Jacobs cleared his throat, then began to read from the crinkled paper he held at his chest.
“The dead include twenty-three students and one staff member. There are six students still unaccounted for–”
He went on, outlining the damage to several buildings and trees, and I tuned him out, a quiet rage burning under my skin.
The loss of trees and buildings was nothing compared to the loss of life. These academies held some of the most talented affinates in the world. Any one of them dying, regardless of their affinity, was a tragic loss. And not just because the military wanted them.
I started making mental notes of things I needed to rage to my mother about. My grandfather was gone, had been gone for nearly a year now. It was time for some changes, and the Crown Princess would listen to me. I was a mama’s boy, after all.
Johnson, or whatever his name was, began listing the missing and dead students’ affinities, and my attention was snagged.
“Aiden Brandt, twenty-four, fire affinate. Missing.”
Wyatt’s alarmed gaze met mine, and I shook my head, just barely.
It’s better if Lucille believes Aiden is gone,I explained.
Wyatt nodded once in understanding.
“Skye Aria, twenty-four, air and water affinate. Missing.”
I clenched my jaw. Who had even confirmed that Skye was gone?
Actually…who was her next of kin, now? Shouldn’t they have come to me to check for her?
Was I the next of kin as the Prince? Or was she my next of kin as the Key? Had Wyatt even registered her Link results in the database?
“Any chance the missing students fled?” Wyatt asked, taking over as he noticed my thoughts had wandered again. I eyed him carefully, deciding that no, he probably hadn’t registered any results. My Link-mates were safe from the press.
For now.
“Strong possibility,” Jackson replied. “We’re working to contact their families now.”
“What a nightmare,” Wyatt muttered from beside me as Jensen continued.
I only nodded in reply, rubbing at my chest. It’d been bothering me for hours, but I refused to have Wyatt look at it. He was in a piss-poor mood ever since Skye had left us, and my loss of control had only made it worse.
I’d apologize later.
Probably.
Zoning out again, trusting that Wyatt would hear anything important that I was missing, I took in the scene in front of us.
Several buildings had been damaged, but the astronomy tower was a pile of rubble. A group of structural engineers, almost all earth affinates, had shown up at dawn, and were now furiously debating whether or not the basement level from the old building would still be functional and safe with a rebuild.
“M-my Prince? Should I continue?”
The engineer, who’s name I’d already forgotten, was still trembling slightly, the papers in his hands crinkling with his shakes. What the hell was he so afraid of?
“Rafe,” Wyatt hissed, raising one of his feet as if he’d stepped in shit.
I glanced down and almost laughed. Shadows were pooling across the cracked stone beneath our feet like a puddle of water. Wyatt shook his foot like he could shake away the shadow clinging to his ankle, then sent me a glare. Wyatt had always thought I was in complete control of the shadows and did things like this to fuck with him, but in reality, they frequently acted of their own volition.
It wasn’t exactly becoming of a prince to not have full control of his affinity, but my affinity had never behaved like everyone else’s.
The engineer next to me was white as a ghost, looking like he’d pass out at any moment.
“The Prince will call you back when he’s ready to hear more,” Wyatt snapped from beside me. I briefly registered the man next to me scrambling out of my field of vision while I refocused on the devastation in front of me.
