voice rumbled in the spiral space that faded away, along with my consciousness. I felt helpless and scared, and worried that I wouldn't wake, but the voice somehow sensed that.
"I will keep you alive. You're my escape route, after all."
My world faded to black.
Save me...
26
Expand For The Sake Of Our Willow
~VIKTOR~
"WILLOW!"
She disappeared with the bulky masked man - their presence fading entirely like he was a part of the very darkness that had begun to creep into the ringing streets.
I moved before my mind could process everything, standing in the exact spot as if I could grab a fucking clue about where Willow was taken to.
Magic still buzzed in the very spot she'd vanished from, the sizzling energy still coursing through me as I sensed something was off within myself.
A flowing tunnel. A connection. A beating heart. Weak...but there.
I looked down to my chest, expecting to see the necklace I'd hidden with my magic, but instead, there was the glowing symbol that still buzzed with the same lethal force that blew our enemies into ashes.
If it wasn't for my obvious fear about where Willow was, I could get lost in the magnificent sight as it glowed against my flesh on my left chest pec.
"This is bad," Aurelia whispered. "Fuck. We...we need to get to Russia!"
That caught my attention, but I struggled to move - or think.
"Shut it, Aurelia," Dimitris ordered, and I wondered if she was going to lash back at him, but instead, I noticed the shift in the air. The hairs all along my arms rose up in pure warning.
"We don't have time for this," Onyx snarled.
I finally lifted my head up, and that was when I noticed triple the amount of men in black heading our way. The streets were practically covered by masked men with guns.
"Get Viktor over here!" Milo ordered, and my body was tugged by Onyx as he rushed me to be with the rest of the pack.
"Fuck. Those aren't normal ARs," Jayce hissed. "Milo, your barrier may not hold."
"It'll hold." Milo had no doubt in his mind, and I moved my gaze slowly to see the anger in his blazing orbs. "But we don't have fucking time to stand still. This is a diversion."
That was obvious and yet I was struggling to get my head above water.
I have to fucking think...Willow...fuck. Willow...she's... my...
Hands slapped against my shoulders, pulling me out of my swirling thoughts and the consuming emotions riling up that threatened to cripple me if I dared allowed them.
I was surprised to see Dimitris, his vivid, glowing eyes of pink locked onto mine, which were surely blazing silver with hints of my magic.
"I know what just occurred and I'm well aware that I'm not your Alpha, but you need to snap out of it." How I desperately wanted to defiantly push him aside or say fuck off, but I needed his foundation for this one solid moment.
I needed to be reminded that there was a way out of this moment of chaos and that I was adequate enough to get us to Willow.
I have to get to her...I promised I'd always find her.
The reminder made me realize why I'd fucked up. Why she was upset that I was pointing out facts. She didn't care about the facts. She knew it wasn't her usual behavior to get upset with Dimitris taking the lead as he was so accustomed to. She didn't need me to be a dick and remind her.
All she wanted was for me to listen and be on her side of the court.
"Can you sense the connection?" Dimitris inquired.
"Yes. The magic, it's traveling fast, but it's not out of the country," I whispered.
"We need to follow it. I don't know how, but after we deal with this, we need to be prompt in following that vivid trail," Dimitris emphasized. "If we're fast enough, we can track and catch them before they harm Willow, but we're gonna have to rely on you, Viktor."
It felt like he was saying things slower so I could comprehend every word. As if I needed him to emphasize the clear message that we had a shot at getting Willow back if I just cut through this state of shock and got into assassin mode.
Time was ticking - second after second- and I mentally knew how important our next steps would be, but this level of fear was so frightening, it felt like it paralyzed me in my very place. I had to figure out the source, but