Page 79 of The Daughters of Nyx

When the wolf finally calmed and no longer looked as if it was going to eat me, Maeve turned from him and sniffed. “Too many scents overlap hers. This was a targeted attack.”

I swallowed hard and forced myself to stand. “They meant to kill me, Maeve. Whatever poison they used burned its way out of my system. I don’t know what time it is now, but I think they’ve had her for hours.”

“It’s after three. What time did you last see her?” Maeve asked, crossing her arms.

I blinked. “After ten,” I replied, remembering I’d checked my phone earlier. “She had maybe thirty or so minutes left of her shift. Her boss was on break when they attacked.”

Maeve’s lips pulled down in a frown, and her eyes darkened. “I didn’t hear Thea come home.”

This time, it was my turn to frown. “Then why the hell didn’t you guys get here sooner?”

Adrian held up his phone. I took the device from him and read the last message Ivy hadsupposedlysent.

IVY:asked to stay late, don’t wait up

I rolled my eyes. “Those bastards.”

“We didn’t hear from you because we thought you were keeping quiet,” Adrian muttered. “And we didn’t think anything of Thea because we thought she was with you two.”

I rubbed a hand over my face as I handed the cell back. “You think they got both of them?”

Adrian looked unsettled as he pulled up Ivy’s contact and hit call. It rang for several beats before going to voicemail. He tried Thea and it did the same.

“Fuck.” I’d never felt panic before, not in the sense that it became debilitating. Sure, I’d worried, and I’ve had anxiety before. But it overwhelmed me now, sinking deep into my bones. My breath rattled in my chest, heart pounding against my ribs, and all I could think of was Ivy, hurt and alone.

I closed my eyes and rested my hands on my knees.Fucking useless, I thought, shaking my head. What was the point of having thesightif I couldn’t use it to protect her? What was my mother thinking, putting me on this fucking team?

“Can you track her scent?” Maeve asked, likely to Elias. I heard Wolfy growl and the slam of his fist.

I looked up and grimaced at the fist-shaped hole now decorating the side of the building.Fan-fucking-tastic. So that was ano.

“Can you track one of the charms you’d given her?” I asked Adrian, who in turn closed his eyes and frowned, jaw

clenching. His magic, so familiar it sometimes felt like my own, rose around us before sputtering out.

Through gritted teeth, he said, “Someone has put a block on her. All the charms and wards I gave her have been disabled.”

I ran a shaky hand through my hair. “What about Thea? Would they have thought about her?”

Adrian called upon his magic again. His specialty being charm magic, like his father, he was the only one capable of tracking them that way.

A small ember of hope ignited in my chest as his eyes opened. “They must have stripped her too, but only barely,” he replied. “If they took Thea with Ivy, then I can track them.”

Maeve and Elias joined us, and our leader looked between Adrian and I, her face devoid of emotion. “Adrian, start tracking using the tablet. Rowan and Elias, get Jay and his team on the phone. Give them the bare minimum, tell them we need reinforcements for rogues. Tell Jay to call in another team and get them to evacuate Ivy’s mother and sisters. We need them out of the way of potential danger. I’ll return to the apartment for the car and be back in ten. You have your orders.”

Maeve handed Adrian the tablet, and his magic flared to life again. The vamp sped off, barely a shadow as she disappeared.

As I turned to Elias, I caught his snarl, and his cell was thrown at me. I barely caught it, cursing as I fumbled with it. The wolf rose to the surface again, barely contained, and he stepped into my space. “If anything happens to her,” he growled, “if she dies, you die. Understood?”

I released a deep breath. “If she dies? I won’t even fight back,” I replied honestly.

Because if anything happened to my girl, I would give myself to Nyx willingly.

29

IVY

IT burned.

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