Twice Taken: 15. The Hunt Begins

Elena awoke to the soft hum of the city outside, the morning light spilling across the bedroom in muted gold. Max was already gone, the bed cool beside her, his side untouched, as if he had never been there. The silence was almost deafening, and for a moment, panic clawed at her chest.

Then she remembered. The blackmailer. The intrusion. The threat.

Her phone buzzed—a text from an unknown number, though this one was different: “You’re awake. Good. Today begins a very interesting game. Play wisely.”

Her stomach dropped. The warning was clear, the stakes higher than ever. Whoever this was had moved beyond mere intimidation; they were orchestrating something. She tried to shake off the chill curling around her spine, forcing herself to breathe.

Max returned not long after, dressed sharply in a dark suit, but his eyes were hard, calculating. The incident from the night before had transformed him. He moved with a precision Elena had rarely seen, checking the locks, scann