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I glance over Leia’s shoulder, giving Gavin a barely perceptible nod. When I continue, I focus my attention on Leia, finding the sympathy in her bright blue eyes to be soothing.
“I was in my wolf form. A shadow of some sort,” I say, trying my best to describe what even I don’t understand. “Helia was hanging from the ceiling, her arms chained up and her toes barely touching the ground. She was weak and barely conscious. Her spirit seemed to be dimming.”
Leia reaches forward, taking my hand into hers and giving me a comforting squeeze. I fix my eyes on where she made contact, reflexively comparing The Ice Queen’s cold touch to Helia’s warm one. I swallow hard, pushing the fear and emotion deep down. Now’s not the time for that.
“Did she say anything?” Leia asks gently.
“A lot of things but nothing that could help us find her,” I admit and shake my head. I look at Leia with naked desperation in my eyes, silently begging her to help.
To everyone’s apparent surprise, it’s Graham who clears his throat, glancing up from a phone in his hand. “I’ve been working up on a very complex facial recognition software that might help us create a timeline for Helia’s whereabouts and eventually, hopefully, lead us to her.”
“That’s good,” Gavin confirms, his eyes shining with a hint of pride. Despite being in the Grey Manor where the leadership falls under Garren, King Lafayette can’t help himself but take the lead. “Can you add Hekate and her last known associates to the list?”
“I’ll use F-Rec to scour the web for pictures,” Graham says, his eyes already glued on his phone and his fingers furiously typing away. “It might take a while though.”
“The sooner we start, the better,” Gavin tells him, then turns to Garren, but he doesn’t need to assign a task to the Grey King.
“The members of other kingdoms along with their military convoys and certain special units have been set up in our country house,” Garren says to Gavin. “I’ll head there and tell them that things are moving faster than expected.”
“Who knew that getting captured would be good for something?” Alyssa comments, referring to the fact that if she and Garren weren’t taken, the other royal houses wouldn’t even consider making an alliance to stop the witches.
“Sounds good,” Gavin agrees, politely ignoring Alyssa’s comment. “I will get the Pack of Survivors and what’s left of the Lafayette pack. I’m sure they’ll want to avenge their fallen members.”
“I’ll talk to our royal advisors to see which packs can be called in too,” Leia says. “Duke Green can be a pain in the ass, but his old-school traditional beliefs will work in our favor here. No one hates witches more than the older generations.”
“I’ll call my mother and have her put the packs in the camp on alert and ready to go,” Alyssa says, her phone already in hand to dial her mother’s number who is also one of our military’s commanders. “I know for sure that Lightbringers are in New York, so Malia should be able to join us.”
“Make sure that Esme is ready before pulling her into this,” Garren tells her, and Alyssa replies something along the lines of confirming it with Blaine.
You should pay better attention to your brothers’ lives, my wolf criticizes. At least, we’d know what’s happening.
I know, I agree, not even bothering to argue with him. Whatever fight’s left in me, I’m saving it for Hekate.
“I’ll call Tiana,” I say, wanting to do something and needing to feel useful.
Garren’s head abruptly turns my way, his eyes darkening with shadows of barely contained power. “No,” he says simply, the word forced out through gritted teeth.
“We need all the help we can get,” I insist. “Tiana is the Alpha of the Pack of Shadows. The Dark Hunters and Lightbringers are good, but you know as well as I do that the Pack of Shadows is the best.”
“Tiana tried to kill my mate,” Garren hisses. “I’m not fighting by her side.”
“Then she’ll fight by mine,” I growl.
“You’re not fighting at all,” Gavin tells me, and though his voice is calm, there’s an order behind his tone.
“You’re in no position to give me orders,” I tell him just as calmly, narrowing my eyes at him. Before Garren can say anything, I turn to him. “You better not try either. Helia is my mate and I’ll do what it takes to find her.”
Gavin takes a step forward, and I stand up, my muscles reflexively tensing as if preparing for a fight. Gavin slowly lifts his arms in a surrender-like gesture. He fixes his eyes on me as if wanting me to really hear him.
“I understand your need to fight. I also understand that the void in your soul doesn’t let you think clearly. Your whole being is aching to get back to your mate,” he says gently, speaking to me like a brother. “Right now, I need you to put all that aside and listen to me with your head for a moment. Can you do that?”
I furrow my brows and bite my lower lip, his words hitting something in my chest. Gavin’s waiting for my reply, so I force myself to nod.
“Okay,” Gavin says with a low voice and gently puts his hands on my arms, locking his eyes on mine. “You’re not a trained fighter, which means you’d be a liability out there in the field. To save Helia, we can’t allow for any distractions. I promise on my unborn son that I’ll do everything in my power to save your mate.”
This is massive, my wolf warns me, forcing me to process the meaning of Gavin’s words before I instinctively start to argue.
“I’ll personally call Tiana and get the Pack of Shadows on board,” he adds as if sensing my inner turmoil. Without taking his eyes off me, he says to Garren, “I’ll make sure she stays by my side, where I’ll keep an eye on her.”
