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She reached forward, and I swore I could see the air move between her and Esme. Sabine inhaled deeply, and the angry claw marks seemed to fade just a touch.
Holy shit,I realized. She’s feeding off of Esme’s fear!
“Leave her alone!” I shouted, but neither woman noticed me. I glanced around again, looking for anything that would indicate if this was happening right now, like when I’d seen Lyka, or was about to happen, like my vision involving Kal.
A pretty fae suddenly walked in, passing me on my left. “Excuse me, ma’am,” she said in a high-pitched voice to Sabine, and I couldn’t help but wince. “I hate to interrupt, but Zyanya has given her orders. We’ll be leaving Abu Ghurab within the day. I was to inform you that you need to finish with your Aurora witch before we leave.”
Sabine turned, giving the fae a wicked grin. “I—”
I bolted upright, cold sweat pouring down my back as I gasped. “Shit!” I whispered, my pulse roaring in my ears. I couldn’t be certain, but it didn’t matter if it was happening now or was about to. Either way, Esme was somewhere in Abu Ghurab, and she was in danger. “Shit, shit, shit!”
I flung myself out of bed but tried to steady my breathing. Panicking wouldn’t help Esme. I was still angry with my aunt for giving me the “medicine” that had completely silenced my magic, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to be tortured to death. I wanted closure, not revenge.
“Celeste?” Fenris sat up in bed, squinting at me as I fumbled around for my clothes. He still looked groggy. “What is it? Another dream?”
“My aunt is in Abu Ghurab,” I blurted out, pulling my blouse over my head.
I could practically hear Fenris’s frown. “How do you know she’s in Egypt?”
“I had a dream—a vision,” I rambled, grabbing a pair of sneakers. “She’s being held there by Sabine. She looked soold, Fenris. Sabine is feeding off of her—and someone walked in just before I woke up, telling Sabine to finish my aunt off before they leave. Someone named Zyanya told them to leave.” I paused. “Who’s that? Is she another psychic witch?”
“I’ve never heard that name before,” Fenris said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “Celeste—Celeste, wait. Calm down. This might be a trap.”
“A trap?” I froze, scowling at him. “How would this be a trap?”
“We haven’t been able to detect your auntat all, despite dedicating a resource to that very goal,” he said slowly. “And then she suddenly appears to you in a dream? If she was the one who silenced your magicbecauseyou were having prophetic dreams, she’d know you have them. Perhaps she’d even try to use them against you.” His frown deepened. “How do you know it isn’tSabineusing your dreams against you?”
I growled. “Iknowit wasn’t Sabine,” I snapped. “I know what her influence feels like now, and that was a dream, a vision. This is a psychic warning. How many of these have I had now?” I shook my head. “I have to help Esme.”
“Even if that’s the case, it could still be a trap just to get you there.” He growled at me. “If Sabine is there with a fae and this Zyanya person, they could be torturing your aunt to get you to show up.” He shook his head. “I’ll call my allies in Egypt, and we’ll get someone out there as soon as possible.”
I bristled at the finality in his voice. Even if he was sorry for the way he’d almost commanded me, he clearly hadn’t learned his lesson. This wasmyaunt,and I wasn’t about to let her die a horrible death.
“I’m not leaving her,” I replied stubbornly. “She’s all the family I have left, even if we were never actually related. And despite everything, she was good to me when I was a little girl. If I didn’t have her, I wouldn’t know anything about magic at all.”
“Celeste—”
“She has the answers I need, Fenris,” I hissed as I finished dressing. “If you can’t understand not sacrificing someone you care about, then you can at least understandthat. I am not going to let Sabine have her.”
“I’m not going to let Sabine haveyou,” he hissed, rounding the bed.
I sneered at him. “Then maybe you should justcommandme to stay,” I snapped, unable to stop myself, “since you clearly want to control everything I do!”
“Maybe I will, if you don’t start acting logically!” Fenris snapped back. “I’m going to wake Walter up to get the jet and call my contact in Egypt.Youwill take a moment to calm down.”
I snarled at the door as he hurried out of the master bedroom.I’m not a wallflower, Fenris.My heart hadn’t stopped racing, and the pit in my stomach felt like a gaping sinkhole. I knew time was running out, and if I waited to fly to Egypt on Fenris’s private jet, we’d be too late. Esme would be dead, and Sabine and her allies would be gone.
I took a breath and hurried to the guest room, where I kept the few items I’d brought with me from Florida. In one of my bags was a beaded necklace Esme had given me. She’d said she’d gotten it on her travels, but I loved it so much as a little girl, she gifted it to me when I turned sixteen.
Holding it firmly in my hand, I hurried downstairs and out the door, racing past the patio under the moonlight. I knew I’d need all the strength I could get to transport myself to her, and I didn’t want to fall over the moment I arrived.
I took a breath and tried to focus on the necklace…but nothing happened.
I took a breath, trying to steady my heartbeat, but when I tried again—still nothing.
My sense of desperation grew in leaps and bounds.No, no, no, no, no! Did Fenris do this? Did he actually cast a command over me? No, he didn’t give any verbal commands. I’m just not focused enough. I need to want this—toneedthis. I need to get to Esme right now more than anything. I must help her. I must—
I felt the familiar rush of frigid air right as I heard Fenris calling my name, but he was too late.
