Kade grabs the folded metal chair in the corner of the room and drags it next to my bed. I cringe at the sound it makes as it slides across the floor, my ears as sensitive as my eyes.
What the hell happened to me? I haven’t been this weak since I was stabbed by Shadow Striker.
“How are you feeling?” Kade asks after he takes a seat, his face a grim mask. But Kade is a stoic guy by nature.
“Like someone put me through a blender and then poured me out.”
He nods, like it’s an accurate description. “You were in pretty bad shape.”
“Still am. Tell me the other guy at least looks worse.”
Kade’s brow rises. “You don’t remember what happened?”
“Help me out. My brain isn’t functioning so well right now,” I say, tapping my head lightly.
He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You were about to go through the portal to the creature world, but then the demon showed up and attacked. You took a pretty bad beating.”
I rack my brain, trying to remember. All I have are fragments of the last few weeks. Bits and pieces. I can remember a cabin in the mountains. Early season snow. Running from something.
Emotions follow next, slipping in without memories to anchor them, leaving me disoriented.
Fear, but not for myself. Worry. Concern. Protectiveness.
Threaded through it all is something warmer. Joy. Happiness. A sense of rightness, like I’ve finally found my place.
Love.
“The demon took Haven,” Kade says, and with those words the missing pieces snap into place like a puzzle, smashing through the mental block with the force of a hundred sledgehammers.
Haven. I have to find her. I have to get to her before the demon kills her.
I throw the thin blanket aside and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, pain roaring through me as I drag myself upright and stand.
“Whoa,” Kade says, shoving to his feet as well. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Where did it take her?” I take a step, but the floor tilts under my feet.
Kade’s hand snaps out and grasps my bicep to steady me. “Do you really think you’re any use to her like this?”
I pin him with a glare. “Do you really think I’m going to let that stop me?”
Kade and I are locked in a standoff, one I don’t plan to lose. I’m not officially part of the Order, so he knows he can’t stop me from going after Haven. But I also don’t know where to start. I was unconscious when the demon took her. Kade’s my best bet at finding her, and he knows that too.
Finally, he heaves a sigh and runs a weary hand down his face. “I couldn’t follow it because I was trying to keep you alive.”
“But you have an idea where it took her, don’t you?”
The reluctance I read on Kade’s face tells me he does.
“I’m not staying in this bed either way, so you might as well tell me.”
Another sigh. “Can’t you just trust that we’re taking care of it?”
The look I give him makes my answer clear.
“Okay. Get dressed. If you can make it upstairs to the strategy room, I’ll fill you in with everyone else. We have no time to lose. We’re headed out in an hour.” He heads for the door but pauses before leaving. “You need to prepare yourself. We may be too late.”
I set my jaw, refusing to consider that possibility.
