So does Dagon.
And Benedict.
What the fuck?
“They’re not here,” Talon fires back, his eyes flashing to that animalistic shape they do when he’s losing his grip.
“Who’s not here?” I snap, coming to join the circle.
Dagon’s shoulders drop as he looks to me. “Annika, Cassandra.”
“Joceyln,” Benedict says.
“Avianna,” Hawke growls.
My eyes flare.
“They wouldn’t do this,” Alek says from where he stands by Lyric, who is cradling Ransom’s child in her arms. She’s not looking at her mate. “They wouldn’t.” He looks at Lyric, who keeps her eyes firmly planted on the child.
“They do this shit all the time!” Hawke snaps.
“Aurora.” The floodgates open, panic fully settling in my soul. “The opera house.”
“What about it?” Alek asks.
It’s Dagon I’m looking at. “I saw it. Dreamed of it.”
“Who gives a shit?” Hawke grumbles. “We have to find?—”
“That’s where she went.” I’m shaking now. “Fuck, how long were we out?”
Dagon shakes his head. “Annika. She…oh my fuck, theyplannedthis.”
I try to wend but my power slams into a wall of thick, deep magic. I growl, my boots firmly planted on the damned floor.
“Jocelyn,” Benedict sighs. “She warded the residence to prevent anyone from wending out.”
“Fuck!” Hawke and I shout at the same time.
“We walk past the wards then,” Dagon offers, taking the first steps toward the exit.
Then we’re all moving at once, some faster than the others. Storming toward the properties boundaries until we clear the wards and can wend.
Images fill my mind, my worst fears manifesting to haunt me. Samuel getting his hands on Aurora, finishing what he started when he took her all those months ago. She’d put up a fight this time, I knew she would. She’s stronger than she even realizes, her power one of her biggest assets, but she’s been afraid to test it against living beings. Rightly so, I’ve never blamed her. Her power has a duality nature, and I know better than anyone that power like that can’t be rushed.
She should’ve waited. She should’ve listened to me.
I should’ve listened to her. Maybe if I would’ve…she wouldn’t have felt the need to do this on her own.
Fuck, I’ve failed her.
We make it past the wards, and my heart feels hollow as we all start to wend. I just hope to fuck we’re not too late.
CHAPTER 18
Aurora
The Slatesmark Opera house looks eerily still, bathed in moonlight, as we approach. Avianna had told me all about Edgemont’s historical landmark and how it rested at the very center of all the connecting territories. The space beneath the opera house has tunnels so neighboring supernaturals could get to the designated meeting area where Conclave is held.