Page 73 of The Aether

You said you remember everything, but don’t forget me, Papa. They’ll try to make you, but don’t, okay? I love you.

Love,

Beastie

Damian’s heart seized, and the pain was excruciating. Suddenly, his breathing required a concerted effort, and hyperventilation was causing lightheadedness.

“Oh, Beastie. What did you do?” he whispered achingly. A sound at the door caught his attention, and he turned in time to see Vivian looking wildly around the room.

“Where is she, Damian? Where’s Sabrina?”

Unable to speak, he held the paper up and helplessly watched Vivian pale. The bracelet on his wrist burned his skin from the strength of her fear, and belatedly, he realized he couldn’t feel Sabrina through the link. They’d never truly bound her stronger emotions! She was in deeper trouble than she anticipated.

“I was only gone a minute,” Vivian croaked disbelievingly. “A single fucking minute to give Nate to Dubheasa. How? How the hell did he take her in that time? Why didn’t we feel the wards drop?”

Hissing from the pain of the continual burn, he met her halfway and dragged her into his embrace. “I need you to calm down, Viv. We’ll find her. Believe it.”

Pushing him back, she shoved her platinum hair back from her flushed cheeks. “I know that. I do,” she insisted when he frowned. “But I’m livid, and I don’t want that monster anywhere near my baby girl.”

“It’s too late for that,” he replied grimly, scrubbing his face with his hands. Goddess he was exhausted, and sleep was not in his immediate future.

She gripped his seared wrist. “Jesus, Damian! Is that from the bracelet?”

“Yes, but never mind that now.”

“How is that possible?” she asked, ignoring his comment.

“Your fear is great. It’s transitioning to the bracelet.”

“Adding to hers! No wonder…” She trailed off as he shook his head. “What?”

“You weren’t able to bind hers, Viv. I don’t feel her through this damned thing at all.”

Her hand flew to her mouth, and Damian got another jolt to the wrist. He wasn’t able to prevent his wince.

“Oh, fuck! I’m sorry, darling.” Closing her lids, she slowly inhaled and exhaled as if to center herself. When she was done, she opened her eyes. “Better?”

He nodded and handed her the note. Returning to the desk, he tore it apart, looking for the picture Sabrina had drawn earlier. When he couldn’t find it, he grabbed a charcoal pencil and a blank page, then recreated what he remembered of her drawing.

“It’s the wharf in New York,” he said. Looking up, he realized he was speaking to an empty room. Having been to the city countless times, Vivian must’ve recognized the surrounding scenery and foolishly went to Sabrina’s aid.“Fuck!”

Suppressing the urge to rush after her, he raced for the stairs, bellowing loud enough to shake the entire house.

At his wrist, the metal bangle glowed red and cooked the skin beneath it.

“I can take it,” he reminded himself. “For them. I can take it.”

But Vivian’s fear and pain began to override his ability to remain calm. Through his blood connection to Sabrina, he felt her horror surge and die, with a suddenness that robbed him of breath. Searching their blood bond for any small sign she was alive, he came up empty. No pain, no life, no emotions at all.

Fueled by his outrage, immediate hatred, and a driving need for revenge, Damian’s cells ramped up, and the Aether magic became a living, breathing thing all on its own. Rumbling started, growing stronger with each passing second. The reverberating sound of tumbling trees and stone walls added to the rattling earthquake his tumultuous emotions caused.

Draven Masters skidded to a halt at the top of the stairs as Damian hopped down the last few steps to the landing two floors below.

“Dethridge!Stop this right now, or you’ll kill us all.”

“Sod off!”The forcefulness of Damian’s retort blew Masters back three feet, and a look of wariness crossed the other man’s face.

From where his blinding rage came, Damian couldn’t say. Perhaps it was the years of complaint-free service he’d provided to the deities, or maybe it was caused by the more recent betrayal of the Authority and Fates. But without a doubt, his sudden terror for his wife and daughter topped the list of things triggering his uncontrollable fury.

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