76. (Luke POV)

I jolted awake, my heart hammering in my chest like a frenetic drumbeat. My senses screamed that something was wrong, dangerously wrong. Almost simultaneously, Clay sat up, barely avoiding my elbow.

"Lexi," I said, my voice thick with dread, eyes locking onto Clay's. He mirrored my concern, his eyes wide with alarm.

"Something's not right," he agreed, throwing off the covers. We both leapt out of bed, throwing on shirts and jogging to search the house.

Each room we burst into seemed to echo back our desperation, empty and devoid of Lexi's presence. My eyes darted from corner to corner, my lungs felt tight as if they were being squeezed by an invisible hand. I was overwhelmed by a sense of doom that was not just foreboding but visceral, a dark wave that seemed to pour over me, leaving me drenched in a cold sweat.

In our frenzied hunt, I found her phone on the nightstand, her purse dumped carelessly on the chair, and her keys still hanging by the door. My heart sank lower with each disc