“Aaah.” He pulled away and grabbed his head. I was ripped from my thoughts as my mate fell onto the boat deck in pain.

“What’s wrong?”

He grimaced with pure agony in his gaze. “Justice … he needs us.”

My stomach dropped. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Was it a risk to try this whole mental spirit walk thing on my own? Yes. But it was worth it if it saved Rage’s brothers. They took a shield oath for me, and I’d do everything in my power to protect them in return.

I closed my eyes and thought of my bestie. I remembered how we’d lie in her king-sized bed in Harvest Dorm and chat about random school stuff, how Master Carn was a douche—or which of the Midnight princes was most likely my mate. How was it that those times seemed so calm compared to now?

Exhaling slowly, I lay down on the boat seat and closed my eyes, picturing Kaja’s room.

The ivory crown molding at the top of the pale green walls, silver and cream abstract art from some famous mage painter, the sleek glass-top desk she used for homework—and drawing. The thick shag rug in a light green hue, softer even than our wolf coat. Then I pictured her bed, the canopy closed so that light wouldn’t slice through her room and wake her up. I imagined her asleep, with her red curls spilled across her pillow. It felt so real … like I was there.

I imagined myself sitting on her silk comforter, cross-legged, watching her like a creeper as she slept, her brow furrowing as if she were having a bad dream.

‘Kaja!’ I yelled.

My bestie sat up with a shriek—no signs of sleepiness in her startled expression. She blinked and then shook her head. ‘Nai?’

I grinned. ‘Hey, girl.’

She glanced right and left and then pinched herself. ‘Are you really here?’

‘Yes—no—well, sort of.’ How could I explain? I didn’t know what I was doing—if this was real or all in my imagination but it felt real... Where should I start? So many questions, and I had exactly zero answers. ‘I—' A sharp pain sliced through my head. Maybe there wasn’t time for a lengthy explanation. ‘I need your help.’

She nodded, her curls bouncing. ‘Anything.’

‘Rage and I will be at the docks in about fifteen or twenty minutes. We need the guards gone and—’

Bright light lanced through my skull, and I blinked as I was sucked out of the vision. Kaja was gone. Kaja’s bedroom—gone. My bestie—gone. All of it … gone. I shook my head and winced as another razor-sharp wedge of light cut through my head. With my next blink, the searing light melted into shadows.

“Nai?” Rage called, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “Are you okay?”

I blinked again, and his face swam in front of me until my vision returned with a snap.

“Oww,” I muttered, grabbing my head. “That … hurt.”

The pain melted away through the shield bond, and as grateful as I was for the relief, I hated causing pain to my friends.

Rage winced for a second, but then his face melted into relief.

“Did you feel that?” I asked.

He nodded. “Only for a second … I think Noble and Justice take the brunt of your pain.”

Oh, mage. And they were being tortured. What an awful friend I was.

“Did you do it?” Rage asked, his voice just above a whisper. “Were you able to get in touch with Kaja?”

What could I say? “I think so? I hope so…”

Because if that didn’t work, it was seriously not worth it.

“You okay?” He helped me sit up.

I offered my mate a small smile. “Sorry. That was like getting kicked in the head, but I think it worked. Either that, or I have a really active imagination and Noble and Justice just got stuck with my tension headache.”

Rage quirked an eyebrow and his lips pulled up in a smirk. He threaded his hands into my hair and massaged my head and neck with a chuckle. “There are so many things I could say right now about your imagination.”

I spat out my tongue at him, and then he got up and crossed the space, sitting in the captain’s chair. The engine ripped to life, and he drove us toward Alpha Island. After about ten minutes, he cut the engine and faced me.

“We’re about a hundred meters out,” he said. “If we get any closer, the wolves will be able to hear and see the boat coming in to dock.”

“So … are we rowing the rest of the way?” I asked, shaking my head as I glanced at the bottom of the boat. “Because I don’t see any oars.”

“No,” he said, his gaze darting toward the tree-lined shore. “We’ll need to swim in.”

I didn’t bother to remind him of the octopus monster that tried to take me out earlier. I just nodded. At least we knew the selkies would not be a problem this time.

With a little help from Rage, we slid silently into the water.

Immediately, I felt something dark slither around my ankles and froze, eyes wide.

Two seal heads popped up from the surface of the water and looked at us, giving me a mild heart attack. I was about to ask them what they wanted or what was going on when their upper body shifted to human form—like a merman. “The king said if you got into the water, we were to help you get to shore safely.”

Relief washed over me. At first, I hadn’t been sure if they were about to attack or what.

“Thank you,” I told them, holding my hand out while I treaded water. “But it’ll be dangerous. We’re being hunted by the alpha king’s men.”

Rage cleared his throat. “If you’d rather return to King Ozark, I’ll not think less of you or your liege—”

“To abandon you would not only be dishonorable but a death sentence,” one said. “My name is Harp, and this is Gray. We’re at your service.”

Gray, the other selkie, nodded from the water. “I’d suggest no more conversation until we know what awaits us on shore.”

Okay… Did it matter that they were helping us because the king coerced them by threatening death? Maybe. But if Rage wasn’t going to protest the aid, I wouldn’t either.

Still, in their half-human form, the selkies indicated that we hold on to their backs. Reaching around, I clasped my hands around one of their necks and held on, unsure what to expect. The selkie’s face went from human to seal in seconds and then dipped under the water a few inches.

I looked at my mate, ‘I didn’t know they could partial shift like that.’

Rage stared into the water at his selkie warrior.

Rage’s eyes widened. ‘I think we still have a lot to learn about the selkies.’

‘Yeah,’ I quipped. ‘I guess so.’

The selkie with Rage shifted into his seal form. Then, without further warning, we sped off. I had to bite down a squeal of excitement. These were dire circumstances, and we were about to fight for the Midnight brothers … but damn, this was fun.

They were fast!

We drew near the dock, and both Rage and I scanned the dark beach. If Kaja and her sisters were here, I couldn’t see them.

Less than a hundred feet out, I spotted the guards—at least twenty of them: one at the head of the trail leading up to the school, one on the docks, and then the others littered in between.