The woman she’d come to see, Commander Alison Mekray, intercepted her as she turned into the command wing. Tall and fair, Alison had pale eyes and long blonde hair plaited into a thick braid that hung down her back. As a girl, Celina had always imagined that her mother’s best friend had descended directly from their northern ice-capped mountains—an ancient warrior kissed by the deep cold and frost of Calderran winter.
Thanks to Davina’s warm red hair, the two had been a striking pair—winter ice and summer sun.
A distinguished warrior, Alison was as deadly as she was beautiful. While Celina had butted heads with her over the years regarding Connor’s career path—the dangers of which had always terrified Celina—she respected the woman. If anyone had any hope of discovering what happened to her brother, it was her. It was an added blessing that she also happened to be his commanding officer.
“Come this way.” Alison said, quickly ushering her down the hall and into a small meeting room.
Once the door closed, the strict expression on the commander’s face dropped, and she offered Celina a weary smile tinged with concern. “You’ve heard. I had planned to speak with you, but Varice beat me to it. Honestly, I expected you at my door last night.”
“I had Catriona with me yesterday, so I couldn’t get away without raising her suspicions, or I would have,” Celina admitted as she sank into one of the chairs. “Tell me. What’s being done to find Connor and his team? How long have they been missing?”
Alison was a stickler for protocol, but Connor wasn’t just her protégé or another warrior under her command. He was her family. Davina had named her best friend as the soul-guardian of her firstborn child. The person responsible for mentoring and protecting him throughout his life. Upon Davina’s death, Alison had stepped even more fully into their family. She’d mentored Connor and guided him through his warrior training, maintaining a strong presence in his life.
“Not long, but I’m worried. They’ve gone silent before while on missions—it’s not uncommon. But usually, there’s some warning or evidence that it might have been necessary. This is unusual.”
As one of the reconnaissance division’s commanders, Alison spent most of her time orchestrating things from her desk, though she occasionally joined her teams in the field. Celina wished she’d been out with Connor’s team this time.
“Varice said you’ve sent another team to search for them. What can I do? There must be something. I can’t just do nothing, Alison.”
“Believe me, I understand. But at present, we have no evidence of what went wrong and no way to help them. It was a long-term mission, which increases the number of things that could have affected their location or timeline. Sending a recon team is protocol when a Lightning Team entirely misses their check-in window, but it is also practical. We need information before we can act to help them, and that takes time.”
“But—”
Alison raised a hand to stop her. “The wait is always hard, even if it is the best option. But Connor is my soul-son. I’m not leaving his fate up to chance. The moment we get word, I’ll ride out myself to bring them home. You have my word, Celina.”
The vehemence and sincerity in her tone settled some of Celina’s fear. They couldn’t mount a rescue operation without intel. Going in blind would be foolish and wouldn’t help Connor. Alison loved him almost as much as Celina did. She would fight for him if need be.
“Alright,” Celina agreed. “I can hunt for information.” That was something valuable, at least. “I’ll reach out to my contacts in the meantime.”
“Do that. Along the entire Eldridge border. They may have changed their routes back if there was a problem. Give out no details, just inquire about unusual activity. I’ve done the same with my personal contacts in Eldridge already, separate from the military effort.”
Alison covered Celina’s hand in a rare show of affection. “We will find him, Celina. I promise.”
The vow from such a fearsome warrior bolstered Celina’s strength, but worry and dread still churned inside her.
Chapter 2
Velton Estate, Realm of Eldridge
Forthesecondtimein his life, Rodric stood in front of the charred remnants of a building and fought the growing fear and rage in his soul. The packs of trade goods he’d brought lay in a forgotten heap at his feet.
The remnants of satisfaction from his annual fall trek burned away as he stared, unseeing, at the charred wood. He’d been gone most of the fall season in his role as a master Preddari Hunter, vetting the young hunters in his designated territory requesting formal recognition in the trade, and offering training to some of the more remote villages.
Now, staring at the smoking wreckage of his family’s business, it felt like an entire lifetime squeezed into a single moment. Soot smeared his hands as he pressed against the blackened remnants of the doorway. He peered into the wreckage but couldn’t make out what used to be, what with the crashed beams and charred debris.
His cousin Veron was vigilant about safety in his blacksmith shop with a young daughter around, especially since Brenna loved to spend time with him in the workshop. There was no way it was caused by neglect.
His hands trembled against the destroyed wood as panic leeched into his mind.Not Brenna. Please, not Brenna.
Determination coursed through him as he pulled away from the workshop remains. He would find no answers there. Though the house was only a short distance away, he broke into a run. He needed to see them, make sure they were okay.
Silence pounded him as he raced across the yard, past the ash-covered gardens, to the sprawling residence. Nothing seemed amiss as he approached—nothing touched by fire or destroyed in any way that he could tell. The absence of sound was heavy, compressing his lungs until he could scarcely breathe. Where was Brenna’s young laughter? The chatter of the estate’s workers as they went about their duties?
He pushed through the side entrance into the large, informal living room and continued down the hall.
“Veron! Brenna!” he called.
“Rodric?” The faint sound was loud in the otherwise silent house, drawing him down the hall. What was his cousin doing in the guest bedroom rather than the lord’s suite upstairs?
