Chapter Twenty-Eight

THE ROOM SEEMED TO SPIN, and I had to grip Dallas's arms to keep from toppling over. "Excuse me?"

"You disappeared, Bria," Khalani whispered. She'd been frozen next to Ardley, watching me with fingers covering her agape mouth. "You—You—"

"You turned into water," Jesiah said. His brow creased as he studied me in the way one might examine an illusion. "Right before our eyes. One minute you were there, and the next, your entire body morphed into water and disappeared."

"You've been gone for three fucking days," Dallas whimpered as she shook me slightly. Her voice cracked as she repeated, "Three days."

The sound of static started to play in my ears, and I shook my head. "No. No, there's no way. I was only gone for two hours, three at the most."

It wasn't possible. I—I hadn't been gone that long. At least, it didn't feel that way. But maybe I'd been drifting with the water a lot longer than what felt like mere seconds. The idea was hard to swallow, and as I repeated her words in my head— three fucking days —a new realization hit me hard.

They'd all thought I was dead.

Me.

Dead.

And Rune was missing.

Ice pricked my veins, and my mouth dried. "Where's Rune?" A new tension permeated the air, and I was met with uneasy silence. This only spurred the lead in my gut to sink faster, and I snapped, " Where is Rune?"

Akira came over to me with his arms wrapped tightly around his small frame. Worry chipped away at his usual bright spirit, and his lips quivered. "When you didn't come back, Rune lost it. He stayed down in the training room where you'd disappeared, but when you still hadn't come back after a day, he … he broke. He went on a rampage, and to keep everyone—including him—safe, I flew him to a lone island in the Morardian Sea."

"We were waiting to deal with him until we figured out what happened to you," Angus added. "Since none of us knew where you were, what exactly happened, or if you were alive, we've been in a slight state of panic."

Having a panic of my own, I started to turn. "I have to go get Rune. He needs to know I'm okay."

"Bria, wait," Ardley called. He grabbed my shoulder and forced me to face him. The typical easygoing glimmer in his eyes had been traded for a seriousness that looked scary on him. His voice dropped. "I don't think you should go to him right now."

A burning fury engulfed my veins, and I glared at Ardley. "Why not? You know how torn up he must be right now."

" Exactly ," Ardley hissed. "I know what he's like right now, thinking you're dead. That's not Rune right now, Bria. What you'll find won't be him. I don't even think seeing you could bring him back from where he is right now."

I swallowed hard. A thousand emotions darted inside of me, the next more powerful than the last. Impatience. Uncertainty. Alarm.

Rune had experienced his fair share of grief, the most painful being the death of his dad, Balgair. Recovering from that sorrow had taken him years, and it had left Rune so scarred that he'd closed off his heart from anyone who tried to get too close. He'd turned into a bitter and hateful man, and it was only with great effort during our early relationship that I'd managed to get him to open himself up. That's when he admitted he'd been afraid to give into his feelings, because when he lost people he cared about most, he became a monster—and he didn't want to be a monster again.

Ardley's warning was a reminder of Rune's confession, but I knew that regardless of what kind of terror I'd find, I had to get to Rune. He needed to see I was okay so that he could come back from whatever dark place his mind had gone to.

I pulled away from Ardley. "Thanks. But I'm still going." I faced the rest of the room and promised, "I'll explain what happened when I get back." Looking at Dallas and her dull green eyes, I whispered, "You look exhausted. Go rest while I'm gone. We'll talk when I come back, okay?"

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. "No. I have to go with you. I have to make sure you're safe. If—"

"Dallas," I snapped, squeezing her hands. "Rest. That's an order. I'll take Akira with me. Okay?" Before I let her respond, I looked over her shoulder at Rance. "Make sure she sleeps while I'm gone."

He placed a hand on Dallas's shoulder. "I will."

Turning to Akira, I asked, "Will you come with me?"

He nodded. "Of course."

The two of us left the room with different people calling for us to stay. I ignored their pleas, and Akira seemed just as determined as he walked next to me with his head held high.

"How bad is he?" I asked nervously.

Akira's dark eyes dimmed with worry as they met mine. "Let's just say I've never seen him like this. No one could console him. Not me. Not Ardley. Not even the twins."

The mere idea of Rune so lost to his own sorrow that not even his brothers could help was gut-wrenching. Dread seeped into my bones, and I found myself almost afraid to see Rune. Not because I feared him and what he may do to me, but because I was terrified to see him that hurt. I was afraid to see him in so much pain that he'd been driven to a state of madness.

I clenched my teeth and picked up my pace as I swept through the halls. "Let's hurry."

The two of us raced outside of the palace and to the private rear shoreline. From there, I saw plumes of black smoke rising into the air from somewhere out at sea. The sight made my heart sink, because I knew it was Rune.

"Bria," Akira said slowly. "Rune is my best friend. I love him fiercely, but I don't think I'll be able to help him right now. I tried . He's—He's not himself right now. I just want you to be prepared in case he … well, in case he attacks or something when we get there."

The tightness in my chest only grew. Everyone seemed to think Rune was a danger right now, and I suddenly realized that if that were the case, taking Akira with me was putting him at risk. I refused to do that, so with a wary glance toward the distant smoke, I ordered, "You wait here. I'm going to go alone. Give me an hour. If I'm not back by then, fly overhead to check on things." I pulled Akira into a tight hug and whispered, "I'll get him back. I promise."

When I looked at Akira again, I found him smiling with tears brimming his eyes. "I know you will. Be safe."

I turned to the lapping tide, and as soon as I stepped atop the waves, I was met with solid footing. I didn't wait a second longer. I held onto my baggy pants and took off across the ocean, my feet slapping against the calm waves. My heart pounded furiously with a desperate need to reach the billowing smoke, and with that intense need, the ocean rose up beneath my feet to engulf my legs up to my waist. Suddenly, it carried me at a blinding speed across the open water toward the island.

As I closed in on the small island, my heart clenched painfully. I could hardly make out the place from all the smoke engulfing the land, but what I could see was alarming. Trees that had clearly been tall and once full of life were now ablaze in fiery clutches, the bark blackening, and the leaves crumbling into ash.

The water brought me into the shallows where it released me and let me finish running the rest of the way to the sandy shore. I reached behind me for the water, and when I felt the tingle of our connection, I swept my arm toward the smoldering trees. The water followed the motion, drenching those trees nearest me. The flames immediately extinguished, but the smoke clouding the island remained. More fires were rampant farther in, and somewhere among those flames was my Fox.

"I'm coming, Rune," I mumbled.

I covered my mouth and nose with the neck of my shirt and stepped carefully over ash and broken foliage. Hot cinders littered the ground, and I had to take care not to step on them as I went deeper into the burning trees.

The smoke was heavier here, and as I tried to search for Rune, all I saw were shadows veiled by smoke.

"Rune!" I called, but immediately regretted it as smoke filled my lungs. Coughs wracked my body as I tried to inhale clean air but failed. I waved my hands at the smoke all around me, but fanning it did little to clear it away.

Another cough choked me as I stumbled to the ground with a curse. Twigs and more hot cinders pressed into my palms, and I cried out as they bit into my flesh. I shook the glowing ash off to reveal red, bubbling skin, and as I bit back my cry, a low, eerie growl sounded in front of me.

A growl belonging to a beast.