Chapter 420

The engine roared as Nathaniel Blackwood slammed his foot on the accelerator. The sleek black car tore through the night, heading straight for the dense woods outside Newport City.

Eleanor Whitmore's dinner conversation had sparked his memory. The Kingsley family cemetery had treacherous terrain and perpetual fog. A cold dread settled in his chest at the possibility Isabella might be trapped there.

The odds were slim, but he couldn't shake the unease. He needed to see for himself.

Headlights cut through the darkness like twin blades. Nathaniel's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, his piercing gaze scanning the shadowy landscape as he called out.

"Isabella!"

Silence swallowed his voice, broken only by the startled flutter of nocturnal birds. When he reached the spot where he'd abandoned her earlier, he threw open the car door.

"Vivian Lockhart! Where the hell are you?" His shout echoed through the trees, raw with urgency.

Only the mocking caw of a raven answered.

Nathaniel clenched his jaw. This was ridiculous. She was probably safe in her penthouse, curled under silk sheets while he played the fool in this godforsaken forest.

'Three more tries,' he told himself. 'Then I'm done with this madness.'

"Last chance, Lockhart! Answer me or I'm leaving!"

At the cliff's base, Isabella drifted in and out of consciousness. Pain and exhaustion had drained her. Hunger gnawed at her insides like a living thing.

Then - a voice. Nathaniel's voice.

Her first instinct was relief. Then pride kicked in. Being rescued by him? Unbearable. She'd never hear the end of it.

She remained stubbornly silent until his final ultimatum. Then came the softest, most reluctant cough she could muster.

Nathaniel froze. "Is that you? Where are you?"

The darkness and tangled undergrowth made navigation impossible. Isabella coughed again, louder this time.

"Don't move!" Nathaniel's voice sharpened. "I'm coming!"

She heard rustling, then panic seized her. "Wait, you idiot-"

Too late. A crashing sound, then a heavy thud as Nathaniel tumbled down the slope.

Isabella barely rolled aside in time. "Christ! Were you trying to kill us both?" Her heart hammered against her ribs.

Her would-be savior now lay in a heap beside her. Typical.

She peered through the gloom. "Blackwood? You alive?"

A groan. "Unfortunately."