken hostage somehow, though..." I shivered, unable to give voice to the dark possibilities that were now swirling through my mind.

Luke's fists clenched at his sides. "You're right. We don't fully grasp what kind of danger he could be facing yet. Let's keep our minds open to any possibilities, but I think we should start here. Let's try to look at that clip of Enzo again. Maybe we can pick something up that we missed before."

I nodded. We returned to the concierge, who was now clearly getting annoyed with us. She set her notebook down with a sigh, meeting our gazes. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, but is there any way we could take another look at that CCTV footage again?" I asked. “ We'd really appreciate it."

The concierge sighed again. "Look," she said, "I understand your predicament, I really do. But I've got a job to do, too. I've already broken the rules twice by showing you that footage and letting you into the room, so..."

Luke and I exchanged looks. "Alright," I said, taking a step back. "Sorry for bothering you."

least," the concierge said gently. "But I'm afraid that's all I can offer

the permission

Luke and I scoured every inch of the hotel premises; we questioned various staff members, and even

huff as he flipped to the footage on his computer screen.

down the hall with Mila. My heart clenched at the sight. He had his arm looped around her waist, and was leaning in to say something to her. She giggled, running her finger along

keep watching. Tears burned behind my

it, just as my eyes were flickering curiously back to the screen. Enzo stumbled. It was subtle, but it

said. "Go

security guard did as I said. And there it was: Enzo's foot catching beneath him, his body swaying, a glazed look in his eyes, and then something flashing in Mila's gaze something almost akin to desperation... It happened so

was wrong. Terribly

I asked. A still frame of Enzo, mid-stumble, popped

irises, his usually sturdy

allow him to become so vulnerable

slipped out of the room, down the hallway where we could speak more

to him," I whispered as certainty solidified like ice in my gut. "I'm sure of it." Luke nodded slowly as we rounded the corner. "Yeah, something wasn't right about that," he

out a low groan. Luke was right; we had a pretty good idea now that something was off about Enzo's behavior, but we'd still hit a dead end.

importantly, exactly who or

there are some clues in the hallway that we missed." I nodded, and together we made our way up the stairs to the second floor, then down

It occurred to me then how crazy we probably seemed, but I didn't care. Something had happened to my husband, and Mila was behind it. I was sure of it. Suddenly, just as we were about to give up on our search and just go to the police, an adjacent hotel room cracked open. An elderly couple peered out curiously, the woman's eyes lingering on

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