Extra Bonus #99: The Disappearance of Ben Cobalt (Patreon)

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MUSIC: We listened to "Like a Stone" by Audioslave while writing this bonus scene.

I BITE OFF the cap of a Sharpie and scribble a quick note on a blank page in my sketchbook: Call me when you wake up. Didn’t want to disturb. Love you across all timelines, space babe.

xo PD

I don’t even sign my full name, not when I need to make a quick, quiet exit, and O’Malley is barking in my ear over the phone. I don’t want to startle Luna. Girl is the heaviest sleeper I know, but I’ve seen her gasp awake, then thrash—disoriented and afraid.

I don’t know what’s happening tonight yet, but I know that isn’t going to at least.

Luna needs the sleep.

I splay the sketchbook open beside her on the bed. Then I hurry and put on black sweatpants with the phone propped against my ear.

“How long are you going to take?” O’Malley asks. “We need you to go to his room now. This is serious—”

“I can hear you, Chris,” I whisper. “Too loud, too clear. Gonna wake up my girlfriend’s fish. You don’t need to yell.”

“I’m not yelling,” he retorts, and maybe he’s not. His voice sounds shrill to me in these peaceful four walls. I’ve stopped harboring any anger toward O’Malley. Been friendlier with all of Epsilon too.

The feeling seems mutual. They trust me and keep me in the loop all the time. Even now.

At the top of this year, O’Malley would’ve never called me like this. There’s a good chance I would’ve hung up on him. Then February happened and SFE dropped the two of us in a field half-naked and told us to find our way home. That night, I learned he was my cousin.

It’s the end of November now.

A lot can happen over the course of a year. Including forgiveness and letting shit go.

I snatch my radio off the nightstand. Luna is curled up under our white comforter, fast asleep. Her hair is still wet from the shower we took together. I lift the blankets higher up her bare shoulders and contain the urge to kiss her.

“Donnelly—”

“Yeah, I’m going,” I whisper, leaving the side of the bed. A purple lava lamp casts color against the dark walls.

Only Orion stirs in the room. He’s on his doggy bed on the ground, and his head pops up while I rush out and quietly shut the door behind me.

I’m not even telling him to watch over Luna.

Not when O’Malley says again, “No one can find him.”

Ben.

He said Ben is missing.

I have a hundred questions, but I don’t waste time asking them. I’m hoping Ben just made an impulsive late-night venture to…I dunno where. I know more places where he wouldn’t be.

“Xander might know where Ben is,” O’Malley repeats one of the first things he told me. “You need to go talk to your client.”

My girlfriend’s little brother. Family.

Xander is family to me. “Luna said Ben was spending the night with his girlfriend at her place. He’s with Harriet Fisher,” I tell O’Malley while I hook my radio to my waistband, passing through the living room and heading to the door.

“He’s not. Harriet is in this high-rise. She’s the one who said Ben is gone. We’re all trying to figure out where he went, and this isn’t us overcompensating after what happened last night.”

With Audrey, he means.

None of the Cobalt bodyguards were called when Ben and his brothers went to the frat house on MVU’s campus. The night ended with Audrey overdosing, and those feelings are still raw on the team.

A lot could’ve been prevented if SFE were present.

I know Ben wasn’t mentally handling his little sister’s overdose well, but he’s had so much family surrounding him since then. Also, his girlfriend.

O’Malley releases a tense breath. “Look, Novak thinks Ben’s been acting weird all year. He thinks…he’s worried he left on purpose. I really need you to hurry. Or we can come downstairs and talk to Xander—”

“He doesn’t know you like that. I’m already in the hall.” Didn’t even put on shoes. I lock my apartment door and rotate the knob, ensuring it won’t open.

“Ian already pulled the building’s security footage,” O’Malley explains to me.

We’ve got a working relationship with the building’s security staff, so I’m not surprised this happened so quickly in the middle of the night.

Then he adds an important detail, “Xander was the last person seen with Ben in the high-rise. They’d both gone upstairs to the rooftop, so they were there together. Then Ben exited the building.”

That means Xander left his apartment tonight, and normally, I’d be happy he ventured out in the high-rise, especially a solo venture without me. Spreading his elf wings and whatnot, but him being allegedly one of the last people to speak to Ben isn’t good.

This could be really bad.

“It’s gonna be a minute,” I warn O’Malley, situating my earpiece in my ear.

“Don’t be forever. Just hurry. We need all the information we can get.”

“I’m turning comms on. Gotta go. Getting a call.” My phone is beeping while I knock on Xander’s door. I have a key, but I’m not entering unannounced this late at night.

The second I see Lo’s name on my phone, my muscles contract. “Hey—”

“Is Xander alone?” His voice is a knife, ready to cut anyone who hurts his son. He’s a good dad.

“I’m knocking on his door now, but Easton—”

“Is in Philly, I know. He’s spending the night at my house. I need you to be with Xander while I talk to him. Do not leave his side, Paul. Even if he looks fine—even if he says he’s fine.”

I knock harder. “I can do that. You going to tell him about Ben?”

“Yeah.”

The line strains, as we’re both aware the youngest Cobalt boy is MIA. “I don’t mind breaking the news,” I offer, even if it’s not something I’d want to break to Xander. I’m the one who’s here.

“I’m used to delivering shitty news that hurts—hold on.” Lo goes muffled, and I wonder if he’s speaking to Lily.

Then the door swings open.

“Donnelly?” Xander lowers his bulky red headphones to his neck, his amber eyes narrowing in confusion on me, then the phone against my ear and the radio attached to my waistband. The mic cord dangles at my collarbone since I’m shirtless.

“I come in peace. You still up?” I ask, casual enough that he expels an audible breath, then he holds the door open wider for me.

“Yeah. Can’t really sleep. I drank an energy drink earlier.”

I enter his apartment, wishing I wasn’t on the phone with Lo.

Xander makes a tight face at me. “Are you taking a call?”

“With God,” I joke.

He smiles, then pales. “With Uncle Connor?”

“Nah.”

Xander exhales again. “Good. Yeah. Fuck.” He swallows, then removes his headphones from his neck. “I’m just freaking myself out.”

“No shame in the freaking out game.”

“Something I’d win at.”

“You’d win at more than that.” I nod toward his expensive entertainment system. The giant TV screen is paused on “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and it faces his comfy gray sectional. “You doing good?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m only on episode three. I spent most of the night talking to Spencer, so…” He smiles a little when he says her name. A kind of smile that only appears for his friend. Soft around the edges. Luna loves seeing it as much as I do.

I hate that I’m about to be the one who takes it away.

Then again, that’s going to be Lo.

I follow Xander farther into his apartment. A slim Lightning Bolt! can rests beside his laptop on the coffee table and an ashtray. The cigarette isn’t fully put out.

I snuff it on the glass while Xander searches the couch cushions for his phone. Once he finds it, he tosses the phone aside as though no one called him, no one texted.

He’s more relaxed, probably thinking nothing bad is going down tonight.

I know why his big brother hasn’t reached out to him yet. Maximoff just texted me asking if Xander is alone. ‘Cause no one is going to tell him about Ben if he’s not physically with someone.

Still on hold with Lo, I type out a quick reply to Maximoff, but more texts are buzzing my phone. Comms are loud, and I swivel the volume down on my radio.

Xander is more rigid as he lowers on the couch. “You’re popular tonight, wise one.” There’s something in his eyes that I can’t even make sense of. I can’t tell if it’s fear. Too much is unsaid. It begins weighing the air, and so I sit beside him.

“Is Luna okay?” he asks me.

I nod. “She’s sleeping.” I put the phone on speaker. “Your dad wants to talk to you. He’s on the phone. He’s got me on hold though.”

“I’m here,” Lo suddenly says. Maybe I wasn’t on hold after all. “Hey, bub.”

“Dad?” Xander grips his thighs. “Is this about Ben?”

I tense. Does he know already?

Lo is the one who asks, “You know about Ben?”

“Yeah, I mean.” Xander winces. “We talked up on the roof tonight, and he told me something that he hasn’t told his parents or brothers yet. I’m guessing he told everyone…right?” He glances between me and the phone, and I’m not letting much cross my face.

“What’d he tell you?” Lo asks.

“Just ask Ben. I’m not going to spill something he told me in confidence. Not unless you already know.”

I shrug. “We might know.”

Xander frowns in thought. “Why are you even asking me? Just ask him. Just go ask Ben. This isn’t about me.” His eyes widen on the floor. “You can get a hold of him, right? Because the way he was talking tonight, I was afraid…but he said he wouldn’t…I…he told me—he told me he’s dropping out of MVU. He told me he’s thinking of moving out of the city, living somewhere in nature.”

“Did he say exactly where?” I ask him.

“No. Nature, that’s all he said.” His reddened eyes rise to mine. “He’s with Harriet?”

I shake my head.

Then Lo says, “We’re trying to figure out where he is, but we’ll find him.”

“He’s missing?” Xander buries his distraught face in his hands.

I put a hand on his back, but he’s suddenly grabbing his phone, then on his feet. I follow his pursuit to the bathroom.

A pit wedges in my chest.

“We’re going to find him,” Lo stresses. “Xander? You hear me?”

“That’s all I know,” he chokes out. “It’s all I know. That’s all he fucking told me.” He’s about to swing the bathroom door hard in my face, but I grab the edge. Xander isn’t looking over at me. He’s too busy whipping open drawers.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” I suggest. “You have any leftovers? We could nuke something—”

“I need you to leave, Donnelly.”

“Donnelly isn’t leaving you,” Lo tells his son. “We’re going to find him—”

“You don’t understand.” Xander is struggling to breathe. He motions to the phone. “Hang up on him.” Then he says to my cell, “Dad—we’ll talk later. I’m fine.” He digs through one of his drawers. “This isn’t about me. Go find…go. Just go.”

“I’ve got this, Lo,” I assure. “See ya later?”

“Call me if—”

“Sure thing, Papa Hale.” I hang up on him, hoping it’ll ease Xander some. My new best friend is probably cursing me out in my favorite city.

“Watcha searching for?” I ask him, coming closer. “I can help.”

“I have to piss.” He points to the door. “Get out. Please.”

I shut the drawer nearest me, then lean my hip against the counter. “You know I can’t.”

“My dad doesn’t own you. You can do whatever the hell you want.”

“I wanna be here, man.” I need to be blunt, so I tell him, “I wanna make sure you don’t hurt yourself. ‘Cause if you’re looking for a razor—”

“This isn’t about me. Forget about me.”

“Think I’d rather always remember you.” I motion casually to the toilet. “Take a seat. Let’s chitchat and not pick up any half-empty glasses. Gotta go for the half-full ones.”

Xander pinches his wet eyes, then he mechanically lowers to the shut toilet lid. “You don’t get it, Donnelly. If you heard…the way Ben was talking…” His jaw clenches, his chin quaking. “I should’ve told someone, but he said he wasn’t going to die.”

“We could believe him—”

“I can’t!” Uncontrollable tears leak and track down his cheeks. “I can’t Donnelly. I know what it’s like to want to disappear…he was telling me goodbye. I should’ve listened to my gut. Somewhere, I knew it. I knew it.” His voice cracks.

He crumples forward in a guttural sob and a tortured scream, and I come closer to hug him. He’s sliding off the toilet lid and onto the floor, bringing his knees up, but I pull him toward me—and he buries his face more in my chest than in his legs.

I’m on my knees, my arm around his back. My throat is too swollen to speak for a second.

I’d been with Ben when he beat up Tate Townsend. I pulled Ben off him. That was back in May when he had a lot less to lose. Since then, he moved to New York. He lives with his brothers. He got a girlfriend. He goes to this Board Game Club with her where I’ve been on-duty protecting Xander.

I’ve seen Ben smile at Harriet like he’s in love.

I’ve felt the ice-cold chill between him and Xander thaw.

Things have been looking up for Ben.

Xander mumbles into my chest, “I didn’t think he’d leave tonight. Not like this. I thought…I didn’t think…I did…but I didn’t…”

I never woulda imagined Ben would bail on New York. Not if it’d mean leaving the girl he loves. “No one’s gonna blame you,” I whisper to Xander. “Not how you’re blaming yourself. You’re not alone there, you know. I’m trying not to do the same thing.”

He pulls away a bit, rubbing his wet jaw with the side of his fist. “I was the last person to speak to him, wasn’t I?”

“You weren’t. Think Harriet was.”

His face falls, then his nose flares. “Shit.” He swallows hard and pats the floor for his phone. I find it and hand it to him. “Thanks. Sorry, I…I don’t mean to…” He grimaces at the wet splotches on my chest. His tears.

“Cry on me all you want. I like tears. Your sister says I can’t drown, so flood the bathroom with ‘em.”

He sniffs hard. “What about blood?”

I lean on the sink. “I prefer tears. Easier to clean.”

Xander must see my abs flex. He’s staring at my tensing muscles. “Dark humor, sorry.” He wipes roughly at his face again.

“Nah, don’t be. I like the funny side of you.” I raise the volume on my comms while Xander texts someone. Harriet, probably.

He sniffs again, and I chuck a roll of toilet paper at him.

He catches. “Thanks.”

Security chatter is consistent and buzzes my head. They mention what Xander told me and his dad, so I’m guessing Lo relayed the information. Wish Ben had been more specific, but at least it’s something.

When Xander sets his phone aside, he tells me, “I’m not going to cut myself.”

“That’s good.” I nod to him.

He nods back.

I nod another time. “But I’m still staying with you.”

“I know.” His bloodshot eyes well up again. “I don’t want you to go.” He rubs his nose with toilet paper, then balls it up in his fist. “I’m scared of what might happen if you do. I haven’t felt like this in a long…it’s felt like a long time…”

“You wanna call your therapist?”

He shakes his head. “Later.” His voice is raspy. “I can’t…I just want to…” He lies back on the cold tile and spreads his laced hands over his eyes. Tears leak out of the creases of them.

“Couch is comfier.”

He laughs a little. “The floor knows me better.”

“We could always make friends with the couch.”

His lips try to lift, but they’re flatlined.

I start texting Maximoff. I already respond letting him know that I’m with Xander, but I add a couple more texts.

Donnelly: You want to spend the night? Or what’s left of it? Guest room has your name on it. Bring the whole fam. Farrow and the babies.

Donnelly: Your brother really needs you.

The reply comes quick.

Maximoff: This is Farrow. We’re all already on our way. Maximoff is driving. I haven’t slept enough to be behind the wheel.

I ease, but I’m thinking about Luna. Maybe I shouldn’t have left her alone. I should’ve woken her up. She’d cheer up her little brother. Glitter bomb him or something. I try calling her, but she doesn’t answer.

Chances are, she’s sleeping through the ringing.

I can’t leave Xander to go wake her. I wouldn’t, and I’m not gonna send anyone to my apartment to do it either. She’s naked in bed.

It’d also terrify her.

I just wait for Maximoff and Farrow. “You aren’t hungry?” I ask Xander. “Bagel?”

He shakes his head, still lying on the floor.

I text Farrow more, telling him not to go to my apartment first, and it’s not even that long before they arrive. Which means, they left Philly a lot earlier. Like before Maximoff even first texted me and Lo called.

I hear them entering the apartment. Xander doesn’t turn his head. He’s staring up at the ceiling. “Who is that?” he croaks out.

“Depends on who you ask,” I say. “Your sister says Captain America. Others say Batman.”

Xander looks over at the ajar bathroom door just as Maximoff charges through it. His forest-green eyes carry strength and empathy. “Summers.”

“Moffy?” Xander finally sits up and immediately grabs onto Maximoff.

My lips rise.

He needed his brother.

It only hurts when I think about the Cobalts losing theirs. I try not to as I slip out of the bathroom. In Xander’s living room, Farrow and I exchange a silent look of shared concern before I help him with the babies.

Ripley is the only one awake, so I take his hand. I’m more nervous of waking his sleeping cousin Nathan and his baby sister Cassidy.

“You wanna see your Auntie Luna?”

“Yesyesyesyes!” He’s tugging me in that direction.

“Leadership skills on point. You gotta teach Orion a thing or two.” I glance back at Farrow, who’s nodding to me like he’s going to follow.

All I want to do is be with Luna.

He knows ‘cause I told him the situation over text.

I finally end up in my apartment and help situate the babies in the guest room, clearing all the glue, ribbons—anything hazardous off the desk in there—to baby-proof the space for the night. Then I head to my bedroom.

Orion darts out when I go inside.

I hear Ripley shout happily, “Doggy!” And Farrow gently telling him to keep his voice down and not wake up the babies.

I shut the door.

Luna has kicked the comforter down, and the scrapbook is knocked off the bed. But she didn’t wake up. Her phone is lighting up and buzzing on the other nightstand.

“Luna,” I whisper, crawling onto the bed. “Luna.” I put a hand to her leg and give her the tiniest shake.

She gasps, kicks, then calms as I say, “It’s me. It’s Donnelly.”

“Donnelly…?” She touches my hand that holds her cheek, then I lift her up into my arms and hug her. “Donnelly?”

I’m holding her, really. Maybe I needed this more than she did. I take a deeper breath. “Good news, Farrow and Maximoff are here with the babies.”

She smiles, then holds my face with two hands. Her lips droop. “Donnelly?”

“Luna. My beating heart.”

Her smile returns, softer. She presses her fingertips to my head. “Whatever bad news is happening, I’m transmitting it into my brain matter. You don’t need to say a word.”

“Bad news written on my eyes or what?”

“Corneas tell all.”

“Oof, they must be telling you how much I love you.”

She kisses me and whispers against our lips, “Remember, in our universe, we always get through the bad things, so really, they’re not so bad at all.”

“I knew I loved our universe.”

Thank you all so very much for being here this month! We love that we're able to show this huge night in Burn Bright from another perspective. It gives a lot more context to another side of the story, and we hope you enjoy all the Hale things from Donnelly's eyes! Including some heartfelt Lunnelly moments. That's it for June's monthly content. We'll be back in July with more bonuses, more podcasts, more art reveals, and teases as Silver Sweet is only one month away!

xoxo Krista & Becca

“The Disappearance of Ben Cobalt" Copyright © 2026 by K.B. Ritchie