“Can we ask th—” I slammed my mouth shut. Thorne and Sage were not yet free of the curse their father put on them, so they were still the enemy. I tried to remember if the two angel brothers had been reincarnated yet or not, but I thought perhaps they were too young. “I don’t suppose there is anyone you can ask?”

Everest’s eyes were narrowed on me. “You were about to ask me to ask Thorne and Sage, weren’t you?” he asked into my mind.

My eyes widened.

He sighed. “Do not answer that,” he grumbled in my mind. “I do not have a safe source to inquire upon. Let me think for a moment.”

I leaned against the open window, letting the crisp autumn breeze try to soothe the ache in my chest. Everest started pacing the length of the cottage while tugging on his bottom lip. Rae, Akecheta, and Auryn were talking to him, but I heard none of it. They spoke English yet I didn’t process a word. The air was heavy and thick around me. I gripped the windowsill and took slow, steady breaths through my nose and out my mouth. A panic attack would help no one. My chest tightened with so much pressure it was like someone was sitting on me. My throat grew tight and hot, even swallowing was difficult. Tears burned the backs of my eyes. I tried to hold them in, but I was losing.

I just felt so . . . sad.

Suffocating sadness.

I wanted to curl into a ball and weep. I felt like the sun would never shine another day. the moon would never rise. My future was a dark, empty void of existence.

Wait a second. Why do I feel this way? That’s not how I feel. I glanced back to Everest, yet his expression merely looked worried and confused. What is this feeling then? I turned to the window and pushed my magic into my right hand to reveal my soulmate glyph. The crystal on the back of my right hand was dark blue. What does that color mean? With a silent curse, I dove into my magic bag and pulled out Tegan’s notebook. Luckily, the third page had a cheat sheet of soulmate glyph color meanings. Dark blue meant immense sadness. I looked back to Everest. He did not look sad.

Well, the sadness could be ME, butthead.