Page 87 of Of Blood and Smoke

“Where did you bring me?” I kept my grip on Jude’s arm.

He turned his gaze down on me, piercing and bright. “Welcome to the Second Realm.”

FORTY-ONE

Josiah

Faint traces of light streamed in through the blinds and curtains of Della’s room. The blankets on her bed were rumpled and cast down slightly, but she was nowhere to be seen. Turning around slowly, my gaze sought her guard who’d followed me to the bedroom. He had a mildly confused look on his face, as if he were surprised to see me.

“Where is she?”

Kent winced and met my eyes. “She went to go meet with you.”

A trickle of anger dripped into my chest. “Did I not tell you to remain with her?”

“She was with one of your men; he was like you,” Kent replied, taking a step back.

“Who took her?” There were no traces of ether in the room, no crumbs of fear. Everything was as it should be, other than the absence of my Della.

Kent’s hand was on the edge of the door. “She wasn’t taken, she left willingly. With him. He must’ve used magic on me.”

My vision went red. “With whom?”

“Jude,” he stated. Just as he went to run away, my hand thrust out, stopping the man without laying a single digit on him.Who the hell is Jude?

Kent was frozen in time, a leg stretched out in his desperate bid for escape. I moved for his neck, inhaling his soul the same moment as I thrust my dagger through his heart. Demon souls didn’t have the same effect on me as one belonging to a human; there was no feeling of contentment and satiety, no fullness or warmth. All I had to savor was a fleeting sense of justice, the momentary knowledge that the guard couldn’t make the same mistake again.

Jude.

“Micha, come to Della’s immediately.” I shoved my phone back into my pocket after uttering the order. He’d remained at the office after I’d left, and I knew it wouldn’t take him long to arrive.

Della may have gone willingly, if Kent was to be believed, but my Little One was much too unfamiliar with the ways of the High Court. She may have been used to my ways, the ones I allowed her to see, but she was in no way prepared for what awaited her if my suspicions were correct.

I’d never met Jude or had any dealings with him and had no idea how he’d ended up in Ezra’s hands, nor did I know what he’d say to convince Della to leave with him. She must’ve thought I was in some type of danger or was waiting for her, somewhere. The more I thought of her in someone else’s hands, the harder a beat my heart thumped behind my ribs.

“You’re going to wake the dead,” Micha’s voice drawled behind me. “Calm."

His hand smoothed down my back. “Who is Jude? Have we dealt with him?” I barked.

Micha glanced around the room, his nostrils flaring as he attempted to scent the trespasser. “I’ve only heard rumors. He’sa nomad, much like your recent visitor, Ethan. I believe Jude is demon?”

My friend strode closer to the bed, holding his hand out. “She wasn’t molested.”

Neither of us used magic often, when a simple bloodbath accomplished whatever task was at hand. Neither of us had been schooled in the deeper arts of sorcery, with our purposes having been strictly molded for physical lethality. Any magic we wielded was in conjunction with our bodies’ combat skills. Higher magic was reserved for the gods and the Collective.

“Kent is still slightly alive if you’d like to partake,” I offered.

“The air is empty,” Micha said, telling me what I already knew. There were none of the tell-tale signs one would expect when one of our kind had been present, no indication at all anything was amiss. “No trace auras. She went willingly.”

I cast a glance at him as he bent over Kent, digging into his chest with his claws. Nothing of Della’s appeared disturbed. She didn’t keep many trinkets around, just a small potted plant and a few neatly stacked novels. Kent hadn’t touched her belongings, nor did Jude.

I opened her drawers, peered at their contents, and found the same. Nothing had changed. I smirked when I saw her journal, remembering my brief perusal of its contents when I’d wanted to get to know the object of my fixation better. She’d been angry when she caught me, but she hadn’t known her aura screamed loud and clear much of what I’d needed to know.

Interestingly, she hadn’t scribbled another entry since that evening. I snapped the diary closed and slammed the drawer shut. Why would she feel she had to hide from me? Her journal had only confirmed what I’d suspected about her; there wasn’t a single thing she should be embarrassed or ashamed of. I couldn’t protect her if I didn’t know everything about her.

A wave of shame washed over me. I hadn’t kept her safe; she’d been taken away from me.

“I’m leaving for the Realm,” I informed Micha. He stared up at me from where he was crouched, licking his fingers. “I will bring her back.”

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