Page 64 of Fallen Heirs

“No, nothing on my end either.”

“Have you tried mind-linking him? It’s probably the only thing I haven’t attempted.”

“No. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Whatever he’s up to with spiriting Alena away like that, I wanted to give him time, I guess.”

“Well, he’s had time and he still hasn’t reached out to us. It’s not like him.”

I sat forward on the bench as he stood in front of it, shifting his weight back and forth, clearly agitated. “He wasn’t in the DFR when the attack went down, Tal.”

“What? Why not? No, he would’ve told us if he’d gone somewhere else. He knows I need to be informed of where he is at any given moment. Him taking Alena away from that shitshow is only an exception because of the severity of the situation.”

“I don’t know why he left there, but my dad is certain that Ore wasn’t in the DFR. He actually has no clue where he is. Now or during the attack.”

“You’re telling me he’s off the grid? Withoutus?” He started pacing and shoving his hand over his bright orange head. “No. He wouldn’t do that to us. Shit, something must’ve happened to him. Maybe he was attacked when he left there? Maybe some of Constantine’s acolytes were lying in wait? Hey, that could be how he knew to rush in to the Academy and get Alena, how he knew that was happening… he defeated the attack then got that intel out of them, maybe.”

“That’s… one hell of a story. Maybeyoushould be the writer.”

“Why, you think he’s up to something nefarious? Fuck, X, I thought you were past that with him. After what he did for you, how he helped you, the two of you growing closer with the feeding and all that.”

“I am past it, but you can’t deny that this sort of thing is Ore’s M.O.”

“Not according to you claiming he’s been shaken and not himself.”

“Well, maybe being in the DFR helped him to get past that.” I shoved a hand through my hair and rose to my feet. “Either way, there’s too many unknowns right now. My dad said thatExemplarhas tried to track Alena but she’s cloaked. The same for Ore. So, I say we head to Saryan and ask him to seek Ore out through their familial blood link, get some answers from there.”

“The Academy is on lockdown after what happened. Big time now. Your dad ordered us to head to his estate where he can keep us safe, to stay there for the time being with us not being able to go back to Electi Academy now.”

“And you’re okay with doing that when Ore and Alena are out there without us, when Constantine just fucking attacked us through his sorcerers, when the Academy is fucked?”

“Of courseI’mnot okay going along with those orders, but I’m surprised that you’re fighting it. More often than not, you do whatever Elliot says and support him in everything.”

“The way things are, that’s altered. Not because of him and who he is, because there’s nothing wrong there, he’s the greatest, but because ofExemplaras an organization and how it’s handling—or not handling—the Constantine threat.”

“Look who’s growing up.”

“Shut it,baby bird.”

He chuckled. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“It’s definitely needed.”

Purple smoke erupted just feet from us, startling the hell out of us.

And then Orpheus materialized, looking anxious as hell.

“I just got word about what happened at Electi Academy,” he spoke anxiously, rushing to us and looking us over. “Are you all right? Were you hurt?”

Tal and I exchanged a look full of a fuck-ton of confusion.

“Youjustgot word?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he murmured, looking all around. “Where’s Alena?”

“What the shit are you talking about?” Talon cried. “You pulled her out after she exposed her dark magic extinguishing ability.”

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