“I need help.” I clear my throat because my voice comes out kind of squeaky. Determined to sound in control of my emotions, and not three blinks away from batshit crazy, I try again.
“My girlfriend is in trouble. I don’t have any proof, but I know she’s in trouble. Also, she’s not really just my girlfriend—and maybe I violated my parole a little, but whowouldn’thave for the sake of a fucking soul-bond, am I right?” Words rush out all at once, and my heart rate increases with the speed of them, “I can’t check on her with that illegal shadow necklace because she took it off and texted me not to do anything until she says, and get this—she wants me to throw up a shield. A SHIELD! But she won’t say why. That’s suspicious, right?Smells like danger. Something is wrong, Hellas, I’m telling you, man. My girl is in trouble. I–I need to leave. I need to find her.”
“Sephtis—”
“And another thing—that fucking dickhead, Darro. I know I’m not allowed in his court, but he’s probably involved, and I can’t make any promises if he takesmysoul-bond into his court, can I? Obviously, there’s gotta be some kind ofget out of jailfreecard for situations like that, right?”
“Seth—”
“She did what he asked, she figured out the fucking soul stones. But something must have happened. Maybe her crazy sister made more—who knows how much shadow dust she has? We never figured out how she was getting it.Fuck!What if she made something worse with it? What if it was all a trick and Darro and Saskia just made up the problem to get their filthy Unseelie hands onmyRyn?”
“SETH!”
I pause, sucking in air for the first time since I started talking. I blink away the dizziness and stare at Hellas, whose orbs are red-hot embers of flickering rage. Yeah, so much fornotsounding batshit crazy, I guess.
“Shutthe fuckup.”
That’s fair, honestly. My jaw, which had been hanging open mid-word, snaps shut. Hellas glares at me for a few more seconds before nodding and sitting back in his chair.
“Burning Hell. I’ve never regretted someone not just pissing in my office.” He cuts his heated gaze up to the ceiling and blows out a slow breath. My knee bounces again, but at Hellas’s sound of displeasure, I immediately freeze. “Okay. We’re going to circle back around to all the illegal shit you just admitted, to your fucking probation officer, by the way, youdumbass.” His eyes narrow, and when I nod vigorously,he grumbles, “But first, can you track the illegal necklace without compromising your mate?”
I continue nodding, my heart in my throat, and my head likely to nod itself right off my shoulders.
Speaking of—Hellas’s shoulders, which I hadn’t noticed move up so high around his ears, sag down, and he blows out a breath of relief. It’s actually super fucking touching, and I might have teared up that he’s almost as worked up about the risk to my soul-bond as me, if I weren’t so singularly focused on Ryn.
He leans forward and picks up his phone, pushing a few buttons, and then his voice crackles out of the overhead speakers, “Attention all personnel, I need all G1-level agents ready for a code 3, SBR22 in five minutes.”
My orbs flare not only because of the emergency search and rescue code, but because G1-level agents are the oldest and most well-trained in our entire guild.
He stands, all irritation gone from his face, leaving only steely determination behind as he motions for me to lead the way. “Get us coordinates. Now.”
Please, please, please.Shit hit the fan remarkably fast. Before everyone even assembled at the guild headquarters, Ryn signaled me to activate a shield from the necklace, but not around her. Which means she’s unprotected, and I was right—something isverywrong.
It's taken everyshredof willpower I possess not to do anything more through the necklace, but Hellas is adamant that doing anything to tipwhoever is with Ryn off would be more dangerous, especially before we have anyone in position at her location.
It makes sense, which is why I've listened up to this point, but now that we’re outside Ryn’s lab building, I'm losing my patience.
“Can't I just—”
“No.” Hellas doesn't even look up from his vidscreen.He's been trying to orchestrate an incognito surrounding of the building for ten minutes now but the signal keeps cutting out, and coms seem to be randomly signing off.
My lip curls involuntarily, and I wait for a moment before trying again, “I really think I should—”
“Seth, if you don't let me concentrate, I'm gonna break my foot off in your—”
Ding.
Hellas falters, and we both glance down at my crotch. Under normal circumstances, I'd have a field day with my boss staring at my crotch, but right now all I can do is gulp.
“Should I?”
He lifts his orbs to mine and quirks a disbelieving brow, and I nod, pulling out my phone and opening my messages with shaky fingers.
My heart gets lodged in my throat when I see Ryn’s name flash across my screen.
Ryn: Hey, lover boy, I need your help at my lab. Xoxo
Wait, what?I look up at Hellas with a furrowed brow ridge. He rubs his chin as he takes a minute to contemplate this new development.
