“What did you see at the Pool?” Odette blinked.
“It’s a long story, one we can tell you once we’ve rescued you,” Emma said. “Have you been waiting for us here?”
“Not really. I… I meditated here, to give my spirit a break,” she admitted. “It’s easier to endure what the soldiers are doing to me, when my soul is far away.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“They’re attempting to force me into seeing visions by water torture. It’s not working very well for them,” Odette admitted. “I can keep up a semi-meditative state while they’re doing it by gazing into the water before they dunk me under, but I don’t know how much time I have before they break me out of it.”
“Do you know where you are?” Emma asked.
“The dungeon underneath Arcanea University. It’s where Droga holds all his prisoners,” Odette said. “Kiara and I are in the last cell at the end of the hallway.”
I knew the place from my Phantom days. “Is Kiara all right?”
“She’s alive, but she’s injured as well,” Odette admitted. “We’re kept in by noxite bars. If someone doesn’t save us soon… well, I’m not sure how much longer we can hang on.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can. Hold on, Odette,” Emma encouraged.
Odette went to say something, before her eyes took on a blank look and her mouth twisted in agony as she let out a sharp cry. Her spirit vanished on the spot, leaving us alone.
They must’ve hurt her so badly they’d broken her out of the trance. Emma’s visage was full of pain as she turned to me and said, “I can’t lose any more friends, Ethan.”
“We won’t,” I promised. “Let’s return to the estate. We need to come up with a plan, and fast.”
We had constructed our mission,and were at the outskirts of Dolinska by nightfall the next day. Alexei, Theo, Emma and I were going into the dungeons to extract the girls. Finlay, Amantha, Lucien, Stefan and Delmare were causing a diversion for the guards. We would’ve liked to bring along Arthur for backup, but he didn’t trust Evonna not to do something sneaky with Kalina while we were gone, and Faylin and Vocheck needed to guard the estate.
The city had changed since the last time we’d come here. The bodies and the rubble had been removed, and the roads were immaculately clean. Citizens walked the streets, although they were mostly deserted. Life had returned to a semblance of normality here in Dolinska, as if Droga wanted the residents here to get accustomed to this new way of life.
Despite this, the relative quiet was penetrated by the sound of military exercises in the distance. The army was practicing for an upcoming invasion. We remained concealed behind a building, close to the woodland that led directly to the university.
Dolinska nearly looked as it had before, minus a significant number of buildings. Droga and Gabby had grown so arrogant that they’d dropped all the wards and protective spells around the city. After all, they hadn’t heard or seen anything from us in nearly a year. They probably thought Emma was dead by now, and that they’d finally succeeded in obtaining complete victory once they’d obtained the Crystals.
We were about to show them we weren’t beaten yet.
“They’d better hurry up,” Alexei said, looking to the skyline. Theo trembled beside him.
“We have to be patient. We can’t afford to make any mistakes,” I told him calmly.
Both shifters were edgy at my sides. They wanted their mates back, and had no desire to wait.
Then it came. The sound of battle orbs exploding on the main street just outside the university blazed through the air, one right after the other. They popped off like fireworks, sending colors rushing throughout the sky. The noises of noxite bullets firing blared through the air. A blaring siren went off, and the guards surrounding the palace ran in the direction of the front gates.
“Move in,” I ordered.
The four of us hurried toward the looming university. As we were about to climb the ornate fence that surrounded campus, we were stopped by an invisible force.
I put my hand out, and found that I couldn’t push through the block. The ward around the city had been dropped, but there were still protective defenses around Arcanea University. I attempted to break the ward, and found that my magic was pitiful in comparison to Gabby’s momentous skill.
“Gabby’s wards are too strong. We can’t break them,” Theo said in frustration, and he kicked at the invisible wall.
“I damn well can,” Emma growled. She raised her hands to break the shield down.
“Will she notice?” I asked.
“I can put up a signature to fool her that it’s her own magic, but it’s not going to last long. We need to get out of here the moment we find them,” Emma said.
Emma performed the spell. I felt Gabby’s magic break through our bond as it backfired on Emma. The result felt like a punch to the gut. Emma staggered backward and fell down, going white-faced. I rushed to lift her back onto her feet.
