Page 47 of Queen of the Crimson Throne (Queen of Blood and Stardust #2)

47

LENNOX

Lennox!

Luka’s voice rang through my head again. The first time I thought it was in my head, a dream but?—

“Lennox!”

“What in Astria’s tits is he doing,” I grumbled as I made my way towards his door.

I knocked on his door sharply—my annoyance rising with every moment passing without him answering.

“Luka!” I rapped on the door again. Still nothing.

“Luka?” I tried the handle—the door was unlocked so I made my way inside. “Luka, you have a lot of explaining to do?—”

The words died on my tongue as I took in the room. There were books and broken glasses strewed across the floor like someone had swiped them across the dresser. I scanned the room—where was he? The room was dark—not a lantern was lit.

With the snap of my fingers, my flames bathed the room in a soft glow as it filled the lanterns.

The balcony door had been left open—allowing a cool night breeze to filter in. “Luka?’

I took a step towards the balcony, halting as I stepped in something warm and sticky splattered on the floor.

My chest constricted at the sight of the red liquid under my bare foot. Blood . My eyes darted around the room. There was blood everywhere in the entryway.

It lay in a pool and was splattered across the wooden floor.

“Luka!” Panic was rising inside me now, taking control over every rational thought. I ran through the room, my feet tracking bloody footprints as I searched for him, only to come up empty-handed.

I scanned the room again, looking for anything, any clue as to what happened. My gaze snagged on steel gleaming in the light, Luka’s sword was lying in the entryway, next to the pool of blood.

Someone was here. Something happened and they took Luka.

That’s why he had called for me.

My chest heaved—my breaths coming in short pants.

Panic consumed me. I took off running—Luka’s sword in my hand.

I would find him.

“Lennox!”

In my rush, I ran smack dab into Declan. His large hands gripped my arms. “Lennox.” His golden eyes scanned over me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I have to go.” I moved to step around him, but his hands held firm on my arms. “What’s going on? You’re bleeding.”

“It’s not my blood, I’m fine. I don’t have time to explain.”

His brows pinched together. “Why do you have Luka’s sword?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you—something happened to Luka.”

Declan moved past me, his large strides quickly taking him to Luka’s room as I ran to catch up with him .

When I reached the room he was sniffing the air. “I think he was drugged—the air smells unnatural.”

“The footprints.” He looked at me. “Those are yours?” I nodded.

“Lennox, we’ll find him, but you can’t run off by yourself. We need a plan.”

“We don’t have time to make a plan. We need to find him!”

Declan placed his hands gently on my shoulders. “Luka is strong—he can endure whatever they put him through. If he was drugged like I assume, he’s passed out and not feeling anything right now. He should be out for a while. If he wasn’t drugged he would still be here. He would have fought his way out of it.”

He had a point.

“You can’t worry about him,” Declan continued. “We have to focus on saving him.” I wiped away a tear that attempted to escape without permission.

Goddess, why was I crying? Before I knew what was happening, Declan was pulling me into his body and wrapping his arms around me.

I was stunned for a second before I realized he was attempting to hug me. His body was stiff as a board, but I wrapped my arms around him.

“We will find him, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Declan”

“I’m not.”

A while later we were all gathered in Luka’s room. I had stayed back, staring at the blood-spattered floor while Declan had woken the others

“Do we want to split up and search the city?” Nico asked.

Declan rubbed his hand over his chin. “That could take days. ”

“We could do a tracking spell.” Luce looked towards me. “They can be finicky, but with his blood…” Luce looked around nervously. “I think it would work.”

“Is a tracking spell the same as scrying?” Nico asked.

Kara shook her head. “Scrying can be used in a more general sense—and you don’t have to have a direct connection to who or what you’re locating.”

“Tracking spells are more specific and reliable. They require a direct link to who you are searching for,” Luce continued. “Luka’s blood is the ideal conduit for a tracking spell.”

“Okay.” My voice was rough in my throat. “I’ll do it. Tell me what I need to do.”

Luce nodded. “I’ll go grab what we need. I’ll be a second.”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.” Kara placed a hand on my shoulder. “Luce or I can do the spell instead.”

I shook my head, my body numb. “I need to do it.”

“If that’s what you want.”

Was it what I wanted? I didn’t want to be in this position in the first place—that’s what I wanted. I wanted—I needed Luka to be okay. That’s what I needed.

Luce arrived back a few minutes later, arms full of relics. I watched numbly as she concocted the elements to complete the spell. I turned away as she scraped some of the blood from the pool on the floor and placed it into the bowl.

“You ready?” Luce asked.

I moved to stand beside her. “What do I need to do?”

She instructed me on everything I needed to do to complete the spell.

My hand shook slightly as I took the bloodied stone in my hand, the stone bloody with Luka’s blood. I squeezed the stone in my hand, trying my best to ignore the feeling of Luka’s blood on my palm.

I focused my mind, searching for the connection between Luka and me. I could feel it—it was there. It was nothing more than a thin thread connecting us somehow. The thread stretched and pulled as I followed it through Alethens—towards Luka.

The thread led me toward an abandoned building on the far edge of the city. I followed the thread through the closed door—stunned the spell allowed me. It was like I was there—making my way through the building.

It was mostly empty—whoever had previously owned the building had cleared it out well. But on the far wall of the building, written on the bricks was a symbol only a few would recognize. If you didn’t know it, you’d assume it was a random emblem left behind by the previous owners, but to me, it told so much.

The sight of the three interlocking triangles with a larger triangle crossing through them was the sign of the Vanir.

They didn’t want Luka, they wanted me . This was all a trap—taking Luka to get me to come after them.

Hadn’t they learned yet not to fuck with me?

I followed the thread down a steep set of stairs leading to a dark room underneath the building. A knot formed in my stomach as I made my way down the stairs. I wanted to stop, but the thread pulled me forward.

A sob formed in my chest at the sight before me when I rounded the stairs.

Hanging by his wrist from shackles attached to the ceiling was Luka.

His face had been badly beaten, bruises covered his bloodied face. One of his eyes was swollen shut, but it looked to be healing already. Dried blood was caked on his face and chest.

His shirt was in shreds—like they hadn’t bothered to take off the entire thing—they let it hang in pieces as they used whatever tool that inflicted the nasty gashes across his chest.

If I had been fully corporal, I would have emptied my stomach at the sight of what had been done to him.

I’d get him out of here. I knew his location—we would get him out.

But still, I couldn’t get myself to turn around—to remove myself from this dreamlike state.

I approached Luka, my bare feet sticking to the blood that layered the floor.

Real, this all felt so real.

“Luka.” I brushed his matted hair out of his eyes. “We’re coming for you.” I brushed my thumb across the cut on his cheek.

“I’m coming for you.” I placed a kiss on his bloodied cheek. “And I’ll kill every last one of the bastards who dared lay a finger on you.”

I knew where he was now. We would get him out of there. He would be safe soon. The anger slowly igniting as I plotted my revenge.

A quick death would not be enough for them.

They would find out what happened when you fucked with Lennox Adair.