Page 36 of Kings
Ella might once had feared the sight of him, but her heart pounded for different reasons. She opened her arms as he walked over, growling softly as he pushed his forehead into her and breathed a sigh of deep relief. She wrapped her arms around him, curling her fingers into his plush golden fur. He was as big and bright as the sun itself in her mind, and she felt safe basking in his warmth.
Where the fuck were you?he demanded, his mental voice harsher than his gentle growl.
Ella hesitated, realizing there was no way to admit she didn’t know without sounding insane. “I don’t remember,” she finally said, looking up at Sterling. “What happened to Natalia?”
The teacher exchanged a glance with Axel, and if both of them were reluctant to tell her, she knew something had gone horribly wrong.
“We don’t know,” Sterling finally answered. “We went out looking for you, and at some point, she disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Ella croaked, her voice laced with panic. “Natalia wouldn’t just vanish. Something’s wrong. Something happened to her.”
“I know,” Sterling said, placing a hand on Ella’s shoulder. “Bishop isn’t alone. Axel and I stayed behind to find you, but the other toms are searching. Wherever she is, we’ll find her.”
His words would usually have been enough to reassure her, but even he couldn’t touch the empty dread spreading like a plague inside of her.
Whatever had happened to Natalia was her fault. She knew it as surely as she knew something terrible had happened in the hours she couldn’t account for.
No matter where the answers were hiding, Ella knew everything was changed. She just didn’t know how yet.
Chapter 21
Bishop
The forest gave way beneath the jaguar’s paws, clumps of earth and grass tearing from the beast’s every powerful stride. He’d been running for what felt like forever, but not fast enough.
When he’d realized she was gone, he knew there was only one place she could be.
He was still arguing with Axel, trying to reason with the other male to see the threat the unexpected pregnancy posed to their one mutual interest, when the guards came. At first, he’d just assumed Natalia had gone off to process things. The evening had been full of revelations, none of them easy to absorb.
When the search failed to locate her anywhere on the premises of the Academy and his father proved ignorant of her whereabouts, Bishop’s mind immediately turned to Felidae.
It was always Felidae. The society was the hidden heart beating behind the curtain of the colony, the true source of power and the arbiter of every choice that determined the future of their species.
Bishop didn’t know who had taken her, or why, but he knew his mother. She wouldn’t just disappear without a word to anyone, and in the chaos of the night, she’d been left vulnerable. He cursed himself for that.
The lot outside the Felidae House was empty when Bishop arrived, which was no surprise, considering that everyone who was anyone in the colony was already attending the ball.
Bishop shifted and entered the empty house, changing into the clothing kept in a closet near the door for its members. The foyer was silent, but as he approached the stairs, he sensed he wasn’t alone.
The moment he reached the top of the stairs and saw his brother standing at the entrance to the attic, all his suspicions became tangible.
“Eldric,” he growled, taking a step forward. The floorboards creaked. “Where is she?”
Eldric’s face didn’t change, nor did he move an inch from his post, his hands slipped casually into his pockets. Bishop should have known his absence from the ball was more than just a matter of petty jealousy.
“Does it matter?” Eldric finally asked. There was no mistaking the challenge behind his words. Or the blame.
“I’ll ask you one more time,” Bishop snarled, feeling his beast rise to the surface once more. “Where. Is. She.”
Eldric’s lips curved in a knowing smirk. “You know the timeline has been shifted, and you have only yourself to blame.”
“I didn’t know,” he seethed. He was so close to the brink, his nails digging into his palms hard enough that blood ran down his knuckles in rivulets.
Eldric watched him closely for a moment, his head tilting curiously. “You really didn’t, did you?” He laughed sharply, the sound piercing Bishop’s nerves. “My, my. Perhaps she’s not as smitten with you as you thought.”
A low growl rumbled through Bishop’s chest as his brother took several purposeful steps forward, stopping just far enough not to trigger a reaction.
“You know she can’t be allowed to have it,” Eldric said pointedly. “It’s not part of the prophecy.”
