The lower common room door hung off its hinges.
Arthur’s heart nearly tore out of his chest.
“Aurelia!” he bellowed.
A muffled sob answered.
She burst out from behind an overturned table, a small shape in an oversized sweater, curls in disarray, eyes huge and wild with terror. She sprinted at him and collided with his chest so hard he staggered.
He dropped to his knees, arms crushing around her.
“Papa,” she sobbed into his shirt. “They took them, they tookeveryone…Mom…Edith…everyone—”
His breath stopped.
“Slow down,” he rasped, cupping the back of her head, “Auri, slow down. What happened?”
She dragged in a ragged breath and lifted her tear-streaked face. “Fenred,” she whispered. “He…he changed. His eyes went wrong. Mom knew something was happening. The door…someone blasted it open, and there were more of them and she—”
Her voice cracked, “She pulled the fire. She tried to keep them back. And Fenred just…justsmiled. They took her. They dragged her and Edith and the others out, and”—she hiccupped so hard it shook her whole body—"and I hid like she told me. I’m sorry—”
“No,” Arthur said fiercely, gripping her shoulders. “You did right. You survived. That’s what she wanted.”
His voice broke on wanted.
Aurelia flung her arms around his neck, clinging like she thought he might disappear, too. He held her, hand splayed over her back, anchoring her to him, anchoring himself to something other than pure, murderous panic.
Dom, Leonid, Rory, Chase, all of them crowded into the doorway now. Faces grim. Eyes sharp.
Chase swallowed, looking from Aurelia’s shaking form to his brother’s expression. “Arthur…”
“Fenred,” Arthur said, the word a snarl, “Fenred took her.”
“And half the witches,” Lavinia said from behind Chase, her face bloodless, her remaining coven sisters trembling. “He’s been in our meetings. Our circles. He must have been hiding his scent for months.”
“Hybrids adapt,” Rory said darkly. “This has been building for longer than we guessed.”
Leonid sheathed his blade, expression sharpened, “If the hybrids took them, they’ll be on the move. They rarely linger once they have what they came for.”
“Why take witches?” Chase asked hoarsely. “Why takeDani?”
Dom looked sick as the truth settled. “Because they need witches. To make themselves stronger. It’s how they’ve been getting stronger. By taking witches.”
He whirled on some of his men, barking orders about doubling Layla’s guard.
“All the witches who left in the night,” Julian said, “they didn’t leave. They were stolen.”
Arthur couldn’t breathe.
He put a hand on Aurelia’s head, steadying her as tears kept silently running down her cheeks. His other hand braced on the floor to keep himself upright.
His mate. His daughter’s mother. Taken because he hadn’t let her fight. Because he’d thought he could keep her safe by sending her away.
His wolf howled inside his skull, vicious and broken.
“We’re getting them back,” he said, voice low and lethal, “all of them.”
“Do you know where they went?” Rory asked.
