My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0695

Nina

Luke's eyebrows drew together at the mention of a portal.

He shook his head. "I don't think it could be a portal," he said, his voice low so as not to be overheard. "Portals are only able to be opened in places like Mountainview, where the veil between realms is thin."

"What's to say the veil isn't thin here?" I asked. I thought back on my first visit to this city with Enzo, when I had noticed a strange woman in the crowd. Then there was that so-called fortune teller, too.

"There should only be thin spots within thousands and thousands of miles of one another," Luke replied thoughtfully." It just wouldn't make sense for there to be one here."

I furrowed my brow as my thoughts raced wildly. "If Enzo really was taken hostage somehow, though..." I shivered, unable to give voice to the dark possibilities that were now swirling through my mind.

Luke's fists clenched at his sides. "You're right. We don't fully grasp what kind of danger he could be facing yet. Let's keep our minds open to any possibilities, but I think we should start here. Let's try to look at that clip of Enzo again. Maybe we can pick something up that we missed before."

I nodded. We returned to the concierge, who was now clearly getting annoyed with us. She set her notebook down with a sigh, meeting our gazes. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, but is there any way we could take another look at that CCTV footage again?" I asked. “ We'd really appreciate it."

The concierge sighed again. "Look," she said, "I understand your predicament, I really do. But I've got a job to do, too. I've already broken the rules twice by showing you that footage and letting you into the room, so..."

Luke and I exchanged looks. "Alright," I said, taking a step back. "Sorry for bothering you."noveldrama

"Feel free to explore the hotel, at least," the concierge said gently. "But I'm afraid that's all I can offer you."

That was all the permission I needed.

Over the next hour, Luke and I scoured every inch of the hotel premises; we questioned various staff members, and even bribed a distrustful security manager into showing us the CCTV footage again, this time from a different angle.

"Here," the security guard said with a huff as he flipped to the footage on his computer screen. "This is the angle from the west hallway."

I crossed my arms and leaned in to get a closer look, and there he was again; Enzo, grainy and fuzzy through the screen, walking down the hall with Mila. My heart clenched at the sight. He had his arm looped around her waist, and was leaning in to say something to her. She giggled, running her finger along his chest.

I turned away then, my throat tight. I couldn't keep watching. Tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to shed them here.

But then I saw it, just as my eyes were flickering curiously back to the screen. Enzo stumbled. It was subtle, but it was there.

"Wait!" I said. "Go back."

With a huff, the security guard did as I said. And there it was: Enzo's foot catching beneath him, his body swaying, a glazed look in his eyes, and then something flashing in Mila's gaze something almost akin to desperation... It happened so fast it was almost impossible to catch, but I saw it.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"Pause here, please," I instructed the security guard, who did as I asked. A still frame of Enzo, mid-stumble, popped up on the screen. "Luke, you see this?"

Luke leaned in and studied the image: Enzo's dull brown irises, his usually sturdy body looking... loose. Out of sorts. Uncoordinated.

No Apha's wolf would ever allow him to become so vulnerable and out of control, not unless something was seriously wrong.

Luke and I thanked the security guard and slipped out of the room, down the hallway where we could speak more privately.

"Mila must have done something to him," I whispered as certainty solidified like ice in my gut. "I'm sure of it." Luke nodded slowly as we rounded the corner. "Yeah, something wasn't right about that," he said. "But it still doesn't explain where they went."

I let out a low groan. Luke was right; we had a pretty good idea now that something was off about Enzo's behavior, but we'd still hit a dead end. Where had Mila disappeared to with my husband?

And perhaps more importantly, exactly who or what was she?

"Come on," Luke said, "let's check out his room again. Maybe there are some clues in the hallway that we missed." I nodded, and together we made our way up the stairs to the second floor, then down the hall where Enzo's room was.

We wandered around out there for a few minutes, our eyes fixed on the floor. It occurred to me then how crazy we probably seemed, but I didn't care. Something had happened to my husband, and Mila was behind it. I was sure of it. Suddenly, just as we were about to give up on our search and just go to the police, an adjacent hotel room cracked open. An elderly couple peered out curiously, the woman's eyes lingering on our tired faces.

"So sorry to intrude," she remarked kindly. "But did I hear you earlier asking after the guest in this room next to us?" Luke and I exchanged confused looks. "Yes, we were," I said. "Do you know anything?"

The man adjusted his glasses on his nose, his brow furrowing. "Well, not much," he said. "Was he tall, with curly brown hair? Muscular?"

I nodded. "Yes, he was. He... is."

The old couple glanced at each other for a moment before the man continued. "We bumped into him and a strange lady on the elevator," he explained. "The lady was... rude, to say the least."

"Very rude," the old woman chimed in. "Nearly shoved my husband out of the way trying to get out. All we did was ask whether they're on vacation."

"The poor boy seemed to be strung along a bit, didn't he, Carol?" the old man asked. "Following her like a puppy on a leash."

The old woman scoffed. "Like a prisoner, more like," she said. "It was so strange... He had a smile on his face, but fear in his eyes."

"And then there was the sound in the middle of the night," the old man continued with a nod. "Such an odd noise, too." My pulse quickened at the old couple's words. "What kind of odd noise exactly, sir?" Luke asked tentatively, taking a step forward.

The woman pursed her thin lips. "Hm... Like a television on the fritz. All fuzzy and too loud, shorting on and off through the wall." She shook her head. "It was quite bizarre, let me tell you. Woke us both up."

The description that the old couple gave us suddenly removed all doubt from my frenzied mind. A distinctly characteristic sound that no standard human technology could replicate. But one familiar to those privy to the supernatural realm...

I whirled on Luke, my eyes wide. "A portal," I hissed. "It has to be."