Chapter 41

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"My girls."

Pollux swore as the single crack Kassandra had summoned him through closed up and kicked him back out of her mind. Pollux swore…in front of his parents, who were still seated in the living room around him.

His dad's brows rose as his mom planted one hand to his shoulder and the other to her heart. "What's going on? Where did you go? Who's gone?"

Pollux's mouth felt like cotton even as a complex mixture of relief and terror congested in him. "Castor has my girls," he said, dragging a shaking hand down his mouth.

"Who's Castor?" his dad asked.

"An old friend, who isn't very friendly." Pollux found his sensibilities and met his mom in a brief hug. "I need to go." He pulled back and stood. "Please don't worry." He was worrying. He'd worry enough for everyone present. "If he's hurt them, at all, I will rip him apart with my bare hands. I'll bring them back in a bit. For dinner."

To avoid stalling another moment, Pollux fixed his glamour in place and marched out of their perception. His heart hammered as his numb legs gained more strength. Soon, he was running, feet pounding against cement that softened into dirt as he plunged into the forest near where the dryads were tending to their sprouts. There, he'd find someone who could get the news back to Cael. Then, without waiting for Cael's help, he'd dive into Castor's domain himself.

"Pila!" he shouted as he caught sight of her sprawled in the brittle grass beside a tiny tree, her green flowing sleeves protecting the sapling from the wind.

Gently, she looked up as the few other dryads flinched back.

Despite having his pocket watch on him, Pollux could only imagine what he looked like barreling through the woods and into what was essentially a nursery.

"You are unwell." Pila sat up. "What has happened?"

"Castor has Meda and Kassandra."

Pila's calm evaporated. Voice dark as pitch, she said, "What?"

"I don't know how it happened. Kassandra was able to summon me into her dream, but I could barely squeeze through a crack in whatever barrier Castor has her in." If Pollux were honest, he was not sure he'd been able to materialize clothes in the final moment when he tried desperately to claim her in order to spare her mind from the collapse of its human pieces. She had asked him for help. Claiming her would help. It was an effective loophole to his promise, but he had not even managed it. Just like he had most likely not been able to manage clothes. But he would not think about that right now. "I need someone to tell Cael."

"While you go after them by yourself?" she asked.

His heart tightened as emotion burned in his eyes. "Kassandra's scared, Pila. She's disintegrating all by herself, and she's scared. All the things she's kept locked away have crashed down on top of her, just like I've worried they might. I need to find her."

Pila lifted a hand. "Elowen, tell Cael to prepare an army." Dropping her arm, she stalked forward, toward the nearest trod that would lead them into the maze of the Desolate Caverns. "We will not need his help, but I do not know how Castor will respond when I have laid waste to his kingdom."

"Pollux." Alexios's voice made Pollux pause before following Pila's warpath. He turned to find the yamachichi standing beside a tree. "I felt something amiss. What's going on?"

"Castor has the girls. We're going after them." Pollux filled his lungs and hardened his resolve. "Stay here, and stay safe. We don't know what he's planning."

And…truly…they did not.