Soul Keepers (Editing) #Wattys2020

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"Fuck!"

Theo slammed back into his body with a jolt, surround by the stark emptiness of his study. His fist ripe with anger pounding with enough force to put a hole in the top of the varnished wood of his desk.  Hed been thinking of her and then suddenly he was with her.

What!? What? said Kate as she barreled into the room eyes alive with panic, followed closely by an equally distressed Kit What is it? What happened?

He scrubbed his hands down his face and took a deep breath, one meant to calm him—it didnt work. I saw her, he said his voice hoarse with torture. "I fucking saw her."

Hed seen her, touched her and there was nothing he could do to help her. Here he was a powerful Ancient with immense power and he was still helpless to protect the one person that meant the world to him. He couldnt sense her now and didnt know to where to look again. They had searched every inch of town and everything surrounding but there was no sign of Millie. It was as if she and Micah had just disappeared. There was no trace of them anywhere.

She was hurt, her skin pale and marred with bruises. There were shadows under her eyes and shed seemed a lot thinner than before. To him it was as if shed been gone months instead of just four days. He cursed again the image of her before she faded haunting him and he suspected would haunt him until he got her back—maybe even forever.

And? Kates voice trembled as she fell into the chair at the opposite side of the desk her shaking fingers creeping to press against her lips as she tried to stop the sob that rose in her throat. She was just as worried for Millie as Theo was.

Shes hurt, it pained him to say it, to even think about it. Damn it! Where the fuck does he have her!? We've been searching for days. Shouldnt there be at least some sign of her somewhere.

Not if he has someone who can Cloak, like I can, murmured Kate uneasily.

This is all my fault, Kit whispered quietly in misery, the silver tray in her hands shaking, making the lid dance. I never should have asked her to come with me into town that day.

Her wide crystal blue eyes sparkled with tears as she met his gaze. Her face seemed younger than her appearance of fifteen, pain and regret written in her expression, her lower lip trembling. Kate rose from the chair and took the tray from the younger girls hand leading her to the chair where she had sat, gently patting her shoulder.

None of this your fault Kit, started Kate softly but Kit shook her head in protest.

Katrina's right, he added, None of this is your fault.

But, she started her voice quivering He found her because she left the mansion, because I asked her to go out that day, all for a stupid dance, and I--

He would have found her anyway, Theo cut off leaning forward. Listen to me Kit. You are not responsible for any of this.

But he has her. And I can tell that youre worried. You havent fed since Millie went missing. And everyone's just...

He opened his mouth to argue but no words would come. He hadnt really noticed that he was all but starving, his mind was too preoccupied. Feeding just seemed to pale in importance to everything else. The only thing he was really concerned with was finding Millie.

"Micah has been looking for Millie for a very long time," tried Kate "There would have been a time, no matter who she was with, and he would have gotten to her. Like he did and we were all there."

A burst of strong emotion erupted from Theo that caused Kate and Kit to flinch. His eyes were blazing with anger, body taut with hostility.

"Oh Hell Theo," Kate added running her fingers through her hair. "You know I didn't mean it like that.  We were all there and he still got to her. I'm not saying that it's any one person's fault just that we shouldnt get worked up about it when we should be concentrating on getting her back."