And then we’re all being dragged through the archway, and everything becomes dark.
Breaking the News
Tatum
My attention is fixed on my Schattensicht, waiting for the moment to call. One minute before I’m supposed to call, and the alarm has been raised at the Academy already.
I’ve managed to slip away, not wanting anything to delay me from making the call I need to. Now it’s time to let everyone know. I look at my tablet screen as I sit on the hood of my car in the Academy garage. It’s quiet in here – for now.
I hit the group call button, calling Mom, Uncle Ray, Uncle Liam, Grandad Al, and Leo. Mom is the first to answer. I notice instantly she’s home, and I don’t mean the Rossi Mansion but the home we shared with Dad. Our own home.
I want to ask her what she’s doing there, but Uncle Ray and Leo have picked up, too, although the other two haven’t yet. I glance at the time. Fuck, come on. I need Uncle Liam here before he feels five links snap in about thirty seconds.
“What is going on, Tatum?” Mom asks, towelling her wethair. “Everything alright? Why have you group-called?”
Leo is covered in muck and blood, and he’s in a car. Uncle Ray looks to be in the bathroom of one of the Rossi Hotels. He’s in a suit, meaning he must have been at a business meeting. The world had known the Rossi business tycoon had died, but there was no body. The story they then told is that he had been found by someone and had been in a coma on an isolated island where no one recognised him until he awakened. Well, his return did make the business boom even more.
Uncle Liam now appears on screen. He’s sitting at his dinner table. I can see Aunty Raven’s hair from the side of the screen. Granddad Al is the last to join.
Ten seconds. I had better get to it fast.
“Alright, before everyone panics, I need you to listen to me. You are all about to feel some pack-links break, no one’s dead though, so stay calm.”
I, myself, feel Heaven’s pack-link snap and feel the Alpha power leave me simultaneously. Uncle Liam drops his spoon, his aura surging. They’ve crossed over. We all felt it, and he just felt five at once.
“The boys,” Uncle Liam mutters.
Uncle Rayhan frowns. He must have felt the Alpha power bounce back, being the closest alpha of Ahren’s bloodline.
Grandad Al curses. “The fuck is going on? You better spill.”
Leo is frowning as he looks at me. “The Academy is on fucking alert because of those eight. Start talking and fast. Cansomeone tell Maria?”
“I will,” Aunty Raven’s voice comes; she sounds a little shaken up, but I hear her move away.
“What happened?” Uncle Liam asks. He’s slightly pale, but he’s calm. Mom doesn’t know about Heaven yet…
“Well-”
“Sorry to interrupt, darling, mind adding your grandmother in?” Aunty Raven asks, her face appearing beside Uncle Liam.
I nod and add Jaddati, who joins almost immediately; she’s tight-lipped, her eyes colder than I’ve ever seen before. “Explain, Tatum. I just had to notify everyone that it is under control. However, I want to know where they have gone during school hours.”
“They’ve gone to get Sienna.” It’s blunt, but that’s the hard part done.
“Gone, how?” Mom asks, her voice shaking. “Heaven as well? She’s gone, too, hasn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
Mom closes her eyes as she covers her face with a hand, rocking gently in her seat, and then her screen goes black even though she’s there.
“As well as the quints, Allie, and Ahren,” I continue.
“How did they cross over?” Jaddati asks.
“With the help of a god. Look, I’m just the messenger, sodon’t shoot me, but Heaven said they are protected, and they’ll all make it back, Sienna included.”
“And her words are supposed to be comforting?” Leo frowns.
