Celeste stepped forward, her eyes blazing. “You’re welcome.”
Her words were clipped, sharp, but I didn’t have the luxury of dealing with her barbed tone. I turned to Luca, needing to focus on what came next. “You must be getting better at veilstepping if you managed to bring all of them here.”
Before I could react, Celeste was running toward me. She slammed into me, her fists pounding against my chest with surprising force.
“You bastard! You fucking bastard!”
Her fists kept coming, each strike a physical manifestation of the anger and fear radiating off her. “This is your fault! Vivian is my best friend, and you—” Her voice cracked, but she didn’t stop. “You let this happen to her!”
I didn’t fight back. I didn’t move. I just stood there, letting her take her rage out on me. Every word, every accusation cut deeper than any blade could.
“Celeste, stop.” Vincenzo’s booming voice filled the room as he grabbed her from behind, pulling her off me. She struggled against his hold, her face flushed and tears streaming down her face.
“Let me go,” she shouted, twisting in his grip.
“This is wasting precious time, love,” Vincenzo said firmly. “We need to focus on getting Vivian back, not tearing each other apart.”
Celeste finally stilled, though her glare was as sharp as ever. “This is on him,” she hissed. “If he had protected her?—”
“You’re right,” I said.
All eyes turned to me.
“She’s right,” I repeated. “This is my fault. I should have been there. I should have stopped Izo before he ever got close to her. And now…” I clenched my fists, my shadows flickering weakly at my feet. “Now, I’m going to fix it.”
Celeste stared at me, breathing heavily. For a moment, I thought she might start swinging again, but Vincenzo kept a firm grip on her shoulders.
“Good,” she spat. “You’d better. Because if you don’t, I’ll make sure you pay.”
“Fair enough.”
An intense silence settled over us while we waited for Camilla. Celeste perched on Dorian’s lap, her legs crossed and her glare fixed on me, but Dorian seemed entirely unbothered by the tension in the room.
A sharp knock at the door broke the tension.
I turned sharply, my shadows curling protectively as I moved toward the sound. My focus was laser-sharp, my every instinct tuned to the mission at hand.
As I reached for the handle, I spared a glance at the group behind me. Luca, Vincenzo, Dorian, and Celeste were all here for Vivian. Because of what she meant to them.
Camilla’s dark eyes scanned the room behind me before settling on me. “I hear we have a problem,” she said, stepping inside.
“We’re working on a plan,” I said.
She closed the door behind her, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall. “Then let me save you some time. I already have a solution. The Tide Market.”
Luca frowned. “The Tide Market?”
“It’s the only place where outsiders can access the Ashen’s territory without immediate suspicion,” Camilla explained. “It’s chaotic. Filled with merchants, smugglers, and underworld operatives. It thrives under the Ashen’s control, but it’s also their weak point. It’s our best shot at getting in without alerting Izo to what we’re doing.”
“It’s risky,” Vincenzo said.
“It’s the only shot we have,” I snapped.
Luca nodded. “I agree. But how much magic do you have left? You’re going to need it to get through this.”
“Not a lot,” I admitted. “But the closer I get to Vivian, the more I can feel it. It’s like the bond fuels my magic.”
“Then we don’t have time to waste,” Luca said. “We’ll veilstep closer to the Ashen territory and figure it out from there.”
