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It was just Loren, Lace, and Sabrine here, Logan aiding the rest of the group. As soon as they’d made it to the carnival, they had split up to cover ground faster. Sab and Logan were both in their human forms, but despite this their wolf senses were just as strong as they were when they walked on four legs. Although a werewolf’s scenting ability was a far weaker method of tracking than the Sight, Loren could tell from the look on Sab’s face that they were in the right area.
Before they’d split up, Dominic had explained what happened. As a genetically modified hellseher with elemental magic, Blue could only go so long without recharging, so to speak. She couldn’t stay away from the ocean for long. And when they’d left Capricorn Beach and were flying above the carnival, they were attacked. Blue had fled, and Dominic had killed the men. He hadn’t recognized any of them, nor had they been carrying any identification.
Sabrine’s eyes glowed like two fiery suns as she poked Loren in the side. “Menagerie of Misfits?” she whispered.
The Menagerie of Misfits was a network of blue-and-white striped tents up ahead, where animals of all kinds were kept in cages for entertainment.
Under any other circumstances, Loren would never have entered such a building. Unless it was due to a medical reason, the last thing she wanted to see were animals kept in someplace other than their natural habitats, but she didn’t hesitate this time as she followed Sabrine into the tents. According to the sign, the exhibit was closed for the next hour.
What better place for a frightened person to hide than here?
Lace took her spot behind Loren, guarding her back. “Don’t wander off,” she whispered. “I don’t feel like facing Darien’s wrath later.”
“No problem,” Loren whispered back. There was no way she would stray from either of them in a crowded place like this.
The interior of the tents was dark, save the murky light filtering from the giant tanks and terrariums. Animals of all kinds slept or paced in cages. There were tigers, lions, bears, wolves, snakes. So many animals.
It was in the second tent—the one that housed a large assortment of aquatic life—where they found Blue. She was sitting on the wet floor between two tanks, one stuffed with piranhas, the other home to a giant water serpent, much like the ones that swam through Angelthene River. Her knees were tucked up to her chin, arms wrapped around her legs.
“Blue?” Loren called softly.
When she spotted them, a strangled cry of relief floated from her blue-tinted lips. She shot to her feet, tugging them all into an embrace. “I was so scared,” she whispered, teeth chattering. Her clothes were soaked, her wet hair dripping down her back. “I needed to see the ocean. My element— I needed to charge, but I lost Dominic—”
“We know,” Lace said, her arms tightening around them. “It’s alright, Blue. You’re safe now.”
Sabrine added, “Dominic is here. We’ve been looking for you.”
“We should go,” Loren said, extracting herself from Blue’s bruising grip. “You can’t be seen.”
They had just pushed through the heavy flap of the tent when a roar swept through the carnival, silencing the chatter of families and groups of friends waiting in line at rides and food trucks. Carnival tunes tinkled through the street, the cheery music forming a spine-chilling contrast with the sound that brought to a halt every person in the area.
Fear choked the boulevard. Faces turned to each other, mouths murmuring in question.
That was when the civil defense siren started wailing.
Loren’s conduit flared with light, the glow brighter than every flashing bulb. Brighter than the Ferris wheel that had come to a standstill, every pod filled with couples and friends. Children.
There was a tug in Loren’s chest, as if the amulet was trying to tell her something. It felt just like that night at the academy, when she had followed the directions of her conduit to the swimming pool.
The night she had been drawn to that creature—the thing that had slipped through the rip in the library. The bruise in the Divide.
Lace, Sabrine, and Blue turned toward Loren, their eyes snagging on the solar pendant shining through her shirt.
“Something’s here,” Loren whispered. “I think it’s looking for me.”
—
Max booked it through the carnival, shoving people aside as he ran. Dal was still at the Umbra Forum, protected by the spells on the SUV.
Safe. She was safe. As for himself, he had to focus.
He and Darien had split up to find the others. They were using their watches to communicate, since cell reception was shit at carnivals. Too many rides, too many people, too much interference.
Too bad none of the others were wearing theirs.
Max looked for the Devils, using his Sight to track them, while Darien went after Loren. After pinpointing a few of their auras, he concluded Logan was with Jack, Tanner, Ivy, and Trav, but he couldn’t see Sab, Lace, or Loren. They weren’t with the rest of the group.
“Fuck meeee,” Max ground out, running faster. He wouldn’t be able to see Loren with her Avertera talisman on, but he knew she was with the other three. They wouldn’t have let her go off on her own.
