“You’re a terrible listener, baby girl.” Cam’s voice was deep and full of depraved promises.
“I wasn’t going anywhere!” I shouted, meeting Faris’ ‘you’re full of shit’ look. “I mean, this time I wasn’t.”
Bram stepped up against my chest and I looked up at him. His expression was stormy, causing my stomach to dip. “Inside, Goldie. Now,” he ordered flatly, and I flinched at his tone. He was pissed.
Great. Well, so am I!I flapped my wings forcefully, effectively pushing all of them away, and then marched toward the house.I’m being such a shit right now. But I’m also not ready to not be a shit.
I heard footsteps gaining on me, and I sensed Khol beside me. He didn't say anything, simply reached out and tugged me against his body as we walked. Tears came again. Gods, why was I such an emotional wreck all the time?
“It'll be okay, wild one. Sloane is one of the most resilient operatives I've ever had. He's smart and talented. He's going to be fine,” Khol promised.
“You don't know that for sure,” I reminded him.
He squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. “That may be true, but if there was any one person I'd bet on, it's Sloane Sullivan.”
“I take it you guys didn’t find anything?” I asked, trying not to have false hope, but damn if my heart didn’t pick up. The flutter of excitement over a potential scrap of good news quickly died out at the shake of Khol’s head.
“Sorry, Saige. There was nothing to find. He quite literally seems to have vanished.” Khol rubbed the back of his neck, his mouth tightening into a thin line. I was starting to recognize this as his worried expression.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. And you’re right—Sloane is strong. Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s doing whatever he needs to do.”
I could hear Faris filling everyone in on what the Seers had told us. Khol was quiet at my side as he listened too. When we reached the patio, he removed his arm and pulled out a chair for me.
"Thanks," I murmured, now slightly embarrassed at my earlier behavior.
Fischer sat down next to me. “Sweetheart, I know it's hard. I fucking miss him too. It's awful and terrible, but we have to be smart. We have one chance, one opportunity, and we need to ensure that we do it right. From here on out, we stick together. Nobody goes off on their own to be picked off. Deal?”
“Agreed,” Bram replied. “There are two serious threats right now—Asrael and my father. If they're working together, that would be problematic. Though Asrael’s made it clear he wants the throne, so if he is working with my father, it's a farce. In a perfect situation, Asrael would be the one to knock my dear old dad out of the equation,” Bram theorized.
I sighed. “We're going to have to go to Besmet. That's where the answers are.”
Everyone looked at me like I'd grown three heads.
“I don't particularly want to go, but I want this to be over. Whatever’s coming, is going to come regardless. I don't get a say, none of us do. I'm tired of waiting around for the next fucked up thing to happen. It makes me anxious and on edge,” I admitted, looking into the concerned faces of the men who loved me.
“We give ourselves three days. Three days to get Faris prepared. Three days to work on our new abilities. And then,thenwe'll go,” Kai spoke with a look of determination.
“Three days,” everyone agreed.
I hoped Sloane had three days. If Asrael thought he could steal my man and my best friend's daughter? He had another thing coming. At least I knew, thanks to Hunter’s story, that Annie was likely to be safe and treated well in that Montague facility.
Hang in there, Sloane. I love you. Be strong.
Darkness.
My head was pounding and my body felt like it weighed ten tons.Where am I?
Opening my eyes was proving to be the most difficult task of my life, so I settled with using my other senses to figure out where the hell I was.Think, Sloane. Think.
Sifting through my hazy mind, I latched on to the last thing I remembered clearly. Sick satisfaction spread through me like a plague, and I found myself grinning. Bryce. Dickless, choked, dead.
My throat was parched; I would've killed for a glass of water. As I inhaled, the scent of antiseptic and cleaning products crept through my senses, and then my eyes did fly open, despite how heavy they felt.
Hospital. I was in a fucking hospital. My heart pounded as I blinked, attempting to sharpen my vision. Everything was blurry and out of focus, particularly in my left eye.Gotta get out of here.
Fuck, I hated hospitals. Too much time spent in emergency rooms as a kid, with too little care by those who treated me. I groaned as I attempted to sit up; my abs felt like they'd taken a beating.
“Whoa there, big guy. Take it easy. You were in an accident,” a voice said. My vision was slowly catching up and I looked around, noting that this room didn't look quite like a hospital. It looked like...
