Page 16 of The Crown of Nyx

“And he found a way to block Sable from having visions of him,” Maeve said from the front seat. “I have a feeling he found other ways to keep your father and Greer’s other mates away.”

Rowan cursed under his breath, and I looked up from Adrian to find my mage running a hand through his hair. “Ivy, when was the last time you saw my mother?”

My mouth popped open, eyes widening as I tried to think back to when I’d last seen Sable at the ball. Had she been there on the dais when Greer was stabbed? I couldn’t remember. Had I seen her at all when fighting Dante?

Rowan’s face dropped, panic filling his eyes. “Shit. Do you think—does he have her?”

Through the bond, fear and anger swelled within him. His thoughts shifted drastically from wanting to find his mother to being terrified that she was hurt. I tried to give him a sense of calm, to give him some reassurance that everything was alright, but he seemed to be spiralling.

“Rowan,” I said, pushing off the middle seat to kneel on the bench seat separating me from him. I tried to ignore the deep ache in my thighs and the way my bodice seemed to tighten around my chest as I reached for him. “Ro. I’m sure she’s okay. Your mother is one ofthe strongest people out there. She probably figured out something was wrong before the attack. She could have gotten out before it all went down.”

He shook his head, though he didn’t stop me from taking his trembling hand. “She wouldn’t have just left us, though. No, she would have fought. She would have?—”

“Dante knows how powerful your mother is. She’s a threat,” Maeve murmured. I shot her a look; she wasn’t looking at me, but rather the ocean and the brightening sky. “He never saw you as a threat. That’s why you were able to have the visions. And I think Sable knew that.”

I frowned, glancing back at Rowan. “What visions?” I asked carefully.

The SUV went quiet at that. From my bond with Maeve, I could tell she hadn’t intended to say the words out loud. And from Rowan, I sensed shock, maybe even a little fear, as my question hung in the air.

Slowly, I pulled away from him and slid back into my spot between Elias and Adrian, who both remained eerily silent. The only two who appeared to be as confused as me were Orion and Hawk. The two not part of the original team.

My magic swelled within me, growing wilder the longer they remained silent. Heart pounding, I stared at each of my quiet mates. I tried to prod the bond for any impression of what secret they were keeping from me, but each of them had a block in place to keep those thoughts from me.

“What happened to not keeping secrets?” I snapped.

Elias was the first to reach for me, taking my hand from where it sat in my lap. As much as I wanted to pull away from him, I didn’t. I let him entwine our fingers, forcing myself to look at him. I hoped he understood the desperation I felt. Because the weight of not knowingwas creating a catastrophic storm within me. And the last thing I wanted was to be angry at any of them.

My mate didn’t take his eyes off me as he brought his free hand up to cup the side of my face. “Blame me for this secret, Angel. I didn’t want to put any more stress on your shoulders. This was something we could handle for you.”

My stomach twisted. “What secret, Elias?”

“I’ve been having visions,” Rowan said, his voice soft, a slight tremor in his words. “Since we met. That package I received when we were staying at the hotel triggered the first one.”

I remained still and quiet, though I dredged up the memories from that time. That was months ago, within the first few days of me knowing the team—before I even knew about the supernatural world. I’d just been simple old Ivy Wilson with a five-year plan to become a full-time writer and build my career. I’d never even had an inkling of what might be hiding in the shadows of my world. That there was an entirely separate, magical place I would one day call home.

“I had a vision of you,” Rowan continued finally. “It was…horrifying. It happened right before our coffee date.”

“I remember,” I whispered. “You told me at the safe house about your visions.”

“Yeah.” Rowan cleared his throat. “Well, the first one was about you being locked up by an unknown enemy. That was our first hint that someone was hunting you.”

A cold chill ran down my skin, puckering my flesh as I stiffened. “What else?”

And then he explained them all; the male with the familiar magic starring in all the visions, of the words he spoke and how I’d been stripped of my magic by ancient runes not even Rowan could identify. Rowan outlinedeverything he remembered from the visions, until all I heard was the pounding of blood in my ears when he was finally done.

I swallowed hard, heart thundering against my ribs, as I finally pulled away from Elias.“How could you keep something like that from me? You all talk about me keeping Ry from you, but this?—”

“It was for your safety,” Maeve said, the pain in her voice almost cracking through my shields. “A mhuirnín, please…”

I shook my head. Their explanation hadn’t done anything to calm the raging storm within me. No, it was worse now. It was heading for total destruction, and I needed to get out before it took everyone I loved with it.

“Let me out of the car,” I bit out, reaching for the door.

Elias was there in an instant, blocking my access, his sorrow-filled face filling my vision. “Ivy, listen to us, please?—”

“Move. I don’t want to hurt you.” He flinched, but for a moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care. I needed to get out, to breathe fresh air and pray to Nyx my magic didn’t try to take control of me.

But my shifter mate remained there, chest heaving while my magic threatened to explode within me. “Please,” I said, voice cracking as electricity lifted the hairs of my arms, “let me out. I love you, but you need to let me out of this car, now.”

---