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“You don’t know?” Axel repeated. “Isn’t it your job to know where the Fae are? Especially a powerful fire Fae that a kingdom has already claimed?”

“Yes, but?—”

Axel was already shoving him aside and walking away. He didn’t need to hear his excuses. Pulling out his phone and powering it back on, he found the text message confirming what the sentinel had said. Theon had picked up Katya a little over an hour ago, and they’d gone to the public archives in the Pantheon. Of course, he’d missed the message because he’d been in the back alleys of the Acropolis trying to secure more blood since rations were still a few days away. He always shut his phoneoff there so the patrons didn’t think he was some undercover sentinel or something. It’d been a waste of time anyway. He hadn’t been able to track anyone down.

Muttering curses under his breath, he made his way to the Pantheon, not even bothering to stop at the security check-in. His shadows trailing in his wake said enough about who he was. He stalked through the halls, taking the stairs to the lower levels. He knew where he was going, but even if he hadn’t, Kat’s scent would have found him and led him to her.

The scholars who maintained the Pantheon archives gave him dirty looks as he barged into the main atrium, and he silently chided himself. It wasn’t as if someone random had retrieved Kat. It was Theon for gods’ sake, and yet he could still feel the absolute panic when the sentinel had said Katya wasn’t there.

He found them seated at a long table in the back, side-by-side with books spread out between the two. Kat immediately looked up at his approach, her smile faltering as he prowled forward.

Without a word, Axel dropped into the chair on the other side of her. Theon still hadn’t bothered to acknowledge his presence, absorbed in whatever he was reading. Reaching across Kat, Axel flipped his book shut. Theon’s head snapped up.

“What are you doing down here?” Axel hissed, not wanting to draw attention from the scholars again.

Theon sent him a sarcastic glare. “Research. Obviously.”

“And you needed to take Kat from her studies for this?”

“She’s very knowledgeable,” Theon answered, forcefully reopening his book.

“It could have waited an hour.”

“My time is limited,” Theon replied, already checked out of the conversation, but Axel wasn’t done.

He reached across Kat, again flipping the book closed.

“The fuck, Axel?” Theon snapped, darkness swirling in his irises.

“Axel, stop,” Kat said in a low voice. “I don’t mind. I’ve never been to the Pantheon archives before.”

“That’s not the point,” Axel retorted.

“Then what is the point?” she tossed back.

“The point is, I came to pick you up, and you weren’t there.”

“I sent you a message,” Theon bit out, again forcefully reopening his book. “It is not my fault you didn’t check your phone. What were you doing anyway?”

“I was…out,” Axel said, looking around at the shelves of books. “Where’s Luka?”

“Also out,” Theon replied curtly.

“So flying?”

“Yes.”

Axel drummed his fingers on the table.

“Be useful if you’re staying,” Katya said, sliding a book towards him. Her tone was clipped, and her annoyance only made him more irritated.

With a huff, he opened the book, not even looking at the pages as he flipped them. “Did you talk to Tessa yet today?”

“No,” Theon answered.

That explained his brother’s mood, he supposed. Around mid-morning yesterday, Theon had abruptly excused himself from a gathering they’d been attending. Luka had followed, once again leaving Axel to deal with the questions. The same thing they’d done to him at the Samhain Feast. He’d later learned Theon had felt a sudden flood of emotion down the bond. They could only assume she was undergoing an assessment. He’d received a message from Lord Jove last night that Tessa was too exhausted from her day to call yesterday. Theon had tried calling him several times before finally giving up. Now to have not heard from her yet today?

Fine. He understood. Theon was stressed and didn’t like the fact he didn’t have control here, so he was trying to keep himself busy. He’d done this their entire lives. When he craved control, he buried himself in books and research, but that didn’t mean he could just take his?—