Chapter 36
Rafe
Jade. Where the hell was Jade?
I searched every single face that passed me. Not one of them belonged to Jade. My Guardians were leading everyone away from the spreading fire. It burned nothing tangible. But I knew as soon as it touched a member of the pack they would be incinerated. Granny held Valentina in her arms as she ran toward me. Her hair was stuck to her face and Valentina was crying. Sure enough, there was a big scorch mark along the child’s leg.
“Where’s Carden?” I grabbed ahold of the both of them. We were sitting ducks here. Where was Jade?
Granny shook her head. “His magic won’t work to heal her. He’s trying to get the children to safety with Mav.”
I nodded my head. “Get to the Manor. That’s where everyone is.” It was in the middle of the Pack Lands. It had the most powerful magic protecting it. Before Vivian had been claimed and turned into a wolf, she had used her magic with Granny to put wards around the Manor. It was the most powerful magic my father said he had ever witnessed.
Granny touched my arm. “I will fight this with my grandchildren and Carden. I don’t think the children would know how to combat something like this.”
I scooped up two of the witch kids as I ran toward the Manor. Just as I was about to deposit the children on the front step, an explosion rocked the ground. I flew forward and the porch knocked the wind from my lungs. I struggled to get a breath back in but was able to roll over and see that the children were untouched. My mother was looking them over for wounds and asking if they needed anything. All these children would need therapy. Hell, everyone needed therapy even if they didn’t have trauma. Tracey had a few kids under her arms as she jogged up.
Alice counted each one and sighed with relief. “That’s all of them.”
I wrapped my hands around Tracey’s arms and shook her gently. “Where is Jade?”
Tracey’s brows knit in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t find her anywhere.”
“Wasn’t Knox supposed to be with her today?” Tracey asked.
I nodded. “Yes, but I can’t get through our link.”
“Can you communicate with the rest of your Guardians?”
I closed my eyes and pictured each one of them.Y’all good?
Yes.They all piped up together. All of them except Knox.
“No, I can’t get through to Knox.”
Tracey brushed her damp hair away from her forehead. “Good, that means they’re on the other side of the fire.”
“How would you know?” The fire was getting closer now but Granny was speaking with Lucas on the other side of the porch. She looked like she had a plan. I hoped she had a plan.
“She was going to visit her mother this morning. She’s been there all day with Knox. He sent me some stupid text message about how hot Jade’s mom was.” Tracey held up her phone and showed the texts between them. It wasn’t a time to laugh but I couldn’t help it. She had sent him middle finger emojis to every single message he sent her.
“He hasn’t had much chill lately, has he?” I pushed her phone away. I had seen enough.
“You don’t even know the half of it.” She shook her head. She wrapped her hands around her massive amount of hair and tied it up with a ribbon.
“They should be okay, if they saw the fire then they probably went to one of the safe houses.”
“One of?” Tracey frowned.
“Yes, there are several. The only ones allowed to know every location are the Guardians.”
Axel and Vivian were holding children in their arms. Some of the kids leaning into them had tears streaming down their faces. My chest swelled with the devastation. There was absolutely nothing I could do. We were up against witches. They had an arsenal I couldn’t compete with. It was obvious now. How did I get around this?
