“See you on the other side, Sy,” I said.
Tears pricked behind my eyelids, but my hands were steady as I swung the arrow and drove it straight into the depths of my heart.
Chapter
Three
Killian
Iwas still kissing my mate, unable to get enough of her, when the dark vortex hit, tearing her from my arms.
“Barbie!” I roared, lunging forward. My fingers grazed her golden curls before the storm wrenched her up into the spinning tunnel, out of my reach.
A bell tolled, and an announcement rippled across the courtyard. “Due to the current threat, we are bringing forward the second bride trial. It begins now!”
“No, you fucking won’t!” I bellowed.
Lightning shot from my fingers, striking the vortex with a crackle. Rowan’s earth magic followed the path of my lightning, vines sprouting and shooting high to grab Barbie from the vortex. Cade’s metal magic, Silas’s water, and Louis’s air all joined the assault.
Our combined powers could tear through anything. They should have frozen the vortex in its tracks, but it kept spinning,moving higher and faster, taking my mate and the other bride candidates with it.
My dragon roared his fury through our bond, but before he could break free and shift to chase the vortex, it vanished without a trace.
I stood there, throat tight and chest heaving, staring at the empty space where Barbie had been seconds before.
A deafening silence fell over the courtyard, the ground still trembling from the residual energy of our combined powers. The scene felt abandoned, wrong. Where thousands of masked students had packed every inch of space from here to Windsong Woods, now barely a hundred souls remained. Then, everyone began removing their masks, voices rising in confused whispers and shouts.
“What happened?”
“It’s the second bride trial!”
“Was that planned?”
“Where the fuck have they gone?”
The glowing magical lights seemed hollow now. Abandoned drinks littered the edges of the courtyard, and the orchestra’s instruments lay scattered where the musicians had fled. Even the Tree of Life’s eternal blossoms had dimmed.
I pressed a fist to my chest. The mating bond felt muffled, as if a dark force had shrouded it. I had an inkling where she was. Our bond would only be dampened if she were in the Underworld, but I needed to be sure that was where the vortex had taken her.
The small comfort was that my mate was alive—I could feel that much, even if she was beyond my reach. For now.
My gaze snapped across the space to where Lilith stood, poised and regal, untouched by the chaos. Her impossible green eyes met mine, and one perfect eyebrow arched. Rage boiled in my blood. But before I could close the distance between us,before I could wrap my hands around her throat and demand answers, hellfire and light swirled around her.
“Don’t you dare—” I snarled.
In half a heartbeat, she was gone, leaving only the scent of sulfur, roses, and icy fire in her wake.
“We’re so fucked!” Cade’s voice carved through my fury. His usual playful demeanor had vanished, replaced by a sharp, grim focus. “There’s no magical residue left to track them.”
Rowan trembled with a rage that mirrored my own, stark fear coating his silver eyes. He was afraid for his girl, Sy, who happened to share a body with my mate.
The other heirs formed a half-circle around me, each scanning our surroundings with enhanced senses. We still wore the black tuxedos that signaled our unification, but our masks were gone. Louis’s fangs were fully extended, his head tilted as he listened for sounds beyond mortal hearing. Silas dropped to one knee, pressing his palm flat against the cold marble.
“Nothing,” Silas growled, rising to his feet. “No scent trail. It’s like they never existed.”
Clockwork loomed to our left, the Infinite Library to our right, and the ivory tower’s light pulsed faintly. The heirs and I had purged the corruption in its bowels left by the druid, but without my mate by my side, the academy felt lifeless.
“We won’t be able to track them within Mist of Cinder,” I said, the words tasting of ash and fire. My hands clenched into fists, lightning crackling between my knuckles. “I believe the trial is happening in the Underworld, and Barbie is the target.”
