Michael grunted from his spot on the couch.
She jerked her hands away and looked up at him. “That yours?”
“Yes.” His voice was more wolf than human.
“Sorry. Your bond to him is the strongest one I can see right now. Are you his dad?”
“In all but blood.” I couldn’t see Michael, but I knew he’d probably shrugged or played it off like it was nothing that he’d taken me in. But it was everything.
She interlaced her fingers and cracked her knuckles. “Okay. Not that one. Going in again.”
Samantha pulled at the next bond. I had a second to hope before my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and checked the screen. Chris.
I tossed my phone to Michael, and he moved into the kitchen to answer it.
Samantha was sitting back on her heels, watching me.
“Keep going. Please,” I said.
She gave me a tight nod before reaching her hands out again.
As she went through more of my bonds, my phone kept ringing. Cosette. Van. Blaze. She went through all the bonds to the new council first—except Eli and the one I wanted most—Tessa.
And then, she started again, moving to the bonds she said were smaller, thinner, less bright. Adrian. Meredith. Donovan.
Michael stayed in the kitchen, answering my phone every time someone called. He’d have just enough time to assure them that everything was okay before Samantha moved on to the next bond.
Each pause as she found another bond, my heart would race with hope, and then the ringing phone brought me crashing back down. Twenty minutes later, I’d had about all I could take. Each tug got a little more uncomfortable until my nerves were frayed.
It was torture, but I kept thinking about Tessa, and I knew if she was staying alive, that I could endure whatever it took to find her.
Samantha was quiet the whole time as she focused on something that I couldn’t see. Until finally, she let out a soft hmmm.
I swallowed, almost scared to ask what that sound was about. But I had to. “What?” My heart was racing. I wanted some bit of hope. Had she found something?
She was staring intensely at something I couldn’t see. She would reach her hand out and then draw it back. Reached and pulled back. She did it a few times, and then sat back on her heels and looked at me.
“There’s this spot on you that I can’t touch. Like every time I reach for it, my hand moves away from it on its own. But I’ve pulled on every bond you have, and none of them are it. So, if I had to make a bet, I’ve gotta go with that null void hiding your mate bond.”
That sounded like it made sense to me. “Magic took her away, so that adds up.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like anything I’ve
ever seen.”
“Fey magic.”
“I don’t know. I don’t really know any fey well enough to understand their magic.” She shook her head. “This is a bad idea, but I’m going to do it. Just…if anything goes wrong, be sure to call my mom. Okay? Passcode on my phone is 3737.”
“Are you sure about this?” Michael came back into the living room to sit on the couch. He was in dad-mode, and I knew he’d seen the same thing I’d seen when we walked through the door.
Samantha was tired when we got here. She needed food and sleep, and we were a weight on her.
“You’ve been amazingly patient with us, but we don’t want you to get hurt,” Michael said, and I had to agree with him, but I really, really wanted her to try this.
Samantha looked over the coffee table at Michael. “I’m never really sure about anything, but screw it. Now I’m mad. I’d talked to Tessa a few times since you guys were here. She’s a friend. I want to know who the hell did this and why.”
“We don’t know, but we have people working on that while we work on finding her,” Michael said. “If you could find her bond, we’d get to her much faster.”