I ate so I’d be ready for a fight.
I ate so that if my mate needed me, I would be strong enough to help her.
Because I was getting her back. I didn’t know how or when, but I would find her. If not in this life, then I’d find her in death.
Chapter Six
DASTIEN
Four Days Missing
* * *
I’d hoped that after I ate breakfast yesterday, Van would come, and we’d head to the Lunar Court to talk to its queen. But that didn’t happen. Van was still trying to get assurance that we wouldn’t be harmed if we showed up there.
Axel finally woke up last night, but he didn’t have any leads. He didn’t remember why he was at the warehouse or even how he got there. It was normal after a trauma, but that didn’t make it less frustrating.
He spoke to his parents, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have anything to tell them except that I’d failed. I’d failed their daughter. I’d almost failed their son. I wasn’t sure I could ever look them in the eye again, and I certainly wasn’t up to talking to them now. What would I even say?
I spent the night pacing the infirmary, and by the time morning came, I knew I couldn’t hang around campus anymore. I had to do something.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized the fey must have some part in this. I trusted Cosette, and there were more fey at the Sanctuary. Someone there would know something. They had to. So, Michael, Axel, and I packed up and went to visit Chris and Cosette at their Sanctuary.
I needed to talk to Cosette. I needed to look her in the eyes when I asked my questions.
We’d been on the road for hours, but we still had an hour left on our drive. I’d have answers soon.
“I’m hungry again.” Axel’s voice—soft and hesitant—came from the back seat.
I peeked at my rearview mirror. His eyes were still brown. No sign of the wolf, but he was pale. His hair had grown over the last few months. It was the same brown as Tessa’s. It had the same wave to it. Their eyes were the same, too.
Looking at Axel hurt.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel, causing it to crack under the strain. I forced myself to relax them a little and focused on the road ahead of me.
“Take a sandwich from the cooler.” I wasn’t stopping. Not again. We were almost there. Texas is a big state, and by the time Axel was awake and ready to move, we’d already wasted too much daylight.
“I used to think it was awesome that you could eat so much, but it’s really not great.” Axel dug through the cooler. There was a crinkle of plastic as he found a sandwich. “I’m not sure how many more roast beef sandwiches I can eat.”
I looked at Michael for a second and then back to the road.
There was a growl, and then a cracking sound from the back seat, followed by a muttered “Shit.”
“What?” Michael asked as he twisted in the passenger seat to look at Axel.
He was staring at his phone with his eyes wide. “I don’t know how I did that.” He glanced up at Michael and then back down at his phone. “I shattered it. There were a couple Tessa sightings, but I texted my dad, and he said they were both false, and I…I broke my phone with my bare hand.”
“You’re much stronger than you were before. It’s going to take some time to get used to your strength.” Michael was much more patient than I could’ve been in that moment. “Your sister shattered a glass bottle in her hand wh
en she first shifted.”
Axel glanced up at Michael. “No shit?”
Michael huffed. “No shit.”
I didn’t laugh, but from the tone of Michael’s voice and the fact that those words sounded so strange coming from him—I almost laughed.
Axel was quiet as he ate, and I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove.