Time passed incredibly slowly in the archive hall. I didn’t have much patience to begin with, and I was obsessively worried about Aida, Anjani, Field, and the others still out there – not to mention Vita, locked up in Azazel’s castle. There was just too much going on beyond Stonewall for me to focus on where the young Druids had last been seen.

Jax and I had been assigned with tracking the young Druids, after Serena reshuffled the tasks so she and Draven could focus on finding concealment spells for the Oracles. I flipped through hundreds of pages, yellow with time, the black ink cracking and the names in those registries forgotten.

I counted the minutes until I’d see Anjani again. Until I’d hold my sister close and keep her safe. Until I’d see my friends again. I could only theorize as to what Phoenix was going through. I tried thinking about what it would be like to lose Anjani, but my heart went into a painful frenzy and I set the notion aside. It hurt too much.

I looked up from yet another registry, letting a long sigh leave my chest as my eyes met Serena’s. She had a half-smile on her face, the kind that expressed sympathy toward my obvious boredom and gratefulness to have me there, and tried to assure me that everything would be okay, somehow.

“Do you think you can check in on them again?” I asked her, unable to shake the thought of my sister out there with Destroyers eager to get her.

Serena nodded slowly, then took out the telepathy spell ingredients, preparing the ritual with calm and steady hand movements. I couldn’t help but admire her composure, given everything that was going on. The Druid was on edge already, so I figured she was doing her best to hold it together mostly for him, rather than for us or herself. The relationship between them had evolved so quickly from our first few days in Eritopia—I didn’t find it surprising, though. Eritopians did have a way of sneaking into one’s heart. Anjani was my best example to date. The concern for her safety had a turbulent effect on my insides, as I sat back and watched Serena call out to Aida.

“Aida, are you there?” Serena asked.

I froze as Aida’s voice echoed through my head. Jax, Hansa, and Draven stilled too, listening in on the conversation.

“Yup, I’m here. Still here,” my sister replied, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re just a few miles away now. We can see Stonewall on the horizon,” Aida said. “Listen, I’ve got some news from Vita. She managed to free Kyana last night!”

Serena’s expression lit up in response, and she exchanged glances with Draven. The Lamia’s freedom was not only going to bring Tamara joy, but also Patrik, whom we needed incentivized enough to break the spell Azazel had been using to keep him under control. It was, more or less, a question of faith on our end that he would manage to do it—given the circumstances, I would’ve been a fool to say no to a little bit of hope.

“I think she’s probably on her way to Pyros now,” Aida continued.

“Good,” Tamara chimed in. I’d nearly forgotten that the telepathy spell engaged everyone at once, even when we wanted to only reach out to one person. “Thank you, Aida, and please send my gratitude to Vita as well. She’s a tough little thing, and I am honored to be part of the alliance that protects her. I’ve left one of my younglings in Pyros with a message for other Lamias looking to join us. I reckon Kyana will find her there and then head over to Stonewall to meet the rest of us.”

“That’s not all,” Aida added. “Vita’s had more visions of the future, and—”

All of a sudden, it went quiet. The “line” had gone dead.

“Aida?” I called out, cold sweat forming on my brow. “Aida! Are you there?”

Nothing came through. My heart was constricted by an overwhelming sense of dread.

“Maybe the spell failed?” Jax frowned.

“It can’t.” Serena shook her head. “When one member of the telepathy link drops, they all drop. Something must have happened to pull her out of the conversation…”

I stood up, my blood rushing through my veins as worst-case scenarios began flickering through my mind. I couldn’t stand still anymore.

“If something happened, we should go after them,” I said. “She said they could see Stonewall from where they were. That means that if I go out and really focus, I might actually see them from here.”

“I’ll come with you, as will my wards,” Jax interjected, leaving his seat.

“They might need help,” Hansa added, and came by my side.

Serena looked at us and nodded.

“You go. We’ll get some hot water and healing potions ready if they need them,” she said.

I darted out of the archive hall, grabbing my crossbow, quiver, and sword on the way out, as I’d left them by the grand archway to have them handy. Jax followed, pulling his leather cover over his face and his gloves over his hands, as it was still daylight, and, as an Eritopian version of a vampire, he couldn’t handle the sun.

I heard Hansa’s sword clatter in its large golden scabbard as she walked behind us.

As we traversed the hallway passing through the living quarters and leading into the courtyard, I caught glimpses of the Mara wards emerging from the shadows, one by one, clad in their leather and metal armors and ready to fight. One of the Bajangs used his blood to let us out of the cloaking spell and we rushed toward the front steps of the citadel.

I started speeding up as I saw the green meadow unraveling ahead, beyond Stonewall. My determination grew stronger with each second that passed. Whatever was coming after my sister and friends, whether incubi or Destroyers or shape-shifters, they didn’t stand a chance against a Shadian.