Micah.

Sadie disappears. One blink and she's gone and all I can do is curse under my breath.

"Dammit, Sadie."

My pulse is a thunderstorm beneath my skin. I know what the council does to threats. I know exactly what kind of cruelty they're capable of. If she walks in there blind with fury, they'll break her. Torture her. Strip her down until even a wolf forgets it has a soul.

I know she's strong. I know she has powers, but none of that compares to the council. Those old bastards are the council for a reason. They're among the most powerful, and they have an army that is just as deadly to protect them. Going there alone is a suicide mission, not to mention, Alec will hang me by the balls if anything happens to his mate.

I'm pulled from my internal panic when one of the alphas speaks.

"What-what did she just do? How did she vanish?"

Hell, if I know, and I've been with her for months.

Another voice. A witch chimes in, panicked. "She vanished through space. Is she a witch because I know damn well wolves can't do that?"

I run a hand over my jaw, still staring at the empty spot where she stood. Fuck, I

need to get to her. She should at least have some backup.

"I don't have time to explain anything," I snap. "We need to move. Now."

I'm already jogging toward the exit before they decide whether to follow, but they do. Barely two seconds behind me, chairs scraping, boots thundering across concrete.

Brian is the first to match my speed. Jason, Raven, King, and the warriors follow without hesitation. By the time we burst outside, the others are catching up and piling into cars, engines igniting in a chorus of fear and urgency.

Just as I get into the car, Piper bursts outside. "I'm coming."

"No, you're not," I snap. "You're staying here, where it's safe."

"Don't tell me what to do... and besides, Raven is going too." She fires back.

Raven clears her throat. "Well, I'm not pregnant, so..."

“He's my brother. I want to help.” She says, pleading with her eyes.

"And he'd want you safe. This is war, Piper." I tell her gently. "Think about the baby."

Piper bites her lips, her eyes a bit distant. Almost like she's fighting herself.

I get her. She's torn between helping Alec and protecting her baby, but Alec would want her safe.

Finally she nods her head, her shoulder sagging in defeat. We get in the car after promising her that we'll be safe and we'll bring Alec and Sadie back.

I'm behind the wheel. I twist the keys and the tires screech as I peel out of the compound.

Nobody speaks. The air inside the

car is thick with dread, so much so that I can hear everyone's heart pounding. Mine is the loudest

because I keep seeing Sadie the way she looked when she vanished. Eyes. white, voice like judgment itself. That tells me everything know.

Brian breaks the silence first. "She's strong. We've seen it. She'll be fine."

I wish I believed that. But the council... they handpick their members from the most

lethal of us all. Wolves with ancient bloodlines. Vampires with centuries of power. Wizards whose magic is older than half the kingdoms in this world.

Sadie is unpredictable power but the council is brutality sharpened into law.

We break every speed regulation ever written, engines growling, as if the cars feel this panic too. We get to the council territory and I skid to a stop. None of us waste time as we rush to get out of the car only for us to freeze the moment we get to the gates.

Bodies are everywhere. Dozens of warriors are scattered, slaughtered, and dead on

the ground. Blood paints the ground, and the air smells like death.

Raven gasps behind me, and I stand there in horror and awe that Sadie did this without a single help.

I knew she was strong and powerful, but this is on a whole different level.

She stands in the middle of the courtyard, drenched in blood, not her own, and surrounded by corpses.

A council shrills, his furious voice cutting through the ruins: "TAKE HER DOWN!"

I move without thinking, sprinting

toward her but just as I close in, I

slam into something invisible and

violent, hit it so hard my net

rattle. The warriors around und me curse and throw themselves at it, but nothing gives. Raven tries with her powers, but it doesn't give in.

"Sadie!" I shout, but she doesn't even turn.

More warriors pour from the buildings. A flood of bodies moving toward her with blades and spells and arrows. She turns her head slightly as if annoyed, and then everything changes.

Her clothes dissolve—literally disappear. Gone in a ripple of light. In their place, white silk forms over her body, her hair lifts not from wind but from raw supernatural pressure and a flaming sword materializes in her right hand.

Raven whispers beside me, voice trembling: "This- This is raw power."

"I've never felt anything like this," someone says from behind me, but I don't bother turning.

Sadie walks forward. Not runs. Not dodges. Walks like a queen surveying insects.