Chapter Fifteen - Soter
Our trail has gone cold. We search the forest for the Dullahan’s hoofprints, none of us wanting to admit they may no longer exist. Inhaling a lungful of pine-scented air, I hate how alien it is after a life of concrete and brine back in Borealis.
A knight on horseback can’t just disappear, can he?
The gateway must be close by. We shouldn’t be chasing our tails.
I can’t stop replaying that footage of the creature snatching the child, terror carved into the young boy’s face. My first case as commander and I’m already neck-deep in daemons—and now a missing boy. Life really has a sick sense of humor.
If my father saw me wandering lost and mud-splattered, he’d sneer. He’d say a real Blade doesn’t miss signs or fall behind. Wendy and the other Blades are probably closing in on the rift already. I can hear my father’s derisive voice: Second best, as always.
I catch Isolde’s eye as she shoves her blue hair out of her face.
No. Wendy isn’t beating me. Not now. My girl’s watching.
“Who are you texting?” I ask, eyeing Jax. I’d wanted Ry for backup, but Wendy insisted on Jax, claiming he knows these woods. Too bad he also knows me, and every unforgivable thing I’ve ever done. “Is Wendy checking in again?”
Jax doesn’t answer, his phone’s glow highlighting his glowering face. I narrow my eyes. “Jax.”
He jumps. I raise an eyebrow. Something is going on with him that has nothing to do with me, even if he wants everyone to think so.
“Are you getting updates from Wendy about the search?”
He folds his arms, angling the phone away. “She hasn’t found anything.”
“But your phone’s been buzzing every minute for the last five. If it’s not Wendy, who is it?”
“She hasn’t found anything,” he repeats in a flat, stubborn tone.
Annoyance prickles up my spine. Maybe he isn’t texting Wendy. Perhaps he’s sending Wilder a play-by-play or just chatting with Desiree instead of helping me. But he doesn’t want me here. He’d rather have Wilder leading.
“Get off your phone and focus,” I snap, reaching for the device. “We need to be on the lookout for more hoofprints.”
Jax pulls back. “Back off, Soter. I am hanging on by a thread, and I don’t want to take my anger out on you.”
“You already are. Not to mention, you’re undermining my authority by texting rather than helping your team with the Dullahan.” I gesture wildly at his phone.
“You have no idea what I’m—”
“Quit it! We’ve been going in circles,” Isolde snaps. Flames hover over her palm, casting jagged shadows across her angry face. “I swear, we’ve passed that tree already. Until we have a real plan, no one’s moving.”
I groan. We wouldn’t be lost if our tracker were actually tracking.
“Stop whining and keep moving, Faez,” I snap. Not Sol. Not after Jax said we weren’t even friends, and she just let it hang there without saying anything. Amazing, right? It’s fine to tear my clothes off when no one’s watching, but gods forbid someone calls us friends in daylight.
I turn to Jax. “Put the phone away. That’s an order.”
Hurt flashes in Isolde’s eyes. “Seriously?”
Jax scoffs. “Forget about him, Sol. He’s just pissed because he’s failing as a commander. The job is harder than you gave Wilder credit for, huh?”
Isolde sighs, saying nothing. The cold between us settles in for good.
I push through a wall of branches, heat burning in my palm.
If she didn’t whisper she loved me, I’d swear I was just a distraction to her, good for a secret fuck and nothing more.
When we aren’t naked, I’m invisible. Love shouldn’t be another thing I have to hide.
Maybe I’m an asshole, but at least I own it. She pretends not to be, which is worse.
A branch snaps somewhere ahead. All of us freeze, our magical flames guttering down. My hand goes straight to my gun.
What was that?
Before I can move, Ravi jogs into the clearing. He’s dripping wet, waving his arms, face set with determination.
“I’m so glad I found you,” he pants, hands braced on his thighs.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, Ravi,” I say. “What are you doing out here?”
He glances at Jaxson. “Didn’t you see Wilder’s text?”
Heat creeps up my neck. “Wilder isn’t part of this case.”
“I got a text from him, but I didn’t read it,” Jax mutters, defensive.
Ravi frowns. “The gateway. Wilder sent you the coordinates.”
Jax’s head snaps down to his phone. The screen flares bright as he scrolls, then— “Shit.”
Unbelievable. I snatch Jaxson’s phone from his hand. Wilder’s thread is open, coordinates right there.
I tap the numbers, and the GPS springs to life. “This spot is close,” I manage to say, biting back rage. Why the hell would Wilder send Jaxson the coords and not me? Jaxson might be his best friend, but I’m the goddamn Borealis Commander now. Jax is just Glaucus Domna.
“It is,” Ravi agrees.
Isolde grins. “Way to go, Wilder.”
How did Wilder find the gateway before I did? The thought alone makes me grind my teeth. “Did he just take a walk and stumble upon the rift everyone’s been searching for months?”
Ravi hesitates. “It’s a long story. But he wants you to set up a blockade. He said nothing goes in or out—unless it’s him and Leigh.”
“Is that right?” He’s not even in charge, but he still expects everyone to jump when he barks.
“Wait”—Isolde’s gasp is sharp—“does that mean Wilder and Leigh went through the gate?”
I remind myself that her panic is for both of them, not just her ex.
Ravi nods. “Leigh went after the boy and the Dullahan.”
“And Wilder went after her,” Isolde whispers, clutching her chest.
My pulse stutters. A child has been snatched, the queen is missing, and now Wilder is off playing hero while Isolde gazes after him as if he hung the moon. I can’t even get her to look at me in public, but one grand gesture from Wilder and she’s ready to write sonnets.
Enough. There’s no room for jealousy while three people are missing on my watch.
I need to establish that blockade. Now. No one else vanishes tonight. Not while I’m in charge.
A little competition with Wilder can be good for the soul, but not if he’s dead.
“Follow me,” I bark, leading the charge toward the lake.
“Wait, give me my phone,” Jax shouts. “I need to update my commander.”
I halt, temper barely leashed. Jax is already wasting time. “I’ll call Wendy. You’re heading to the castle.”
Jax scowls. “Why?”
“Wilder is missing. Someone needs to alert Desiree and wake their mother. If—when they return, Wilder and Leigh may need medical attention.”
“I can update Wilder’s family,” Isolde volunteers.
“No.” My eyes stay locked on Jax, my hands tensing at my sides. He needs to talk to Desiree and face whatever’s got him so angry and distracted. “Jax is going.”
He meets my gaze, lips thinned, then glances at Isolde and forces a smile. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll go.”
Good riddance.
He starts to leave, but I call out, “Only speak to Desiree and Doctor Dunn. No one else.”
Until I know the whole story, no one else gets looped in. I’ll brief the president after speaking to Wendy.
Jax nods, shoulders reaching his ears, then disappears into the trees.