I checked my watch. It wasn’t quite dinnertime, and I didn’t really want to mope in my bedroom all evening. I could find Matt, but chances were we couldn’t visit the mages today anyhow.

It’d have to wait for morning like Lucas had planned.

So, what now?

I needed to check on Raphael. I felt so far away from him. We’d never been apart like this. And with everything… It was like he was gone.

I’d take an oath with Luciana a million times over if I thought it’d do any good, but I guess I’d learned that lesson. We’d always end up here, with someone I loved in danger. That was how Luciana built her power.

I had to save him. Then, I’d break the oath and get rid of her one way or another.

Breaking the oath…

I walked through hotel in a half daze, thinking about what Lucas had said. If he meant what I was pretty sure he meant, then I could bond with him and it would all be over.

But did I want that? I always thought I’d marry another witch. Even though I was a little jealous of what Teresa had, I didn’t want to be a wolf. I couldn’t imagine fitting into that lifestyle with Lucas or anyone else.

I slid the key into my hotel room door, and my twindar went crazy, stopping me in my tracks.

Raphael. Something was wrong with Raphael.

I rushed inside and dumped out the contents of my purse, looking for Raphael’s stupid flip phone.

Damn it. Why do I keep so much junk in my purse?

I spotted the black square, and grabbed it with shaking hands. It took me two tries to dial Adrian’s number correctly.

As soon as Adrian picked up, I could hear yelling.

“What’s going on?”

“Your brother is losing it, that’s what’s going on! He nearly bit Beth. We’re trying to tie him down. Hang on.” The phone clattered as it dropped.

A bunch of shouting and screaming that I couldn’t make out echoed through the line before it went quiet.

Please let everything be okay.

I paced the room with the phone glued to my ear. Maybe I wouldn’t mind being a wolf. At least then I could hear what was going on.

It felt like a million years passed before Adrian picked up the phone again. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Is he okay?”

“He’s alive.”

“That’s not the same thing, and you know it.”

He let out a breath. “How close are you to finding something to fix him?”

“I don’t know. I have a lead, but I’m not sure what I’ll find. It could be a day. It could be five. I need time.” My anxiety level shot through the roof. What if I took too long? What if after all this, I found what I needed and I was too late to save him?

He had to hang on.

“Claudia… I just… I don’t know if he’s got that kind of time.”