Blaze watched on from my shoulder for a few minutes before stuffing his face in my collar. He was unhappy that Rasha was so infatuated with the other dragon, but I was grateful that Ailin had brought her. When I caught his gaze in the rearview mirror and he smiled, I knew he’d brought Zamm on purpose to help distract Hiro’s little girl from her worry.
My brother-dad-kinda-guy was great like that. Not that I really ever told him that. Maybe I should, though.
I smiled back at him and nodded my thanks.
Rasha was pretty quiet on the drive there, but she was smiling and petting Zamm the entire time. Zamm even climbed into her lap to cuddle with her, which made Rasha so happy and excited. If I wasn’t so worried about my viramore, this could’ve been one of my happiest moments with her. But my worry and fear for him was too strong.
I had the sense that I wasn’t hiding my worry very well, which made me worry even more. I didn’t want Rasha upset, so I did my best, but something was seriously wrong.
I had to keep reminding myself that Hiro would’ve wanted me to take care of Rasha first, no matter what. I knew this was the right thing to do. Rasha came first, always. But knowing that didn’t make it easier when I knew Hiro was in trouble. Fucking fuck.
When we made it to my coven land, Ailin drove straight up to the big house, and I heard Rasha whisper, “Wow. It’s like a fairytale.” Under normal circumstances, I would’ve been excited to show her around, but I didn’t have time for that today.
He parked, and I got out, helping her out of the car. I passed Ailin Zamm, then squatted down beside Rasha and said, “Sweetpea, I have to go help your daddy with something, so my… dad is going to look after you for a little while.”
“You’re not staying here?” she whispered.
My chest tightened. “Not right now, but I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Is Daddy in trouble?”
I hesitated, then decided that I never wanted to lie to her, and she clearly already knew something was going on. “I think he might be. He’s… he’s okay right now, but I’m going to go get him.”
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck in a hug that I eagerly returned. “You promise you’ll be back?”
“Yes, of course,” I choked out. Mother, she was breaking my heart. I didn’t want to leave her here; she was meant to be with me and Hiro.
She nodded and backed up, so I stood and took her hand to walk her inside with Ailin trailing behind us. As soon as we were through the front door, Seb came over with a bright smile. “Hi, Rasha, it’s good to meet you. I’m Seb. Do you want to come color with us?” He waved over to the table where my sister Niya and niece Esadora were already coloring.
Rasha looked up at me, so I squeezed her hand, released it, and nodded at her to go. She hesitantly took a few steps in that direction before Niya saw her. My little sister jumped off her chair, ran over to Rasha, and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the table and saying, “I’m Niya. You’re gonna be my best friend.”
I snorted at that, then turned to Seb. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I already know how to do the oxygen tanks and all of that, so don’t worry about anything here.” Seb took everything out of my arms.
I nodded, then Ailin came over, kissed Seb hard on the lips, and walked out the front door. I rushed over and pressed a kiss to the top of Rasha’s head before trailing after him. I scratched Blaze’s neck, trying to take a cue from Ailin’s calm demeanor.
Once outside, Ailin said, “Do you know where to go?”
Closing my eyes, I focused on the pain laced through my heart, and shook my head. “I… can we do a tracking spell?”
“Sure. Seb set up a circle out back after you called. Come on.”
I followed Ailin around the house and found Jorah and Thayer already standing there, waiting to help me. A circle had been drawn on the ground, so my brothers, pseudo-dad, and I rushed over. Jorah, Thayer, and I sat in the center, Jor in front of me, Thay behind. Ailin sat on the edge and pulled a domed shield over us to catch any loose magic that might burst out of us.
Jorah said, “Close your eyes and concentrate on your bond with him. Make it your focus.” Jorah and Thayer put their hands on my shoulders and upper arms, then began pushing their energy into me.
We’d done this spell many times before, but I’d never been the one searching for his viramore. Since Hiro was my viramore, I would guide the spell. It was different and required a lot of power—good thing the four of us were hella powerful.
Closing my eyes, I centered my focus on the pain in my chest, and I gasped as tears filled my eyes from the shock of pain. Hiro was hurting, he was… he was dying. I could feel him, I could feel how badly injured he was, how terrified he was, how scared of leaving Rasha he was.
“Fuck,” I breathed out. “It hurts.”
“I know it does, kiddo,” Ailin said. “But you have to concentrate. Use our energy to see through his eyes or sift through his memories to find where he is.”
It wasn’t hard to feel my viramore since I hadn’t been able to stop worrying about him this entire time.
In my mind’s eye, I saw Hiro’s terrified face, covered in blood, and I gasped. “Oh Mother.”
“Figure out where he is, Bas,” Ailin said. “You can do this.”
Taking a deep breath, I concentrated again, this time on Hiro’s mind instead of his face. I needed to get inside that head of his in order to see where the hell he was. I refocused on Hiro, and tried to push past the pain. It gripped me hard, but I took a breath and pushed.
Flashes of a room, a basement came to my mind’s eye, and then a bunch of images of a green warlock sacrificing a human zoomed by. The images made me sick to my stomach, but I pushed again. I needed to see where this basement was.
Basil, I heard Hiro’s whispered voice in my head. He was calling out to me in his moment of need, and my heart pounded in my chest.
A second later, I felt him push back and saw images of an old house surrounded by trees with a tiny driveway. There was a mailbox that read Harraker.
I gasped as I released the spell, and I found myself sobbing into Ailin’s chest. Hiro was severely injured and being held captive by a fucking warlock. Warlocks were extremely savage because they messed with demons. The gates to the demon realm were sealed, but there were still ways to open up summoning circles and let the evil bastards pass through. Warlocks turned greener the more demons they allowed to pass through their bodies or possess them. They tended to dabble in blood magic, which was severe and dangerous as hell.
It was a miracle that Hiro was still alive, although I was sure the warlock was planning something big to use Hiro’s blood for, so he’d only stay alive for a little bit unless we got to him on time.
“Warlock. At the old Harraker house at the edge of Brinnswick Forest,” I said as I pulled my shit together and wiped the tears from my cheeks. This was not the time to fall apart. There’d be plenty of time to do that later. After I saved my viramore.
“Shit,” Ailin said. “I fucking hate warlocks.”
“Me too,” I agreed as I let Jorah and Thayer help me to my feet. “Let’s get going.”
It didn’t surprise me to find Toby waiting along the outside of the circle for us. He and Thayer had been attached at the hip since sealing their viramore bond years ago.