Page 177 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

I tried my best to calm my own racing heart. Everything had gone so wrong. The Dhampirs, everything we learned from Oriza, and now Kara disappearing—her being taken—that was something else entirely. Everyone knew how protective Lennox was of Kara. If we didn’t get her back in one piece—I shuttered. I didn’t want to think about the consequences.

When I opened the door, Luciana, Declan, and Nico were waiting in the hallway.

Declan’s wings were spread wide as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Luce and Nico sat on the floor, rushing to stand as I opened the door.

“What happened?” Delcan’s voice was as steely as death as they all looked to Lennox’s sleeping form.

“She’s sleeping. She passed out. I think it was from the stress of it all.”

Luciana’s eyes slid to the room behind me. “I take it Kara wasn’t in there?”

I shook my head. “Let me go lay her down and I’ll explain everything.”

They followed silently behind me as I made my way to Lennox’s room. I set her gently on the bed, slipping the covers over her, before returning to everyone in the hall.

They all looked at me expectantly.

“Kara was taken.” I told them, not wasting any time.

Luciana paled. “By who?”

“It’s whoever wants the journal. They left a note saying we needed to retrieve the journal if we wanted to get Kara back.” I pulled the note out from my pocket, having grabbed it from the floor of Kara’s room. Declan took the note from my hands and read it before passing it to Luciana.

“What are we waiting for?” Delcan asked.

“I want to let Lennox rest, it’s not a coincidence she passed out.” I looked between the three of them. “We all need a good night’s sleep and we can take off to the Blood Court in the morning.” I looked at Luciana. “Can you get us there?” She nodded.

“I’m going to examine the note, see if I can find any traces of who might have written it,” she added.

“That’s a good idea.” I scrubbed my hand over my face.

“You need sleep too,” Nico argued.

“I’ll sleep when my cousin is back home safe,” Luciana snapped.

Nico was unfazed. “But you won’t be able to help us get her back if you’re too exhausted to expel a single spell. You need sleep too.”

Delcan clenched his fist at his side. “Enough arguing. First thing in the morning we leave. I don’t care what the fuck you do until then.”

Luciana straightened her shoulders at his demand. “Okay, I’ll get going.” She didn’t look back as she departed down the hallway toward her room, Nico following after.

“I’ll make sure she sleeps!” he called over his shoulder.

67

LUCIANA

Kara was gone.

I gripped the blood-stained note in my hand. It was up to me to see if I could figure out who had taken her from a piece of paper.

Lennox was sleeping now, but when she woke she’d be inconsolable. I wanted to give her something. Some hint of where Kara was when she woke.

I was the only person who could.

But no pressure.

I gripped the back of the couch, my nails digging into the fabric as tension radiated from my body. I could do this. For Kara, I could do this.

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