“There are wards everywhere.”
“Not just wards. I’ve counted at least seven guards.”
Meaning there was likely a small army of security patrolling the rest of the property.
He kept searching, moving from face to face through the crowd until he finally spotted his mate. On a narrow platform,dressed like sin and bad decisions, Sammy sat with a group of Otherlings, each one younger and more frightened than the last.
“Well, that’s a look,” Saint commented with a chuckle. “What happened to his hair?”
“I doubt he chose it for himself,” Dominic muttered, his gaze raking over his mate.
While he knew it was foolish, he called for Sammy again through their bond.
Again, only silence answered.
But now he knew where to find him, and he’d tear the world apart to bring him home.
“Wait,” Saint said, all notes of teasing gone. “Go back.”
“There’s no—”
“Go back,” Saint insisted.
Growling under his breath, Dominic panned back to the left, down the row of Otherlings on the dais.
“There. The girl on the end.” Saint’s presence pressed more insistently against his consciousness. “Isn’t that the missing shifter from Valdosta?”
With her heavy makeup and bleached hair, he couldn’t be certain, but it sure as hell looked like the photo of the teenager her family had provided.
“Dom, what the fuck is going on?”
To that, he didn’t have an answer, nor did he have time to worry about it right then.
Though reluctant to lose sight of his mate, he pulled away, zooming out as he searched for some kind of identifying landmark. He didn’t have to look far. The edge of the garden abutted a stone wall that overlooked a body of dark water.
And beyond the choppy waves was one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.
“New York?”
Dominic registered his brother’s shock and confusion, but the location itself meant little to him. All he cared about was getting to his mate as quickly as possible.
While he could see past the wards easily enough, he could also feel the steady pressure as they pushed back against him. Attempting a jump directly into the garden wouldn’t end well.
So he zoomed out even farther, over a rolling estate at the water’s edge, searching for a landing zone beyond the protective barriers.
“There,” he muttered aloud, finding an open area beyond a set of iron gates. “Got it?”
“Got it,” Saint confirmed.
Mission accomplished, he reversed the magic, focusing now on the feel of the wooden plank beneath his boots and the sounds of the storm that continued to rage around him. He found his way back, mind and body merging, just as the rest of the pack joined them on the porch.
They split into groups of three, Chapel and Thierry making the jump with him while Boone and Kennedy traveled with Saint.
With the destination set and adrenaline pumping through his veins, Dominic tightened the grip on his magic and steeled himself. He offered one last look at his pack, measuring their resolve, then nodded.
“Let’s go.”
Magic cinched tight around him, the world narrowing to a single, weightless point. For the briefest moment, there was only silence and darkness before the world snapped back with a jolt.