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“Don’t worry, Salem, I won’t drop her. She weighs absolutely nothing at all, I can barely feel her. I’m in danger of forgetting she’s there.” Sloane ignored the tightening around his neck as Kallie put pressure on his throat in protest at his statement. “I’m ready,” Sloane added.
“You okay, Sentinel?” Salem looked at Kallie.
“Yes, Principal, I won’t slow you down,” she answered.
Sloane huffed out a grunt, but with a fear of strangulation, he wisely said nothing.
The three of them edged to the library doors, Salem going first. Sloane kept alert while he mentally called for his brother. The link between them had been established a long time ago. Cord had done it for Sloane to prove to him that, although Cornelius had sent Sloane to the Northern Headquarters when he was a young male to train with and befriend the Heir, it didn’t mean he was alone. He could still count on his older brother and could call on him whenever he needed.
It was a harmless binding spell between two brothers. However, because of the strength of Cord’s power, even then, the spell had been strong, and the two of them had been able to call for each other even all these years later. Although it allowed them to call for each other, it was restricted for communication. It was not the same as a Lycan pack mental link; they couldn’t actually talk to one another. It merely allowed the other to call when they were in need. Despite the link’s limitations, the fact that they could still use it now was the source of much discussion in the halls of the Castors. Another testament to Cord’s unique abilities and power.
The three of them kept to the shadows as they made their way through the Headquarters. An irony considering who they were hunting. Sounds from ahead stilled their footsteps, and Sloane immediately ducked into a room, taking the Principal with him. Salem shut the door until it was almost closed but still allowed a sliver of an opening for him to look through.
Two Drakhyn walked up the hall. Both were dishevelled and looked to be displaying some form of injury. The smaller of the two stopped, its taloned hand clutching on to its companion. “Why must we stay?” it hissed to the other.
“Hesays we must,” the other one answered.
“The females are gone, and the only one we caught killed itself.” The Drakhyn looked disgusted at the fact. “We didn’t even get totasteAkrhyn flesh.”
Salem gripped his knives tightly in his hands as he fought the urge to swing the door open and cut them both down where they stood.
“He said we cannot. He said we must await his arrival.”
“Why do we need to listen tohim?” the smaller Drakhyn grumbled as they both resumed walking.
Salem couldn’t hear the reply as they walked away.
“All okay?” Sloane asked cautiously. He was watching Salem’s grip on his knives. The Principal Elder’s knuckles were white, his face deathly pale. “Principal?” Sloane took a cautious step forward.
“Yes, we need to keep moving,” Salem answered tersely. “I think there are more of them this way. Will you be okay?” Salem asked Kallie.
“Yes, Principal.” Kallie’s voice was quiet. “I can still hide and stay out of the way,” she offered again. “I don’t need to be an unnecessary burden.”
“No,” Salem’s reply was sharp. “I am not leaving anyone behind, especially an injured Sentinel.”
Sloane looked at the Principal, knowing what he wasn’t saying. They weren’t leaving afemalebehind. Sloane did not know what the Principal Elder had heard, but from the look on his face, he knew it wasn’t good. Unthinkingly, his hands ran over Kallie’s legs, which were wrapped around him, trying to give her reassurance. Her legs tightened in response, and it was a mark of the severity of the situation that Sloane did not have a quip for the young female Akrhyn on his back.
“Sloane, have you called him?”
“Yes, but he’s here too, and alone. I can’t risk distracting him. He knows I need him.”
Salem sighed. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“Plus, if he’s found Tegan, Harrian alone knows what they’re caught up in,” Sloane added.
Salem looked at the younger Sentinel, and despite the innocence of the offhand remark, it didn’t help his barely contained desperate need to find his children.Bothhis children. “I will forever thank the Ancients that Zahra is not here,” Salem admitted quietly as he opened the door to exit the room.
“Don’t we all,” Kallie grumbled under her breath. Sloane turned his head enquiringly to look at the young female on his back, and Kallie blushed at his look. “Sorry,” she mumbled. The three of them made their way along the hall to the training rooms and Salem’s office beyond. More noise could be heard the closer they got to the training rooms, and Salem looked over his shoulder worriedly at Kallie perched on Sloane’s back. “You can drop me at any time, Sloane,” Kallie whispered into his ear. “I can defend myself against Drakhyn even on one leg.”
Sloane felt a shiver run down his spine as the petite Sentinel’s breath tickled his ear. He gave a curt nod, but his hand once again tightened on her leg as his other hand held his sword firmly. “I won’t let you fall, Kal,” he told her.
Kallie leaned back slightly at the use of his nickname for her. Sloane had always been very formal with her, and she had always assumed it was because she was one of the Sentinels in training that guarded his betrothed.
“You ready?” Salem asked quietly.
“We’re ready.”
* * *
