Something is wrong. He’s in trouble.
I stumble from the bed and down the hall, lured by the joyful, relaxed voices of my friends. They’re sitting around a table playing our usual game of cards.
Cassius, the vampire, notices me first, and he’s on his feet instantly, rushing over. “What’s wrong, At?”
“I had a nightmare.” I grip Cassius’s shoulder like I need it for balance, slowly shaking my head to sort my jumbled thoughts. “It’s Rune.”
Mac, our resident dragon, looks confused. “The mage?”
I nod, dragging my hand through my hair. “He’s in trouble.”
“How do you know that?” Roman, asks, his wolf-shifter eyes flashing yellow at the suggestion of danger.
“I don’t know. I can feel it.” I rub my sternum. “He needs help.”
Drax, our cinnamon roll of a demon, twists his lips. “Are you sure? You said it was a nightmare, and he doesn’t exactly like us. He probably wouldn’t want us just showing up.”
I nod as the feelings in my head spread through my chest. “I’m sure. We know how to get to him.” I frown. I can’t put my friends through that again. “I can go alone.”
“No way,” Cassius says.
“Yeah, no,” Roman says.
Mac nods. “We’ve got your back, Atlas.”
Mac slides off of Drax’s lap. “Sounds like we have another mission. Let’s go save Rune.”
“It could be dangerous,” I warn.
“Everything we do is, friend.” Cassius pats my shoulder. “When has that ever deterred us before?”
“Cass is right,” Roman adds. “If you feel strongly about this, then so do we.”
“Thank you.”
The guys scatter to their rooms to change, and I shuffle back to mine, bumping into Auri on my way back. Our demon boss tilts his head as Grim, the three-headed hellhound, comes to a screeching halt beside his master.
“What’s happening? I sense unease.” He glances down the hallway in the direction everyone else went, like he’s trying to get a read on everyone’s aura at once. Knowing him, he probably is.
We don’t go out on a lot of missions without Auri’s approval. None,actually. If you want to get technical about it, he owns us. We all signed contracts that basically make us his property, in exchange for status, money, and an exciting job as his own personal little mercenary unit. If someone is brave enough or powerful enough to summon Auri, we’re the ones who end up doing the legwork for whatever deal he might strike.
It’s not a bad life, in spite of how it sounds. But right now, with my heart racing with the knowledge that Rune might be introuble, I’m not loving the idea that he could outright forbid me from doing something about it.
“Roman’s crawling out of his skin to get laid.” The lie jumps to my lips before I can overthink it. And, honestly, it’s believable. It’s a rare night when our resident wolfisn’thumping legs or chewing on the furniture out of boredom. “And the rest of us could use a little wilding, so we’re going out.”
He stares at me with those freaky, glowing eyes of his for a long, tense minute. I have no clue if telepathy is one of Auri’s many powers, but just to be safe, I think really hard about loud music and firm, sweaty bodies.
“Hmm.” I can’t tell if he’s convinced or not, but he smiles and pats my arm. “Come along, Grim.” He whistles, and the three-headed dog bounds off down the hall with big clumsy paws—no longer a puppy, but still in that awkward, adolescent phase—followed by an amused Auri.
I hurry back to my room to put on proper clothing and run some water over my face and beard. My neck has been tense since I woke up, and I’m still hoping this lingering sense of dread is nothing more than misplaced concern and we’ll find Rune in one of his many workshops or hideouts, annoyed by our mere existence.
Even as the thought dances in my head, I already know it isn’t true. In the months since we last saw him, I’ve never felt an intense, urgent need to gofindhim. My thoughts of him are usually more carnal and fleeting, but this is different. This is real. He’s in danger. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.
A few minutes later, I rejoin my friends in the common area, all of them looking to me for direction. “I’m not exactly sure where he is.”
Roman nods. “I can try to catch his scent.”
“We don’t have anything of his anymore,” Drax points out.
