“Sol and Vox, you two come with me,” Exos said.
“What about the Earth Fae?” I asked, glancing at Aflora and then the others. “I can’t just leave them.” I was the only one still awake. What if one of them needed my strength?
Not that I knew how to lend it.
But I’d damn well figure it out.
Like I was trying to do when Claire arrived.
“Claire’s underground, Sol. You might be the only one who can find her when we get close enough.” Exos glanced at Vox, squeezing his shoulder again. “And you’re fully bonded with our mate. You can help me pinpoint her location.”
My shoulders fell.
Because he was right.
Titus finally stopped pacing, his gaze finding mine. “I’ll help with the Earth Fae,” he promised. “And Cyrus will look after Claire.”
For once, the two of them didn’t bicker.
Cyrus merely nodded, his fingers running through Claire’s hair. “I’ll keep searching on the spirit plane,” he said softly. “She’ll find us. She has to.”
Titus knelt beside Aflora, eyeing the nest I’d created. “I won’t let anything happen to her, Sol.”
I nodded, my throat clogging with emotion.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have predicted such a decision—my mate or my family.
But my mate was my family, too.
An impossible choice. One someone would pay for, for making me endure it. I shoved to my feet, the soil shuddering beneath the weight of my frustration.
“Is that soot?” Titus asked, gesturing to the tendril creeping up Aflora’s arm.
I eyed it with a grimace. Because yeah, it certainly looked like the remnants of a fire.
“We don’t have time,” Exos pressed, dragging my focus to him. “We have to find Claire. I can sense her agitation, the wrongness embracing her spirit. She needs us. Now.”
“I’ll look after Claire and the Earth Fae,” Cyrus vowed. His blue eyes swirled with his element, giving them a striking azure glow. He reached out and sent gentle streams of water to feed the weeping trees and give them the nourishment my people needed to fight off this illness. He glanced at me, his expression determined. “I won’t let you down, Sol. You’re not going to lose them. Not today.”
For once, I allowed myself to have faith in a royal.
Titus gave me a reassuring nod. “We’ve got this.”
I believed him.
Not because of the severity of his expression or the way he said it, but because Iknewhim. Claire’s chosen mate. Member of our circle.
As a unit, the six of us were powerful.
And we would prove that today, a certainty I felt all the way to my soul.We’re coming for you, Claire.
I followed Exos and Vox through the Earth Quad, rage burning in my chest with each step because we couldn’t walk in a straight line, forced to avoid the writhing Earth Fae that were dying all around us. My instincts begged me to stop and help them, but my soul’s priority belonged to Claire.
My mind reeled from having to face this darkness again, from watching others suffer while I survived. It wasn’t right. None of this was right.
The ground trembled as I stormed along behind Vox and Exos.
Vox glanced back at me with concern knitting his brow. “Save your power for whoever is behind this.”
