Elizabeth and Bryn’s absence was a clear sign that David was still unconscious. And who knew what shape he would be in when he woke? James wasn’t even going to imagine that David might not wake up at all. He couldn’t begin to deal with that.
Kay gave Zach a reassuring half smile. “We’ll figure it out. One thing at a time.”
“You’re right,” Zach agreed. “We’ll come back to it later.” His gaze moved to Emma, and if anything, he looked even more worried.
Kay leaned forward, drawing their attention. “While you were resting, Ethan and I worked with my gran to force a vision.”
Riley winced beside him, and James felt the same way. Forcing a vision was always a last resort, and Elizabeth had already looked completely drained.
“Gordon’s warded,” Kay continued, her voice low and serious, “so we don’t know exactly where he is, but we think he stayed in London. My gran said something about a train and a river of skulls.”
God, James hated that man. “It makes sense,” he agreed. “I mean, not the part about the skulls”—Kay and Zach grimaced in agreement. Seer visions seldom made much sense until after the fact.—“But I’m sure he’ll be in London. He’ll want to be close by for his meeting with the Prime Minister.”
“Yes, and that’s what we have to stop.” Kay leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
“We can’t just walk up to Downing Street and grab Gordon when he arrives,” Emma said, wrinkling her nose. “Not unless we all want to go to jail. And there are hundreds of train stations. Where would we even start?”
Zach wrapped an arm around Emma, tucking her against his side. “So… if we can’t grab him, and we don’t know exactly where he is… what’s the plan?”
“We plan to get him to come to us,” Kay said quietly.
The room went silent.
Kay glanced at the man she loved, worry written into the lines bracketing her mouth. “Ethan will stay here to support Bryn and Elizabeth in looking after David. He has experience with the impact of blood Shadows and the Healing needed.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Ethan murmured as he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her skin, the trust between them clear for everyone to see.
When Kay faced them all again, her expression was resolute. “The rest of us will meet Gordon… and I’d like to extend the offer to Riley and Emma to join us.”
Both women agreed immediately, their voices as filled with determination as Kay’s.
“Kay!” Zach growled, scowling at their new Custodian, clearly less than thrilled with the idea.
But it was Emma who answered. “I can help, and I want to come.”
“We agreed.Never again,” Zach muttered.
“No, actually, we agreed to always decide together,” Emma reminded him. “And we are.”
Zach let out a low groan, his expression tortured. “I don’t want you to have to face the man who hurt you.”
“That’s exactly why I need to do this,” Emma replied sternly.
There was a moment of tense silence, then Zach pulled Emma closer, holding her even tighter than before. “Promise me you’ll be okay,” he muttered. But then he lowered his voice. “Actually, don’t promise anything. Just remember that I love you.”
James blinked away the heat in his eyes to focus on Riley. A hundred reasons, explanations, and excuses rose in his mind for why she should stay safely in Highgate, but he swallowed them all.
A loose curl of auburn hair had somehow escaped her braid, and he tucked it behind her ear as he made himself smile. “I guess we’re going into battle,” he murmured.
“Side by side.” Riley slipped her hands around the nape of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
Her Shadows rose around them like jade mist. She smelled of warm skin and sweet geranium, and mostly, she smelled like Riley. Like the home he’d been looking for all his life.
They slowly drew apart, lingering as long as they could even as they knew they couldn’t delay. But their hands stayed clasped, fingers intertwined, and their Shadows stayed firmly woven together, anchoring each other within all the turmoil.
“Thank you,” Kay said sincerely. “It will help to have our Seer and Healer with us.”
Beside him, Riley’s back straightened. He knew that Kay’s recognition of her skills, her automatic assumption that Riley would join them, meant a lot to her.
