Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
As we walked out to the car, Izzy asked, “Was his car still there? His wallet? Phone? Did you notice if anything was taken in the house?”
“His car’s still parked in the driveway. I didn’t notice anything else. Should we go back over there and look?”
“Yes,” Izzy and I said together as we got into the car, and I switched the phone to Bluetooth, then Iz added, “But you need to be careful. Alaric, go with him.”
“I would never let him do something like that alone,” Alaric said.
“I know, I know. Sorry, runt, I’m freaking the fuck out here,” Iz said.
Alaric grunted.
Izzy put the car into drive and took off. Nadia hopped into my lap from his shoulder, and Jezebel stayed curled around my neck.
I said, “You need to look for anything out of place, check for any kind of energy signature or magical residue or anything.”
Grady sucked in a sharp breath. “You think this is magic related?”
“We don’t know anything yet. It could be anything at this point, but I don’t want to rule anything out until we have more evidence,” I said.
Izzy said, “If you think someone’s in the house, I want you to get out and go home. Runt, you need to up the wards at home. After you check for Laz’s stuff, call us back. We’re already on our way, but we’re still a few hours out.”
“You guys are coming back? Don’t you have an assignment or something?” Grady asked.
“This is our new assignment,” Izzy said. “Family’s more important than anything else, and Laz is family. Go do a check at his house—if there’s an energy signature, we might get there too late to pick it up. Alaric, we need you to go there and memorize it, okay?”
“Okay, I will.”
Izzy nodded. “Good. After that, go home and call us back. In the meantime, we’re calling it in to the Conclave.”
Alaric and Grady hung up with the promise to call back, and Izzy made a call to our boss to explain the situation. She wasn’t happy we were leaving New York again, but she understood and said she’d take care of it and send backup. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone available any closer than we were, and since Iz was driving like a bat outta hell, I was sure we’d get there before anyone else.
As soon as she hung up, Izzy reached over and took my hand. He held it while we waited for Alaric and Grady to call us back.
As soon as I picked up the ringing phone, Alaric said, “I picked up dark magic.” Those were the worst words a person could hear.
“Fuck!” I yelled. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Izzy squeezed my hand tight enough to stop the blood flow, but I didn’t dare let go. In fact, I held on just as hard.
Izzy said, “You have it memorized?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll be there soon. I’m breaking every godsdamn traffic law to get there. Stay inside your house. Stay safe.”
“Please hurry,” my baby brother whispered. “Grady’s terrified.” From the sound of Alaric’s voice, Grady wasn’t the only one.
“We’ll be there soon,” I said through clenched teeth, trying to keep my panic, fear, and rage at bay.
Izzy kissed my hand and continued to hold it for the entire rest of the drive.
Chapter 17
Isiah
Panic had become my new best friend over the past few hours. I’d never known panic like this, like my heart was going to come out of my chest, like I could hardly breathe because it was pounding so fiercely my throat was tightening and hurting.
Clinging to Raph’s hand was the only thing keeping me even a little sane.
I parked sloppily in front of Grady’s house, and Raph and I were out of the car and flying up the sidewalk a mere second after I turned the car off. Grady opened the door for us before we even knocked, and Alaric pulled Raph into a tight hug at the same time that Grady wrapped me in his arms—both our familiars jumped from our shoulders—and Grady whispered, “Thank you for coming back.”
“Of course,” I said automatically. “What have you found out?”
They led us into the dining room, and Alaric answered, “As soon as I felt the dark magic, we left, so we didn’t check the whole house. It felt dirty, old, and slimy. Similar to her, but not an exact match.” He meant the witch that had imprisoned him for two centuries.
My stomach plummeted. If it felt similar to her magic, that meant it was a practiced dark witch or warlock, not a newbie. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I turned to Raph, and without a word, we both stood and headed back for the front door.
“Where are you going? What are you doing?” Grady asked.
Raph said, “We’re going to try following the energy signature, if it’s still there. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to figure out where they’ve taken him or who has him.”
Grady turned tear-filled eyes to me. “You’re going to save him, right?”
“Of course, we are. We’ll get him back.” I patted his shoulder and headed outside, Nadia flying through the open door with Jezebel dashing around my legs to the car.
I hopped into the driver’s seat just as Raph was getting into the passenger seat and saying over his shoulder, “No, Alaric, we need you to stay here with Grady. I’ll call if we find something. Stay here and keep your soul-pledged safe.”
I heard Grady and Alaric reply, but Raph shut his door, cutting them off, and I drove toward Laz’s house.
Raph’s hand cupped the back of my neck. “We’re going to get him back, Izzy.”
“I know.”
“If they wanted him dead, they would’ve killed him in his home. They’re using him for leverage. I’m sure we’ll get a call, or Alaric will be contacted any minute. They’re not going to hurt him.”
“You don’t know that. They might need him for a—” I cut myself off so I didn’t go down that road, and I cleared my throat. “Even if this is about us or Alaric, they could still hurt him, Raph.” My eyes filled up, so I blinked away the tears so I could continue driving. “They could be torturing him right now.”
“Hey. Don’t do that. Don’t play the what-if game. We don’t have all the facts yet, so don’t torture yourself with negative thoughts.”
“I can’t help it, Raph. He’s… he’s my friend, he’s more than your boyfriend, he’s your destined.”
“I know that,” he snapped, and I finally realized that he’d been trying to calm himself down, not only me. I was being an ass and only thinking about my feelings when my poor soul-pledged was the one missing his destined.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“I feel like I’m dying inside, Isiah. I don’t need you telling me all the shit they could be doing to him. What the hell do you think I’ve been picturing for the past six hours?”
“I’m sorry, babe. You’re right. I’m just… He’s your destined, which means I took his spot in your life. If I hadn’t, if you would’ve been soul-pledged to him instead, you might be able to find him.” I choked out the last part.