I stared out over the party and wondered how long it would take to find my godmother. If anyone would know how to fix the situation I found myself in it would be Ingrid. Naturally, though my godparents had helped build the protections that allowed Frelsi to flourish, they didn’t live in the city. They were somewhere in Iceland walking the bridges and living the way they had for millennia.
I wasn’t sure I would be allowed to go looking for them. Well, I was fairly certain I wouldn’t.
“Oh, Z, I was wondering where you would be brooding,” a familiar voice said. Neil moved out of the shadows and sat beside me on the porch steps. He’d changed out of his earlier clothes and looked more like the Neil I knew in dark-wash jeans and a stylish shirt that brought out the stark blue of his eyes.
There was a huge bonfire going, and lively music sounded through the base. The Fae were dancing and feasting with the wolves and others inside Frelsi. Dev was sitting around the fire with Rhys at his side, holding court, while Daniel had closed himself up with the vampires. Chad had joined Sasha, the academics, and to my horror, Alexander Sharpe, who apparently loved playing the spy.
“I reserve the right to brood.” I didn’t look his way because I was pretty sure I was about to get a bestie tough-love talk and I didn’t want it.
Neil was quiet for a moment. “I know you saw me a few days ago, but it’s been over a decade for me, and I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you and Sarah. You have no idea how many times over the last few years I’ve had long conversations with the two of you in my head. I can’t talk to Sarah. I won’t ever see her again, but I had some hope for you.”
I felt my heart constrict at the thought. There was so much loss in this place. “You really think Sarah’s dead?”
He nodded, his eyes on the fire in the distance. “Yes. I know she didn’t leave that building. Neither did Mia or Felix. No one saw them after noon the day after you disappeared. I have to believe if she’d lived she would have found a way to connect with me or Trent afterward. She wouldn’t hide and not let anyone know where she was. But like I said, she didn’t leave the building.”
“How can you be sure?” I would way rather be upset with her that she hadn’t called than know she was dead.
“Because I talked to everyone I could. I know she didn’t use the tunnel because I had a CCTV on it. And I hired a team to look for her. They checked all CCTVs in the neighborhood and none of the Days show up on them. She hasn’t used her bank account or credit cards. She hasn’t gotten in touch with anyone, including her sister. We tried a locator spell and we got nothing,” Neil said. “She was one of Myrddin’s biggest targets that day. Even bigger than me because of how powerful her magic was.”
Until I saw a body, I wouldn’t believe it, but I felt Neil’s pain. He’d had a long time to come to terms with the loss.
I didn’t accept the loss at all. Not of Sarah or Justin or of time with my kids.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. All of it.”
“Z, you know it wasn’t your fault.”
I shrugged. “Maybe it was. Maybe I should have pushed harder all those years. I knew something was wrong with Danny and Dev. I knew it every time Myrddin was around.”
“Yeah, well, I did, too, but I didn’t think that asshole had shoved demon bones in their heads.” Neil shivered. “It’s a pretty clever trick, though. I bet Nimue has one, too. Though you should know no one’s seen her in years. She used to be by his side, but according to our spies, she hasn’t left the Council building or even her rooms for that matter.”
Nimue had been there the day Danny and Dev had been infected. She had been vulnerable, too, and she’d changed shortly after that day. It had happened the day Myrddin had fixed Danny’s heart. Nimue had held the stasis chamber that allowed the operation to take place. She’d been unconscious while she held the magic. After, she’d chosen to stay with Myrddin. The next time I’d seen her she’d been a different person.
“If she is, I don’t know how to get the thrall stone out,” I admitted. “Dean has been studying them though. He could try. He seems way more powerful on this plane.”
“I noticed he and Lee seem to be getting along.” Neil said the words with a cautious tone, like he wanted to get into something but thought he needed to ease me into the topic.