I stumble against a railing—
When I open my eyes, I stare out at a familiar lake.
Wind lashes my face, cool against my burning skin as my hands tremble around the railing, desperate to cling to something.
I feel sick.Made worse by the hollowness in my chest. I must’ve flitted too far because there’snothingthrough the bond.
“Fuck!”I hiss, dragging my palms over my face, smearing hot tears into my skin.
All that time, I was taught that enforcers were the enemies. The monsters of this world.
But maybe… Maybe it was always me.
Chapter 51: Julien
“What thefuck?” Sai stares at the empty space beside him. “She flitted?”
The urge to join my brothers in their panic is quelled by the feel of her blood thrumming inside me. “I feel her.”
Sai’s eyes snap to mine as he breathes out, “Thankfuck.”
I focus on the steady pulse of her. “I just need a moment to lock onto—”
“She’s gone.” Ezekial’s words crack, andallthe lights explode in blinding white pops. “Where? Where is she?!”
“I can’t feel her.” Kane’s voice is hollow, wrong. “I can’tfeelher.” Shadows ripple out from his skin, eyes a bottomless black as he stares at the empty spot on the sofa.
“My friends, I’ve had her blood. I can find her. I just need a moment to—”
Kane rises, and his darkness erupts in spikes of shadow, the ground trembles, the room shakes, chunks of plaster crash down from the ceiling.
“Sai, distract them,”I say to him alone.“Keep them grounded.”
“Oh, I’d love to,”Sai mutters, sidestepping the debris as Kane’s shadows creep up the walls.“But I think it’s a little late for that.”
“She’s gone.” Kane sounds dangerously detached.
“We know she’s gone!” Sai snaps, rounding on him. “Thanks to the collapsing ceiling, I think we all got the fucking memo. Just—breathe.”
But Kane’s shadows constrict tighter, coiling around him like sentient things.
“Kane, buddy…” Sai moves closer, voice gentling. “Julien can find her—”
“Not good enough,” Ezekial growls. “I need hernow.”
Sai and I both look at Ezekial whose silver light has been swallowed by the dark, his rage replacing all calm reasoning. A perfect mirror of his brother.
Oh dear.
“Guys, listen to me,” Sai tries again, hands raised in placation. “She can’t leave the district. She can only flit to places she’s been. Julien is tracking her, right now. Just give him time.”
Both brothers turn to me in slow, eerie unison. A movement that would make a lesser being cower.
“I will find her,” I swear it like a vow. “And the moment I do, you’ll know. But you must not destroy this district.”
They stare at me. Unblinking. Not willing to listen.
“Donotdestroy this district,” I repeat, but firmer.
