A bone chilling growl pierces the air and I instinctively freeze. I glance over and see Jay has shifted and his wolf is circling the room, furious. He goes to where Aly disappeared and some of her scent must be left because he lets out a whine before pacing again.
Kiran is absolutely covered in shadows. I can barely make out his form as they writhe around and lash out. They swallow him whole like I’m sure his pain is doing and if we can’t get him to calm down we will have a deadly dark fae on our hands.
Ajax is rooted to the spot. His expression is completely shut down. If I had to bet, I would guess he’s replaying what just happened to see what he could have done better. He’s in his fae form, his pointy ears on display. He lost control, which he never does. This is a form Aly hasn’t even gotten to see yet. Jax isn’t concerned for his brother which is a red flag, he’s always ready to calm Kiran down when he needs to.
And Jeremy hasn’t woken up. But I know he is going to completely lose his mind when he does. He might go after us for letting this happen, I might let him. I deserve it for failing her as a mate. How could I have left this house unwarded?
We are falling apart when we need to be coming together and making a plan. The longer Aly is gone, the harder it’ll be to find her. At least that’s what they always say but when it comes to magic there’re no steps to retrace, no path to follow. Either way, I need to step up, I need to lead us and get our mate back. It’s the last part that really gets me. I need to get our mate back, I need my Aly back. She needs me to be strong.
“Guys,” I start and my voice comes out harsher than I planned. I clear my throat and try again. “Guys, we need a plan. We need to find her.”
Through the shadows I see Kiran’s eyes shoot up to mine as he spits out, “what the fuck just happened?”
I’m not sure I have a great answer for that. What the fuck just happened is that in the span of two minutes we discovered what our mate is, she triggered her hunter gene and powers then her mom poofed her away from us. The answer is our mate was taken, and we need to find her. I don’t think that’s what he’s looking for though.
“Her mom took her. I would think that means she’s safe,” I try to reassure him. I can’t handle what comes next if he loses it right now.
“Safe! Safe! She’s not safe! She was snatched from right under our noses, and she’s with a woman she barely knows! A hunter!” Kiran snaps, his voice furious as he says, ‘hunter.’
“Aly is a hunter,” Ajax says firmly, but he doesn’t even glance at his twin.
“I didn’t mean it like that! Aly is different, she’s not full of hate. Her mom probably is and it’s not about her being a hunter. It’s about the fact that Aly has three mate marks decorating her body that those people are going to want to rip off!” Kiran is fuming. His shadows are out of control, taking over the whole room. I can feel the oxygen being sucked up by them as his anger builds.
I can feel all the blood drain from my face. Of course she’s not safe, and it’s because of us. It’s because she’s our mate. They won’t want a hunter who’s mated to their prey. Who knows what they’ll think of her. Worse, what if they convince her we are evil, that she should hate us.
I must have said that aloud because Jax’s anger shifts to me. “Aly would never hate us! Stop doubting her!”
Guilt pools in my stomach, he’s right.
There’s a noise coming from my left. I can’t see through the shadows but I’m guessing it’s Jeremy, which would indicate he’s waking up. I step closer until I can see him, he’s slowly coming to consciousness. I’m dreading this conversation and how he’s going to react.
He searches the room as he sits up. He doesn’t comment on Jay’s shift or Kiran’s shadows. Instead, the first words out of his mouth are, “where is Aly?”
When no one responds right away he continues, “Fuck! Did this scare her off?” He gestures to himself, indicating his momentary death, he sounds hurt but still I’m frozen to the spot. I need to tell him but I know he’s going to be livid. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts foaming at the mouth.
“Jer, something happened,” I start slowly, but he cuts me off before I can finish.
“Spit it out the fuck out Nic!” He shouts.
“Aly’s mom showed up right after she stabbed you. She took Aly.” I start with the shortened version, knowing that’s what he’s looking for. We will have time to tell him everything after he rages out.
“Why didn’t you stop them?!” He demands.
“She transported in and out within seconds. None of us were expecting it, and we couldn’t get there in time,” I say and my voice cracks as I state my shortcomings, my failure.
Predictably, he loses it. His shift overcomes him and I have an enraged demon staring me down like it’s my fault his mate is missing. And maybe it is, but I’m determined to get her back and soon.
His wings and horns are out. Huge, black, leathery wings like a bat and horns that point upwards, sharp and deadly.
Fire starts leaking from his hands as he loses control over his fire powers. He’s a fire demon after all. We never got a chance to explain everything to Aly. I think we thought we had all the time in the world to ease her into things. We should have told her everything from the start. They could use this against us, she might see it as a betrayal.
We will get a chance to tell her everything, I steel my spine and remind myself. I have to keep pulling myself away from the edge of the pit of despair because once I fall, I won’t come back.
I use my magic to put out the fire surrounding Jeremy. Each jet of fire he releases, I counter with water magic. I let him feel like he’s destroying things without actually burning our home down. It’s draining, but he needs this to calm down enough to be reasonable. We can’t get her back without him.
Without warning, he stops and marches up to me.
“I need to know everything,” he demands.
