Krusk thundered up the hall a second later, half-dressed withhis fangs bared.
“What’s going on?” he growled and I met his gaze head-on.
“They took Hanna,” I said. “I can feel her moving south in a car. She’s wrapped up in a blanket of glamor.”
Krusk’s eyes darkened. “You’re sure.”
Every instinct in me screamed, every ounce of orc-blood under my skin burned and every piece of the bond I’d tried to deny was now a compass needle pointing straight at her.
“I’m sure,” I growled.
Krusk nodded once. “Then we hunt.”
Enka’s jaw clenched. “I’m coming with you.”
I shook my head. “No. You wake Dristan, Zara and Tabitha. Tell them a glamor is masking her. They’ll need to counter from here.”
Enka hesitated.
“Enka,” I said, my voice rough with the strain it was taking not to just rush to the door. “I need you here for now. Then rally the clan and join us where we’re going. The coven will track us.”
For a second, I thought he’d argue, but then he nodded, his eyes blazing. “Bring her back.”
I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t need to. Iwasgoing to bring her back. There was no question about it.
Krusk clapped a hand on my shoulder, heavy and solid.
“You’re not going alone,” he said. “I’m driving.”
Normally, I’d refuse. For something this personal, I’d usually insist I worked better alone, that I didn’t need anyone, that I was fine. But I wasn’t fine, and I didn’t have time to pretend otherwise.
“Okay,” I rasped. “Let’s go now.”
Ribbon bounded beside me, croaking with a fury I’d only ever heard when someone tried to take his food from him. He loved her just as much as I did.
Ribbon released a chirp—loud and final—and barreled aheadof us, clearly intending to come too.
“Absolutely not,” Krusk muttered.
Ribbon ignored him, and we moved. We went down the hall, down the stairs, and out into the night air, tainted with the ghost of that car’s exhaust.The mating rage rose higher with each step, no longer a roar but a focused, sharpened blade. I’d always feared it—feared becoming ruled by it and losing myself to it.
But now? Now I understood something my father never lived long enough to teach me. The mating rage wasn’t here to break me. It was here tobreak them.For daring to touch her, totake her.For thinking, even for a moment, that they could steal my mate and live.
When we reached the SUV, Krusk slid into the driver’s seat. Ribbon somehow squeezed into the back, one of the youngling-sized seats that he’d already installed groaning in protest.
I stopped beside the open door, heart hammering, the bond burning like a brand in my chest. I closed my eyes one last time.
Hanna, I said, not speaking aloud but along the bond itself, forcing myself down it like light down a tunnel.Hold on. Don’t give up. Don’t you dare let go. I’m coming for you.
For a heartbeat, there was nothing, but then there was a flicker. A flash of panic andfinally, a stubborn, blazing anger that felt so much like her it knocked breath out of me.She might be scared, but she was fighting.
Good.
Because so was I. I climbed into the truck, slammed the door, and didn’t look back at the building. Krusk started the engine.
“Point me,” he said.
And I did, following the tug on the bond that Iwishedwas stronger. Iwishedthat I’d claimed her when I’d first seen her. If I had, then it would have grown stronger with every moment I accepted it and wrapped it around us. Denying it had stunted it enough that it was hindering my ability to find her. I cursed itand then myself for my stubbornness.
