Patrick snapped out of his sleepy stupor. “I took off last night. I’ve been asleep, but she and Sam were here when I went to bed.”
“Maybe she’s with Sam,” Keith suggested, with hope in his voice.
“Sam’s phone is off. It’s only off when he’s back in Vincula,” Lauren replied.
Violence radiated from theAngel, but her face betrayed nothing. “We can’t take chances. We have to go to The Capital.”
“How will we find her?” Dume asked. “The Capital is huge.”
Lauren grabbed her hair and pulled it back into a tight ponytail. “Gedeon will keep her in the palace where he has control and his minion guards. I know I am risking your lives when I ask this of you, but I need your help searching the palace. It’s too big for me to cover alone, and if I go to Vincula to find Sam, we might be too late.”
“I’ll go,” Dume volunteered. “I’ve been to the palace before. I don’t remember it now, but I will once inside The Capital gates.”
“I’m going too,” Keith added. “I can shift and try to find her scent.”
“Head to the car while I throw on clothes,” Patrick said, rushing into his room. Dume knew that Patrick was thinking of Cora’s death. They couldn’t lose Rory too.
They ran outside and piled into Lauren’s car, and once Patrick was ready, they left in a hurry.
As they drove, Lauren gave them instructions, sounding every bit the commander Sam was. Dume and Lauren were to search independently, and Keith was to sniff Rory out in wolf form with Patrick, who would help open doors for theShifteror deter people when needed.
It was daytime, and there would be a full staff, but it wasn’t completely unheard of for non-staff to be at the palace. It wasn’t common, but it happened.
Lauren would go to Gedeon’s quarters, and Dume would check the east wing near the judgment chambers since he was familiar with that area.
If any guards tried to stop them, they were to incapacitate them. Lauren told them to act like they needed help, and when they were close enough, hit a certain pressure point on their neck to knock them out.
They agreed to not kill anyAatxeguards because they were innocents and, worst case scenario, would take them to the judgment chambers to face Adila.
Non-Aatxeguards were a different story.
Dume’s stomach flipped at the thought of hurting someone innocent, but he might not have a choice.
He and Lauren would have no issue taking down non-Aatxeguards, and Keith swore he could fight as a wolf. It would have to be enough. The one thing benefiting them was that no guns were allowed in The Capital, not even for the guards.
Assuming those rules still applied to the king’sspecialguards.
Lauren kept barking out instructions as the others listened intently. If they found Rory and Gedeon was with her, they agreed to stay hidden and call Lauren. She was the only one powerful enough in their group to fight the Lux King.
Once at The Capital gates, Lauren spoke with the guards, and they permitted her to enter without inspection. After parking, she led them around the palace to the staff entrance.
With one last look at one another, they split up, praying to theSeraphimthey’d find Rory in time.
48
Rory’s wristswere shackled and chained to the wall above her head in the sky room, or at least it was equivalent to the sky room, but here in the Lux Palace it had no essence screens on the ceiling.
She’d recognize the room anywhere, but even if she didn’t, the way they arrived gave it away. The guards carried her through the secret passage near the gardens to Gedeon’s room and then through the other passage leading to here.
She had gawked at her surroundings when they entered. Instead of a standard guest room, it was a torture chamber, and she shuddered at the horrors he had done to others here.
Gedeon dismissed the guards, who disappeared through the room’s main entrance. She thought of the palace layout in her head, mapping an escape route, thankful that the palaces were the same.
Caius took up most of her thoughts.Would she know if he died?If visions alerted them to danger, surely something would alert them of the other’s death. It was the only thread of hope she had.
“Do you like what I’ve done with the place?” Gedeon asked her and spread his arms wide with a hideous smile on his face.
“How many innocents have you hurt here?” she sneered.
