Page 99 of Serpent and Shadow

Pain shocked my heart, making me gasp as I clenched a fist to my chest. The pain came first, the emotional kick knocking my mind off its tracks, bringing up a wave of fear as I thought about Archie in that place, locked to a wall in the dark all alone.

I closed my eyes, trying to feel him there, anywhere, but I couldn’t.

I felt something else, though.

Bones, I thought at him loudly. BONES! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!

He could hear me. He could fucking hear me.

Silence was my only answer.

Not a whisper of his presence could be felt, not in any part of my magic. But I knew. Like with the initial shock, my body and heart knew before my mind understood. He was there. He was fucking there, listening to this.

Worse, I felt his pain echo mine.

In none of that did I feel any confusion or surprise.

Another twist of agony went through my magic. I fought to control it, but couldn’t.

BONES ANSWER ME… NOW. WHERE IS HE?

Nothing answered me but the crackle of the fire.

21

The Assignment

Movement tapped into his reflexive defense instinct, even with his eyes closed, even with his mind only half-conscious.

He jerked, another of those protective instincts, and one he couldn’t control.

Lately, he couldn’t even dial it down.

Yesterday had helped.

He struggled to think about it, to let his mind go there in any true sense, but he knew he was better since then. Ironically, it had been her that made the break-in at the Sanctum Occulus so effortless. It had been her that brought his magic back under control.

The thought made that sick feeling in his chest worse.

He listened, head cocked where it lay on the stone.

Sirena had already been down to visit.

It was unlikely she’d come back again so soon.

She came down right after the mission had been completed, insisting on being the one to escort him and “the cur” down to the underground cell. Her cheeks had been flushed. Her hair had changed color from midnight blue to a dark red. Her fingers sparked with magic as she watched Rolf lock him back to the wall. Her eyes lit up in that way that told him he would be in for a rough night.

But she’d left hours ago.

He could feel the passage of time. He’d always had an uncanny awareness of that, even when he didn’t want to know.

His father certainly wouldn’t come down here, not at this time of night.

He would be upstairs, no doubt, celebrating with one of the younger hangers-on, if not a revolving door of them, or several at a time.

Caelum grimaced at the thought. He twisted his body most of the way to his back.

Fuck it. Whoever was there, there was no point in being ready. He couldn’t feel them, not with the collar activated. Even if he could, it wouldn’t help, and it wouldn’t stop them from doing whatever it was they wanted with him.