Page 14 of Fallen Mate

Not happening,I answered immediately.

They won’t kill me if you’re not here. They promised the people a spectacle. They’ll be too embarrassed to go through with it if half of the performance is missing, because then they’d have to explain themselves.

Sariel, I amnotleaving you behind,I snapped. My wolf agreed wholeheartedly. She couldn’t believe he’d even ask something like this of us.

I’ll get out on my own, Aria, you’ll just have a head start—

No. Now shut up and let me think.

Neo was giving me a quizzical look as I began to mutter to myself.

The memory of entering the Ambrose Estate after Johnny kidnapped me filtered through my mind, and I recalled the way I'd been able to sense almost every wolf on the property. If I could recreate even a portion of that effect, I could find him. Although it was a gamble depending on whether or not there was a wolf nearby, we were running low on options and I was desperate.

I have an idea. Give me a second.

What kind of idea? Don’t do anything rash!

“What are you doing?” Neo asked when I folded my legs beneath me and closed my eyes. “Are you meditating?”

I cracked a lid open to eye him. “When I was at the Ambroses’ manor, I was able to sense almost all the wolves on the property. I’m hoping I can recreate it and find Sariel that way.”

“How does he feel about this?”

“He doesn’t know,” I answered, closing my eyes.

“I think it’s genius. You're on a different level altogether, aren’t you?”

I didn’t respond to that.

Your wolf is anxious. Tell me what you’re going to do.

I ignored Sariel, attempting to focus.

Aria, he growled.

I was able to sense all the wolves in the Estate when Johnny brought me back. I’m hoping that if I can sense all the wolves here, maybe one of them will be close enough to you that it gives your location away.

That sounds like it’ll use a lot of energy. And what if there are Alphas here? Who knows if they’d be able to sense what you’re doing. Also, the walls of your cell are supposed to suppress magic, Aria.

Be quiet and let me try, Sariel.

I could tell that he wanted to argue more, but he ultimately kept quiet.

I forced my muscles to relax, steadying my breathing as I tried to focus. I wasn’t surewhatI was focusing on, but my wolf seemed to be aware of what I was doing. She settled in my head, a guiding presence, and I felt a sense of unity—just like before—when I reached out with my senses.

I tried to start with my eyes, only to feel the way my magic backfired, as if it had bounced into a wall and back to me.

My efforts went like that for a while, reaching out with each sense until I ended up using them all at once. It overwhelmed whatever force was blocking me, and before I knew it, I was past the barrier.

It was like breathing fresh air for the first time after being stuck in a room with poor ventilation; clean and crisp.

I could feel every single wolf in the area like they were sitting right next to me, lit up like fireflies in the dark in my mind’s eyes. It was a struggle trying to direct it, but I was eventually able to stop and restart the process.

I could hear Sariel in the back of my head. Even so, I hyperfocused.

I forced my senses down, down, down, until I slammed into a wolf on the very last floor. My eyes burned from exertion and my head ached, yet I was so very close. I found another interred wolf—while I was moving to find another, a different light caught my attention.

Found you.

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