“I just got knocked out. I’m okay.”
“No! You don’t understand.” I swallowed thickly, trying to calm my raging heart. “Keziq—she—she did the spell, Luka.”
“She what?”
“She did the spell, Luka; I watched her kill a vampire. I thought—I thought?—”
“Fuck, Lennox.” He pulled me to his chest, his arms a strong band around me.
“I’m so sorry.”
“When I saw you laying there?—”
“I’m here, I’m okay. I’m alive.”
I pushed myself off his chest. “But for how long? We don’t know what the spell did—what if it takes time—what if?—”
“We need to summon Astria.” I had forgotten Kara still remained with us. “She’s the only person who could give us answers.”
“We’re in the middle of a fucking war,” I argued.
“Declan already pulled back the troops for today, we’ve retreated for the night. Wars aren’t won in a day, Lennox.”
“Fine.” I stood. “We need to find Declan and the others.”
I need to find Luce.
I needed to know what in the fuck went so terribly, horribly wrong.
Wemade our way back up the hill, toward our camp.
We took our time to check on the fallen soldiers—seeing if any of them were alive. And if any of them bore the same fate I witnessed with the vampire Keziq had conducted the spell was on.
Luckily, we had come across none.
When we finally reached the camp, the sun was starting to set. My stomach gnawed with hunger, and my body was weak with exhaustion.
It had been a long fucking day.
Somehow, Declan must have known we were making our way back. He met us at the entrance to the camp.
He stood like an impenetrable force at the gate, his wings sagged behind him, like they, too, were exhausted after today. But his expression—it wasn’t his typical quiet Declan expression; this one was different. My stomach sank. “What’s wrong?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“I should ask the same thing to you. Where have you been? I was about ready to send out a group to look for you.” Although his words were pointed they lacked conviction.
“What happened Declan?” Kara asked softly.
His wings sagged further behind him.
“It’s Caterina.”
We followed at Declan’s heels, rushing into Caterina’s tent.
A ruby-haired healer knelt at Caterina’s side. My aunt’s eyes were closed, but there was a luminescent glow to her skin. She lay eerily still.
“What happened? Where’s Luce?” The rest of ourgroup had gathered here with us, Endora stood at Caterina’s bedside, her hands clasped over her partners. Zienna perched herself against the dresser next to Nico, but Luciana was nowhere to be seen.
