31. Teddy
TEDDY
T he warmth of the sun against my skin makes me sigh with bliss, reminding me that I slept with my curtains open, which can only mean one thing: no power.
Last night floods my memories, stirring my cock to life as I recall every inch of Ivy I got to enjoy. I wasn’t lying when I said it was the first time having a girl in my bed, but at least when we shared the love tent, she wrapped herself around me as she slept.
It seems this time, I need to hunt her out.
With my eyelids closed, my lips curl into an expectant smile as I run my hand over the bedsheets, but they come up empty and cold.
Alert, my eyes widen with panic, desperate to find her blonde curls spread across the pillow beside me, but all I see are more bare sheets. Tossing the blankets back for good measure, I freeze at the droplets staining my sheets. Her droplets.
Fuck.
My gaze snaps to the discarded protection I used in the dark last night, and I find the same remnants of red there too.
I took her virginity?
Dragging my hand down my face, I try to recall a single sign she tried to give, but I come up blank. Regardless, she’s not here now, and after such an event, I need to make sure she’s alright.
I know she talked crap about this being just casual, but I was simply trying to pacify her; I didn’t think she would actually make a run for it. Maybe next time I tell her there’s no way in Hell this could just be casual, but I need to find her first.
Rising to my feet, I plant my hands on my hips, retracing my steps last night as I try to recall where I placed my device, when my gaze snags on something more important.
Her torn blue dress.
I know I made it impossible to wear again, but would she have left without it? Even if she stole something of mine to wear, her clutch is on the floor beside her heels.
Why is all of her stuff here, but not her? Dropping to my knees beside her things, I break the cardinal rule and slip the clasp open, confirming my worst fears. Her device is inside.
Unease twists in my gut as my eyes latch onto my door that sits ajar.
What the fuck is going on right now?
Darting for my nightstand, I find my device and tap out a message as fast as I can.
Teddy: SOS! My room. Now.
I throw on a pair of boxers and quickly slip into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, just in time for my dorm room door to knock open, and Baron steps inside.
His eyes are wider than mine, inquisitive as he rakes over my room.
His gaze darts from the torn dress to my crumpled bedsheets before settling on the blood.
“What the fuck did you do?” he snarls, barreling toward me with determined strides. I back step out of his path, leaping onto the bed as Archer and Sax appear.
“What’s going on?” Archer asks, running his hand through his messy hair, sleep still present at the corners of his eyes as he blinks at us.
“That’s what I want to know,” Baron grunts, waving a hand at me accusingly, and I lift my hands in surrender. Before I can explain, he proceeds. “Her dress is in tatters, her belongings with it, and there is blood on the bed. Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” I answer gently, and he snarls. “Something isn’t right here. I need your fucking help,” I insist, and when no one immediately jumps at me again, I push on. “She fell asleep beside me, but when I woke, like five fucking seconds ago, she wasn’t here and the door was ajar.”
“And you didn’t leave her side?” Sax clarifies, rubbing at his chin, and I shake my head.
“What time did you pass out?” Archer asks, and I rattle around in my brain for a second.
“I don’t know? We were… worn out. Maybe midnight? Who can fucking tell when there’s no power?” I grumble, pinching the bridge of my nose as Baron scoffs.
“She can’t have just disappeared in the night,” he grumbles, and I roll my eyes.
“I’m aware of that.”
“Why would someone take her from beside you?” Sax mutters, and I sigh.
“I really don’t fucking know.”
“Did you piss off another girl, who?—”
“This looks bigger than that,” I insist, interrupting Archer’s question. “This just… I think we need to reach out to Hugo.”
“Why?” Sax asks, and I throw my hands up in the air.
“Because she’s not here.”
“Have you checked in with Ember?” Archer asks, and I shake my head.
He pulls his device out and taps a message, two shallow inhales later, it pings.
“She’s not in her room.”
Fuck.
“And you want to reach out to her brother after you what? Fucked her?” Baron snaps, waving at the blood on my bed, and I groan.
“If that’s our only choice, then yes.”
“So you did fuck her?” Sax clarifies, and I drag my hand down my face.
“That’s not important right now,” I state calmly, and Baron scoffs.
“I’d say it’s pretty fucking important.”
“We had sex, okay?” I give him a pointed look, and he shakes his head.
“What does this mean for all of us now?” he retorts, and I sigh.
“I don’t know, Baron. How about we fucking find her first before we worry about how it doesn’t affect you at all,” I snap. I’m having a shit time right now as it is, I don’t need to handle his feelings and emotions too.
He snarls, but keeps his lips set in a thin line. The silence is deafening until Archer clears his throat.
“Reach out to Hugo. But you’re making the call,” he states, nodding at me, and I’m more than willing to take all of the consequences that come with my actions, as long as she’s okay.
Grabbing my device, I search out his contact details and hit the call button. It rings three times before his voice comes through the line.
“This better be important. If not, hang the fuck up now,” he grumbles, and I grimace.
“We don’t know where Ivy is. She could be on campus, but the scenario seems… unlikely.”
“Explain.”
I clear my throat as the sound of rustling comes through the line. “When I woke this morning, she wasn’t beside me, but all of her clothes and belongings are still here.”
“In your room?” he clarifies, his tone sharper somehow.
“Yes.”
“And she’s not in her room?”
“Archer confirmed with Ember that she’s not there.”
“And you’ve checked campus?”
I rub the back of my neck, staring at her torn dress. “Her clothes are still here, Hugo, and I can’t see that she’s taken any of mine.”
Silence dances through the line for what feels like an eternity, stealing my breath slowly until Hugo speaks again.
“Listen to me very carefully. This is one of two things. One involves me going home, the other requires me to rely on you fuck heads. Can I trust you with her?”
“He lost her once already. I wouldn’t be sure,” Baron snaps, and I gape at him.
Fucker.
“It wasn’t intentional. I was fucking sleeping.”
“She’s precious fucking cargo. Sleep with one eye open,” he snaps back, and when my eyes widen this time, it’s with surprise.
Precious cargo?
“Can I trust you or not?” Hugo growls from the device, and I make a mental note to ask Baron about it later as I glance at Archer and Sax too.
Everyone nods as Archer clears his throat. “With our lives.”
Hugo hums before he speaks. “Then I want you to head to the suspected outpost.”
“The one between Kingdoms Two and Three?” Sax clarifies as dread zips down my spine.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Baron asks, and Hugo huffs.
“Fuck answers. Go find my sister.”
“And you?” I breathe as adrenaline consumes me.
“I’m making sure it has nothing to do with my father.”
Pressing my back against the exterior of the outpost between Kingdoms Two and Three does nothing to calm the adrenaline coursing through my veins. My nostrils flare as my hands ball at my sides, desperate for her not to be here, yet just as eager to see her with my own two eyes.
This feels extreme. It probably is, but there’s something in my gut telling me otherwise.
My chest heaves, but that’s probably from the mile trek we just put in so we could show up unannounced. No dragon, no shifting, no magic at all. Just the four of us, like Hugo insisted.
“He said to take the right door on the far left entrance,” Baron grunts, pursing his lips as the door in question stands a few feet away.
“Then what?” Sax asks, and I shrug.
“Then we find her, or we hopefully don’t. Either way, we need to move now,” I state, and he nods as my device vibrates.
Hugo: She’s not here, but neither is my father. You?
My fingers hover above the screen, ready to catch him up when an ungodly scream of horror echoes from inside.
Fear and panic take over and I move, darting past the others to swing the door open.
I know in my heart that was her.
The others seem just as hellbent as they scramble with me, charging down the corridor, reckless and deranged.
The second we hit the door at the other end of the hall, we all freeze.
A square piece of glass stands in the center of the door, offering us a glimpse inside, but when I reach for the door handle, I’m blasted back.
My spine hits the wall with a thud and I slump to the floor, delirious. Lightheaded, I stare dead ahead at the others, all gaping at me in horror, but the second they see I’m okay, they return their attention to the other side of the door.
I don’t care, I want to be right there with them, because I saw what they can see, and I need inside that room.
Now.
Rage consumes me, launching me to my feet as I stagger down the hall. No one else dares reach for the handle, not wanting to find the same fight as me, but we need to figure out a way inside immediately.
Ivy is tied to a chair, still naked, as a man towers over her. I steady myself on Archer as the man in question rears his hand back, his knuckles connecting with her cheek as he snarls in her face.
When he tilts his head to the side, understanding washes over me.
Not just any man.
“Hugo was right about their father,” Sax grunts, and my hands coil at my sides.
“Get me in there right the fuck now,” I bite, reaching for the handle once again, but Archer yanks me back before I can reach it, refusing to let me face the same fate again, but it would be worth it for her.
“Wait. Who is that?” Baron hisses, jabbing a finger toward the glass, where a man stands in the corner, arms folded over his chest.
As if sensing our interest in his presence, he takes a step forward, revealing more of his face as he speaks. “Don’t bore me any further, Hayworth. Either show me what you think she can do, or I’m leaving.”
“It’s Leonardo Corrigan, the leader of the Second Kingdom.”
“What the fuck is he doing here?” I blurt as Archer shakes his head.
“Never mind that. What did he mean, ‘show me what you think she can do’?”
My chest constricts as my gaze lands on Ivy again.
My heart aches. Pain is mottled into her skin.
I don’t know what the fuck they’ve done to her, or why, but they’re going to pay for it.
The anger burning through my veins is uncontainable, and I move without thinking, only instead of reaching for the handle again, I slam my fist against the glass.
This time, I’m not shot backward, but the glass doesn’t budge under the force of my hand. All it does is draw attention to us.
Ivy’s father balks, moving into action without a word, and I stand frozen in despair.
He reaches for Ivy, and the world slows as he pulls a gun from his hip, centering the barrel on her forehead. He doesn’t falter for a second before he pulls the trigger.
Rage rattles in my veins as a scream tears from my throat. I pound on the glass, over and over, hellbent on gaining entry. The others use their strength alongside me, but all I can see is her.
The chair creaks, the sound haunting as her head hangs forward at an unnatural angle, strands of her pretty blonde hair veiling her face.
But there’s no hiding the gaping hole between her eyes.
The air is thick and suffocating as my pounding fists slacken until the familiar clink of glass fracturing vibrates against my palm.
Two more hits and the glass shatters, the wood with it as Baron slams his foot against it. A jagged shard cuts my arm as I race inside, acutely aware of Leonardo and Ivy’s father disappearing without a trace, leaving her lifeless, limp body to suffer alone.
I whimper as I drop to my feet, desperate to untether her from such treachery, when suddenly, flames come out of nowhere.
“Teddy!” Sax hollers, and I’m launched back once more as the flames consume Ivy and the chair along with her.
Horror keeps me on my knees, pain ricocheting in my chest as I stare in disbelief. The ground thuds around me, and out of the corner of my eye, I find the others on their knees too, watching in terror as flames consume her.
A tear slips from my eyelid, dancing down my face as my lips remain parted, leaving me to gape in pain.
“Why would they do this to her?” I whisper, my chest on the brink of collapsing in on itself.
“I don’t understand,” Sax breathes as Baron snarls.
“They will pay for this. I swear it,” he promises, rising to his feet, ready to follow through on it right now, but the flames suddenly drop, revealing a pile of black ash heaped where Ivy once was.
Rising to my feet, I dare to take a step toward it, nearly shitting myself when a flash of red leaps from the remains.
Oranges and yellows dance like fluttering feathers in the air, giving way to a soft glow as everything falls away, revealing familiar blonde hair, shimmering green eyes, and a coy smile that is enough to send me straight to my knees.
“Ivy?” I whisper, her name a tremble on my tongue as her eyes whip to mine.
“What’s going on?” she asks, her voice coarse and raspy as she rubs at her bare chest.
Archer clears his throat. “Your magic has revealed itself, Angel,” he explains, and her lips part, but before she can ask the question I know is on the tip of her tongue, Baron answers it for her.
“You’re a phoenix.”
Ruin is coming, but from which direction?