CHAPTER 203

Leon stood in front of me, his body rigid as he scanned the water, searching for any sign of Justin. The splashes had stopped, but the tension in the air remained thick, suffocating.

I clung to him, my fingers digging into his arm as fear gripped me. My eyes stayed locked on the restless sea, waiting—dreading—what might emerge. The waves lapped at the rocky shore, cold and indifferent to the chaos they had witnessed.

Jack knelt by the edge. “I don’t see anything,” he muttered, his voice a low growl.

“That’s impossible,” Leon snapped, his jaw tight with frustration. “He fell right here. He couldn’t have just disappeared.”

I wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe Justin was gone—finally, irreversibly gone—but something about the stillness of the sea gnawed at me. No body, no blood, no sign of him floating in the water. It didn’t make sense.

“What if...” I hesitated, my voice trembling. “What if he swam away? What if he—”

“No,” Leon said, cutting me off sharply. His eyes never left