“They kicked me out of school for it,” Hanna explains. “Said I had dangerous magic that couldn’t be controlled. My mom was embarrassed as hell, thought I was a failure for not being able to control myself.”
“Oh.” I consider patting her again, but give her a tight smile instead. “None of us are going to think that. You’re Silver’s family.”
She snorts. “Doesn’t exactly mean we’re trustworthy, though, does it? Especially now one of us has proven to be a traitorous traitor.”
I nod, eyeing the foyer behind them. I don’t have time for this. Zeph is prowling by the door, shooting murderous glances outside for some reason, and we really, really need to get a move on.
“Got somewhere to be?” Rook rasps.
I nod and sidestep them, making my way toward the doors. “Two judiciary guards stopped Silver on the street. They’ve taken her somewhere,” I explain. “They’re questioning her about last night.”
“Where?”
I relay as much of Silver’s words as I can. By the time I’m done, we’re at the doors where Zeph is waiting. From this position, I can also see who he was glaring at. Dante is wearing a path in the snow as he paces with swift movements, clearly waiting for the rest of us. I don’t know how he got here so fast, but I can’t say I’m not happy to see him, despite the tensions between us.
Good. This is good. We need as many people as we can get to track her down.
“She says her mother’s there,” I say, causing Rook to clench his hands into fists.
“We gonna head to the point she was taken from and go from there?” Rook asks.
“That, uh, sounds like a good plan,” I say.
“What’s he doing here?” Zeph spits as we step outside in the wintry air, jerking his head in Dante’s direction.
The vamp raises his head and stares at each of us impassively.
“I’d guess the same thing we are,” I reply.
“I should have an easier time tracking Silver down than any of you,” Dante replies smoothly. “You just focus on retrieving her once we’ve found her.”
“What do you think they’re planning to do?” Hanna asks.
I shake my head as we make our way through the slush and glance at the state of the roads. Judging by the sea of brake lights on the main roads snaking through Nexus, we’ll have an easier job heading to where Silver was taken on foot.
“I wouldn’t have thought the Archarcans would risk having Ember reveal all their secrets, not so soon after he made the threat,” I say.
“That’s if it is the Archarcans,” Rook replies darkly.
“Silver said it was her mother.”
“Exactly.”
My mind takes a minute to comprehend what he’s saying. After a mostly sleepless night and hours of paperwork, my brain is fried, and it’s difficult to parse through Rook’s limited words.
“You mean... her mother might be acting alone?” I ask.
Her mother... whose biggest secret is likely to be Silver’s own continued existence.
It would make sense if she wanted to eliminate that threat.
“Shit.”
We all speed up, hurrying along the mostly deserted streets. Seems like after yesterday, people aren’t keen to get back to theirusual business. Judging by the state of the district, they might not have business to get back to.
Once we reach the street where Silver was taken, Dante is quick to sniff the air and point us in the direction they headed. It’s around fifteen minutes later when we reach a nondescript office building with its doors ajar, despite the stiff wind blowing. By this point, it’s been over forty minutes since any of us last heard from her.
All the lights are out and the building seems to be deserted.
