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“And is he coming?” I asked.

Another barely there nod. “He is.”

“And?” Jesus, it was like pulling fangs to get this guy to utter more than a couple of words. What the fuck?

“It would appear …” He exhaled through his nose and a muscle bounced in the corner of his jaw. “That he is loyal to the crown. To Howar’s crown.”

Well, shit. That killed the mood in the vehicle. Nobody wanted to have to kill their best friend, and here Drak was probably going to have to kill both of his. It made me actually feel a little bad for the guy.

“Sunset Bar and Grill, three miles,” Zandren announced.

“Let’s go there,” Omaera said, still facing Drak, her face sad. “What does the text message say?”

“It’s what it doesn’t say,” Drak said solemnly.

“Vampires are so fucking cryptic,” I murmured. “What does itnotsay then?”

“I asked Raver if he shared the location of Melissima’s with Howar.”

Even though I was still new to feeling Omaera’s feelings like they were my own, I instantly felt panic rise up like a tidal wave inside of her. “And?” she asked.

“He said it was his duty to disclose all his king requested of him,” Drak said. “Which means, even though I asked himnotto tell Howar the location of Melissima’s in order to protect Gemma, Raver did it anyway. Therefore, his allegiance is not to me, not to you, but to Howar.”

“Does this mean Gemma’s not safe?” Omaera practically screamed.

“Already messaging Melissima,” I said, on my phone and shooting off a text to the healer-mage.

Just checking in on our patient and how things are going where you are.

The question that was on all of our minds though, was:whendid Raver share the location with Howar? How long had we been in Hell, and traveling to Colorado while Gemma and Melissima were … hurt? In danger? Being tortured? Dead?

My phone buzzed in my palm and a message from the healer-mage popped up.

Everything is good here. The human is healing. Hope you’re all okay. Where are you now?

I glared at the screen. Melissima knew better than to ask where we were. And if she did want to know, she wouldn’t ask it like that. She also referred to Gemma as “the human” which was not like Melissima at all. I was not communicating with the healer-mage.

Thanks for replying so quickly. Glad to hear she’s better. We’re all good. Heading to Arizona. Touch base soon.

“I can feel your feelings, Maxar. What’s going on?” Omaera asked.

“He’s not communicating with Melissima,” Drak said. “Someone has her phone, and quite possibly has her.”

Omaera glanced at me for confirmation, and, sick to my stomach, all I could do was nod.

“What about Gemma?” Omaera asked.

“I don’t know.” I shook my head, devastated that I couldn’t give her a better answer. That I didn’t know more. But if I continued to text with whomeverhadMelissima’s phone, I could give away the fact that I knew it wasn’t the healer-mage. Then, if Melissima and Gemma were still alive, that could put them in even more danger.

“We need to go to them,” Omaera said. “We need to go now.”

Drak shook his head at the same time Zandren and I did.

“What do you mean?” she exclaimed. “Wehaveto go to them. We have to make sure Gemma is okay.”

“We are here for a reason,” Drak said slowly. “That reason is to put this growing war between you and Lerris to rest once and for all. It’s to also determine whether Anysa is on your side, or Howar’s. And we also need to deal with Howar. Too much is riding on this meeting to abandon it now. Especially since Howar is making noise about someone challenging you for the throne.”

Omaera’s mouth opened, and a strangled noise came out. She glanced at me, her emotions raw, pleading. She wanted me to disagree with the vampire, but I couldn’t.