A moment of recognition.
And then he cut me off, as though taking a red-hot knife and severing the link—
I shot upright, and Trix sat up with me, whining as she scanned my face.
I rubbed a hand over my eyes and checked the clock. I’d been down for most of the day. The suite sat in silence. But then, a soft knock rapped on my door.
“I’ll be in the kitchen, putting tea on,” Cara said from the other side. “Help yourself to the sweats and tee shirts in the closet. They’ll probably be a bit big—most of my guests are somewhat larger than you.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was rolling up sleeves on a non-academy issue shirt and a waistband on sweats while Trix and I padded into the kitchen.
The Watcher not only had tea steeping, but she was in the process of buttering more muffins.
“You knew I was awake?” I asked her.
“Felt your energy going crazy. Anything you want to tell me?”
I pulled up a stool. The table was still buried with Jacques’s efforts, but there was no sign of the Satyr. “I was linked to Sebastian, but only for a few seconds.” I accepted a muffin.
Cara’s blue gaze met my own. “What did you see?”
“I think someone was riding him. Someone he didn’t want on him. And”—I swallowed—“he was whipping him. Not like with a bullwhip—this was made of energy.”
Cara’s mouth pulled straight. “An icefire whip. The favorite torture device of a defeated adversary. But his son lives on—and is with Galeran—he must be using it on Sebastian.”
“It was awful.” I buried my face in my hands. “He needs help, and I’m useless.”
Cara folded a hand around my arm. “Rescuing him is going to require an all-out effort—Galeran will never let him go. Our only hope is that Sebastian can find out where he is being held.” She sighed. “We have been trying to find Galeran for months. Even Nikolai’s connection to his father has not helped.”
I stared at her, my groggy mind groping for answers. Then it clicked. The big scary Bellati. “Nikolai?”
“Galeran is Nikolai’s father.”
My eyes widened.
Cara continued. “He had a rune burned into Nikolai’s skin that enables him to mindspeak with his son. But it has not helped us find the bastard.”
I swallowed. She was trying to stay positive, but I sensed her concern. I cradled the teacup in my hands, and the overlarge sweatshirt slid down to expose my shoulder.
Cara grew very still, and that’s when I remembered the bite mark. It was pretty much healed. But, of course, Cara would know what it meant.
I pulled the shirt back up.
“We have to talk about that,” she said, her tone deliberately mild.
Which is when the suite door opened, and Jacques swirled in.
He was wrapped in his trench coat and looked quite dashing. But it was the expression on his face that had my heart suddenly hammering.
“I think I’ve found Xumi,” he said.
* * *
Cara’s suite was ill-suited for shifter battle-strategy sessions. But our efforts to keep everything flying under Amadeus’s radar meant she was officially hosting a private birthday party.
Or so I’d been told.
I was grateful that two of the four Dragons present wore scales only due to their mated proximity to the real thing. It meant that Lucas’s and Dani’s human half fit comfortably into the kitchen. Aria was a full-blooded Dragon, but female.
