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Fuck.

“Please, ward yourself and get back to the pack, immediately.”

“I will,” she promises. “But I wanted to let you know that you might not see me for a while. Between this and learning how toshift…I don’t know how long it will be,” she confesses. “I’m going to have to tell Sawyer everything—” Her voice breaks off, and I can sense my best friend’s emotions crumbling. “I’m so sorry for being an absent friend lately,” she says hoarsely. “And a shitty one. There are so many things I tried to shield you from before now. Just please know I tried my b?—”

BOOM!

My friend screams over the line.

“Sybil!” I shriek.

What is going on?Memnon says down our bond, his expression concerned.

I’m openly weeping now. My best friend put herself in danger to protect me.

“Sybil!” I cry out again. “Please answer me.”

I can hear voices and scuffling.

“Did you really think you could hide from me?” a woman says.

In the background, Sybil screams.

“And look who it is.” The voice grows louder. “Hello, Selene. Sybil has told me a lot about you.”

Fear seizes up my windpipes.

I’ve been so preoccupied with the possibility that the bad guys were coming for me that it didn’t cross my mind that they might instead come for Sybil.

Memnon, the Fortunas have my best friend.My horror is drowning out every other thought.

I put the phone on speaker and lay it on the bed while Memnon comes closer.

“Sophia?”

“Listen, I’m going to be direct:” Sophia, presumably, says, “Sybil is going to die tonight.”

In the background, I hear Sybil scream again.

My magic rushes out of me, uselessly spreading across the room.

“Unless, of course, you come retrieve her,” she says.

“What do you?—”

“Come to the lobby of the Equinox at ten till midnight,” she interjects. “Not earlier, not later.”

I can hear the staccato beat of my heart. “Promise you won’t harm her.”

“Hmm…no. See you at midnight.”

Click.

The line goes dead.

An angry scream forces its way up my throat. Before I can release it, Memnon is there.

He settles his hands on my shoulders. His indigo magic surrounds us on all sides.