“For fuck’s sake,” Sawyer grumbled. “Seb will kill me if anything bad happens to you.”
“Nothing bad is going to happen. I’ve been thinking long and hard about a way to help him.”
“And? What have you come up with?”
Nothing without turning myself over, which I was more than prepared to do, though I knew it wouldn't fly.
“Well, nothing yet. But I’m close. I can feel it.” My head fell, cocking to the side. “Can you be honest with me about something?”
“Aren’t I always honest with you?”
He was.
“Do you think they’re hurting him?”
Sawyer’s eyes darkened in sync with his hesitation. He then subtly bobbed his head, softening his voice. “There's not a doubt in my mind, Willawood.”
My teeth clamped down on the inside of my cheek. We were wasting time. Precious time.
“We are going to get him out of there. I promise.”
Refocusing my mind on anything other than Sebastian, I prepared my soul to wield. “Are your shields up?”
When Sawyer shook his head, I readied myself and voiced my command. “Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”
“How long arewe going to wait to go back?” I pressed the group around the table for what felt like the millionth time. It had been almost aweeksince Beaumont took Sebastian, and we still hadn't done a damn thing.
Archer glared at me, fisting his hands on top of the table. “Your mother never taught you patience, did she?”
“It’s hard to have patience when—” I paused, trying to find the right words, “—one of ourfriendsis being held hostage.”
Friend.That stung a little, but that was what Sebastian was now. My friend. A friend who I used to kiss, confide in, and have crazy good sex with, but also a friend who lied and hid things from me.
I’d been trying not to think about it all and instead had been putting all my energy in a plausible way to help him. But every now and then, my skin recalled what it felt like being wrapped in his arms, and the memory would make my eyes sting.
“We're going to return as soon as possible,” Kade spoke up. “But without a solid plan, we risk another one of our own ending up in the same situation as Hawthorne.”
Our heads turned towards Pia’s piping annoyance. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s come up with a damn plan!”
“Don’t you think we’ve been trying?” Kade growled, slamming a fist to the wood. “Going back unprepared would just be plain stupid. They will be waiting for us to return, and we don’t even know where they are keeping him. Besides, he isn’t going to release Hawthorne unless we turn Maeve over.”
“Perfect. Let's do that,” I supplied. “If that is the only option, then it seems like a no-brainer.” I could handle my own in Draemor.
“Nice try,” Sawyer responded, glaring over at me.
I refused to meet his gaze.
“Let me make somethingveryclear,” I snarled to everyone in the room, more specifically to my father and Kade. “If no one has a better idea by the end of this meeting, I will be going to Draemor myself, tomorrow. So, everyone best put their fucking thinking caps on and give me a reason not to.”
“What about the other journal?” Kohen suggested, breaking his usual silence. “Maeve mentioned that there was another one?”
“There is, but we have no idea where.” My eyes shifted towards Pia. “I asked a bookkeeper from the archives here, andthey found a news article from a few years ago referring to the donations you mentioned. Some of the texts went as far as Craterra.”
“Huh.” Her head cocked. “Guess I have a better memory than I thought.”
“The problem now is figuring out which city or village the journal went to, if any. I made a list of the largest archives in Caelestis, but even then, odds are Draemornians have completely obliterated them. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of parchment. “It’s also possible that the journal was disposed of, especially considering anyone outside of the Hawthorne bloodline wouldn’t have been able to read it. Sure it can’t bedestroyed, but if it were thrown in the garbage, finding it would be damn near impossible.”
A lull of silence expanded throughout the room as Pia perused the list.
