Destined (War of the Covens 2)

She could do this.

She had to believe she could do this.

“And, Caia, this is Vil.” Ophelia turned her around to face a tall magik. “He’s my secret crush,” she whispered in her ear.

Her heart pounded immediately as she took in the sight of the Scandinavian. His ice-blue eyes were nothing like their color; instead they were soft and shy, as was his smile as he reached out a nervous hand.

“It’s an honor.” He quickly pulled back from her clasped hand.

“Vil?” Caia breathed. “Is that short for Vilhelm?”

He nodded, blushing as Ophelia sidled up to him to squeeze his arm affectionately. “Vilhelm is the best Traveler here. We can all go places we’ve never been before, but we can’t track a person or anything using the communication spell. Vil can.”

Caia’s mouth fell open a little as her eyes washed over him. “Like trace?”

“No, no,” he quickly refuted, his eyes wandering nervously. “I can’t feel a person’s thoughts or energy … but if you tell me to go to someone in particular, I get the impression of them from you and I can travel to wherever they are.”

Was that right? Caia mused. That might just come in handy. “Impressive.”

“I told you he was, like, totally cool.”

A queasy, icy feeling enveloped her as Desi and her sister chattered away, her brain and senses battered by new information from Nikolai. Jeez! She fought to catch her breath. This was good news. She shook her head. Good news. Or was it? It kind of meant her time at the Center was up.

Her attention snapped to Vilhelm and the girls who were staring at her wide-eyed.

“Caia, are you okay?” Desi whispered.

She nodded, throwing them a tremulous smile. “Just tired. It was nice meeting you, Vilhelm. Ladies, nice to see you again, but I’m going to go lie down for a while.”

“Do you need anything—?”

“Can I get you—?”

“No!” She raised her hands in supplication. “Please. No. I’m just … gonna … go.”

Outside of the communication hall, Caia strode determinedly to the telecom system mounted on the wall next to the elevator.

“Center Reception, Chloe speaking.”

“Chloe, it’s Caia Ribeiro. I need to speak with Marita immediately.”

“One second, please.”

This gave her very little time to rescue Laila. She had to think fast, think fast, think fast, think fast, think fast …

“Miss Ribeiro, Marita will see you. If you please make your way to reception, someone will be there to escort you up.”

That someone was Marion.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her pixie face creased in concern.

“I’ll explain once we get there.”

“Lucien and Anders were with me when Marita called to say you had news. Lucien is already up there waiting. I didn’t know what it was about so I didn’t see the point of letting Anders in on it.”

“This affects Anders.”

“The MacLachlans, then?”

“The MacLachlans.”

Marita and Vanne stood at their dining table, Lucien off to the side, his dark face brooding and troubled. Caia had only seen him during training sessions for the defense of the MacLachlans and had skillfully avoided talking to him. Not that it mattered since Rose was constantly attached to his side. In fact, this was the first time Caia had seen him alone since Rose’s arrival.

Avoiding his eyes, she strode resolutely to the head of the table, Marion’s soothing presence beside her.

“What has happened?” Marita frowned impatiently.

“The attack is off.”

A shocked silence resonated around the room.

“How?” Lucien managed.

“Nikolai must have become aware of du Bois’s plan. He’s rounded up du Bois’s rebels and given them immunity in exchange for their evidence against du Bois. Du Bois is now in prison, and the attack has been stopped.”

Marita moved forward, her lips pinched in anger and confusion. “And you can’t feel any plans from any other Midnight for the go-ahead on the MacLachlans?”

Caia shook her head. “I’ve been searching, but there is nothing. The attack is definitely not going forward.”

Lucien frowned. “Well, that’s good news, right?”

Marion seemed to agree. “Indeed.”

“Caia and I will return to the pack tomorrow.” Lucien strode toward her, and at his declaration, she couldn’t stop herself from raising her eyes; they clashed with his. He seemed tired, angry, frustrated, and concerned all at the same time. Surprised at his words, she could only stand gaping at him. She thought he’d want to stay for Rose. His impatient bristling, however, told her that Lucien was clearly missing the pack and ready to get back to them as soon as he could.

The problem was that no matter how much she might want to go back with him, she had a little prison break she needed to orchestrate, and leaving before that wasn’t really part of the plan.

“Leave?” Marita snapped. “I don’t think so.”

Lucien’s hands curled into fists at her tone.

“We came here to do what were asked to do. Now we’re leaving,” he said between clenched teeth, watching in annoyance as the Head sauntered past him with barely a glance and came to a stop before Caia. Her usually frozen face had softened in a way he hadn’t seen before. Her eyes washed over his mate imploringly.