79

Alexander’s POV

My world had been torn apart, unraveling like threads slipping through my fingers. The absence of Sophia was a void that gnawed at my insides, an ache that refused to be ignored. Anger roared within me, a fiery tempest that threatened to consume everything in its path. My voice was a command, an eruption of pent-up frustration that reverberated through the shadow city.

"Lock down the city," I ordered, my words laced with an intensity that mirrored the storm within. "No one gets in or out until we find her."

The chaos that ensued was a reflection of my own turmoil. The city, once a bastion of order, had descended into anarchy as my orders were carried out. I paced, my mind racing, my heart pounding, as I tried to make sense of it all. Sophia had vanished, stolen away from me, and the fury of that loss was a fire that consumed reason.

"Cousin, I'm sorry about that."

Emilia's presence was a flicker in the corner of my vision, her casual demeanor a sharp contrast to the tu