Page 76 of The Aether

Nodding to Black, he said, “Do it.”

A stinging slap knocked him off his feet, and he belatedly registered Black and Carl had fared the same. Vivian was the only one left standing, but she’d realize her helplessness soon enough. The few precious moments she paused to consider the C4 on the cell door were all Morcant needed to gain the upper hand.

Her neck snapped with surprisingly little effort. Tossing her to the floor like yesterday’s garbage, he pointed to Sabrina. “You’re next.”

CHAPTER26

In Sabrina’s bedroom, Damian searched for the object she valued most by running his hand along her collectibles and feeling for heat.

“What are you doing?” Trevor asked after finding him.

“I need something of Sabrina’s to locate her. Normally, our connection would do it, but if Morcant is cloaking her with the help of the Authority or higher…” Damian let his answer trail off. There was no need to rehash the who or why. His daughter was being held captive by an Arcane Devourer with abilities to rival the Aether’s own. He had little hope Sabrina could maintain the force-field spell he’d taught her.

“Energy can be transferred to beloved objects through deep emotion, causing a heat spike by at least five degrees,” he explained. “Everything not possessing sentimental value is usually the same temperature as the air surrounding it.”

“Interesting.” Moving farther into the room, Trevor made a study of the place. “Can I help?”

“Yes. Start at the bookshelf on the far—ah! I found it.” Folded inside a tiny sparkling Unicorn t-shirt, Damian found a spatula.

He smiled sadly as he recalled the morning after he’d brought her home. She’d refused to change from those clothes even after spilling maple syrup on the top. It took Nathanial an hour to convince her the new one he’d conjured for her was just as good as the old one. Both shirts rested on the shelf by her bed. Yet it appeared the silicone utensil was her prized possession. The very one Damian had used to flip the pancakes that morning.

“You surprised me, Beastie,” he said aloud, as if she were with him. “I’d have thought you’d keep the one your Grandpa Nate used.”

Spatula obtained, he gestured to Trevor. “We’re done here.”

Perhaps the man was too polite to ask, but that didn’t stop him from looking askew at the item in Damian’s hand.

“Okay. What’s our next step?”

A baby’s agonized scream echoed from down the hall, and Damian bolted. The distraught cries that followed caused his ears to ring as he accepted Nate from Dubheasa and cradled his son to his chest. The second they touched, Damian had a clear vision of Vivian’s sightless eyes and lifeless body on the warehouse floor.

Nate was inconsolable at the broken connection with his mother, and Damian, as heartbroken as his son, understood better what Sabrina had meant when she said Nate needed his mother. Theirs was an otherworldly bond, similar to the one Damian shared with Beastie.

Shifting his son, he placed him back in Dubheasa’s waiting arms and stroked Nate’s brow with his thumb, casting a slumbering enchantment over him. “Sleep peacefully, my sweet boy. When you wake, your mother will be well.”

Goddess, he prayed it was so. When two souls were linked, like his children to their select parent, the loss was unimaginable.

“Thank you for watching over him, Dubheasa. Just a little longer now.”

Her emerald eyes were intent as she looked at him. “My family will gladly help for all you’ve done for us, Damian. You know that, yeah?”

“I do. I just don’t know what more can be done at the moment.”

Though appreciative of her offer, he didn’t know how to tell her that, despite the great power the O’Malleys recently had returned to them, they were still novices with hot tempers, and they were no match for Morcant.

After joining Trevor in the hall, Damian paused and called to Dubheasa across the short distance.

“If anything should happen to me, if I don’t return for him, you’ll need to take him to the Goddess to break his bonds and bind his power.”

“Sure, and why would that need to happen?”

“Because it means my wife and daughter are dead and Morcant has won. Nate will be his next target. And the bond, well, you saw how he reacted just now to Viv”—he swallowed hard—“to Viv’s death.”

Both Dubheasa and Trevor sucked in an audible breath.

Damian nodded bleakly. “I’m going to fetch my family, but before I do, I’ll sign over everything to you and Ronan as a contingency. Please always protect my son.”

Tears brimming, she choked out a “yes.”

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