I cupped my hand around the back of his neck. “Let me make breakfast, love, before Nico wakes up starving.” The little guy didn’t handle hunger well.
Orion checked his watch and frowned. “He’s never slept until nine.”
My heart started to beat faster. Was it nine already? Nico was normally up at seven or earlier. I supposed I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
I heard the distant sound of Orion’s weight creaking on the stairs as I cracked another egg and added a dollop of cream to the mixture.
“Rowan!” Orion’s voice pierced the silence, booming through the palace and echoing off the stone stairwell. “Where is Nico?”
I froze, and my heart slammed into my ribs.
As fast as my pregnant body would take me, I ran up the sweeping stone stairs into Nico’s room. Orion stood in the center, clutching our boy’s crimson blanket.
But Nico wasn’t in the room.
All the air left my lungs. This shouldn’t be a big deal. He was four and probably hiding somewhere. But Orion and I felt the same thing—the terrifying absence of Nico. We couldn’t feel his magic now or hear his little heartbeat.
“Nico?” I shouted, my eyes scanning Nico’s bed, bookshelf, and pile of toys.
Blue-uniformed soldiers began rushing to hall, their bodies tense, awaiting orders.
Orion’s eyes darkened to night. “I can’t sense him anywhere.”
This palace exterior was protected with the most powerful wards and a horde of demon soldiers. We had layers of magical protection as well as the old-fashioned brute force of hellhounds patrolling the thorny gardens around it. If an intruder had come in, the hellhounds would have let us know.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. Orion and I shared a bond with Nicodemus that allowed us to always monitor his whereabouts psychically, no matter where he was.
I gasped for air. Right now, I felt nothing.
Orion raked a hand thorough his hair. “Search the house,” he barked at the soldiers. Then, more quietly, he said, “He’s probably in a closet or something.”
Like all parents, we had been eager for our son to start walking. And like all parents, once he did, we wished he would stop. He wanted to climb everything, to know what was behind every locked door, in every cabinet and drawer. His curiosity and energy were boundless.
And now he was missing.
“I’m going to check the grounds outside,” Orion said.
I went from room to room carrying Nico’s blanket, calling his name, then quietly listening for a reply. Our soldiers were searching now, too, tearing the place apart piece by piece.
Silence met our calls, but I couldn’t believe he was gone—it just wasn’t possible. I was furious at someone, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint who it was. The soldiers who should be patrolling this place? Nico?
Myself, I thought.
In his bedroom, decorated with octopus imagery （his favorite）， I started ripping the place apart with a growing sense of urgency—flinging blankets, pulling open the closet. The windows were closed, so he hadn’t jumped out or been abducted. How could no one have seen him?
Exhausted, I sat down on his little bed.
What we needed was some magical help. I grabbed my phone and called the City of Thorns’ best mortal oracle, Isabeau. There were magical ways to contact her, but she preferred text.
I wasn’t waiting for a text now, though. I was calling her.
Midway through the first ring, she answered. “Good morning, Your Majesty,” she greeted me. “Nico, is it? Missing?”
“Yes, thank you.” Already, I was reassured that she knew what was happening. “We can’t find him. I haven’t seen him.”
“Curious,” the oracle replied. “Your sigils and glyphs are all in place. The wards continue to function.”
“Yes, I believe so…”
“That wasn’t a question.” Her abilities allowed her some leeway when it came to snark, but I wasn’t in the mood for her games.
“If they’re in place, then where is Nico?” I demanded. “How could the spells have been bypassed? Who took him, and how are they shielding him from us?”
“So many questions,” she answered slowly. “But no answers. If he were on this plane, I would know. If he’d left this plane, I would know that as well, even if I couldn’t follow. He’d have left a trace behind.”
Panic snapped through my body. “Is he in Osborne? With mortals?”
As I listened to her reply, Orion rushed into the room, all color drained from his face. He shrugged and turned both palms up in resignation.