“Run!” someone screams and a stampede of feet head our way.
I squeak as we’re run through by them and hold tight to Valen. Unfortunately, the strength of those running, flying, and zipping by rips up apart and I’m quickly separated from him.
“Fuck, Ava!” is the last thing I hear before darkness meets me.
A pounding headache rouses me, and I groan, picking my torso up off the floor. I blink a few times to clear my eyesight and jolt at the unfamiliar surroundings. It looks to be a row of jail cells, and I’m cuffed by a set of metal chains that meet the wall. Yanking on the restraint, I only succeed in scraping skin off my wrist and hiss in pain.
“Valen?” I call, not seeing him with me. “Is anyone there?”
The room isn’t as musty as one might think, but it’s giving me flashbacks to underneath the club.
A groan sounds from my right, and I pull forward as much as I can with the chains to peek out of my cell.
“Who’s there?”
A mumbled curse word is the reply, followed by my name. “Ava?”
Relief fills my chest at the familiar voice. “Zav! Is Celine with you? What about Valen?” I cross my fingers my mate is at least with them, knowing the four of us were together before we were separated.
A feminine whine of pain tells me Celine is with him, at least.
“Celine is here but Valen isn’t. He’s not with you?” Zav calls out.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“No.” I stifle the urge to cry. “It’s just me in here.” My cuffs clang as I attempt to find some sort of relief for the tension in my arms. “What the hell happened? All I remember is the stampede of people and then passing out.” I rack my brain for any clues.
Shifting echoes through the room as Zav and Celine must try to stand. I hear clanking and a thud that tell me they’re tied up like I am.
“I wish I knew. I held Celine to me for protectionbefore passing out,” Zav growls and yanks against his chains. “What are these made of? I should be able to break them no problem!” He screams out in frustration.
Celine manages to peek around the wall between us so I can barely see her face. Her hair is a frizzy mess around her forehead and her cheeks flushed.
“Are you okay, Aves?”
Tears well up in my eyes at not knowing where Valen is. “I’m so scared for him, Celine. Who did this to us and why did they take him? Is it his original captors? I don’t like this one bit and I knew something was going to happen.” I bite down on my lip in an attempt to hold a sob inside. It’s not like I could have predicted this exact scenario, but it felt like we were prepared enough to keep something like this from happening. Nothing can go according to plan for any of us, it seems. “Where were Levi and Luna? I didn’t see them after the chaos started.”
“We have to hope they can take care of themselves. I’m sure Levi has it under control, wherever they are,” Zav huffs and keeps trying to undo their restraints.
I’m not sure how long this continues, but time seems to stretch uncomfortably. I attempt to pull on my magic to see if I can get it to at least loosen the cuffs, but for some reason it refuses to cooperate every time.
What good am I as a witch if I can’t use my magic when I need it most?
It’s like the well of power within me won’t flow out. I remember Jade saying high emotion can both help and hinder. It seems like this situation is the latter, as much as it pisses me off. I attempt to mediate in an effort to calm down, but it doesn’t help.
“Ugh!” I shout, frustrated at myself. “I can’t believe he’s out there somewhere and we can’t get out of these cells.”
Please be okay.
Like I summoned him, I hear the voice of an angel … well, fallen angel.
“Ava!”
“Valen!” I call back, relieved. My cuffs clang against the bars as I attempt to peer out. I’m not sure why I keep trying, as if my range of motion will somehow magically change.
He appears before me looking flustered and manic but otherwise okay. I don’t spot any injuries, but that doesn’t mean anything. Seeing his hair and tux out of place makes me feel extremely violent. Whoever touched him will beg for death once I’m through with them.
“Stand back,” he warns.
