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Jalen chuckled. “Yes, this is the way. He was barely coherent after you scared the piss out of him, but lucky for you, I can navigate fairly well.”
I did not like where this house was located and thinking that it was both close to the campus while also being off radar was concerning. We should have seen this house, this street, countless times. How many times have we walked this campus, not realizing this place existed?
Usually, when there was a supposed triangulation of magic and ley lines, the elves at least would have noticed. They gobbled up magic as a fine cuisine.
“I think it’s peculiar that we had never been here before,” Jalen said.
“Those were exactly my thoughts.” I powered ahead. There was a sense of urgency that I could not place. Something was wrong.
A sharp pain stabbed my heart. It stole my breath. I doubled over, seeing stars.
What was happening?
“Declan? Declan!” Jalen tried to see what was wrong as Rothgar became the shield.
As suddenly as the pain appeared, it was gone. I stood, feeling as normal as I had before.
“What was that?” Jalen asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said, massaging the pain in the middle of my chest. “It felt like something was stabbing me, just here.” Right between my hearts.
A dark look came over Jalen’s features. “Stabbed? Or did it feel like something was pulling you? As in pulling at a newly formed mating bond, perhaps?”
Capricorn!
Rage filled me, but I needed to maintain focus. Capricorn was in trouble, and every second could count. “Call the team at Coventry. Anyone and everyone. Get them down here. Now!”
I rushed to the door, Rothgar fast behind me. The scent of old magic hit me, a foul taste on my tongue. Jalen shouted a spell, melting whatever barrier was in front of me. I didn’t pause, trusting in my blood brother to get the job done.
He did.
I was through the front door and tearing through the house when multiple popping sounds signaled the arrival of Coventry agents. I let Jalen brief them on our situation.
Panic seized my chest. It was a pain I’d never felt before, full of longing and loss. Regret.
When we crashed through another door, Rothgar tearing through a wall when the threshold was bespelled. I could finally smell her. Capricorn. Her sweet scent wrapped in foul magic and the tang of blood.
Her blood. She was hurt. But where the hell was she?
We were clearly in a library. Capricorn’s belongings scattered about. I pushed the rage back, needing to think clearly so I could find her.
And then the most heartbreaking sound echoed in my entire being, filling my soul.
Declan!
I roared her name, willing her to hear me. Willing her to show herself to me.
“Declan, move!” Jalen said. He tossed something at the space before us, and the air shivered. The Coventry agents threw their combined might together, and with one blast, the obscuring veil before us shattered like glass.
A man with an aura of shadows laughed, stabbing the air with his crooked wand. I threw myself over Rothgar and Jalen, pushing them away from the spells flying toward them.
“You’re too late!” the creature that was once Professor Snowden proclaimed. “He will rise once more, reborn from the sacrifice of flesh!”
No! I could not let myself believe Capricorn was dead. Not while her soul screamed for me.
The creature stood above a spiraling scrawl of glyphs. I nudged Jalen, pointing to the portal.
A savage gleam flickered over his eyes. “There is still hope,” he said. “The portal isn’t closed. There’s an anchor spell.”
