“She climbed out of the window? Why would she do that?”
Bael rolled his eyes, frustrated as hell with the men. “Maybe she heard you fuckers talking about muting her powers this morning when you were prepping this breakfast feast.”
Bael grabbed one of the heart-shaped pancakes Persius had painstakingly made and munched on it.
The incubus had watched Persius, Thierry, and Ryker run around the house, looking for her, before finally giving up and reconvening in the living room. They could have just sniffed the air and known her scent was far, far away.
The kitchen counter was covered in pans of scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, and muffins that the three made for Nix as a “good morning” breakfast.
“Do you really think she heard us?” Persius asked.
“We should have gone to the woods to talk.” Thierry fingered his glasses. “What were we thinking?”
“Need to find her,” Ryker grunted, scratching at his chest like his heart wanted to pop out of his body and fly to wherever she was.
“Lucky for us, she is in our first morning class,” Bael said.
Persius’s face lit up. “I will change my class schedule immediately—”
“Dude, you are in those classes for a reason,” Bael reminded him. “Two students have already disappeared so far this semester, both of whom were in your second period.”
“But…”
“We still need to find out who is stealing students of rare species. Nix could be next.”
“Don’t put that thought in my head,” Thierry scolded him.
“Leaving,” Ryker said impatiently and walked through the front door of the house to head to the academy to find Nix.
“There is a school dance tonight,” Bael said. “Last semester, three students went missing after the big dance. It’s a hotspot for shifters who are drinking and not paying attention to their surroundings. We need to focus tonight.”
“You think someone might try to grab Nix at the dance?”
Bael waved off that concern. “Nixie will be surrounded by her mates. Plus, remember that she can burst into flame at any moment. No one will try for her—it would be a stupid move.”
“So, we are taking her to the dance and staking out the place at the same time?” Persius clarified. “I call dibs on first dance.”
“I will meet with Bowen this morning about a potion for Nix,” Thierry said.
Bael scoffed, “Again with the power-muting thing?”
“Fine. A protection potion, then. Like what she got for him.” Thierry gestured to Persius.
“That Oadess enchantment was wildly strong,” Persius said. “I swear, I had two interactions with Nix and my instinct notonce screamed, ‘Mate.’ Whatever spell Elle did totally overwrote my thoughts.”
“You should be safe for a week against any new enchantments, but you should stay away from the Oadess family, just in case.”
Persius scratched the back of his head. “Won’t that look more suspicious? If I pretend to still be enchanted, it could give us a leg up. Maybe Adar and Elle will slip up and say something in front of me.”
Bael pursed his lips but nodded. “Fine. Just be careful. If Nix sees you flirting with Elle, we’re going to need a fire extinguisher. And maybe a dust pan for the swan shifter’s ashes.”
“I’m so glad we took this little field trip today.” Elle grinned at Nix and squeezed her hand from the backseat of Adar’s car. “Dad has been missing all of us, and lunch in town and not in the academy’s cafeteria sounds amazing. Plus, this way, we can get all dolled up for the dance and really justrelax and forgetabout the academy for the day.”
Nix nodded. Relax and forget. Those two words bounced around in her head. Forget…what? Her brain felt like it was consumed by sleepy cobwebs, catching each of her thoughts in sticky traps.
Elle squeezed Nix’s hand again. “Aren’t you so excited to go to the dance with Adar?”
“Not as excited as me,” Adar said from the driver’s seat as he sped them down the highway.
