But I knew someone who could help.
Aurion.
I ran back to the counter and yanked open the drawer where I’d shoved the letter weeks ago. The paper with an address written in neat handwriting. I’d found it slipped under my apartmentdoor one morning with a scent that told me exactly who it was from.
I’d kept it but hadn’t used it. Hadn’t wanted to see Aurion because looking at him meant seeing a face too similar to Mal’s. But now I needed him.
I grabbed my car keys and ran out the front door. Closed it behind me with shaking hands but didn’t bother locking it. There wasn’t time.
The streets were mostly empty this time of evening. I blew through a yellow light that was definitely red by the time I crossed the intersection. Took a corner too fast and felt my tires screech in protest. Didn’t care. Just pressed harder on the gas.
His address was only one block away from my bookstore. One fucking block. I could’ve run it in normal circumstances but five months pregnant meant running wasn’t happening. Driving was faster anyway.
I screeched to a stop in front of a nice apartment building and got out of the car without bothering to turn off the engine. The keys were still in the ignition as I raced toward the entrance.
The door flung open before I reached it.
Aurion stood there looking panicked. “What happened? Is it the baby? What’s going on?” He reached for me and started fussing like a mother hen. “Your heartbeat is through the roof. I heard it from inside. Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?”
That answered the question of whether he knew about my pregnancy. Clearly he did since he wasn’t surprised by my veryobvious baby bump. I figured he’d know. Werewolf senses and all that.
“I felt him,” I gasped out. My lungs still weren’t working properly. “I felt Mal just a moment ago. I felt his pain through the bond. He’s in danger, Aurion. Serious danger. Please, please go help him.”
His entire face changed. Went from concerned to deadly serious in half a second. He moved behind a wall without saying anything and I heard the sounds of bones cracking and reforming. Then a massive black wolf burst out and ran past me like hell itself was chasing him.
Shit.
I got back in my car and drove back to the bookstore as fast as I’d come. By the time I arrived, the front door was hanging open and there was no sign of Aurion anywhere. He must’ve already gone through the portal.
I pulled out my phone with shaking hands. Opened the group chat with my friends and hit record on a voice message.
“Hey guys. So I’m about to do something really stupid. Like monumentally stupid. If I don’t come back, I love you all and thank you for being the best friends ever. Also Krystin, you can have my book collection. Bella, take whatever you want from the apartment. Daphne, there’s money in the safe behind the Austen novels and the combination is my birthday. Use it to do bad things. Okay. Love you. Bye.”
I hit send and shoved my phone in my pocket.
Then I walked to the back of the store just in time to see the tail end of a black wolf disappearing into the portal.
I didn’t think about it or let myself hesitate or consider the absolute insanity of what I was doing. Just climbed into the chest and jumped into the swirling light.
The journey hit me like a freight train. My stomach lurched as we tumbled through dimensions and everything spun in sickening circles. I was disoriented and dizzy by the time I felt solid ground beneath me again. My stomach rolled dangerously but surprisingly I didn’t vomit this time. Was I actually getting used to interdimensional travel? That seemed impossible but here I was, managing to keep my lunch down.
Small victories.
I moved carefully, one hand on my belly to steady myself. The corridor was familiar. Dark stone walls, now with torches providing flickering light. The same place where I’d first arrived in Lytopia all those weeks ago.
Aurion was nowhere to be seen. He must’ve run ahead already, moving at that supernatural werewolf speed that I definitely couldn’t match even if I wasn’t heavily pregnant.
I started walking through the hallways as quickly as I could manage. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears with each step. The baby kicked inside me, probably sensing my panic through whatever supernatural connection we shared.
“I know,” I whispered to my stomach. “Mommy’s being an idiot. But we can’t just leave him to die, can we?”
Another kick that felt almost like agreement.
The hallways were empty, which seemed wrong. Last time I was here there had been guards everywhere, servants moving through the corridors, nobles gossiping in alcoves. Now there was nothing, just silence broken by distant sounds that made my blood run cold.
Shouting. Lots of voices yelling over each other in what sounded like chaos. The sounds were coming from somewhere ahead. The throne room, if I remembered the layout correctly. As I got closer I could make out more details. Metal clashing against metal. Growls that sounded distinctly inhuman. The wet sound of something hitting stone that I really didn’t want to think about.
I stopped outside the massive throne room doors and took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Tried to calm my racing heart even though that was completely impossible given what I was about to walk into.
