Saint
The opera house where Conclave is held fills my mind, a singular image that melts as quickly as it formulated, replaced by one of Aurora, sleeping peacefully next to me.
I shift on the bed, reaching for my mate. Nothing but pillow fills my hands. I open my eyes, stretching awake as I glance around the room. The dream of Conclave is at the back of my mind, but I blink it away as I sit up.
Rubbing my palms over my face, I try to breathe some life back into my mind. Aurora had been insatiable before we went to sleep. We fucked and drank for hours, until we were both loopy and seeing stars. Until we both collapsed with exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep where our dreams collided.
I inhale deeply, quickly realizing that she isn’t in the bathing chamber. She’s not even on this floor of the residence.
Panic threatens to crush me, but I do my best to push it away.
She may be off trying to convince another hunter to help her with her plans, but no one would help her.
No one would put my mate at risk like that.
I’ll allow her a little head start before I chase her.
The notion alone helps to keep the worry at bay.
I get dressed, sliding my blades into their holsters before heading toward the dining room. I’d like to get a good hunt in before dawn—
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Hawke sounds extra grumpy this evening as I round the corner, finding him barking at Talon.
Talon looks as exhausted as I feel.
So does Dagon.
And Benedict.
What the fuck?
“They’re not here,” Talon fires back, his eyes flashing to that animalistic shape they do when he’s losing his grip.
“Who’s not here?” I snap, coming to join the circle.
Dagon’s shoulders drop as he looks to me. “Annika, Cassandra.”
“Joceyln,” Benedict says.
“Avianna,” Hawke growls.
My eyes flare.
“They wouldn’t do this,” Alek says from where he stands by Lyric, who is cradling Ransom’s child in her arms. She’s not looking at her mate. “They wouldn’t.” He looks at Lyric, who keeps her eyes firmly planted on the child.
“They do this shit all the time!” Hawke snaps.
“Aurora.” The floodgates open, panic fully settling in my soul. “The opera house.”
“What about it?” Alek asks.
It’s Dagon I’m looking at. “I saw it. Dreamed of it.”
“Who gives a shit?” Hawke grumbles. “We have to find—”
“That’s where she went.” I’m shaking now. “Fuck, how long were we out?”
Dagon shakes his head. “Annika. She…oh my fuck, they planned this.”
I try to wend but my power slams into a wall of thick, deep magic. I growl, my boots firmly planted on the damned floor.
“Jocelyn,” Benedict sighs. “She warded the residence to prevent anyone from wending out.”
“Fuck!” Hawke and I shout at the same time.
“We walk past the wards then,” Dagon offers, taking the first steps toward the exit.
Then we’re all moving at once, some faster than the others. Storming toward the properties boundaries until we clear the wards and can wend.
Images fill my mind, my worst fears manifesting to haunt me.
Samuel getting his hands on Aurora, finishing what he started when he took her all those months ago.
She’d put up a fight this time, I knew she would.
She’s stronger than she even realizes, her power one of her biggest assets, but she’s been afraid to test it against living beings.
Rightly so, I’ve never blamed her. Her power has a duality nature, and I know better than anyone that power like that can’t be rushed.
She should’ve waited. She should’ve listened to me.
I should’ve listened to her. Maybe if I would’ve…she wouldn’t have felt the need to do this on her own.
Fuck, I’ve failed her.
We make it past the wards, and my heart feels hollow as we all start to wend. I just hope to fuck we’re not too late.