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Maddy!
Something’s wrong. Caleb turns in place, searching the battlefield for his mate. At first, he can’t find her. He runs one direction and then the other.
Finally, he spots her on the front steps of the mansion. A movement behind her catches Caleb’s eye, and he strains to see who it is. He can’t make out the shadowy figure, and he runs toward her, hoping he reaches her before they can take her from behind.
Maddy does nothing, and Caleb’s certain she doesn’t know the stranger is there. Alec is at her side. Yet Alec doesn’t seem to realize the shadow stands behind them. It has to be a spell, a magic of some kind.
Maddy cuts the legs out from another attacker, and Alec darts to the far side of the mansion. Maddy moves as though she’s going to go after him.
But a sinister, angular face comes into view, and Caleb’s heart clenches in his chest.
God, no. No. No. No!
It’s Sylvan.
But Caleb blinks, and Sylvan disappears. He reaches Maddy, and he catches her arm. “Did you see him?”
“Who? Malcolm?”
“No, Sylvan.”
She doesn’t answer.
Caleb turns to Alec. “Come on! We have to find Orion or Malcolm. It’s the only way to stop this!”
Alec nods, and then the three of them—Caleb, Alec, and Maddy—move into the mansion. Some of the Fae warriors are already inside, fighting on the staircase and in the corridors.
“Come on! I saw him in the window on the second floor,” Caleb yells and ascends the stairs, three at a time.
Maddy and Alec follow him without argument, a handful of good Fae also following them. Caleb doesn’t have time to appreciate the nicest mansion he’s ever seen. Splintered wood panels cover the walls, chairs lay on the floor, and a grandfather clock leans in the window.
“This way!” Caleb directs them. They enter a small study, and Caleb runs to the window where he spotted Malcolm. “He’s not here!”
They start back toward the exit once more, but Sylvan appears on the threshold.
Alec sneers at the fellow Fae. Maddy screeches at him, and Caleb dashes toward him.
But Sylvan avoids Alec, leaping to Maddy’s side.
“Look out!” Caleb yells.
Maddy jumps to the side, but Sylvan comes to a stop beside her, her eyes going wide.
“What do you think—” Her voice cuts out as she goes still.
Sylvan moves his palm over her face, and her body stiffens. She doesn’t blink or move.
Alec charges Sylvan, but he knocks Alec to the side with a swipe of his fist. Alec lands in a heap on the ground, no longer wearing his signature sneer or snarl.
Caleb roars in fury, now running with everything he has. “Maddy! Get away! Get away!”
She doesn’t react, she doesn’t move. Doesn’t do anything to free herself.
Sylvan catches an unresponsive Maddy in his arms and drags her out of the room. Caleb runs at them, but he slams into an invisible wall. His body ricochets back with a pained grunt as he realizes he can’t even reach Alec, who’s collapsed on the floor of the study.
Fear grips Caleb in its icy clutches, and a rush of adrenaline floods him. He punches the invisible shield, wincing as his knuckles crash against the shell he can’t see. He can’t break through the block Sylvan’s left behind.
He’s trapped.
