Damon's POV
Aria didn't stop.
I reached for the mate bond. Aria!
There was nothing.
I pushed harder. Aria, please.
There was silence. It was as though the bond had never existed, as though I had imagined every moment of it. It felt like reaching for a hand that had never been there to begin with.
Rhein whimpered inside me. We need to go after them. We need to bring back our mate.
I ran. A vampire turned and struck me hard enough to send me crashing against a tree trunk. Pain shot through my ribs, but I forced myself upright. Another vampire came at me. I caught it, threw it aside, and kept running. I broke through the tree line.
There was no one there. They were gone. So was she.
I stood there in the darkness, breathing heavily, staring into the forest as if I could somehow force
