Page 64 of Damien’s Mate

She held the golden orb in her hand and whispered the words of Command her father had made her memorize.

The ball glowed with white light, and gave a low, repeating chime.

She waited, stomach knotted with tension and anticipation, for an answer.

But none came. The light and the sound faded away.

Lila felt like the bottom had dropped out of her world.

She whispered the Command words again, and then again, but there was still no answer.

There was no one there.

She heard a sound behind her, and then Damien came into the room and squatted down beside her. She didn’t know how long he’d been there—she’d been so focused on the orb she hadn’t heard or scented him.

“They’re not answering,” she said, unable to believe it. “There’s no one there!”

“Hey, relax.” He put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing gently. “Maybe they’re just out to lunch.”

“This isn’t funny!” She felt like she was about to panic, and breathed deeply to calm herself down.

“I know it isn’t,” he said. “But your father was given that orb a long time ago. Something could have happened to the one on the other end, or after so much time went by, it could have been put away and forgotten. Can you—is there any way to leave a message?”

“No,” she said. “Or at least, I don’t know it.” What would she do now? What would she do if they never answered?

Damien said, “Maybe Brandon or one of the others could find something out? They know some dragons. They could ask—”

Lila turned on him. “No! You promised.”

“Okay, I know. It was just an idea.” He rubbed the back of her neck. “You can keep trying. Maybe they just don’t monitor it very often.”

She could keep trying. She would. “They have to be there,” she said fiercely. It made her feel nauseated, just thinking that she and her father might have gone through all this for nothing.

“I’m sure they are,” Damien said. “Just give them time.”

Damien didn’t know how to feel about Lila not being able to contact the Lion Guard. Selfishly, he almost hoped they never answered.

But when he saw what it was doing to Lila, not being able to finish her damn mission, he felt like a shithead.

This was her life, all she’d ever known, all her father had ever raised her to be. Without it, she felt lost. Worst of all, as the days went by, she was pulling further and further inside herself. She didn’t talk to Damien about anything that mattered, and there was no more mischief in her eyes, no more laughter.

He didn’t know what it would do to her if she never got an answer. How long would she wait? Weeks? Months? Years? Then what?

Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. He managed to catch Remy alone one day, and asked him to go for a walk out in the woods, away from the house.

Even though he hated himself for going back on his word to Lila, he explained to Remy what was going on.

“So I wondered,” he said as he finished, “if you have any shifter databases you can hack into, maybe? Or anyone you can trust, to ask about this House of Makek-Dur and what happened to their damn fucking rebellion? She can’t go on like this, hoping for something that might not ever happen. Even bad news would be better than that.”

“Sure, I could look,” Remy said. “The Shifter Council has a database that I kind of have an illegal back door to, and if worst comes to worst I know a Wild Dragon who’s a Draken historian. Tyr Greystone. If he doesn’t know what happened, he can find out. And he can keep a secret.”

“Thanks, man.” Damien clapped him on the shoulder. “I can’t stand seeing her like this. It’s eating her up inside.”

Remy nodded. “It’ll take time, but I can do it.” He hesitated, and then said, “But… are you sure you want to do this? From what you said, if she does find them, and they want her back—which I’m sure they will, because they fuckin’ love their artifacts—then she’ll leave.”

Damien nodded. “I know. I’m a fucking idiot. But… ah, screw it. Just do it?”

“Sure,” Remy said. “If that’s what you want.”