Page 56 of Hell Storm

“And the rest?” Silas inquired. There was no missing the concern within his distant gaze as he awaited Percival’s reply.

“Dead.”

That word hit us all like a ton of bricks, yet I felt a stark contradiction within me. Just days ago, I’d met two strangers I felt oddly sympathetic toward, but they could have easily been linked to these attacks. Ones where so many innocent lives had been taken. It was as if I was suddenly of two minds.

“Thank you for entrusting us with such delicate information,” my father groveled. “We assure you that not a single detail will leave this room.”

“All thanks should be reserved for your son and the other princes,” Percival corrected. “It is my belief that,whateverreason Julian had for turning Mistress Corina and deciding to initiate the blood bond, he’s chosen to do the right thing by his people.” Percival paused just long enough for my father to shift a blank gaze my way. “Young Prince Julian, rest assured that my faith in you has not waned. I believe our people’s future is in excellent hands, with you in line to rule as Presiding Emperor.”

Of all the things I expected to come out of this call, being given Dr. Percival’s seal of approval was not one of them.

***

Silas

Something about today’s call had lit a fire under me. The words Dr. Percival spoke were only kind, but I was left with the sinking feeling that things were about to take a turn, and there was no way of knowing if the oncoming change would be for the better.

So, on the off chance that it wasn’t, we needed to make more aggressive moves to locate Levi, Roman, and Corina. Especially now that we knew two of those lives were linked to Julian’s. That could be our last chance. And the only thing worse than having to weather a storm, was having to weather one with those you care about being caught in the middle of it.

I didn’t even give much thought to linking the device given to us by Felix—the day we met near the bridge. There had once been a slight concern about the security risk it posed, but tonight? I had a one-track mind.

Midnight. That’s when we agreed to convene. At five ‘til, I stood and paced, hoping he and Liv would hold up their side of the deal and be on the other end of the connection.

The bright, blue screen that cast the entire room in its hue was unnerving. It acted as a beacon of the dead air as Julian and I waited. At the first blip of interference, I stopped dead in my tracks, breathing a sigh of relief the moment two distorted figures began to come into view. Eventually, the reception on their end caught up to the quality of ours, and it was like the four of us sat in the same room.

I nodded toward them as a polite gesture.

“Any news?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

As soon as I got the question out, I began pacing again.

“Nothing,” Felix sighed. “We’ve checked in with everyone we know, even questioned our few roamer connections who definitely keep their ear to the ground. So, for them to have heard nothing …”

There was no missing the nervous energy coming from the pair onscreen. They were just as desperate to solve this mystery as Julian and I.

“I’m sure you did everything you could,” I offered.

And so had we, with what little intel we had. For now, the best I could hope for was that Roman would come to his senses before he did something stupid, reckless, or both, and that Levi had made it to Corina, and the two were safe somewhere.

It was a long shot, but I couldn’t let myself think the worst.

“Based on that look, I’m assuming you two didn’t come up with anything either?” Liv asked, already staring when I turned to meet her gaze.

“Not even a small lead,” I shared.

Julian sat in silence, sporting a dark expression I couldn’t read. He’d been like this since the call with Percival. Maybe he too had a feeling that things were shifting, but the ten or so words he’d spoken didn’t give much away.

“So, where does this leave us?” Liv asked, concerned.

I was at a loss for words, which I hated. If we didn’t have a viable next move, it meant we’d have to leave things to chance.

And Ihatedleaving things to chance.

“We’ll keep looking,” I finally replied. “We can go back to where we found the bike, the necklace. Maybe we missed something.”

“Did that already,” Felix added with a distant look in his eyes. “An entire team of us returned a couple nights ago and scoured the entire area. We picked through trash, followed a few sets of tracks to see where they led. All we found was some weird dart we hadn’t noticed before, but no clue where it came from. For all we know, it’s been there a while.”

I wasn’t sure if he understood what he just confessed, but I now knew there were enough of these humans, hiding right beneath our noses, to qualify as a team. Had this been months, or evenweeksago, I would have lured them into a trap and turned them over to the authorities without a second thought. Only, now my perspective was askew right along with Julian’s. Despite not having undergone the Claiming ceremony with Corina yet.

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