Chapter 201

Chapter 201

My heart raced. Fuck. Fuck. Id all but spelled out in flashing neon that he was walking into a trap. Miles should have been able to handle it. Realistically, he should have gone in prepared with a strong team, equipped to the nines, fully aware of the potential danger.







There was a pause between messages.



God dammit. Why didnt he pick his people more carefully?

Because you rushed him. Hes only human. As infallible as the rest of us.

I thought of the fast-pass, nestled safely in my inventory.



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really not fucking around. Sounds more Thirty Days of Night than Twilight. Fast. Agile. Strong.>









It took me a second to grasp what she was driving at. The point of contacting Miles and luring him to the tower was to drag the Order, kicking and screaming, out of the shadows. If they killed Miles, it would arguably shine more of a spotlight on them and still accomplish that goal. Save us from the inevitable moment his suspicions shifted back to me. Turn him into a martyr.





I could decide what to do when I got there. For the moment, the question was, how the hell did I get clear of this without an alibi?

Everything okay? Nick asked. He was watching me, and though Id tried to keep my face neutral, it was possible that something slipped through.

What do you think of twinning as a catchphrase? Azure elbowed me.

Up ahead, some guy with a faux hawk straightened up, doing a vague impression of a meerkat. Twins?

Over there, I stuck my thumb at a group of girls passing by with similar haircuts, and Faux Hawk pointed them out to his friends.

Azure shot me an apologetic look.

Forget it, how do we do this? I asked.

We switched back to mental communication, and Azure walked me through the process. The steps I needed to take to dominate a summon werent all that different from things Id been doing before. A combination of the methods I used to get the most out of and the out-of-body stuff. I had to imagine seeing the world through his eyes, while also commanding him to yield.

Azure stared straight ahead, helping the process while I fell into the summon bond. It felt like slamming my psyche against a wall, and within seconds, I had a headache.

I tried again, this time with more finesse and patience.

There was a noticeable shift, and I realized Id been thinking about it the wrong way. It wasnt like breaking down a wall exactly, more like my mind was shifting to encompass the wall, mimic it.

Slowly, I felt my mind warp, and the throbbing headache kicked into overdrive.

A feeling of displacement roiled my stomach, like Id just teleported out of existence and back in.

The beach itself hadnt changed, but it was awash in vibrant colors, moving shapes that I slowly identified as people. They were mostly blue, with some greens and yellows scattered throughout.

It suddenly reminded me of the color code we used to refer to my Mothers mental state.

This is how you see the world? I asked quietly.

Yep. Or at least, your minds interpretation of how I see the world. Azure adjusted his hood, making sure hismyface was hidden before he removed the and handed it to me. Azure himself was almost uniformly blue, the few strands of yellow and green slowly turning to indigo.

I snuck a glance towards where my party was sitting.

Keith glowed with a vibrant yellow aura, bordering on green. Halima was a light orange.

And Nick was entirely red.

If that meant what I thought it meant, I needed to fucking hurry. Every second I wasted here was a second Miles couldnt get back, and every second away was a chance for Nick to slip deeper into whatever struggle he was hinting at.

Time to bounce? Azure prompted.

Yeah. Get lost. Trail us but dont stick too close. Be ready to swap back after I sell Halima the line.

Roger. Azure said.

The quicker I locked in the alibi, the better.