"Queen." I felt a hand shake my shoulder and I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. My eyes landed on Cleo standing above me with a worried expression on her face as she held her phone up to her ear. "I'm sorry to wake you, but it's an emergency."

"What's going on?" I yawned, sitting up on the couch. I winced as my head ached from all the crying I did earlier and looked up at Cleo.

"Okay, we'll be there in a bit," she said into the phone. When she hung up, she look down at me and gave me an apologetic smile. "I know you're mad at him and he's an asshole for breaking up with you like that..."

"What's going on, Cleo?"

"Syn is missing," she said.

"What do you mean missing?" I questioned, my voice full of concern. How could someone like him just be missing?

"Xavier and Caspian went to get drinks with him and he was super drunk. They said he left to use the bathroom and never came back," she replied. "We have to meet them at the palace so I can do a location spell. Considering the circumstance, I understand if you don't want to go...I can do it on my own and we'll try to find an item-"

"I want to help." I stood up. As angry and heartbroken as I was, I was still in love with him. It'd kill me to see something bad happen to him.

"Okay, let's get dressed and I'll make a portal to the palace."
I nodded, taking a deep breath as Cleo rubbed my shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find him and get a hair sample so I can make a voodoo doll for you."

"Girl."

꧁꧂

Cleo locked arms with me as we stepped through the palace, and I shivered as the cool wind hit me. We locked eyes with the guards and they stepped aside to let us in. I relaxed as we were greeted with the warmth in the halls and I led Cleo to the dining room where everyone was.

"This place is beautiful," Cleo said in astonishment as she looked around. Her face was almost identical to the one I made when I first arrived. If only she knew what living here truly felt like though- how the halls looked at night and how it felt to feel a breeze without seeing any open windows nearby.

Terrifying.

"It's right here." I led her into the dining room where Xavier, Caspian, and Genesis were gathered, discussing possibilities of where he could be. Their heads lifted as Cleo and I walked in, and Genesis rushed over to me.

"Hey." She gave me a hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be alright when we find him." I let out a breath.

"Did he tell you anywhere he might be going?"

"Well..." I looked at Cleo who gently squeezed my arm, encouraging me to tell them what happened and I sighed. "he actually broke up with me a few hours ago, so I have no idea where he is."

"The two of you broke up?" Xavier asked, making me nod in response. "No wonder he was acting so strange tonight. I've never seen him drunk before."

"Why did the two of your break up?" Gen said.

"I don't know," I whispered. "He didn't explain. I tried calling but everything went to voicemail. I knew we had a rough day, but I didn't think..." A lump in my throat rose and I shook my head softly, not able to continue my sentence. I couldn't believe we were just done like that.

"That umm," she frowned, "that doesn't sound like, Syn. Earlier tonight he seemed so- oh no!" She gasped. "Before he left the restaurant he tried to help me clean and I...I was so mean. I was tired from everything that happened today and I told him to leave. Do you think that may have contributed to anything?" She asked as her eyes watered. "I didn't mean for him to actually leave..." her voice broke.

"Gen, I don't think you had anything to do with it." I pulled her into a hug. "We'll find him and everything will be fine."

"I hope so." She sniffled. "I can't lose him."

Neither can I.

"Everyone stop crying, please," Xavier requested, his usually cheery personality completely gone and replaced with seriousness. "We need to get to work and find something we can use to track him. Queen, Genesis...you both know Syn to some degree so I'll leave that up to the both of you while I try track his phone. Just something that...means something to him? Try your best. His life may depend on it."

We nodded and Genesis rushed out of the room. "Do you want me to come with you?" Cleo asked. I nodded and we walked out of the dining room to the room Syn and I shared. When I pushed the door open, I frowned at the cleanliness. Recently, he has stopped being so obsessive in his cleaning habits, but the room was spotless. Not an item was out of place and the smell of bleach and lemon-scented disinfectant was strong.

I thought back to hours ago when we left and my brows furrowed at the start difference. My clothes were all over the floor as I tried to find something to wear, and the bed was a mess. He had to have been here recently...

I let go of Cleo as I walked deeper into the room to get a better look around. I wondered what inspired him to clean up so much after the dinner. "Damn, this place is clean as fuck," Cleo said in awe. "Y'all need to give me the number of your maid because I could never."

"Syn cleaned it," I muttered, running my finger along the dresser. "...very recently." My finger was wet from whatever wipe he used and I wiped my hands on my pants before walking into the closet.

"Do you mind if I go through his nightstand?" She yelled.

"Go ahead," I said, glancing around the walk in closet. It seemed to be just as clean as the rest of the room. I circled the closet, eyeing it for anything of significance or any type of clue as to where he was when I felt a crunching sound under my heel. I looked down to see what I had stepped on and my mouth dropped when I saw the candle Syn bought for me- shattered to pieces.

Maybe he dropped it? I mean, I did put it on dresser-

I gasped as my eyes landed on the destroyed mirror. It reflected a distorted image of myself and I stared in shock at the place of the impact that sent ripples of cracks outwards throughout the glass. My eyes dropped to the candle once again and I realized that this couldn't be an accident...he threw it.

But why?

Was he angry at me? He was way too compulsive to leave a mess like this after cleaning everything else...

...he wanted me to see this.

"Queen?" Cleo asked, slowly walking into the closet with my laptop in her arm.

"Yeah?"

"This was open on the table and I thought that was weird considering everything was so put away..." she said in a slow tone, glancing up at me sadly. "I think I know why he ended things..."

"What is it?" She turned the computer towards me and I took it from her hands. My eyes slowly snaked the screen and my eyes widened as I realized what it was. "Fuck," I cursed, my eyes watered as I looked at how far he had gotten in the document. He knew everything. The one thing I was most afraid of him finding out was exposed to him without any explanation or context from me...no wonder.

Tears burned my cheeks as I thought about what must've been passing through his mind, and Cleo took the laptop from my hands. "Hey, hey, we'll figure this out, babe." She hugged me.

"I really fucked up." I cried.

She pulled away, laying her hands on my shoulders and she looked at me. "There is an explanation, right? You weren't really with him this entire time for this, were you?"

"I- in the beginning, I got close to him because of it. It was for my job," I admitted, "but I quit after I realized how much I could hurt him. I love him, Cleo. And he probably hates me now."

"Oh, girl." She hugged me tightly again, comforting me as I cried my eyes out. Whatever mess Syn had gotten himself into- whatever danger he was in, was my fault. "I understand if you want to keep this to yourself. I support whatever you decide to do and we can continue searching for-"

"No." I shook my head, pulling away as I wiped my tears and sniffled. "I need to tell them the truth. This is why he left. Xavier and Gen should know."

"Okay." She nodded slowly. "I'll be right next to you the whole time, okay?" I nodded and she pulled out her phone and called Caspian. She instructed him to tell Xavier and Gen to meet us in Syn's room and I sat on his bed, my body shaking with nervousness as I bounced my leg. I knew they were entitled to the truth, but I was scared. I had grown so close to them after all this time and I knew I was about to blow up every single bond I had with them.

"What happened?" Genesis asked as she rushed in.

"Did you find something?" Xavier walked in behind her with Caspian. When they noticed the tears on my face, their steps slowed and I sniffled before standing up.

"Umm, have a seat please." I gestured at the table. They all looked at me in confusion but hesitantly obliged.

"Is everything okay?" Genesis asked.

"No." I shook my head, wiping my face with my hands. "Uh, I have something I need to tell you guys."

"What?" Xavier asked.

Cleo sat across me at the table with everyone and gave me a small smile, encouraging me to go on with a small nod. "I've been lying to you guys."

"What? About what?" Gen questioned in confusion.

"I'm not a writer," I blurted in a low voice. "I mean I kind of am, but not the one you thought of when I implied I was one. I'm a journalist and I work for The Garden- well worked, but that's neither here nor there umm-"

"A journalist?" Xavier asked in shock.

"Yes." I nodded as I sucked in a shaky breath. "That's why I really came to the palace. My bosses learned about Xyla and her upcoming marriage to Syn and they wanted an insider look on your family," I said to Gen, her face falling at my words. "I didn't know any of you so I was fine with it- I agreed to it. In Heaven, we only ever hear bad things about you all so I thought I could do it without feeling bad..."

They remained silent, soaking in my words and I took a deep breath before continuing. "I was here for a few weeks, sending them my notes and observations that I made on you all, but umm- they wanted more. One of my bosses called me and he knew that Syn and I were getting close- I don't know how, but he wanted me to focus my work...on him specifically. The company had a financial issue and an expose on Syn would have apparently fixed everything.

"I felt horrible saying yes, but I did. I couldn't let people lose their jobs because I couldn't do my mine. I went on a date with Syn, moved into his room, and got to know him...all the while sending what I learned to my employers in the form of a file that's on my computer- a file which Syn read tonight."

"Wow." Xavier scoffed. "So it was all a lie?"

"I-in the beginning it was- I mean, I never lied to you about anything except my job, but I quit a while back. After everything happened with Justin. I didn't want to lie to Syn anymore and I wanted to be with him truly, which is why I deleted everything. But he somehow found it."

Genesis blew out a raspberry breath as she looked up at the ceiling and I clasped my hands together. "I'm really really sorry. I love you guys like crazy, but I completely understand if you want me to leave-"

"I'm so angry," Genesis admitted in a small voice as she wiped the tears on her face. "Was today even your birthday? I did a lot of work and if you lied about your birthday I'm going to kill myself."

"No. Today was really my birthday."

She sighed, running her hands through her hair before nodding slowly. "I can't be mad at you for something you didn't do to me, but as Syn's mother, I can be mad at you for what you did to him."

"I understand."

"I know you love him," she said. "I can see it, Queen. But Syn can't. All he sees are the facts in front of him and that, at the moment, is the file. Everything the two of you were...it's all a lie to him. If you leave...you'll only be confirming his beliefs." I nodded slowly, hearing everything she was saying and she gave me a sad smile. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy because I know how stubborn Syn is, but if you want to be with him...you'll stay in Jeradua."

She couldn't be more right. If I left, he'd be stuck with the thoughts that made him disappear tonight and he deserved much better than that. Even if he never forgave me, he deserved an explanation and more importantly- an apology. "I'll try my best when we find him," I promised her.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't think you were the one for him." She smiled. "Regardless of how your relationship may have started, it's up to you to fix it." I nodded. "Now give me a hug. I don't like seeing you cry." She stood up, opening her arms and I hugged her back, relaxing into her warm embrace.

I caught Xavier's eye as I looked over her shoulder and I slowly pulled away from her. He looked like he had plenty he wanted to say, and I was ready for him to lay it all out on me. "Xavier?"

He blew out a breath, rubbing his palms together as he sat up. "Do you know how hard it is for Syn to trust people, Queen?" He asked. "Not because of how he was made, but because of the things he's been through that you have no idea about. I warned him about you in beginning, but for the first time in the fifteen years I knew him, he didn't take my advice.

"He followed...whatever you'd equate as a heart for him...and he trusted you- he trusted himself, over me. But because of this, that may never happen again. As I'm not a SinClaire, I'm not going to be upset at what I have nothing to do with, but I'm upset that he was lied to. I'm upset that because of this, he got drunk for the first time. I'm upset, that he's gone now because of this. And I am upset, that my best friend will be going through his first heartbreak yet not know what the hell he's feeling.

"Through all the things I'm angry about, though...I can't seem to be upset at you. I'd be a hypocrite to be mad at you for doing something I've done. I've been on missions. I've lied to people for the sake of said mission, and I have hurt people I cared about...countless times. You had an obligation to the people you worked for, yet you gave it up for Syn. I'm sure he's angry now, but once he realizes that...I can't imagine him not forgiving you."

I hope that's the case. I imagined a million reactions as I waited for them to come upstairs, but I didn't expect this one. I didn't think they'd be so understanding. I didn't deserve it.

"Now," he sighed, "let's find his drunk ass."

"We didn't find anything." Cleo sighed. "Everything in here that I touched didn't have his essence."

"Shit," Xavier cursed. "Gen, did you find anything?"

"Nothing that would help," she said. "Everything I have is from when he was a child."

Xavier rubbed his forehead in thought, clearly becoming more stressed by the second. I sat back down on the bed, thinking about what I could do with a sigh. My hands instinctively reached for my necklace and as I felt the cool ruby, I froze. His essence? "What do you mean by essence, Cleo?"

"Just something that means a lot to him," she said. "In our lives, every object, person, place, or thing that we come into contact with takes a bit of our essence-our energy...some more than others. The more something means to a person, the easier it'll be to use it to track them."

"What about the necklace?" I asked, holding it. "His magic is in it. That's energy, right?"

Her eyes lit up in realization. "It is," she said. "...but we can't use it."

"Why?" Caspian asked.

"I can't touch the necklace." She sighed. "It burns me."

"Crap."

"Wait," Gen said. "You said object or person, right?"

"Yes," Cleo replied.

"Can't you use Queen?"

"I'm not sure it would work...after everything," she said, glancing at me with an apologetic smile.

"What about Xavier?" I questioned.

"That might work," she said, standing up and walking to his side. "Do you mind?" She held her hands out. He placed his palms into hers and she closed her eyes, whispering a string of foreign words. "I see something," she said. "It's dark and I-" she remained quiet, her blue smoke intertwining around her and Xavier's hands. After a few moments, she dropped her hands in frustration. "It's not strong enough. I can't make out his surroundings."

"What do we do now?" Gen asked. "Should I call Lucifer? Maybe he can help. I've been trying to avoid it because I know he's going to lecture Syn, but I'm worried."

"I think you should try Queen..." Caspian rubbed his jaw, his teeth toying with his lip ring. "After talking to him tonight...I'm not sure he'd just be over her like that. It won't hurt to try it and if it works, you know you still have a chance with him. If not..."

He didn't need to finish that. I along with everyone here knew it wouldn't work. I had seen the way he broke the candle that meant so much to me. The way that he ended us with two simple words...

He was done.

"I think it's worth a shot." Gen shrugged. "If it doesn't work, I'll call his father."

Cleo made her way back to me, holding her hands out and I sighed. I could see it in her eyes that she wasn't optimistic about it working, but she did it for every else's sake. Just as I was. I placed my hands into hers and she closed her eyes. After less than half a second, she dropped her arms.

Xavier sighed. "What else can we d-"

"I found him."

What?! I looked up at Cleo in shock. "Where is he?"

"I'm not sure, but I can make a portal there," she said, looking down at me "I think you should go alone."

I wanted to ask her why, but I couldn't bring myself to. I was just relieved that he was okay. Whatever was lying on the other side of the portal was a non-factor. "Okay," I said.

"Please bring him home," Genesis said.

"I'll try."

I followed Cleo to the wall in the far corner of his bedroom and she gave me a small smile as she made it. "I'm sorry if you wanted company," she said. "The place seems important. I didn't want to intrude..."

Where is he?

"It's alright. Thank you." Cleo stepped back, and I looked at the ocean blue portal before me. Taking one more breath, I stepped into it...silently hoping that I wasn't going to die and more importantly...

...that I'd see Syn.