Wrath

Not theirs. People, especially Blossom, will do what you want them to, Alexis. You’re their future leader. You have to be careful what you ask.”

I tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat, but it remained as tears threatened to spill. Future leader—good thing that’s a very far-off future. I obviously had no right to be leading anyone right now. As Mom had said—thank God for Tristan’s level head.

“I really didn’t know. She said she’d do anything . . . she didn’t say . . .” A breath shuddered out of me. “I know they’ll lay down their lives for me, for us. For the Amadis . . .”

“But we can’t ask anyone to risk their souls,” Tristan said, his voice softer now.

I sniffed, still blinking against the burn in my eyes. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just . . . all I can think about is how to get Dorian. Everything else is secondary.”

“I know, my love.” He pulled me into his arms. “I know.”

As I rested my head against his chest, I sensed Blossom in the other room—she hadn’t left the suite entirely. I felt so bad for my behavior toward her that I wanted to crawl under the bed and hide in shame. Instead, I called out to her. “Blossom, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

She stepped into the bedroom, and I reached my arm out for her. When she moved close enough, I pulled her into a one-armed hug.

“I really am sorry. I just—”

“You’re just a mom who’s worried about her son.”

I sniffled again and nodded. “Still. It was inexcusable.”

She gave me a squeeze and pulled back. “It’s not your fault. I said I’d do anything. It’s my choice.”

“I know, and I’m sure you will,” I said with a sigh as I pulled away from Tristan’s comforting arms. “But you have to tell me what exactly is at risk. I’m still pretty ignorant when it comes to all your magic stuff.”

“Well, there is something I can do that’s not risky at all. I can’t guarantee anything, especially if he’s really far away or if there’s a strong shield around him, which there might be, but maybe we’ll get lucky, so I can always try—”

“Blossom,” Tristan interrupted. She stopped her rambling and looked up at him. “What is it?”

“I can do a tracking spell,” she said.

My mouth dropped open, and my eyes dried as hope lifted my spirits. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“You were . . . well . . .” She scrunched her lips, trying not to say what I’d so horribly done to her—the position I’d put her in. “Anyway, um, like I said, I can’t guarantee anything. I’ve already tried a few times with no luck, but I want to keep pushing myself further. And maybe between the two of us—with you searching for his mind at the same time—maybe we can find Dorian.”

Tristan and I exchanged a look of hope.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Well . . . before we cleaned up the blood in here, I took a sample to see if any of it was his—” She paused, her eyes wide at my reaction as the blood rushed out of my head, then she hurried on. “No, no, it wasn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but none of it belonged to him from what I could determine.”

I exhaled sharply. “Maybe Victor’s. Or even Lucas’s.” I wasn’t entirely convinced he hadn’t taken Dorian himself. “If so, I hope Sasha got him good.”

She nodded. “Yeah, probably, but anyway, it would have been helpful for the spell, but hopefully that means Dorian wasn’t hurt. I needed something of his, though, and the closer the better, but Sasha doesn’t work, which I don’t know if it’s because she’s a living being or what, so I tried one of his game controllers, but it’s still not enough.”

Tristan held his hand up, again making her stop to take a breath. “What will help?”

“Maybe if I’m in his room? I didn’t want to leave on my own, with everything going on, but maybe sitting in his room, surrounded by all of his things . . .”

“Let’s go,” I said, preparing to flash.

“I don’t like you going alone,” Tristan said. “Not after what happened.”

“I’ve been keeping my mind open, but there aren’t any Daemoni signatures for miles.”

“You never know when they’ll pop in, though.”

“Then come with us and keep watch.” I didn’t understand the problem. “Have you talked to Sheree and Vanessa?”

“I was sort of interrupted,” he said with a pointed look.

Guilt tightened my shoulder muscles. “Fine. I’ll call them.”

A minute later, Sheree and Vanessa entered the suite, and through mind-talk, I told them about our plan. All of it. They both volunteered immediately. Problem solved.

“Charlotte’s working on securing the safe house and the colony,” I told them. “As soon as it’s ready, we’re leaving. So be prepared.”

They nodded and took off to help.

“Now we can go.” I flashed to our home, more determined than ever to try anything that would lead us to my son.

Going into his bedroom proved to be a lot harder than I expected, though. As soon as I crossed the threshold, my lungs seized up. Tears filled my eyes as they took in the mess—his typical mess showing that he’d been here recently, having fun, being himself. His natural scent of oranges and grass, mixed with a hint of Sasha’s baby-powder fragrance, lingered on the air. I strode over to his bed, sat down at the head of it, and pulled his pillow to my chest. I buried my face in it and inhaled. We’re coming, baby. Mom and Dad are coming for you.

A weight settled on the bed with me, and I opened my eyes to find Blossom crossing her legs and fisting her hands into Dorian’s blankets.

“His presence is so strong here,” she said. “Open your mind with me, and let’s search.”

She closed her eyes and began chanting something under her breath. I closed my eyes, too, and opened my mind to her as well as to the area around us, scanning the mind signatures. I broadened the area in my mind, going east to the mainland, as I’d already done before, and still no Dorian signature. Blossom’s chant became more urgent, and I pushed harder, reaching out as far as I could go.

Something suddenly nudged my mind north. Pushed it farther than I’d been able to go on my own. I continued scanning the tens of thousands of mind signatures, looking for the only one that mattered right now, until my head felt as though it were imploding. Another nudge north, but my mind couldn’t follow. Ignoring the pressure, I tried with all of my ability anyway, pushing, pushing, pushing—

But I was jerked out of it.

Panting, I opened my eyes to find Blossom staring at me with a frown.

“North,” I mumbled. I tried to stand up, to get moving, but my head pounded a strong protest, keeping me seated. “We need to go north, right?”

Blossom nodded, but her frown remained. “Are you going to answer that?”

Her eyes glanced at my hip. I didn’t realize my phone had been buzzing in my pocket. The annoying sound stopped before I could answer it, but my screen showed Mom had called. Apparently a couple of times. Blossom and I must have been too out of it to notice.

“We might have been able to go farther, if you want to try again,” Blossom said.

I lay back on Dorian’s pillow and rubbed my temple. “I don’t think I can. I guess I’m the one not strong enough.”

“Rest a moment and maybe—”

My phone rang again. Mom wasn’t letting up. But I wasn’t in a good state of mind to talk to her, so my fingers fumbled until they found the ignore button.

“I’ve never been able to go so far before,” I said. “Not even close. I can work on it, but I don’t want to sit here forever trying. At least we have a direction to head.”

I sat up when Tristan entered the room with an obvious purpose to his stride, but when he looked around, he stopped in his tracks. His chest rose as he drew in a deep breath. He picked up a picture of the three of us on Dorian’s dresser, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he worked to swallow. He put it down and looked at me, and his hazel eyes focused, as though he finally remembered why he came in.