After ensuring she was safe, he tore through the estate, barking orders, shouting my name, searching every wing.
But I was already gone.
I don’t know how I escaped.
Fire roared in my ears, smoke shredding my throat, dizziness crashing over me in brutal waves. But something raw took control—instinct stripped bare.
I crawled.
Dragged myself forward inch by inch.
My fingers brushed against my bag. I grabbed it with shaking hands and clutched it to my chest like it was the last thing anchoring me to life.
A window nearby had cracked from the heat.
I hurled myself through it.
Glass ripped into my skin as I hit the lawn outside, rolling hard, gasping. My legs collapsed. My chest burned like it was on fire.
But I was alive.
I didn’t look back.
Some service corridor must’ve been untouched—or the fire simply hadn’t reached it yet. I barely remember. Just stumbling through darkness free of smoke, barely upright, until I found the rear exit.
Cold night air slammed into my face as I fell outside, coughing until my body shook violently.
No one saw me.
No one followed.
And I didn’t stop.
Not when my knees buckled. Not when I had to cling to street signs, brace against parked cars, drag myself forward step by step. I kept going because I knew—deep in my bones—that if I stopped, if they found me again, I wouldn’t survive a second time.
I vanished into the city.
Hours later, I boarded a flight bound for the Northern Territories.
Just before takeoff, my phone vibrated.
A message from Don Zachary.
[Stop playing games, Avery. I don’t have time for this.]
I stared at the screen, feeling absolutely nothing.
Then I powered the phone off, leaned back as the plane began to move—
and finally let the distance carry me away.
Zachary’s POV
[Tomorrow, ten in the morning. Nina has her prenatal appointment. You’ll accompany her. Schedule your annual health screening while you’re there.]
The message went unanswered.
Not that I expected anything different.
What I didn’t know—what no one bothered to tell me—was that Avery had already removed her SIM card, shut down the phone completely, and vanished. No forwarding address. No warning. No trail.
Just like that, she slipped out of my world.
The realization hit later, quietly, like the final echo of a door slamming shut behind someone who had no intention of ever returning. A sound you couldn’t undo. A sound that lingered.
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