Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
The roots closed over her, and Chase came down on them swinging, his fists pounding futilely against the twisted bark, the point of his knife stabbing deep into the rotted soil.
It didn’t matter. He couldn’t get her back like that. But dammit, he had to try. Had to find some way to find her. To capture her wrist and pull her to safety.
But there was no way. She’d been sucked from this realm, and right then, he didn’t have a clue where she’d landed.
“Godammit.” The word came ripped from his throat, and he landed a blow against the rough bark. It wouldn’t get her back, but at least it hurt. At least it could be some part of his punishment for failing her.
Fuck.
One moment. He’d missed saving her by one fucking heartbeat. He’d been too slow. Just one beat too slow.
Stop it.
She was gone, but he’d get her back or die trying. Right now, though, he needed to check on the other people she loved. Needed to spin this catastrophe to any students or faculty who’d witnessed the mess.
Needed to lose himself in duty so he wouldn’t fall apart. And right then, keeping his shit together really was job one.
Off to the south, two of Whistler's Hunters were already working the crowd—flashing credentials that wouldn't hold up to a second look, herding witnesses back, repeating the story. Gas leak. Cordoned area. Move along. He let them work and turned to his own job.
He found Tia in an instant, doing chest compressions on Griff as tears streamed down her face, and Riley gently urged her to stop because Griff was already gone.
Chase was there in an instant, kneeling beside her, and when he said, “Tia,” she flung herself into his arms and sobbed as broken apologies slipped from her lips.
“I couldn’t save him. I tried but I couldn’t, and I just—” She shook her head as the tears flowed, and Riley pulled her close.
“You tried,” Chase said, silently telling himself the same thing about Cora. He hoped Tia believed him, even though he didn’t believe himself.
“They came out of nowhere,” Tia whispered. “He was protecting me.”
“He loved you,” Chase said, and she nodded, the tears still flowing.
“It’s like losing my dad all over again.” She blinked, then sniffled, then looked him in the eye. “Cora?”
He shook his head.
Her chin trembled, but no more tears flowed.
“They won’t kill her,” he said, praying that he was right. “She has power. And Kali is all about collecting power.”
Tia nodded, then met his gaze, her eyes hard and steady. “We’ll get her back. We have to. Without Cora, the Barriers could fall, and then—”
He squeezed her hand, cutting her off. “I know.”
“Chase—”
The tears burst out of her, and he pulled her close, meeting Riley’s worried gaze over her head.
He knew she was breaking. Hell, he was breaking, too. But they didn’t have time to be broken.
So, Chase let himself go only for the count of three. That was all he could afford.
“Tia.” His voice scraped. “Listen to me. Griff gave you Helen’s talisman?
She nodded against his shoulder. “I was talking to Cora—and then—”
She made a small wet sound.
“She’s not dead,” Chase said, as much to himself as to her. “You hear me, Tia? She’s not dead.”
“She’s not dead,” she repeated, her voice was thin. “I told her to stay alive. That we’d find her.”
He tilted her chin up with a finger. “And we will. We’re going to get her back. Tell me you believe that. Because she needs all the belief—and all the magic—we can gather.”
He saw her eyes light with purpose. “I believe it,” she said. “We’re getting her back.”
“That’s the plan,” Chase repeated, then leaped to his feet as the air shivered and Adric stepped through, his expression hard and his coat of shadows billowing behind him.
His eyes found Chase’s in an instant, and Chase drew a breath, then went to tell his brother that the woman they both loved was gone.
“I know,” Adric said. “And I know how it has broken you, brother.”
A flare of fury cut through Chase. “And you’re not?”
Adric met his eyes. “I am as whole as I ever was, with all the strength I have ever had. Broken? How would that benefit me? How would it benefit Cora?”
He tilted his head, as if taking Chase’s measure. “So no, Brother, I am not broken. I’m whole, and I am angry, and I am looking first to rescue the woman we love. After that, I anticipate a craving for payback. And I am here because I suspect you will want to join me.”
Chase met his brother’s eyes and felt the truth of the words in his blood.
“As a matter of fact, Brother, I do.”