Chapter 29
My hands trembled as I dialed Sofia’s number.
Gone. Ursuline was gone.
They told me to get to their apartment, but I’d never even been there.
I didn’t have their address. Fuck, they were gone.
Agony ripped through my chest as the pale sunlight beat down on me, too alien and foreign to process in the wake of what had occurred.
I stumbled back a step and sagged against the brick building behind me, my knees barely keeping me upright.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe.
Ursuline’s presence, the calm, enduring one that had given me so much strength, was gone, and I didn’t know what I’d do. This entire time, I’d been following their cues, following their plans, their way out. My arms trembled.
A sense of uselessness washed over me like a tidal wave, reinforced by the constant comments from my parents.
I wasn’t able to do anything. I should’ve fought for the person I loved.
I should’ve thrown myself into the fight, tried to kick one of those men off, but instead I’d stood there frozen, watching as they’d been hauled away.
My chest tangled in knots.
I managed to press call, and the phone began to ring.
“Hello?” Sofia’s voice came across crisp and concerned.
“They took Ursuline,” I choked out, those trembles radiating through my body. “Just snatched them away.”
“Who did?” Sofia’s tone grew dark and dangerous, and I was grateful it wasn’t aimed at me.
“Alpha Blue,” I said. “I…I don’t even know where they live.” Heat burned in my eyes, and the first few tears slipped down my cheeks. “We were heading to their apartment. They told me to get the file… They were here, we were going there, and now…”
“Fuck,” Sofia spat. “Cillian will have to handle Alpha Blue. He’s got a few connections he can strong-arm. But if they told you to get a file from their apartment, that’s what we should do.”
“We?” My heart thudded a little faster.
“You didn’t think I’d leave you to handle this by your lonesome, did you? I’ll text you their address, and we’ll meet there.”
Words wouldn’t emerge now either, even though the gratefulness washed through me so fast and fierce it was dizzying.
Except shame followed on its heels. Yet again, I wasn’t doing anything on my own. I wasn’t taking action, just waiting to be told what to do. My guts twisted to pieces.
There isn’t a competent bone in your body.
My father’s voice echoed over and over again. I clutched the phone a little tighter.
“Stay safe, and stay alert,” Sofia said, then hung up.
I gripped the phone still, staring blankly at the street ahead. My phone buzzed a moment later, and I glanced at the screen. The address was there waiting for me, so I punched it into the GPS.
A ten-minute walk, as promised.
Except I didn’t have Ursuline by my side. My brain screamed in panic, the sound growing louder and louder inside me by the second. Ursuline should’ve been here with me. They should’ve been by my side.
We should’ve been together.
My body numbed, even as I forced myself forward.
I didn’t question why Alpha Blue had targeted them and not me. Alpha Blue went after monsterkind.
And now that Ursuline was on the run from the Triton family, they’d been easier pickings.
Bile churned in my gut. I continued onward, even though I could barely feel the ground beneath me as if my limbs were detached from my body.
Nothing connected, not while my heart was being carried away by those specters who’d swarmed in from the shadows and stole Ursuline.
I needed to get to the apartment, though.
For them. So I scanned the streets as I went, slowing before any alleyway that emerged, in case others were lying in wait for me.
My jaw clenched so hard I was surprised my teeth didn’t chip, yet I continued to stride forward, down one block and then another.
Ursuline was with Alpha Blue. The bile rose in my throat as I passed by building after building, house after house. The hum of traffic to my right was ever-present, and even though I floated through like a husk, I didn’t stop the scan of my surroundings.
Maybe this was how Ursuline would have kept going forward too. One step after another despite the agony that coursed through me. If something happened to them… Bile rose in my throat. All too fast, my mind spiraled down dark paths. If they were tossed in a threadbare cell. Beaten, battered, worse…
If they weren’t around, only a charred future remained for me.
A shudder rolled through my body, and my eyes ached, even though no tears emerged for once.
I glanced at the GPS on my phone. A minute away. My heart thumped hard. The idea of going into their apartment without them felt sacrosanct. How would I even get inside? Ursuline hadn’t given me a key. Hell, we’d only just agreed to be in a relationship.
And already, the glimmer of hope had been shattered.
Monsters didn’t escape from Alpha Blue. No, they vanished, and they were either dragged off to cells to rot or were banished to monster colonies.
Knowing how Frederick operated, Ursuline would be sent below to New Atlantis to work in the orichalcum mines.
If I didn’t stop this, somehow, they’d never escape the monster that had plagued them their whole life. Panic gripped my chest.
If they ended up below, I couldn’t reach them.
While there was underwater transport to and from New Atlantis, I could guarantee Frederick wouldn’t be letting me aboard any time soon, and he controlled a large portion of the city.
If I didn’t get Ursuline free, and fast, I might never get the chance.
Pressure seeped into my bones.
I stopped in front of a three-story home with a steep gabled roof and decorative purple trim against the black clapboard exterior.
It reminded me in a way of Sofia’s place, unique and definitively them.
Ursuline had made it sound like they lived in an apartment, but the building before me looked like a singular house.
I stepped up the walkway, my skin prickling as if I were being watched. Ever since I left Triton Manor, I couldn’t shake the feeling. Chances were, I’d have to wait for Sofia to get here to do anything. Not only did she have a barrier spell cast, but I also didn’t have a key or lockpicking skills.
All I had was a directive to nab the Liquidium Industries folders.
When I reached the door, a sense of…something wrong…settled inside me.
Maybe I should try the knob, just in case. Standing out here in front of Ursuline’s apartment was like asking to be caught. And this time I’d be by myself, left to my own devices.
I reached for the knob and twisted.
Unlocked.
My brows drew together. Had Sofia somehow gotten here before me? A lingering burnt sugar smell hinted of the perimeter spell that they’d set in place, and yet when I tried to step inside, my foot settled onto the ground.
The inside of the house looked similar to the exterior, and the deep scent of currant lingered through the entryway. A sharp shard of longing pierced my chest.
This couldn’t be the end for us. Not when we’d only just begun.
Rustling sounded from up the steps. I sucked in a shaky breath.
The art on the walls snagged my attention as I ascended the staircase, moody and atmospheric pieces, which fit them perfectly.
Even from here, the imprints of Ursuline on this place made me twist to knots inside.
In a way, this felt like a fugue state, as if they’d reappear at any moment.
They’d been right by my side less than an hour ago, and I couldn’t fathom what would happen if Cillian didn’t have enough sway to track them down. To free them.
How would this situation be for people who had no one at all? Like Jason, and others who’d escaped bad situations and were trying to survive? Fuck. My mind dizzied as I reached the top of the staircase, and I clenched my jaw hard, attempting to shut out the conflicting thoughts and worries.
More of the rustling came from one of the rooms to the right, so I followed it, making sure to approach quietly.
While the only logical explanation was Sofia, given the boundary being down, I wasn’t in a safe situation, by any means.
Each wooden floorboard tried to creak, so I slowed my paces, focusing on my breathing, on each forward footstep.
A low curse sounded from the room, freezing me in place.
That didn’t sound like Sofia.
Sweat prickled on my palms as I continued to approach.
Fuck, what if the noise came from one of Frederick’s men?
What if they’d somehow made it through? Ursuline and I could be locked away in separate prisons and never be able to reach each other.
Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, cold and icy.
The temptation to turn around and run back down the stairs and out the door flooded through me in a real way.
Except Ursuline needed me to do this.
I might be a failure in everything else in my life, but I couldn’t fail them here.
I reached into my pocket, wishing I had more than a wallet with a bottle opener attachment, my phone, a few pens. Something I could defend myself with. My mouth dried as I reached the doorframe.
Then I peered inside.
Back turned, a man rifled through one of the massive filing cabinets in this room, which looked like an office. The broad shoulders, the thick, silver hair fired signal flares. He didn’t need to face me for me to know who this was.
Frederick Triton in the flesh.
The very man I was running from.
I backed up a pace on instinct, but my heel snagged on a nail sticking out of the floorboard. My arms shot out as I wobbled, and a slight, sharp breath escaped me.
“Who’s there?” Frederick whirled around, his eyes flashing. When his gaze landed on me, they darkened. “Elrich Durand. Thought they’d captured you too.”
Ice rushed through me in a fierce torrent. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This was the exact last person I wanted to see.