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I frown, glancing around in search of him, but I can’t see him anywhere. It sounds like him, only darker, and I don’t like the way it makes me feel.
“Can you hear him?” Creed asks, and I nod in acknowledgment, repeating Ari’s words to them as I continue to search for him.
“What isn’t safe?” Eldon presses himself against my side at my question, taking up a protective stance.
“You being here. You need to leave. Now.”
“Ari, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. I’m worried.”
Silence greets me for so long that I’m sure he’s gone, but if he thinks I’m going to just let him walk away, he’s in for a surprise. Taking another step toward the forest, I’m halted when he shouts in my mind.
“No.”My heart races as his silhouette appears in the distance, his telltale feathers peeking out. Instinctively, I go to take another step toward him, but he barks his disapproval in my mind again.“Don’t.”
“Ari, you need to explain to me what’s going on,” I insist, swiping a hand down my face.
His head dips, a pang of sadness swirling in my gut, the feeling coming from him before he mutters,“I’m trapped in here.”
“I assumed that might be the case. But that doesn’t mean I can’t come and see you. Then I can go and find Professor Figgins. She’ll let you out.”
“No, it’s not safe for Gia. I chose to be in here.”
“Why isn’t it safe for Gia?” My chest tightens, my own fear combining with his and swirling like a destructive tornado inside of me. I can just make out that he’s shaking his head, but that’s not good enough. “Ari, tell me now, or I’m coming in.”
“It’s not safe in here for you. I’m not sure if the magic has been shifted in the ward, so you could be trapped here too.”
“Fuck.”
“What’s going on?” Eldon asks, releasing my hand to caress my arm, and I quickly reiterate Ari’s concern. “Shit.”
“Tell me what isn’t safe, Ari. I can’t help if I don’t understand.”
“Erikel didn’t come alone. He brought his own creatures with him.”
The tremor in Ari’s voice makes me gulp. “And I’m guessing the creatures aren’t just misunderstood like you guys.”
“Creatures far worse than you can imagine. So you have to go, and I have to protect Gia while trusting in these fuckers to protect you,”he grunts, nodding toward the Bishops.
“I’m safer in their hands than anyone else’s,” I state, believing every single syllable. I may have gone through life alone, never trusting anyone else to keep me safe, but I trust in them. I believe in us.
For Ari to believe that, too, he needs to know I believe in him and trust in his knowledge of these creatures that I’m unaware of. “I’ll find a way to get you all out, Ari. I promise it. You, Gia, everyone. I won’t allow Erikel to get you guys as well.”
ELEVEN
BRAX
Ican see her pain, feel her anguish, and if I lean in close, run my nose up the column of her throat, I’m certain I’ll catch the scent of rage at the world crumbling around us. It has me twisted up inside. Everything is going to complete shit, but that’s my life, it’s always been a downward spiral. Raven, though, she doesn’t deserve this and I don’t know how to fix it.
Wordlessly, we step through my gateway and into our lounge, misery clinging to the air around us. Raven takes a seat on the sofa, a sigh parting her lips as her head falls into her hands. I hate her feeling like this, but even more so, I hate her wallowing in it. She might not be, but the knot forming in my chest tells me otherwise and I can’t shake the feeling. Which can only mean one thing.
I need to do something about it.
She needs a distraction. Fuck, we all do. Ari isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and our first point of contact needs to be Professor Figgins, who isn’t going to be so easily accessible over the weekend, so we’re at a standstill.
Creed flops down onto the opposite sofa, directly facing Raven with his own quiet look, which I know will be linked to his father on top of all this. I don’t know how I would feel if I foundout my father was a weapon for the enemy after believing him to be dead, and I’m not going to try to, but I know he needs us right now. Eldon slumps down beside Raven, his hand stroking up and down her spine comfortingly, while Zane paces back and forth, running his hands through his hair. He’s a solver, too, but the puzzle laid out before us isn’t easy.
Feelings and emotions are all tangled and I sure as shit don’t know how to handle my own, nevermind anyone else's.
My hands clench at my sides, irritation creeping through my bones at the unsolvable situation placed before me. We’ve spent all week running on adrenaline under Erikel’s new rule and I want to forget about it all. I want all of us to.
