Mari rolled her eyes at me as we followed him. Matt seemed distracted and lifted his head to sniff the air. “The twins should be asleep by now.”
“Yeah. Trix helps tire them out.” Why did my gut twist as I told him that? Suddenly, I really wanted to see my dog. It was late—why hadn’t Kitani brought her back yet? But with everything that was going on, she might have just been too preoccupied. And with the girls, it would be easier for me to come to her than the other way around.
“Which way?” Matt asked, pausing in the hall. He was still sniffing.
I took the lead, heading for the side access hall to the Sabre triad’s quarters.
The moment we rounded the corner, we saw her.
Kitani. In beast form. Crawling out the door of their suite, dragging herself along by her claws.
* * *
I ran to her. Her golden eyes closed and then opened again. A dart protruded from her hindquarter.
I yanked it free.
“The girls,” she rasped, struggling to stay conscious. “Trix went after them...” Her eyes rolled back in her head.
Trix? My heart felt as though it were breaking. Surely Trix hadn’t attacked the twins? She’d seemed so happy with them. While Mari stomped into the suite, I leaned over Kitani—should I try healing her, like I had the guards?
Her eyelids fluttered. “Doon’t—just go. Find them. I’d shut Trix in oour room. Let her go... She wastracking.” She slumped again.
Tracking. Trix wastrackingthem. But tracking who?
Heart thundering, I turned toward Matt. “What do you smell?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Cayenne pepper.”
Mari popped back out. “The suite is empty,” she reported.
Images of white paws flashed through my mind. My side ached—a dull, deep throb. And suddenly, I knew.
“They’ve gone through the gate,” I gasped as I rose.
Mari stiffened, and I shot her a look. “Wake Amadeus, and tell him,” I said, and she nodded. Then I turned and started running back along the hall.
Matt’s long strides brought him level with me in an instant. “Who?”
“I saw it—through Trix’s eyes. Thought I was dreaming.” Images flashed through my mind. Multiple shapes. And two small bundled forms...
It had ended with claws tearing into my side. Trix—but it still ached. She had to be alive. I’d never been one to pray, but I was doing it now.
“Was it the Dragon?” Matt’s eyes met mine, and then skittered away.
“I don’t know.” Talakai wasn’t in his room, but surely he wouldn’t have done this? But how well did I really know the Dragon? And I remembered that first night, when both he and the Dires had been out in the storm...
We pelted down the stairs. “Why take them?” I gasped. All kinds of horrible possibilities coursed through my mind.
Matt offered one that hadn’t occurred to me. “Collectors,” he snarled. “There are bludgers across the realms that would pay a hefty price for them.”
It horrified me to silence as we hit the ground floor and ran for the back doors. Something about all this just didn’t track. Because until the advanced team had gone off on the mission, those twins had been surrounded by some of the most lethal beings in the realms.
“The timing can’t be a coincidence,” Matt’s growl ran right through the words.
I swallowed. He was right. Who’d known that the cubs were vulnerable?
“Inside job,” he concluded as we ran across the back field.
