38. Reaper

What.The. Fuck?

Alina was right next to me. My hand was on her lower back. And now… now she's gone. Vanished. Nowhere to be seen or felt.

I spin around in a circle, searching for her, while Orcus's growl shakes the entire damn tower. His anguish is a punch to the heart I don't need right now. Not when Alina just crushed it with her disappearing act.

Where are you, pet?I demand, my soul threatening to kill everyone and everything in this realm in its pursuit for her.

Flame is just as furious beside me—in the space our mate just stood—his beast positively feral.

I'm only mildly aware of the alarms blaring overhead. Just as I barely notice the fact that the Monster City Queen has somehow come out of the screen and entered the room.

It's chaos.

Everyone is shouting.

Orcus's leather jacket and shirt are in tatters on the floor, his wings having exploded from his back.

Flame is about to rip out of his clothes as well to reveal his beast.

And I… I'm twirling a blade.

All while focusing on our mate. Her essence. But I can still smell her. Those delicious strawberries… It's a thread in the air that I follow with my soul, causing me to go incorporeal as I wander the plane between life and death.

Where are you, pet?I wonder at her again.

She's still in this dimension. This world.

I float about the room, the knife still in my hand as I lurk in the shadows, utterly consumed by my mate's lingering presence.

She's not in this tower. Nor is she in the city. But there's a piece of her being left behind, a piece connected to a strand coated in unique magic.

I cant my head to the side as I kneel to inspect the strange ropelike spell. It's ethereal, like me. But definitely not Death Fae in nature.

Mythos Fae magic, I realize, recognizing the hint of a manifestation enchantment. It's similar to Orcus's portal magic, although it's very specific. Tailored to reach certain spirits. Like Omega spirits.

My eyes narrow. What are you? I reach to tug on the cord, only for it to zap my spirit and shove me back against a nearby wall.

A crack follows.

No. Not a wall. A window.

AndI'm back in corporeal form.

Flame snarls, his beast shredding through his jeans and T-shirt as he takes on his jaguar form. The Strigoi beside me—Cage—ends up pinned beneath his massive claws.

Sabre darts forward, ready to rip the Shifter Fae off his lover, but I step in the way, blocking him from making a lethal mistake.

"Stop!" I shout, my lethal strands shooting out of my skin and wrapping around everyone near me. Including Flame.

Snarls erupt in response.

Snarls I respond to with a deadly one of my own as I squeeze.

"Everyone. Fucking. Stop."

A few do.

But Orcus… he has his sights on Helia and Cain, his red eyes and splayed wings telling me he's about to do some serious damage.

He doesn't care that they're royals or powerful themselves. He's a God, and he's about to show them what that means.

So I do the only thing I can think of and shout, "Monster."

He freezes, the safeword having been engraved into his mind by our mate. His Alpha side knows what it means. Knows he doesn't want to hear it. Knows that it's important. And it's just enough to make him pause to look at me.

"The magic is Mythos Fae," I tell him. "I can see it in the in-between plane. And it just tried to shove me out the fucking window."

He faces me fully. "Explain."

"I wish I could," I tell him. "But Alina is here somewhere. In this world. I can feel her."

"I can't," he says through his teeth. "It's like when the Omegas first disappeared."

"Because whatever this is, it's Mythos Fae related." I'm sure of it now. "I need everyone to calm the fuck down so I can focus."

I don't wait for them to agree, just blink out of existence again and start hunting.

It's only been two or three minutes since Alina disappeared, despite it feeling like longer due to all the motions of everyone else. But my soul understands timelines better than most.

Everything is a ticking clock.

Life. Death. Afterlife. Rebirth.

It's all a cycle, one I'm very attuned to.

Souls are my purpose, and it's a purpose I tap into now as I track Alina's essence once more. She's almost entirely gone, but that strange magic is still hovering in the in-between.

Lingering. Waiting. Observing.

It's a bizarre incantation, one that has been here for a very long time.

Definitely manifestation magic, I decide as I cautiously move toward the subtle shimmer.

I wouldn't have even noticed its existence had it not been caressing the remnants of Alina's spirit. But now that I've sensed it, I can feel the hum of foreign energy all around this room.

No, I think, ghosting down to the street. It's all over this city.

Frowning, I take myself to the cabin Orcus built and study the in-between once more.

Nothing.

No strange sensation of being watched.

No sense of lingering.

Just… clean air and the scent of our nest.

Orcus's essence also resides here, his creation having required a lot of manifestation magic. But that feels new. Potent. Masculine.

I return to the tower, my nose twitching as I inhale the ancient spell tainting the in-between plane.

It's not overwhelming. Not new. And definitely not masculine.

So who put this here? I marvel. And when?

Because our worlds have never intersected, but the manifestation elements are clear in the way the spell seems to move. Very few beings can create such power.

Unless there's someone or something in this realm that's more powerful than a Mythos Fae.

I turn corporeal again, ready to ask the King and Queen about other entities, but pause when I see them all staring at the screen.

It appears to be some sort of footage. Orcus is the closest, his wings tucked at his back, his arms folded.

Flame is beside him with a towel around his waist—one I'm guessing was given to him when he shifted back into his mortal form.

Sabre, Cage, and Cain are all on the opposite side of the room where Cain appears to be holding a remote.

And Helia is between them in the center of the room, her dark eyes scanning the screen.

"This is from the night Serapina Everheart arrived at the compound," Helia informs me, apparently having sensed my reappearance.

I'm not sure what she is, but power emanates from her. It's not as strong as Orcus's aura, though. So she can't be the one responsible for the manifestation spell. But she might be able to help us determine who is behind it.

Because I suspect that lingering incantation has everything to do with our girl's disappearance.

"All the compounds have surveillance," she continues. "The trains, too."

"Why does this matter?" I ask, confused as to why we're watching something that happened two years ago.

"Because I want to see which version of Serapina arrived at the compound," Orcus replies without looking at me. "Alina said the photo in the file wasn't her sister. So when did the switch happen? And is it related to what we just witnessed?"

I disappear for all of five minutes, and the Alpha regained his sense of control. It's impressive, given the circumstances. But it's also just like Orcus.

He's furious yet devastated. And those two emotions lead to a very important result—determination.

I understand that reaction because I feel the same way, and I'm sure Flame does as well.

"That's Duke Nightingale's son on the platform," Cain says through his teeth, his dislike of the man evident in his tone. "He used to be in charge of the Nightingale Compound."

"Used to be?" Flame echoes.

"He was recently removed from the position." It's a flat statement, one that has my eyebrow inching upward.

"Meaning he won't be available for a chat if we need to ask him some questions?" I ask.

"Something like that," Cage mutters, his distaste for the man rivaling Cain's.

There's only one reason these two men who hardly know each other could consider this son of a Duke to be an enemy—he hurt their mate.

I don't bother asking for details. They clearly handled the issue.

And I have a far more important one to handle now—finding Alina.

But I agree with Orcus that this information might be helpful, if the two are related.

Is the mystical energy there, too? I ponder while watching the train doors open just outside the compound gates. Did the magical strand do something to Serapina as well? Make her disappear soon after she arrived?

It's on the tip of my tongue to inquire about footage inside the compound—Alina's disappearance wasn't immediate, suggesting Serapina's won't be now either—when a group of humans step off the train.

None of them are the woman I saw depicted in Alina's mind, but I immediately recognize the woman from the photos.

"She was switched before she arrived," Orcus says, the words the same ones forming in my mind. "Who had the authority on that train?"

Cain doesn't immediately reply, his focus on the screen as he brings up old train records and routes.

"All humans selected on the Day of the Choosing from Nightingale Village ride the train to Monster City, but they're separated early on so the official Offerings can be properly groomed."

Flame snorts at the term, his version of grooming no doubt different from Cain's.

But the Elite City King doesn't comment. He just continues to scan records while explaining how the high-speed trains operate in this region.

I don't really care how many stops they make or the fact that there are over a dozen tracks that stop in various villages between here and Monster City.

"There's only one track that doesn't stop between the two cities," he says. "Which means all the others have to go back the way they came—through each of their respective villages."

"So Serapina went all the way to Monster City but didn't participate in Monsters Night. Then she went all the way back to her village and beyond it to Chicago," Orcus reiterates, applying Cain's explanation to the current mystery at hand.

"Is it possible a supernatural snatched her while in Monster City?" Flame asks.

I fold my arms while I wait for the answer.

"No." That comes from Helia. "I would have sensed it."

I eye the female with interest. "How?"

She shrugs. "That's a conversation for another day. I'm more interested in seeing the footage from the Day of the Choosing. Did she even get on the train?"

Cain uses his device to drag the train routes aside and begins searching through an archive of Choosing ceremonies.

My eyes are instantly drawn to Alina's form in the crowd. It doesn't matter that she's covered in a veil. I still know her on sight. And it's not just her curves I recognize, but her.

She stands absolutely still as a woman wearing a similar bridal gown approaches the stage. Her blonde hair definitely doesn't match the redhead in those photos.

We all watch as she's eventually escorted to the train, just like Alina would have been a few weeks ago.

An aristocratic male—one I recognize from last week—is waiting on the train and selects two numbers. They're apparently associated with humans because some guys in all-white military gear step forward to take the pair to another part of the train. Then the remaining humans are sent to an area with a communal shower and not much else.

Cain fast-forwards a bit to Serapina finally removing her veil to resemble the face I saw in Alina's mind. He freezes it there and looks at Orcus.

"That's her sister," he says. "What happens next?"

"She'll shower and then be escorted to the cargo hold. Unfortunately, that area isn't typically monitored by surveillance equipment. We rely on the Village Protectors to guard the cargo."

"You mean you rely on humans to act humanely when given power over others of their kind," Orcus corrects him. "Because that's been proven to work so well for you."

"We don't interfere?—"

"I'm not interested in debating morals or hearing excuses, Helia," Orcus interjects. "I just want to know who had access to that shipment so I can find out how and when Serapina was switched. That'll help us determine where she is now. Because whoever has her might have Alina."

I agree with his plan. However… "Before we get into the identities of those on the train, I want details on exactly where that train stops," I say. "And I want to know where the Nightingale Compound is."

Because I want to see if that magical essence is haunting any of those areas. If it is, then it's entirely possible that no one on that train swapped out Serapina. Instead, a being of power similar to a Mythos Fae did.

And that being likely has our pet. Or, at the very least, will give us a good lead on where our pet might be.

Orcus frowns at my request but says, "Give him what he needs. But I still want that list of names."

"It would be faster if you just spoke to the Nightingale Viscount," Helia tells him, her tone flat. "He hires all the Village Protectors. He'll know who was on that train. Hell, he might even be responsible for the switch. He's the one who sent Timothy after Alina, yes?"

My spine straightens at the mention of the dark soul I left behind in Monster City. "I'll question Timothy," I volunteer. "I need to stop by the tower anyway."

Because I want to see if that mystical strand is in Monster City as well.

Orcus nods. "After they give you what you need, go do what you do best. If the human is worthless to us, end him." He shifts his attention to Helia and then Cain. "Now, which one of you can introduce me to this Viscount?"