“Turn that thing up a notch.” Saken’s voice floods me, intensifying the pain already crippling me. “And prepare all supernaturals to be of assistance. I want to ensure we attempt to trigger her abilities with anyone and everyone. Reach out to all contacts necessary, I want one of each known type of supernatural here immediately.”
Nausea turns to burning bile at the back of my throat as my body goes limp and my mind starts to shut down.
“I want no stone left unturned,” Cordelia adds a moment before the pain reaches new heights and I succumb to the deep, dark shadows that consume me.
SEVEN
KAEL
The sun beats down on my bare shoulders as I maintain my pace. I needed to let off some steam since I could barely sleep last night, which meant only one thing: a run. The rhythm, the pounding of my sneakers on the ground, and the endorphins flooding my veins is exactly what I’m chasing.
Not really.
It’s her, but that isn’t an option. Not even to see if she is okay. Rion declared her off limits last night once he returned and Papa Blackwood was secured in the basement, awaiting our presence again soon, I’m sure.
Rion seems to forget that I’m technically Elodie’s guardian, but apparently I’m also a liability with questionable instincts and I could fuck it all upagain for everyone. Every fiber of my being wanted to storm across the hall to her room last night and prove a point, but in reality, he was right.
Who knows what the hell I would do once I got in there.
Wake her?
Yell at her?
Fuck her?
Maybe all of the above.
Swiping a hand down my face, I try my best to rid the visual of her naked body from my mind in an attempt to focus on the pathway ahead of me, but it does nothing.
The mention of her scars last night still has me confused, and my curiosity is wreaking havoc on me, which is likely why I didn’t sleep. I’ll get answers eventually, I just need to show a little patience. Only a little.
Sweat clings to me as I round the bend, following the path at the edge of The Vale, bypassing Institute One, when my cell phone chimes from my pocket. I don’t slow my pace as I dig it out to find a text from Rion flashing across my screen.
Rion: Where are you, man? It’s URGENT!!
I roll my eyes. He’s dramatic. He probably can’t find his moisturizer or something. I’m ready to slip my cell phone away when it starts to vibrate in my hand. This time, it’s not the pleasure of a message, but an incoming call from the wolf.
Considering my options, I sigh, lifting the device to my ear as I click answer and turn down the pathway to Institute Thirteen.
“Where are you?” he blurts before I even get a chance to speak a single word, and it makes my steps falter slightly as I note the actual urgency to his tone.
“Why?”
“Because Elodie is gone.” His gruff tone matches my own.
Anger floods my veins as I pick up my pace, charging toward Thirteen with purpose. “I fucking knew it. You guys should have let me?—”
“Not by choice, asshole,” he interjects, making my brows furrow in confusion.
I drop my speed to a walking pace so I can think. “Get to the point, Rion,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose as a million thoughts run through my mind.
“Professor Morton took her,” he explains, but it’s still not enough information.
“Took her where?” I push, and the pause that follows makes my pulse quicken.
“The Sanctum summoned her.”
Raking my fingers through my damp hair, I glance at my watch. I’ve barely been out of the building for forty-five minutes. How can everything go to shit so quickly?
