Sarah
“Where is he?” I pace around the kitchen table toward where James is sewing Cosette back together while Dalia sits at her side, her face colorless and eyes wide with shock. “Ryan, where is Sydney?”
“I don’t know,” Ryan growls. He’s wearing one of Sydney’s T-shirts which is too small for him. It’s already ripping at the seams as Ryan takes a swig from the bottle of fine scotch I dug out of the bar in the dining room. Ryan is as drunk as a wolf shifter can be right now. His eyes are unfocused as he blankly watches James put another perfect stitch in Cosette’s side.
She doesn’t even flinch as she stares at the ceiling. Her eyes are dry, and her expression is vengeful.
“You told me he went after Gabriel. You need to take me to that den, right now!”
“You’re not going anywhere, not until Evander–”
“Where is my mate?” I grab his arm, shaking him violently. It’s been over an hour since… since Hadley died. My poison-addled brain is still trying to wrap itself around the cold, hard truth of what just happened.
Now, I know what happened to Sydney and Blake tonight. I know about the den, the CCTV footage, the fact that James has had suspicions about Hadley for months but wasn’t able to confirm what she was doing and who she was doing it with.
James hasn’t said a word. He just started helping where he could in total silence. I know he has to be in shock like the rest of us.
Ryan is worrying me though. His cheeks are dry, but I can see the silver streaks of tears. I know he put a hole through the wall in the hallway upstairs when I’d sent him up there for clothes for him and James.
I don’t know what this means for him. I’ve heard getting rejected by a mate is so painful that some people wish for death. What does it feel like to kill your mate, though?
“You have to take me to my son,” I tell him, falling to my knees. “Please, Ryan. We have to do something.”
“Evander is going to meet us here.”
“We don’t have time to sit here and wait for him,” I grind out as Ryan takes another long, drawn out drink from the nearly empty bottle.
Ryan’s phone buzzes on the table. James looks at his Alpha, his eyes heavy with grief and guilt. Ryan slowly reaches for it, but I beat him to it and slide my finger across the screen.
“Hello?”
“Sarah?” Evander’s voice floods my ears.
“Where is Sydney? Do you have any idea where he is?”
“Where’s Ryan?”
James called Evander half an hour ago after we got Cosette into a somewhat stable position. Ryan wasn’t in the state of mind, and it’s obvious looking into his blank, depthless eyes that he may not be in the position to do much right now, either. “Tell me what you know. Have you found Sydney? Is Blake with Maddy and Isaac?”
“You need to come to the castle. Royal guards are being dispatched all over the kingdom. I can’t get to you now. I’m looking for him, Sarah, but I don’t think he’s here anymore.”
“What do you mean he’s not here?”
Evander sighs heavily. Ryan’s eyes slide to mine.
“I had a few Ghosts comb the NZ before the guards were dispatched. We have a group of witnesses who saw two men fighting on the street. They disappeared.”
My stomach hollows out. “You think–”
“I think Sydney either jumped with Gabriel to prevent a public scene, or Gabriel spirited away, and Sydney grabbed him, one of the two. Either way, Sydney is not here, and you need to be at the castle where it’s safe.”
I nod, tears filling my eyes. Ryan, to my surprise, reaches out and lays a hand over mine, squeezing. The act causes tears to spill down my cheeks as pure, white-hot despair tightens my throat to the point of pain. “Okay. We’ll come.”
“Is James there?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him he needs to stay at the manor. Guards will arrive soon to clear out the… the body.”
I squeeze my eyes shut as memories of me and Hadley rush to the surface, cutting through my heart like a knife.
I want to be mad at her, but I can’t find the fury yet. I’m sure it’ll come, but right now, I’m grieving my friend just like Ryan is grieving his mate, and James is grieving his sister.
Grieving what could have been if only–if only Gabriel hadn’t been involved.
That rage ignites at the thought of Gabriel, and my tears vanish.
“Get to the castle immediately.” Evander hangs up, and I slowly set the phone face down on the table and turn to Ryan.
“We have to move now, Ryan. We have to go to the castle.”
He shakes his head once, reaching for the bottle, but I take it from him. “What happened is over. We can’t think about it right now. You have to take me to my son. We have to find Sydney. You know we have to stop Gabriel. We can’t lose both Sydney and Hadley tonight. Please? Our mates–” I choke on the words. “Please, Ryan?”
“I can’t drive,” he says with guilt lining each word.
I look at James over my shoulder.
I’ve never driven before. Evander told me to keep James here. I can tell by the look on his face that he knows he’s likely going to be interrogated soon. He was Hadley’s brother. I trust that he didn’t know what she was up to and was telling the truth, but this is serious.
Then I look at Cosette. She’s so pale. We don’t have any of Isla’s tears here right now. I need to get her to a healer.
“I can drive us. You, me, Cosette, and Dalia.”
“I’ll stay with James,” Dalia pipes up. She rarely speaks, so I glance at her, noticing the way she’s looking up at James like he’s her knight in shining armor.
For a moment, I almost crack a smile. “Okay. That’s fine. Ryan, I can drive us. You just need to tell me what to do. I can’t shift right now. My powers are gone.”
“You still have poison in your system making you weak. We can’t risk it.”
“I can’t risk something happening to my mate,” I tell him. “I need to go there, to your parents, and make sure Blake is safe before going after them.”
I can feel everyone looking at me, but I hold Ryan’s gaze. Ryan slowly stands. He doesn’t sway like I thought he would. “Get your coat.” He fishes in his pocket and tosses me a key. “It’s your car, anyway. Might as well learn to drive it.”
* * *
I glance over my shoulder at Cosette, whose head is resting against the window in the backseat, her eyes fluttering as she tries to keep them open.
The sleek, silver SUV has a cream-colored interior and an engine that roars when I turn the ignition. Driving can’t be that hard. All I have to do is steer and put my foot on the gas pedal, right?
“Put it in reverse and back out at an angle, then put it in drive and steer toward the road,” Ryan says gruffly, motioning to a stick-like object between us. When I stare blankly at him, he curses under his breath and slides the stick toward the letter R. “Give it some gas.”
I slam my foot on the pedal, and we jerk backward. Cosette yelps in surprise, and Ryan hisses, his eyes meeting mine.
“Gently,” he says.
I continue backing up until he tells me to stop. I shift into drive, and suddenly we’re bounding down the narrow, curving driveway and down the mountain side road that leads into Shadowcrest. The car jerks forward and backward as I try to get used to the brakes, but my legs are still weak from the poison, and I’m starting to doubt myself.
Ryan reaches for a button on the visor when we reach the main gate, waving for me to stop.
‘It’s Ryan. We’re on our way to the castle. Silver SUV with RWT-L89 plates,’ he says to the guards through the mind-link. He motions for me to go again, and the automatic gates swing open, revealing a thick layer of fog choking the dimly lit road leading into Crescent City.
By the time we reach the city center, I’ve gotten the hang of driving to the point I feel comfortable enough to really give the car some gas as we speed through the fog, ignoring stoplights and the occasional group of warriors canvasing the neighborhoods and shopping centers.
Other than the warriors, it's totally empty out here.
“Ryan,” I say as the lake comes into the view, the castle just visible over the tree line, “I’m sorry–”
“Don’t say it,” he whispers, turning his head toward the window.
I swallow back my grief, resisting the urge to touch him. I am just beginning to feel that strange bond between us again now that poison is filtering out of my body. The single thread is coated in despair, and it’s killing me.
I maneuver onto the private road leading to the castle. The gates swing open, heavily guarded by wolves and men alike, and pull up to the front of the castle. It’s a rough stop. I park halfway up onto the curb that wraps around the circular driveway where a dormant fountain rests in the grassy area in the middle.
Guards file out of the front door before I even put the car in park. Ryan groans as he gets out, slamming the door shut behind him before fetching Cosette, barely lucid and still bleeding despite her stitches, from the backseat.
Three shadows appear on the porch. Maddy runs down to me, her eyes wide and hollow with concern. I fall apart the moment she clutches my face, turning my head from side to side to look for damage before taking me into her arms. “Blake’s asleep. He’s all right, I promise.”
The sob I’ve been holding back erupts. I come undone at the seams. Just yesterday, everything felt perfect. I had everything I wouldn’t allow myself to even dream of, and now it’s been taken away by the one person who's been hunting me for a decade.
“She needs a healer,” Ryan booms over the gathering crowd of guards. He carries Cosette up the front sets where King Isaac and an unfamiliar man stand side by side.
“Take her into the sitting room. We have everything set up there,” Isaac says, but his eyes slide to mine, searching my face.
The other man, maybe a few years older than Isaac, looks me up and down. His hair is a deep, dark silver that's pulled away from his strong face in small braids that are gathered on the top of his head. His skin is dark, but his eyes are a strange pale blue that seem to glow in the light of the full moon still hanging overhead.
I feel a sense of power when Maddy leads me past him, and I catch his name when Isaac says, “Artyom, find out where Evander is. I need to speak to him.”
Maddy rushes me into the sitting room where I witness Cosette being laid out on one of the couches. Ryan stuffs a pillow under her neck before turning on his heel and tearing away from the room. Maddy watches him, confused, as he steps between a trio of maids carrying medical supplies who squeak and have to jump out of his way.
Maddy tries to sit me down on the opposite couch, but I clutch her hand. “Maddy, Ryan–Ryan killed Hadley.”
She stares blankly at me, shaking her head.
“Hadley, my friend–she was working for Gabriel this whole time. He killed her to save Dalia, our maid. He–Hadley was his mate.”
Maddy lets out her breath in a strangled gasp. She turns to the doorway where Isaac has just entered, having heard every word I just said.
“I’ll talk to him,” Isaac says with heartbreaking calm. His eyes betray his feelings, though. There’s so much hurt and confusion behind them.
“This is all my fault,” I whisper, fresh tears stinging my eyes. “I am so sorry for the pain I’ve caused your family.”
“Don’t say that,” Maddy begs, shaking her head. “Blake is in the nursery upstairs. Go to him. Just look at him for a moment, Sarah, then we’ll talk. He’s safe. You’re safe.”
“I have to find Sydney.”
“I know,” she rushes out but shakes her head again, her eyes going glassy. “We will find him, but we can’t lose you both. Blake can’t lose you both.”
She turns me toward the stairs, and I’m lost in a sea of maids and guards as I side-step through the foyer. I pass Artyom again, noticing the way he’s looking into the sitting room as several people, likely healers, start tending to Cosette.
I look out over the second floor landing, my heart hammering.
The nursery is to the right, down a short hallway filled with moonlight. Eight steps and Blake will be in my arms again, safe, and whole.
But if I turn left, the library will come into view, and from there, I’ll have access to the stars meant to guide me to my destiny.
Can they guide me to my mate?
I turn left.