Page 102 of Demon's Desire
“Nico?” The demon’s confused voice cut through the still night air. “Are you on your way over?”
Words spilled from Nico in a rush. “Onyx is gone! We were attacked on his roof. I was knocked out, and I can’t feel him.”
“Shit! What roof? Where are you?”
“At his loft. We flew here. Fuck, what’s the street address?”Nico brought up a map on his phone, searching for his location’s address and rattled it off to Dante.
“We’re coming. Were the protections breached?”
“I don’t think so. We were outside. I didn’t even see who attacked us.”
“That’s all right. Go inside. We won’t be long.”
Everything in Nico screamed to look for Onyx. He couldn’t hide in the loft. He needed to act.
He could track Onyx with a spell if he had a personal item, so he raced down to the loft. Witches needed something physical to build the tracking spell around—blood was best—but Nico wasn’t experienced in those kinds of surveillance spells.
A better idea struck. “Can Ash track Onyx?” he asked into the phone.
“He’s already on it.”
Onyx’s presence in Nico’s soul was nowhere to be found. It was like a hole had opened up inside him.
Bursting into the loft, Nico grabbed a small, beaded box from the sitting area. Maybe tracking Onyx would help him grasp their connection.
Calling on his magic, Nico recited the spell, but couldn’t concentrate. He kept slipping up, forgetting the words. He tried again.
Minutes ticked by, and Onyx’s presence was still nothing but a gaping chasm in his chest.
Dante’s voice emanated from the phone. “We’re about to land.”
Nico hardly realized he was still on the line. Giving up for now, he grabbed the box and fled the apartment, racing back up the stairs.
Dante and Ash met him on the first landing.
“Why can’t I feel him?”Nico gasped.
Dante steadied him, grabbing his elbow. “Onyx could be unconscious.”
“Not dead?”
Dante and Ash shared a look. Ash cleared his throat. “Now that you’re bonded, if Onyx died permanently, I don’t think you’d still be here.”
“I’d be erased from the universe, too?” Nico’s chest seized.
“I can’t be certain, but you’d probably end up in the Realm of the Damned like any other deceased witch soul. It’s good that you’re still on Earth. It means we have time.”
Nico nodded. Fuck, he was panting as if he’d run for miles. “How long does your tracking take?”
Ash grimaced. “Not long if I’m close to the demon, like I am with Onyx, but I can’t get a direction. He could be somewhere guarded by anti-tracking protections.”
“Shit.”
“I’ll keep trying.”
Dante patted Nico’s shoulder. “You should, too. Keep reaching for the mate connection.”
Nico closed his eyes as if that would help, and let every cell in his body yearn for Onyx. As the emptiness threatened to overwhelm him, something flickered.
