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But a thorough search for him there soon assured us that he had not

My father helped us scour the whole island for him for the rest of the day, but he was nowhere to be found

Nobody seemed to have seen him

It wasn’t until we returned to the apart and Derek noticed the note left on the desk in his study that we realized what had happened

I took the note from Derek, desperate to read it for myself--as if Derek had soe was clear

Our son had left The Shade

Derek gripped the edges of his desk so hard the wood groaned beneath his hands

I stared at hiotten wind of the suspicion some humans held that he’d been responsible for the murders

"He must have taken one of the subs," I whispered, the full horror of the situation sinking in

"Hoill he even survive?" "I don’t knohat he was thinking," Derek said

I read the note once again, focusing on the last feords of his letter: "Don’t co for me" Of course, my first reaction was to want to leave the island and scour the seven seas for him, if that hat it took to find hiaze on ain

A stoic expression had set in on his face and he was looking at me steadily

He shook his head slowly

"When Ben left," he said, his voice deep, "he was self-aware enough to leave us this letter

He are enough to knohat he was doing

HeI wanted to hear, and yet I couldn’t help but find truth in the there, my mouth open, Derek stood up and clutched er a child, Sofia" "I know, but… he could die out there," I choked

Derek furrowed his brows, taking a deep breath

I could see that it was just as difficult for him to speak the words as it was for me to hear them

"Do you remember what you said to ht orry

I couldn’t think of anything right now other than Ben adrift in theto death