Page 26

26

NICO

“ I call the sofa,” I announce after Stella brings us a stack of blankets and pillows.

She leaves the room shortly after to go to bed. Lila and Emberlynn are in their rooms, as well.

Wylder walks in at that precise moment, wearing pajama bottoms and a T-shirt.

I can’t say I’m not a bit jealous that he gets to live with Emberlynn. Yeah, eventually, we will all live under the same roof once she becomes more adjusted to this world. And we tell her about that mating part of the coven. I hope she won’t freak out too badly when she learns about that, but I’m worried she might.

I also worry how she’ll react when she learns about my history. Everyone at school knows I sleep around. She’ll hear about it. What happens when she finds out about the bond? Will she reject me because of my mistakes?

Wylder returns to the living room. I’m lounging on the sofa, Kaiden has made a makeshift bed on the floor, and Phoenix is in a recliner with a blanket draped over him. He’s dozing off already, his eyes shut. Weirdly, Kaiden is reading. He’s staring up into nothingness, probably chasing some sort of thought that he hopes will lead him to a solution.

“She’s in bed for now. And safe.” Wylder sinks down onto the armrest. “Is anyone else worried about her starting school tomorrow with all this shit going on?”

“I for sure am.” I adjust the blanket, pulling it more over me. “But we also can’t just lock her up.” The concern that Kaiden might has crossed my mind. However, while he is intense, he’s shown that he values her opinion.

“I have this theory,” he suddenly says, “about the attempted murder of her.”

I sit up to look at him. “What is it?”

He sits up, too, drawing one of his legs up to rest his arm on his knee. “I’ve spent a lot of my time reading through countless books.”

Wylder and I trade a glance, a droplet of amusement gleaming in our eyes.

“We know that.” Wylder fixes his attention on Kaiden. “Where are you going with this?”

He momentarily dithers. “I’ve read some of Ashford Greywing, and while some believe that his followers lied about being possessed, there was evidence that he was able to brainwash a few warlocks and witches. He controlled them like puppets, to do his bidding, and then when he was done with them, the spell would end, and their heads would explode.”

“What?” Wylder and I say at the same time.

Phoenix, who must’ve been half-listening, cracks open his eyes. “That’s disgusting. Why are you telling us about this?”

“Because he thinks that James’s decapitation might be a sign of this.” Wylder catches on more quickly than Phoenix and me.

Kaiden nods. “I do. While the books I read about this brainwashing described it more like an explosion, it could’ve just been different wording. But if you really think about it, Emberlynn can hear him in her thoughts. Maybe he did the same to James and got him to try to kill Emberlynn.”

“Why is he trying to kill her?” I point out. “Emberlynn made it sound like he wanted to capture her.”

“I don’t know the answer to that yet, except perhaps the target of his poisoned doughnuts wasn’t intended for her, but for us. Or maybe she has an immunity to werewolf venom, and he knows that. She may have reacted to ingesting it, but we don’t know for certain if it would’ve killed her.”

“And we’re not going to test that out,” Phoenix says sharply.

Kaiden targets him with an annoyed look. “Obviously. But we need to get him out of her mind, because I do believe he’s trying to get a hold of that, probably to get her to go to him. Because, for whatever reason, he can’t find her.” He wavers. “Just like we couldn’t for a very long time.”

“You think someone’s put a shield on her or something?” Wylder states what we’re all thinking.

“I do, but I think it might be breaking, and that’s why we were able to connect to her again.” Kaiden stretches out his leg. “And I think it’ll continue to crack apart, so I need to get her mind protected.”

“Do you think you can do that yet?” I ask cynically. “Because, earlier today, you said you needed to practice.”

“Not at the moment. When it comes to my ability to access minds … I don’t even like that I did that on her in the elevator. It was too risky, and I was lucky nothing bad happened. The only reason I did it is because there wasn’t another option.” He rolls his wrists. “I have another idea, though.”

“What is it?” Wylder inquires.

I’m thinking the same thing.

“He wants me to make a Breath of Shadows potion,” Phoenix answers with his gaze zeroed in on Kaiden. “Which is great in theory, but that also means we’d have to steal ingredients from my father because some of them are illegal.”

“Great. That sounds easy.” My tone is crammed with sarcasm.

“It’ll be a pain in the ass, but right now might be the best time to break in and steal it,” Phoenix says. “With this murder, everyone will be distracted.”

“You’re right.” Kaiden sits up and kicks the blanket off him. “Let’s go. ”

Phoenix and him both get up and slip on their shoes and jackets.

“What does this stuff do?” Wylder asks. “I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Because brewing it is illegal, too. Plus”—Phoenix motions at Wylder and me— “you two live more in the light side of the magic world. This is black magic shit.”

That gets me to straighten. “Maybe you shouldn’t do it then.”

“Would you rather our heart be unprotected?” Kaiden questions as he slips his jacket on. “She needs Ashford out of her mind before something bad happens, like he convinces her to leave.”

“Fuck,” I breathe out. “I didn’t even think about that.”

Kaiden zips up his jacket. “You two need to keep an eye on her while we’re gone. Don’t let anyone in the house, or out of it. And make sure she doesn’t wander off.” He starts for the door but pauses. “We can’t lose her again.” He yanks the door open and strides outside into the moonlit night with Phoenix right behind him.

He closes the door and silence sets in. The air is laced with a heavy anxiousness that buzzes electrically.

“Are your powers going a bit awry?” I ask Wylder as I lower my feet to the floor.

He tensely nods. “Sorry, I’m just worried about her.”

“Me, too.” I rub my hand across my mouth, thinking. “What if Kaiden’s right about this? What if she tries to leave us because Ashford makes her? ”

“She won’t.” He doesn’t sound so certain, though.

“You know as well as I do that mind control can make a witch or warlock do crazy things.”

The swallow he takes is loud and ridden with his nerves. “She won’t leave.” But he pushes to his feet and pads down the hallway toward Emberlynn’s room.

I move to the window to keep an eye on things. As I’m getting comfortable in the bench in front of the window, Wylder comes sprinting back into the room, his face as pale as the moon, his eyes overflowing with urgency.

“She’s gone,” he sputters as he drags both his hands through his hair. “Emberlynn is gone.”