Page 183 of Gift from the Stone

Tillman and Corentin take off right behind them and I realize it’s Ry’s prone form lying out in front of the command room door.

At the sound of loud stomps approaching behind me, I turn around to see Draken stalking toward them. Full-on fucking predator mode. Glowing cobalt eyes and claws for hands. He obviously didn’t take a punch to the face. Nor am I about to try that shit with him. By the look on his face, he’d slice my throat open first, apologize later.

Instead, I surprise the two of us by pulling him into a hug. I swear I feel his anger leak out of him and into me. Like it’s finding its way home. He’s not meant to carry the full weight of that emotion around, so I’ll help him do it.

“Thanks,” he grunts. When he pats me on the back, there are no sharp pricks, so I know his fingers are back to normal.

Jogging our way over to where the others are kneeling around a still unconscious Ry, Jamie has sweat dripping down his brow, concentrating hard and cussing under his breath.

The swelling is slowly fading from his face, but he’s black and blue with blood still dripping out of him. He got the absolute fuck beat out of him today.

When he takes a gasping breath, sitting straight up, Jamie slumps to the floor and rests his arms on his knees, panting, while the other two in his Nexus hold him up.

“Fuck, where is she?” Ry chokes out, looking around the gym frantically.

“We don’t know where Oakly is, Ry,” Tillman tells him solemnly, squeezing his shoulder. No doubt those fuckers took her. Hate to say it, I won’t say it out loud, but I’m a little glad my Primary isn’t alone.

He continues to look around like a madman before clarity returns to his face, then crumbles. He lays a hand on Tillman’s shoulder, and I swear the fucker looks like he’s on the verge of crying. If he cries right now, I’ll punch him in his fucked-up face.

“I know where Oakly is. Willow saved her. She saved me, all of us in here. She offered herself up if they left all the students and E.F. members. I’m so sorry, Tillman. I tried to stop them. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t hear it. Said that it had to be this way,” he rambles.

I have to breathe through the emotions rising in me again. Thinking about it and hearing it confirmed are two totally different things. It’s a blow to my head that I can’t fucking handle.

Little Primary, why did you choose all of them? I told you to choose yourself.

“Where’s Oakly? We need her to track Willow. Now,” Corentin demands.

“Call Gaster. Willow said she’s in the secret room,” Ry informs us.

His fucking pocket dimension. Of course my Primary sent her there. No one can get to her there without the old man. She’s fucking brilliant. No scum fucking Mastery member, even if they were to have followed her, would be able to get through any sort of security measure Gaster spelled.

You thought this through, didn’t you, Primary?

You should’ve gone with her to that fucking room.

As Ry climbs to his feet, his Nexus embraces him the way brothers do. I know the feeling of almost losing a Nexus member. All of us do. We’ve put ourselves in a situation or two and it’s fucking awful. But this feeling, the feeling of having half your soul not with you is so much worse. I’m not even bonded to her.

“Answer the fucking calls,” Corentin shouts at the communicator.

He’s about two seconds away from crushing the damn thing in his hand. Looking at my own, it’s been nine minutes since I arrived.

Nine fucking minutes since I arrived, four since she’s been gone.

The longer this takes, there’s no telling what they’re doing to her, where they’re going, who has her.

The darkness teeters on the edge of my vision. Watching. Waiting.

I won’t let it win this time, though.

No. This time, I’m going to use it to shroud this fucking realm in darkness until my Primary is back where she belongs.

Elementra help any who get in my fucking way.

Thirty

Willow

I thought I was over puking my guts up after transporting.

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