Chapter 2

I had never been to the Wild Coast before, but the moment we turned off the N2 and headed toward the coast, it felt like a different planet entirely. Our driver greeted us at East London airport, and soon we were on our way.

The drive to the coast was mesmerizing, and I spent the entire time glued to the window, watching miles of dense coastal forest give way to dramatic cliffs that dropped into the turquoise Indian Ocean. Beside me, Sipho watched my reaction with a satisfied smirk, knowing that I was just as excited as he was about the retreat.

We continued driving for quite some time until we reached a hill. As we crested it, the retreat finally revealed itself. It was built directly into the cliffside, cascading down toward the ocean in layers of dark dolerite stone and glass.

The driver pulled us up beneath a shaded portico and ushered us quickly toward the glass doors. "Please, head right inside," he said. "Your luggage will be delivered directly to your suite."

We walked into a large atrium lined with gleaming white stone. A glass dome overhead flooded the space with sun, but strangely, the place was completely empty.

"Did he drop us at the wrong place?" I asked.

"I really hope not," Sipho replied, looking around with growing annoyance. "We paid a fortune for this. Someone should be here."

He called out, "Hello?" but his voice only echoed off the walls.

I reached for his arm, but a loud click stopped me. Above us, blinds suddenly slid over the dome, plunging the room into darkness. Music thumped from the walls, and a screen flickered on behind the empty desk.

A white logo faded into an elegant older woman with pearly hair.