Page 3 of The Hunt of Night

Reaching for her arm, I give it a comforting squeeze, but it falls flat. “That’s not your fault, Nora. We just have to find him.”

“We can help,” Kryll states from behind me, his tone slightly off, but when I glance over my shoulder, I can’t get a read on him.

The four of them are standing together, no podium holding them in place like before as they observe Nora and me. “We’re good,” I grunt, rising to my feet as I dust off my pants.

Exhaustion clings to me. The fact that I have faced a trial, endured Vallie’s vampire bite, and been healed by a mage isn’t lost on me, yet my day is far from over after the mess that has unraveled here.

“Don’t be petulant, Adrianna,” Raiden starts, and I whirl around to him so fast the world continues to spin around me even after I come to a halt.

Jabbing a finger in his direction, I snarl at him. “Fuck you and fuck your petulance.”

His jaw opens, and I instantly produce a ball of fire in my hand, aimed and ready to launch it at him if he so much as breathes wrong. To my surprise, he takes the warning, raising his hands in surrender as he quickly slams his mouth shut.

I glare at him, turning my anger toward Brody, Cassian, and Kryll as well, making sure they don’t give me some bullshit either.

Satisfied, I turn my attention back to my sister. “Are you okay using me?” I ask, and her lips twist in concern instantly.

“Are you?—”

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to,” I interject, aware that I have no clue how much time we actually have. It earns me a disgruntled glare, but she sighs, nodding before she holds out her hand.

I place my palm against hers, wrapping my fingers around her dainty wrist as I feel the familiar warmth rise between our touch. Her eyes fall closed as her lips part, and a ghost of a smile touches the corner of her mouth.

“What is she?—”

“Shut. Up,” Brody bites, interrupting Cassian’s question as I try to block them all out, but I don’t miss the sense of awe oozing from him.

“I can feel him,” Nora breathes, my chest tightening with apprehension as I wait for more. She nods slightly, more to herself than anyone else before her eyebrows pinch together. “He’s in some kind of cellar. He’s not far, I just can’t?—”

“There’s a small set of cells down in the cellar here,” Brody states, and Nora’s eyes widen as she releases my hand.

“Take us.”

I look back at Brody, who nods in response. He inches toward the door, scrubbing at the back of his neck as he peeks his head out to check down the hallway.

“It might be better for me to use my magic to transport us in case there’s someone waiting for us. We have no way of knowing if your father has anyone standing guard over him,” he explains, and indecision wars inside of me.

I can either make it there on foot, with no certainty who I might bump into, or let him transport us there, unsure of what we will immediately walk into. Neither option sounds better than the other, apart from the fact that the transporting will be quicker.

Fuck.

“Transport us,” Nora answers for us, making my eyebrows rise as she purposely avoids my gaze. I want to give her hell, but we don’t have time, and realistically, it’s the right option.

“You transport them, we’ll use our speed to?—”

“We don’t need you as well,” I grunt, glaring at Raiden, who waves his hands in frustration at me.

“You’ll get what you’re fucking given,” Cassian grunts, speaking for the first time in what feels like forever, but I don’t have the time to deal with his level of assholery right now.

Ignoring his remark, I place my hand in Nora’s again as Brody steps toward us. He offers me his hand, a hint of uncertainty dancing in his eyes, but I ignore it, focusing on what needs to be done.

Before I can take a breath, the ground shifts beneath me, and a moment later I find myself in a dark and eerie space. It smells damp. The sound of dripping water rings around us, but it’s quickly over trodden by the echo of a grunt in the distance, followed swiftly by a gurgled cry before silence falls over us again.

“What was that?” Nora asks, concern twinkling in her eyes.

“That was the unwanted wolf taking care of the security protecting your father,” Cassian grumbles, appearing at the end of the hallway we’re in.

“I’d say thanks, but I believe my sister didn’t ask,” Nora retorts, and I have to bite back a shit-eating grin at her sass as a grunt vibrates from the wolf in question.

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