Page 57 of The Monsters We Are
He kept loping back and forth, restlessness humming in his blood. He had so much pent up energy, so much barely contained fury. It left him twitchy. Jittery. On edge.
His gaze bounced around, just as restless. Each of his senses seemed heightened and oversensitive, making him feeltooalert.
Cain knew some residents would wonder why he wasn’t out looking for her himself. They might even mistake his seeming lack of personal action for him not particularly giving much of a shit about her. That could later be a problem, considering some might then think it wouldn’t be such a huge deal if they tried cashing in on the bounty. That wasn’t a problem he could address right then, though.
Realizing he was holding his breath again, Cain drew in a long gulp of air until his chest expanded. He took several more deep breaths even as he knew it wouldn’t help calm him. Nothing could. The only thing that would end his inner torment would be having Wynter returned to him.
“Maybe she wasn’t taken by vehicle,” suggested Seth, shifting from foot to foot. “Maybe someone found another way to take her out of here.”
Cain slammed his gaze on his brother. “Teleported her away, you mean? I considered that.”
Seth shrugged. “They could have even taken her through a portal.”
Azazel rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Both would explain how she seems to have disappeared into thin air. It would mean sheliterallydid.”
A cold ache lanced Cain’s chest at the very thought of it, because . . . “If that happened, she’ll be at Aeon as we speak. She’d have been taken straight there.” He snapped his mouth shut, panic once more threatening to shut down all rational thought.
“Only to the boundaries—that’s as far as any teleporter or portal opener would have gotten, due to the preternatural security measures,” Dantalion pointed out. “Besides, no one would dare go further for fear of being killed on sight for trespassing. That would give her an opportunity to get away. We know how good she is at that.”
Cain’s fingers contracted like claws. “But if she didn’t, Adam has her.”
“Don’t go there, Cain,” said Azazel. “Don’t let yourself think about it. There’s every chance that she’s . . . ” He paused, his eyes sliding to the sky. “One of the dragons is back.”
“And he’s not alone,” said Seth. “He has a passenger.”
Cain’s heartbeat kicked up as he spun. Holding his breath, he eyed the beast heading their way. It was as it slowed its pace and began to descend that Cain got a decent glimpse of the person on its back.Wynter.A breath gusted out of his lungs.
Fuck, she was home. Alive. Andright there.
Relief sank into him, wrapped around his bones, and acted like a balm to the jagged edges of his control. His eyes very briefly closed but he snapped them back open, needing to keep his gaze locked on her. Needing to be sure she didn’t disappear again.
The dragon landed smoothly a few feet away. Cain instantly blurred to its side and snatched her from its back, holding her tight, uncaring of the sight and smell of the blood staining her skin and clothes. He exhaled heavily, feeling like he could finally breathe. He opened his mouth to speak, but the right words didn’t come to him.
She hugged him back. “I’m totally gross right now,” she warned, her voice scratchy.
“I don’t care.” He gave a nod of thanks to the dragon shifter, who Azazel then ordered to signal to the other searchers that Wynter had been found. The dragon swiftly took to the sky.
Cain and Wynter stood holding each other in silence for long moments until, without releasing her, he pulled back slightly to take her in. His stomach tightened. She was pale. Looked weak and tired—such a rarity for her. “What happened? Who took you?”
She gave him a grim smile that held a bloodthirsty edge. “Funny story. You’re gonna love it.”
The others gathered around as she relayed what happened.
Lilith’s lips parted. “Shelia as in Ishtar’s aide?”
“One and the same,” Wynter confirmed.
Anger coursing through his system once more, Cain flexed his hand around her nape. “I see.”
“We don’t know that Ishtar had anything to do with it,” Dantalion said to him.
His back teeth locked, Cain pulled in a breath through his nose. “No, we don’t. But we’re about to fucking find out.”
Chapter Thirteen
Wynter followed behind Cain as he threw open the solar room door and barged inside, his attention slamming on Ishtar, who sat on an elaborate, almost throne-like chair. The only other person in the room was one of her aides—inconveniently, it wasn’t Shelia.
The female Ancient shot to her feet, her brow furrowed in both outrage and confusion as not only Wynter and Cain but Azazel, Seth, Dantalion, and Lilith filed inside while another of Ishtar’s aides flapped nervously behind them. Eve—who’d weirdly struggled to look Wynter in the eye—had chosen to head back to Seth’s Keep rather than be part of the confrontation.