Page 1 of Midnight Reign
1
ZEPHYR
The acrid stenchof blood and feathers fills the air as I tear through another Strix, its dying screech piercing the night. But I barely register it. My gaze scans the sky frantically, searching for any sign of Adelaide. The chaos around me fades into the background as I focus on finding her, my heart pounding with a fear I have never experienced before and didn’t know was possible. I fear one thing. One man. My father. So this is… new and irritating as fuck.
Gone. She’s gone.
The realisation hits me like a physical blow, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. Rage and fear crush my lungs, squeezing out every last shred of air left, threatening to tear me apart from the inside.
How could I let this happen?
I was supposed to protect her. It was the one thing I swore to myself I would do, and I failed spectacularly. The self-loathing that washes over me is almost paralysing.
It freezes me.
I replay the moment in my mind, seeing Adelaide lifted into the air by these fucking monstrous creatures. The look of terroron her face, her hand reaching out to me as she was carried away. I should have been faster, stronger. I should have done more.
The full weight of the darkness inside me roils, begging to be unleashed. It whispers promises of vengeance, of tearing apart anyone who dares to touch what’s mine, because Adelaide is mine. But that will level this university to the ground, and that is something that will get my arse kicked all the way back to the Dark Fae Kingdom, where dear old dad will rip my skin off in strips.
“Zephyr!” Corvus’s voice cuts through my spiralling thoughts. He’s beside me in an instant, his fangs bared, and clothes splattered with blood. His eyes are wild, a mirror of the panic I feel. “Where is she?”
“They took her,” I snarl. The words taste like filth. “These fucking Strix snatched her and took off with her.”
I see the same fear and rage I feel reflected in Corvus’s eyes. For a moment, we’re united in our desperation, our need to find Adelaide.
“Why are they still here?” Ignatius appears, a wall of flame clearing a path through the chaos. His eyes are wild, reflecting the inferno around us.
“Good fucking question,” I grit out, glancing around, but I can see they are in a holding position now. Not attacking unless attacked. They are keeping us here.
Zaiah materialises next, his expression completely shattered. The djinn’s white eyes are clouded with worry, his form shimmering with barely contained power. “I can’t sense her,” he says, his voice tight with worry. “It’s like she’s been blocked.”
“Or dead,” I say without thinking.
Corvus shoves a hand hard against my chest. “Don’t. Just fucking don’t!”
But it’s hard not to.
The implications of that send a chill racing through my already icy blood. Someone beyond powerful is behind this. Someone who knows exactly what Adelaide is. The thought of Adelaide in the hands of someone who wants her power and who might exploit it, makes me feel physically ill.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to think past the panic and rage.
“Where the fuck are the senior staff?” I mutter.
“Another good fucking question,” Zaiah spits out.
“And where are the Order?” Ignatius adds, absolutely fuming. Like, literally. He has smoke coming out of his ears.
“Corvus,” I say, ignoring them. “You need to get airborne. See if you can spot where they took her.”
He nods, understanding the gravity of the situation. “Way ahead of you.” Without another word, he shifts, his form blurring and shrinking until a bat takes wing, soaring into the sky. I watch him go, a part of me wishing I could follow, to search the skies myself. But I know my skills right now are best on the ground, in the forest where nature is my bitch.
I turn to Ignatius and Zaiah, seeing the same panic in their eyes that I feel. “We’re going after her on foot. I can track her through the forest using my magick.”
“Lead the way,” Zaiah says, his form shimmering as he prepares to bend reality to his will.
Ignatius nods. “Whatever it takes,” he says, his voice uncharacteristically grim. That sends an even bigger gust of fear blowing over me. He can usually find the best of a bad situation with his eyes closed in that peppy, upbeat way of his.
Could really use some of that right now.
