Page 86 of Night Fae

Malik nodded, but the dread coiling in his stomach only tightened. He rose from the bed, suddenly needing to move.

"I think I'll walk a bit." He tried to sound casual. "Sitting makes me restless."

"Want company?"

"No." Malik forced a smile. "I'm not great company right now anyway."

Adrian looked like he might argue, but something in Malik's expression made him relent. "Don't overdo it."

"I won't."

Malik slipped into the corridor, leaning against the wall once he was out of sight. The healers had warned him to rest, but how could he rest when Zev was out there, possibly in danger?

The thought of Zev made his chest ache, as if an invisible thread connected them—a thread being pulled taut to the point of breaking.

Something was wrong. He could feel it.

And he didn't have to wander long before the palace erupted into motion. Guards rushed past him, servants called to one another, and Malik's heart beat faster.

They were back.

He pushed away from the wall, fighting the dizziness that threatened to send him to his knees. Following the commotion, he made his way to the palace's main entrance, where a crowd had already gathered.

Caelen strode through the massive doors first, his silver-white hair caked with dirt and what looked unsettlingly like dried blood. Daniel clung to his side, pale but unharmed. Knox followed, supporting Leon, who could barely walk.

Malik searched the group, waiting for the tall, dark figure that should have been bringing up the rear.

Zev wasn't with them.

The realization almost made him stagger.

"Where is he?" His voice came out sharp.

Knox's head snapped up, eyes finding Malik in the crowd. Something in the incubus's expression made Malik's blood run cold.

"Get all these people to clear out," Knox muttered to Caelen, tilting his head toward Malik.

The Shadow King looked more than a bit unhappy to be taking orders from Knox, but he didn't argue. "Everyone out," he commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Now."

Guards and servants scattered, leaving only their small group in the cavernous entryway. Caelen led them to a chamber off the main hall—some kind of receiving room with low couches and flames crackling in the fireplace.

"Where's Zev?" Malik demanded again, stronger this time.

Knox lowered Leon onto one of the couches. "He was separated from us in the Fields."

"Separated?"

"The Night Court found us," Daniel explained, his hand not leaving Caelen's. "We were fighting them, and Zev... he got drawn deeper into the Fields."

"Drawn?"

"He let his emotions get the better of him," Caelen said. "He should have known better."

"Caelen!" Daniel rebuked his mate sharply while Malik sank onto a chair, the room spinning around him.

His worst fears were coming true. "Is he dead?"

"No," Knox said firmly. "Not dead. Just... trapped."