Castor sighed. “The truth.”
As she followed him, Cassia wanted to scream at his back to lie to Cade, to spare him whatever bad news she knew that he brought. Especially when her brother looked more alive than she’d seen him in months. The excitement in his eyes made her stomach twist.
Her stomach twisted even more when she watched Delphine smile brightly and give Castor a hug. One that lasted a little too long.
When in the hell hadthathappened?
“Did you get trapped in a board meeting?” Cade grinned, grabbing Castor by the shoulder.
“Actually, a few. You wouldn’t recognize the New York office right now,” Castor replied. Cassia wondered if she was the only one who noticed the hesitation in his voice. He continued, “There was one week I had to fly back and forth from there and London three times. I think it’s mostly taken care of now.”
When Castor went silent, her brother stared at him expectantly. “And?”
Castor squared his shoulders. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t find her.”
Cade stilled. Cassia’s heart dropped as she watched him pale… watched every inch of his face harden. Voice dangerously low, he asked, “What do you mean?”
“I searched everywhere. I spent as much time as I could combing through the internet and any source of information I could think of once I found out what happened…” Castor replied quietly. “But I think I was too late. I didn’t get any of your letters until I was already back in Tafari, and there’s too much going on there right now for me to go back to London, despite what my family believes. There’s no record of any Bridget Adams in a hospital, shelter… or cemetery.”
The second the word cemetery was out of Castor’s mouth, Cade flinched. Delphine squeezed his forearm. Swallowing hard, Cassia gazed at Castor. The muscles in his jaw were clenched. Not only did see Cade as a brother, he hated to fail.
“What about Nylah?” Cade asked hoarsely. “Did you see her? She must be—”
Castor reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “She’s missing too. I was able to find this.”
Cade ripped the paper from his hand and unfolded it. Peering over Castor’s shoulder, she peeked at the paper. At the top,Missing Childwas written in giant red letters above a grainy black and white photo of Nylah. Because of Cade’s trembling hand, she couldn’t read the rest of the words.
“There should have been something,” Delphine argued. “News articles, hospital records…something. Unless he just…”
Unless that Warlock had just left her to die wherever the gate had taken them. Cassia didn’t need Cade’s powers to know what words Delphine didn’t want to utter.
Castor reluctantly continued, “I called your landlord about your apartment. Someone had broken in. He emailed me the footage… He was alone. It looked like he grabbed a bag…”
And then Cassia was sucked into whatever memory Castor was showing Cade. She wondered if her brother even realized he was losing control and pulling all their minds together. The palace garden around her disappeared and all of a sudden, she was standing in Cade’s old apartment, watching a grainy image of Archer pick the lock on the door and grab a large suitcase. Seconds later, he was gone.
Even though the memory had stopped, Cassia couldn’t break free from her connection with Cade’s mind. For a moment, she was hearinghismind. She could hear him planning, calculating, reviewing every scenario that could have happened with Bridget and Nylah. His thoughts weren’t the only thing he was projecting, though. Cassia braced herself against the stone wall she could no longer see. Rage, desperation, and longing choked her. Pain, so acute, made her want to fall to her knees. Each new feeling ripped through her soul. She wasdrowningin them. She couldn’t…
“Cade, stop,” Delphine gasped.
The world abruptly went back to normal. Eyes blurry, Cassia tried to catch her breath. When her vision stopped spinning, she spotted Cade’s retreating figure. “Come back,” she called, but he was already out ofsight. To her left, Delphine grabbed Castor’s arm. Cassia couldn’t stop the white-hot rage that suddenly flowed through her veins.
Without thinking, she shoved Castor in the chest. “Why did you tell him the truth?”
“Are you serious?” Castor replied, staring at her in shock.
“You should have lied and said she was fine. Now who knows what he’s going to do.”
Castor took a step forward. His dark eyes bore into hers and she was suddenly afraid he knew that all of her anger wasn’t because of what he’d told Cade… but because of something she had no right to anymore. Chest tightening, she raised her chin and refused to break their stare. Mere inches from her, he stopped. She felt his breath on her face.
“He deserved to know,” he stated, voice almost at a whisper.
Throat tight, Cassia hissed, “If he does something stupid trying to figure out what happened, it’s on you.”
And then she ran. Too afraid to know if he watched her. Too afraid to find out if he didn’t.
Chapter nine
Cassia leaned against the wall outside the throne room. Pressing against the hard stone helped quell her urge to pace. Inside, Finn was debriefing her father. She’d been kicked out. Of course, she’d been kicked out. Her father believed her knowledge of Elyria began and ended with the city’s nightlife. She couldn’t blame him, though. Once… maybe it had.
