“We can’t get in contact with either of them,” Hanna says. I glare at her for a second, but she looks teary-eyed and a stab of guilt goes through me as my fury ebbs away.
Ro’s blood is hot in my palms. He’s lost a ton of it and is still losing more.
“We need to get him out of here.”
“You think moving him is a good idea?”
I scoop up my best friend’s unconscious body into my arms, ready to charge through the streets of Arcanum.
“He’s dead if we don’t.”
2
Fabian
As soon as the last monster drops, there’s a mass scramble to get out of the reception hall in the city hall. I hang back, watching in bewilderment as the city’s elites trample over each other in their desperate bid to get out.
I can’t get my head around what happened tonight. The entire night got so derailed, I can’t even see the tracks from here.
One minute, I was meeting our Archarcan contact, handing over information on the powerful vamps in the city. The next moment, I headed back to find Silver. I had plans of apologizing and making a start on the grovel-fest I’m pretty certain she’s owed from me.
But she was nowhere to be found.
My feet carried me to the reception room, like I wasn’t even in control of my body. And the next thing I knew, I was watching Silver stand off against a zombie.
And I couldn’t do a single thing to help her. My feet froze to the floor and my magic lay dormant inside me.
It was the single most terrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed. To see the person you’ve grown increasingly obsessed with going up against a nightmare creature, all alone. And being unable to do a single thing but watch.
The sheer level of power radiating off her was astounding, and I wanted nothing more than to steal her away to somewhere safe, away from prying eyes.
Because what she did was very public.
And very illegal.
As soon as my feet unstuck, the ruckus of people distracted my attention away from her.
And then, for the second time tonight, she was stolen away from me.
By the time I reached the point I’d last seen her, she was nowhere to be found.
The wall of media flocked closer to the room, like crows to carrion, trying to get soundbites and exclusive interviews. But the star of tonight’s shitshow had disappeared with no trace.
I’m one of the few people left, traipsing from room to room with my gut cramping with anxiety.
