Wrath by Kristie Cook

anyone right now. As Mom had said—thank God for Tristan’s level head.
    “I really didn’t know. She said she’d do anything . . . she didn’t say . . .” A breath shuddered out of me. “I know they’ll lay down their lives for me, for us. For the Amadis . . .”
    “But we can’t ask anyone to risk their souls,” Tristan said, his voice softer now.
    I sniffed, still blinking against the burn in my eyes. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just . . . all I can think about is how to get Dorian. Everything else is secondary.”
    “I know, my love.” He pulled me into his arms. “I know.”
    As I rested my head against his chest, I sensed Blossom in the other room—she hadn’t left the suite entirely. I felt so bad for my behavior toward her that I wanted to crawl under the bed and hide in shame. Instead, I called out to her. “Blossom, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
    She stepped into the bedroom, and I reached my arm out for her. When she moved close enough, I pulled her into a one-armed hug.
    “I really am sorry. I just—”
    “You’re just a mom who’s worried about her son.”
    I sniffled again and nodded. “Still. It was inexcusable.”
    She gave me a squeeze and pulled back. “It’s not your fault. I said I’d do anything. It’s my choice.”
    “I know, and I’m sure you will,” I said with a sigh as I pulled away from Tristan’s comforting arms. “But you have to tell me what exactly is at risk. I’m still pretty ignorant when it comes to all your magic stuff.”
    “Well, there is something I can do that’s not risky at all. I can’t guarantee anything, especially if he’s really far away or if there’s a strong shield around him, which there might be, but maybe we’ll get lucky, so I can always try—”
    “Blossom,” Tristan interrupted. She stopped her rambling and looked up at him. “What is it?”
    “I can do a tracking spell,” she said.
    My mouth dropped open, and my eyes dried as hope lifted my spirits. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
    “You were . . . well . . .” She scrunched her lips, trying not to say what I’d so horribly done to her—the position I’d put her in. “Anyway, um, like I said, I can’t guarantee anything. I’ve already tried a few times with no luck, but I want to keep pushing myself further. And maybe between the two of us—with you searching for his mind at the same time—maybe we can find Dorian.”
    Tristan and I exchanged a look of hope.
    “What do you need?” I asked.
    “Well . . . before we cleaned up the blood in here, I took a sample to see if any of it was his—” She paused, her eyes wide at my reaction as the blood rushed out of my head, then she hurried on. “No, no, it wasn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but none of it belonged to him from what I could determine.”
    I exhaled sharply. “Maybe Victor’s. Or even Lucas’s.” I wasn’t entirely convinced he hadn’t taken Dorian himself. “If so, I hope Sasha got him good.”
    She nodded. “Yeah, probably, but anyway, it would have been helpful for the spell, but hopefully that means Dorian wasn’t hurt. I needed something of his, though, and the closer the better, but Sasha doesn’t work, which I don’t know if it’s because she’s a living being or what, so I tried one of his game controllers, but it’s still not enough.”
    Tristan held his hand up, again making her stop to take a breath. “What will help?”
    “Maybe if I’m in his room? I didn’t want to leave on my own, with everything going on, but maybe sitting in his room, surrounded by all of his things . . .”
    “Let’s go,” I said, preparing to flash.
    “I don’t like you going alone,” Tristan said. “Not after what happened.”
    “I’ve been keeping my mind open, but there aren’t any Daemoni signatures for miles.”
    “You never know when they’ll pop in, though.”
    “Then come with us and keep watch.” I didn’t understand the problem. “Have you