—Ludo? I’m serious. If you can hear me, give me a sign.—
Nothing. My stomach does a slow, sickening roll. If the Conclave has found him, if they’ve done something to my minotaur… I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep the ‘placid doll’ mask on long enough to get through the front door.
“Theo? Car's waiting,” Willow says, her hand on my shoulder. She senses the shift in my mood, the way my eyes have gone from vacant to panicked.
“I can’t reach Lu,” I whisper.
“He’s probably just out of range,” Naomi suggests, though her voice lacks its usual tactical certainty. “Keep your head in the game, T.”
She’s right, I have to, but I hate the uncertainty.
We walk out into the cold December air. The academy courtyard is a sea of gun-wielding guards and idling luxury vehicles. Naomi and Willow are ushered into a sleek black limousine.
But Max appears at my elbow and steers me towards the Range Rover. “I’m driving us, Sparkles,” he murmurs. “Why don’t you get in the back, and I’ll act as chauffeur?"
That’s not part of the plan. What’s he playing at?
He hustles me into the car, then takes off as I’m still buckling up. “What’s happening, Max?”
He doesn't answer, just drives through the main gate with the rest of the vehicles. “Max?”
Then he takes the forest road. What the fuck.
“Seriously, Max. If you don’t start telling me what’s going on, I’m going to be pissed.”
“It’s just a tiny diversion, Sparkles. Trust me.”
Hmm. I do trust him, but this is not an evening to be playing games.
Where the track meets the dense treeline, Max suddenly pulls over. The tires crunch over frozen pine needles.
“Why are we stopping?”
“Order to go,” Max says, turning around and a wolfish grin spreading across his face.
Out of the shadows of a towering oak, a figure emerges. My breath hitches.
It’s a man. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a pitch-black tuxedo that fits his massive frame to perfection. His white hair is braided back tightly against his skull, revealing the sharp, noble lines of his face. But it’s the eyes that stop my heart—they aren't his usual mismatched hazel and green. They’re a piercing, ice-blue.
“Contacts,” Max murmurs. “Cosmo’s idea. Help with the disguise.”
The door opens, and Ludo slides into the backseat beside me. The scent of rich earth and expensive cologne hits me all at once.
“You’re here,” I choke out, throwing my gauzy, crystal-covered arms around his neck. “You’re actually here.”
—I dug a tunnel out….many days of work…couldn’t let you go without me—
Max shifts the Rover into gear, pulling back onto the road with a roar of the engine.
—You look like the moon, Nymph. Beautiful and more powerful than any of us know—
“Oh, Lu. I love you, and I’m so glad you’re here with me. I need you.” Something occurs to me. “What about the guest list? How are you going to get in?”
—The dragon gave me a false name…I am a distant relative now—
Thank Gods. I lean my head against his shoulder and all the fear that had been gnawing at my gut for days quietens.
Ludo is the heart of us. With him by my side, I can do anything.
