“There’s been an attack. We have to get back to the castle,” he says, his chest rising and falling with the effort of simultaneously yelling and running to us.
Marik steadies me as we carefully walk back to the embankment.
“Where was the attack? What details do you have?” Marik commands while I look around us, fighting the rising panic. The thick trees in this part of the forest make it difficult to see anything, to see if anyone is hiding behind the trees, watching us, waiting.
The photographer shakes his head and says, “I don’t know much. Ivan just sent a guard to tell me to get you both back right now.”
Now it’s Marik’s turn to look around, surveying the scene.
“We need to portal back,” I say.
He shakes his head and says, “We don’t have time for that.”
I look at him questioningly, and he says, “I can funnel us.”
But I shake my head and look to the others, saying, “No. You can’t funnel us all. Make a portal instead.”
He looks like he wants to argue, but he says, “Fine. But I can’t hold up a barrier and create a portal at the same time. Watch the trees, and make sure nobody’s coming while I focus on this.”
I nod and force myself to swallow. I’m trying not to freak out, but Marik’s rush to get us back to the castle is concerning. I turn my back to him, looking around us. My ears are perked for any sign of anything abnormal, and my eyes narrow as I search for any movement in the trees.
Behind me, Marik clears his throat and says, “Ready. I didn’t have enough room to make a big enough one for us to all go, so we’ll have to go two at a time.”
As soon as he finishes, the two assistants grab their bags and run directly into the portal. The photographer, still holding his camera, follows behind them, leaving me and Marik in their wake.
Marik looks at me and says, “Mother forbid they let their High Queen go in first.”
I ignore the comment. They’re scared, and I don’t blame them. Besides, we’re not even in any immediate danger right now.
I take his hand and say, “Come on.”
We step into the portal, the sound of a tornado ringing in my ears before falling to silence as we land feet-first in the throne room.
I look around and see the photography team exiting the room, leaving Marik and me alone. This time, he takes my hand and says, “We need to go find Ivan and figure out what the hell’s going on.”
We storm out of the throne room hand-in-hand. The castle seems to be functioning as normal. Outside of the throne room, a female walks down one of the hallways carrying a book, her pace leisurely. Well, I guess the castle itself isn’t under attack.
We check Ivan’s office first, which is empty. I lead Marik to the library, assuming they must be in there. As soon as we enter the library, raised voices come from our normal meeting room. I open the door to find Elle, Ivan, Luca, and Holly standing around the table, talking over each other. When the door opens, their voices shut off immediately.
“Mae,” Elle says, looking at me cautiously.
“What the hell is going on?” I demand.
“There was an attack,” Ivan starts.
“I know that. Where?”
He hesitates, and Holly speaks up, but her voice is quiet as she says, “Before we tell you, I want you to remember that she’s okay.”
My blood runs cold at the sentence. What the hell aren’t they telling me?Who’s okay?I want to yell, to force the information from someone.
Holly speaks again. “Cally was attacked. We’re not sure by what. One of the guards noticed something odd on her property during their afternoon patrols and went to check on her. When she didn’t answer the door, they went inside and found her unconscious and bleeding but alive. She was rushed to a healer. She’s okay.”
I can feel my magic roiling in my blood, threatening to release itself, to take over. I force it down. “What else do we know?” I ask.
Elle shakes her head and says, “We don’t know much else. She can’t remember anything.”
“She’s awake?” I ask.
