Page 43 of Hell Storm

That statement echoed in the hollowness, even above the electrified buzz in my ears. I held on to those words for as long as I could and felt how deeply they ran with his powerful arms encircling me. At the feel of them, I slipped even deeper into the darkness.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Silas

Who are these people?

What does their existence imply?

How does Corina fit into their picture?

There was no‘good’answer to any of these questions, because I already knew enough. Our worst fears were becoming realized and Corina was, in fact, a part of something that couldn’t be explained. Something that could potentially harm us all.

Only, we were all in this too deep now.

Two of my brothers had already engaged in a claiming ritual with her and that couldn’t be undone. And seeing as how it was my actions that incited this whole ordeal, backing out to save myself wasn’t an option either.

We were all the way in this, come hell or high water.

It wasn’t until that moment—in the dead of night when Julian powered up that com—that I realized how desperate he was to find Corina. Before he’d been able to respond to the unidentified girl’s plea, the frail connection was lost. As the device’s battery died, the look of concern he wore was hard to miss.

So now, here we were, seated beside the fireplace, waiting with nervous anticipation as the battery charged. We hunted down a charging port and amplifier from the guards, and they didn’t question our reason for needing either. Finally, just as daylight crept in through the blinds, the red light that beamed through the small hunk of silicone finally changed to green.

Julian shot from his chair, rushing to power it up again. Once that was done, he placed it on the amplifier dock and turned up the volume. We waited for sound. Last night, the girl who answered said they—whoever ‘they’were—would continue to be on standby day and night, which left us to believe they were just as anxious for a reunion as Corina was. We had to hope the statement was true and someonewasthere waiting.

Julian paced, holding his breath as we waited for a connection, reminding me of a dog with a bone. His eyes never left the com, while he just about chewed a hole in the side of his lip.

“Cori? Cori, it’s Felix!”

First, Julian’s expression brightened with the sound coming from the other end. But then, he was stricken with confusion when it became clear this was a verydifferentvoice from before. For starters, it was male.

“We lost you last night, but we’re still here,” the stranger promised.

My gaze shifted from the com to Julian and he was hard to read. Arms folded, he stared at the earpiece.

“You said your name was Felix?” he asked, breaking the silence.

There was no sound on the other end, but I was certain we hadn’t dropped the signal.

Julian braced both hands on the edge of his desk. “We’re not … trying to start trouble,” he assured the stranger. “We’ve only reached out because we’re hoping you can help us.”

The silence persisted and I imagined that would continue until thisFelixunderstood the gravity of the situation. If they cared about Corina as much as they seemed to, then there was only one way to get their cooperation.

“Corina’s gone missing,” I announced. “She ran away late last night. Prince Levi, apparently, took off behind her, but we haven’t heard from either of them since.”

I peered up at Julian, wondering if this information had been enough to sway them.

“And how can you be so sure Levi hasn’t hurt her?” Felix inquired, giving a far different response than what I expected.

My brow tensed, but I only needed to remind myself he was human—a natural skeptic to us, our way of life.

“He wouldn’t do that,” I assured Felix, certain he hadn’t bought that so easily. “Levi was only curious where she would run off to, so he followed her. If his retrieval had been a success, both would be here, safe and sound.”

Felix scoffed at my word usage. “Safe.”

Julian breathed deep beside me, making it clear he didn’t have the patience to convince Corina’s contact of Levi’s good intentions.

“Levi isn’t a threat,” he nearly growled. “Now if you could tell me where you think she may have gone, so we can at leasttryto find her, that would be incredibly helpful.”

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