Okay. I never thought I’d want Cyrus’s help with anything, considering our tumultuous relationship, but I sensed his adoration now through the bond.
Totally unreal.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this.
And yet, here I was, bonded to five men.
I had no choice but to embrace it. Primarily because it gave me a sense of completion I hadn’t realized was missing before. Now I didn’t want to go back. I liked this semblance of control, this power, this flourishing energy surrounding my soul.
You were destined to be a queen, Exos agreed, his voice soft. Now go find Cyrus.
I twisted the handle on the door and went into the living area, searching for the four elements I felt nearby. Outside, my mind prompted. A strange place for them all to be while I rested inside, but maybe they were having a meeting of sorts.
Or maybe they were trying to kill each other.
I gaped at the scene before me—Cyrus with a wall of water protecting him from the fire and air Titus and Vox were throwing at him, and a stream beneath his feet to keep him elevated above the hole in the ground.
“What in the world are you all doing?” I asked, my voice far raspier than I intended. I cleared my throat and tried again, but my words were mere whispers despite my alarm.
I sent a note of panic through the links—an instinctual response that had four pairs of eyes swinging my way, all of them rounding at the sight of me standing outside.
And the elemental battle ceased.
“What the hell was that?” I demanded on a hoarse whisper of sound.
A fountain of water appeared before my lips, Cyrus offering me the drink I hadn’t realized I needed. I sipped from the cool spring and sighed, content, and tried again. “What’s gotten into you guys?”
“Uh, Claire…” Chagrin painted Titus’s features, his voice trailing off.
Vox and Sol appeared too speechless to explain.
And Cyrus just seemed to be amused.
Whatever these fae had been up to, no one wanted to speak. Okay, fine. I’d focus on the more important task at hand, then. “Exos is awake and talking to me, and I have a hint of his location. He’s close, but not on Academy grounds.”
All traces of enjoyment left Cyrus’s features. “What did he say?”
“That if I don’t find him soon, the link will be broken.” I cringed with the words. “We need to find him today.” And given the location of the moon overhead, I estimated we had about twelve hours. How I created that timetable, I didn’t know. I just knew it was right.
“Has he mentioned Mortus?” Cyrus asked, seeming to be the only one capable of speaking.
“No.” I thought the question at Exos and heard a snort travel through the line.
Yeah, I sense his presence down here, but something’s not right. Tell Cyrus I think Mortus is being influenced.
I conveyed the message.
Cyrus scratched his jaw. “Interesting. I imagine Exos doesn’t know by who, or he would have said.” He glanced at the trio of gaping fae. “Seriously. It’s like the three of you have never seen a naked woman before. Pull yourselves together. We have work to do.”
I frowned at his statement. It seemed to come out of—
Wait…
I glanced down, a gasp leaving my throat. “Oh, shit.” I’d wandered out here without clothes on. Heat climbed up my neck, a squeak leaving my lips. “Oops.”
“Not complaining,” Cyrus said, lifting a shoulder. “And these guys aren’t, either. Or they wouldn’t be if they had enough brains to fucking talk.”
Vox and Sol spluttered.