o what do we do now?” Ahramin asked, when nothing worked.
The passage wouldn’t open, no matter how much they tried. Bliss thought her head was going to spontaneously combust, and she wasn’t alone—the boys were massaging their temples too.
“This sucks,” Ahramin said. “We need a new plan.”
“We need to regroup,” Lawson said. “Since we’re back in Hunting Valley, then we should go find Arthur at the cave; maybe he can help us.” Arthur Beauchamp was their patron and their friend; the warlock was the one who had helped the wolves when they’d escaped from the underworld to live aboveground.
They agreed to the plan, and were about to keep moving when Malcolm stumbled against a tree root. “Can we take a break for a minute? I’m exhausted,” the young boy said.
“We’re all exhausted,” said Bliss. They had just defeated Romulus and the Hellhounds, and had plunged from that battle to prepare for another. “I think we need to rest and get him something to eat.”
“The cave’s too far, then. Let’s just find a place right here,” Lawson decided. “You’re right, we might need to take some time to lick our wounds.”
They made their way through the woods and the suburban maze back to the main center of town. It was cold outside, just like when they’d left. Bliss guessed they had been gone a week since they’d traveled back in time, and she wondered how Jack and Schuyler were faring in Italy, and what Mimi and the rest of them were up to.
They found a diner and ordered plates of breakfast—pancakes, eggs, waffles—and they fell on to the food hungrily. “You feel better now, Mac?” Bliss asked.
“A little. I just have a headache—like it feels odd to be here. Like we’re not at the right place, like I woke up from a strange dream that lasted too long.”
“This might explain it—” Edon said, showing them the newspaper he’d picked up from the next table and pointing at the date.
“It can’t be,” Lawson said. “No way.”
“What’s wrong?” Bliss asked, holding her breath.
“A year,” Edon said. “A whole goddamn year has gone by while we were in the passages.”
The pack absorbed this information. A whole year of their lives, gone in a blink. Lawson stared at the date on the newspaper. A whole year they had lost, while their enemies were moving, making plans, preparing for battle. How much ground had they lost? Lawson couldn’t speak, and Bliss saw the worry etched clearly on his face—a whole year—what had happened to the wolves who had remained trapped in the underworld?
“It’s not your fault. Traveling through the passages is unpredictable,” she said.
“Not this unpredictable,” he argued. “I promised the wolves I would come back, and that was already almost a year ago before this. Who knows what’s happened down there in the meantime?”
Bliss felt an urge to put her arms around him and console him somehow, but now wasn’t the time, and things had been a little awkward between them since she’d revealed that Lucifer was her father. Sure, she was part of the pack, but it wasn’t the same easy friendship they’d shared before. Not yet, anyway.
The wolves weren’t their only concern. What had happened to the vampires, Bliss wondered—to her friends? She felt the same urgency Lawson did. She had to know. What if everything was already over? What if the Silver Bloods had already won?
“We have to find Schuyler,” she said. “Allegra’s other daughter. My…sister.” She wasn’t used to saying it out loud. “I’m supposed to bring the wolves to her. She might know why the passages are closed, or at least help us find a way to open them.”
“Where is she?” Lawson asked.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Last time I saw her was at her bonding ceremony, in Italy; but if a year has gone by, there’s no way she’s still there. And without my powers, it’s harder—I have to do things the human way. But there are Conduits who can help us.” She explained the concept of humans who assisted vampires, noting that the boys looked a bit fearful when she talked about her past. Ahramin didn’t seem to care, but that was Ahramin. “The best place to start is New York,” Bliss said.
“We shouldn’t all go,” Edon said. “Arthur might have answers, too. Some of us should stay behind.”
“Take Malcolm,” Ahramin said.
“No—I’ll go with Bliss,” Lawson said suddenly.
Ahramin raised an eyebrow.
“You and Edon can take care of things here with Mac and Rafe. I should be the one talking to the vampires,” he decided. “I should speak for the wolves.”
“Fine,” said Ahramin, as if it didn’t matter either way.
Malcolm reached out and held Bliss’s hand. “I don’t want us to be separated now that we’re a pack,” he said.
“Don’t worry,” Bliss said. “My friends will be able to help. Lawson, are you sure about this? I can go alone. It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”