“Where’s Dathal?” I asked, glancing around, but no one else was here other than Gale, a shifter I recognised from Midnight.
Mase nodded towards the destroyed compound gate. “They went back in to search for Yates and the missing witch.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“On their own?” I glanced towards the gate again, biting my lip. Dathal could take care of himself, but unease crept under my skin regardless.
“With Max,” Mase said. “The rest of the team have the hunters and four of the witches contained until more of our unit arrive for transportation.”
Axel took a step towards the gateway.
I grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”
“In there.” He tugged his arm free and started walking again.
“Axel,” I hissed. “Wait. You can’t just march in there when Yates is still on the loose, let alone a fucking witch.”
“I need to talk to them,” he muttered, stopping again.
“Who?”
“The witches working with Yates. I have to ask them something.”
I stared at him. “Then wait for them to be brought back to the police station.” This wasn’t the Axel I knew. Something was very fucking wrong.
“Ican’t,” Axel whispered, voice strained.
“Axel?” Talis took a step toward him, hand outstretched.
Axel glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. “Don’t.”
Talis curled his hand into a fist and let it drop. He looked like it physically hurt him to stay where he was.
“Dathal’s in there,” Axel added, like that was a good reason to go into the compound.
“And he’s a member of the fae guard who can look after himself,” Mase said softly. “They’ll be out soon enough. Wait here with us.”
“No.” Axel shook his head. “I’m also fae, in case you’ve forgotten. And I need to find that fucking witch.” He set off at a run into the compound.
“Fuck.” I couldn’t let him go in there alone. Magic or no, Axel was my friend. They might have already found Yates and the witch, but on the off chance they hadn’t, Axel needed someone to watch his back. Especially because he wasn’t himself right now, and I was really fucking worried what he might do.
“Nick,” Mase warned when I set off after him. “Be careful!”
I heard footsteps behind me, not at all surprised when Talis caught up to me. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing.”
I scoffed, because clearly that was a lie.
“It doesn’t matter right now. I’m more concerned with what the hell has got into Axel. He’s not himself.”
“I know.”
A few minutes later we saw the compound itself.
And Axel.
He stood right in the middle of the open area.
