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Athene was, too. The Selkies of the Riptide.

And Shay hadstillchosen to come with. Risk her life to be there for him and Paxton.

He felt a sharp pinch in his heart. He glanced sidelong at Shay, studying the worry on her face…the tense fingers that were interlocked in her lap.

His phone started buzzing on the dash. He grabbed it and checked the caller I.D.

It was a number that wasn’t in his contacts.

“Who is it?” Shay asked.

His first thought was that it was his dad. Or maybe a different Shadowmaster—someone calling on behalf of Donovan. But with all this shit going on, he didn’t want tonotpick up.

“I don’t know,” he replied. He swiped to answer and lifted the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

“I need to speak with Shay,” came a panicked, female voice.

Roman’s stomach flipped over. “Loren?” he bit out. Shay was listening intently. In the back seat, Paxton paused his game and sat up as Roman said, “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Darien’s been arrested.” Her sobs rattled the phone. “I need to speak to Shay right now, please.” Shay was already reaching for the phone as Loren screamed,“Right now!”

104

Lucent Enterprises

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Blackwater Penitentiary,the others had told Loren, was one of the most dangerous maximum security prisons in the world. Most prisoners were killed within forty-eight hours of setting foot inside the spell-protected walls—either by guards, other inmates, or the monsters that were rumored to be kept inside cages of their own, unleashed by the warden and the guards upon chosen prisoners in fighting rings inside the building.

The prison ran off its own source of magic that was completely separate from the rest of the city. No power outage had ever succeeded at stripping off its magic. No hacker had ever managed to break in.

Loren would’ve much preferred not knowing any of this.

She tried not to consider the odds of not just breaking in, but gettingouttoo as she stood with Roark by the door to the Caliginous Chamber at Lucent Enterprises. The others—Jack, Ivy, Lace, and Kylar—were keeping watch at opposite ends of the hallway, guns raised, while Tanner, who was at Heaven’s Gate, masked the security feeds and finished gathering everything they’d need for their plan to break Darien out of Blackwater.

Roark keyed in the security code and selected every color on the screen—all except black and gray. The chamber whirred as it came on, white light bathing the pearly interior.

“Try to relax,” he said as Loren reached for the door handle. Shewastrying, but she was impatient. She wanted to get to Darien. Inside the chamber, balls of multicolored light winked awake and floated about the space like fireflies. “The magic will enter your system quicker if you’re calm.”

She nodded once, drew a deep, steadying breath, then opened the door and stepped inside. Warm, orange-scented water splashed under her bare feet as she crossed the room. She hopped up onto the floating tabletop and lay down on her back. Only when Roark shut the door, did Loren shut her eyes.

Staying calm was next to impossible when she knew Darien was being taken to Blackwater. Taken to the worst prison on the continent. Her heart was racing, her body temperature so warm she felt like she was burning.

This had to work. Their planhadto work.

Minutes ticked by; she counted each and every second. She had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her fingers tapping out an anxious beat. She was so stressed out, she felt like she couldn’t breathe?—

“Loren,” Roark said through the intercom.

She turned her head to look at him. He was staring in at her through the window in the door, his brow scrunched with concern.

Roark was the one who’d called her. He’d been there when Darien was arrested. Out front of the apartment building where Loren grew up.

“You need to relax,” Roark said again. His tone was gentle. “Trust that this is going to work.”

It took all her strength just to nod. “Okay,” she whispered. She returned to her former position and stared up at the waterspouts on the ceiling, just for a few seconds, before shutting her eyes again.

To calm her nerves, she decided to relive the happy memory of when Darien had walked into the reverse chamber in Yveswich to join her for her treatment. He was wearing those white Caliginous on Silverway shorts that made his summer tan stand out. While the others had whistled and howled upon seeing him dressed in something he wouldn’t usually wear, Loren had blushed. He’d looked so good in them.