Gabriel’s POV“Come on, Aria, focus,” I said as I grabbed her hands in mine. “You can do it.”She sighed and closed her eyes. I could see her reaching for the source of her power. We had been practicing for the last three days and she was getting better. She could now project emotions, but she still had trouble with focusing them on a single person. She brought us all down yesterday when she projected pain.“Can you feel my aura?” I asked her. “Can you feel my warmth?”“Yes,” she mumbled with her eyes still closed.“Good,” I said. “We all have our auras. We all have different levels of warmth. You need to differentiate it. Separate us from one another and focus only on one of us. Try focusing on me. Feel me.”Her eyebrows scrunched together, and her hands squeezed mine.“Try focusing on what you feel for me,” I told her. “Don’t create an emotion. Project your own feelings. That should be easier to do.”She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. A few minutes passed, but I felt no e

Gabriel’s POVThe next few days flew by in a blur. Aria and I were practicing magic, and she got better. She could focus on one person at a time, and she could manipulate it really well. Nick and I have been teaching them the basics of one-on-one combat. Jacob and Blake were great. The girls not so much. They weren’t fighters. But it made me feel better knowing that they at least knew some basics to defend themselves. Mike, Jack, and Annie still hadn’t managed to locate Patricia. They still had one more village to go through, but I was beginning to lose hope. She was either dead or hiding pretty damn well.Victor hasn’t called again. Nick was content because he thought that meant he believed our lie. I had a funny feeling. It just seemed too easy. “Any news from Mike?” Jacob asked as we were eating breakfast.“No,” I sighed. “They have arrived at the last village today.”“They won’t find her,” Aria said quietly.“Don’t be so sure, love,” Nick said as he twirled her hair between his

Gabriel’s POVI was lying on my bed, going through my phone, when I heard someone knocking on the bedroom door next to mine. It was Jacob’s room.The knocking was loud and impatient.I stood up and walked over to the door. I opened the door and saw a very nervous Nick standing in front of Jacob’s room.“What’s wrong?” I asked him.“I can’t find Aria,” he growled and knocked on Jacob’s door again.Before I could ask him anything, Jacob opened the door.“Where is she?” Nick growled and pushed him out of the way to enter his room.I followed behind him.Jacob’s eyes widened. “Who?”“Aria,” Nick growled.“She didn’t come back?” Jacob asked, surprised. “I came into my room half an hour ago. She said she would grab a glass of water and come back up.”“She is probably with Cassie,” I said and walked out of Jacob’s room.Nick and Jacob followed me.Nick banged on Cassie’s door. “Aria?!”“Easy, man,” I said and grabbed his arm. “You are going to break the door down.”He looked at me, and the f

Gabriel’s POVI kept my hand on Nick’s shoulder, trying to convince him and myself that we would find her, that she would be okay.I was in as much pain as he was, but I needed to keep myself calm. We wouldn’t be able to find her if both of us freaked out and lost it.“Where the fuck is Blake?” Nick growled, his nostrils flaring.“Downstairs with a broken nose,” Jacob said.Nick’s eyes widened. “Who broke his nose?”“Jacob did,” I said. “I wanted to do it myself, but he beat me to it.”Nick looked at Jacob and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You did it?”“Yes,” Jacob nodded. “He took her from me. He let her go. He had to pay for what he did.”Nick’s fists clenched when Jacob said that Blake had taken Aria from him. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Jacob really had a death wish.“He took her from all of us,” I said and grabbed Nick’s arm. “But we are done fighting. We have to find her. We can’t waste time hitting each other.”Nick growled. “I am beating the shit out of him once she is b

Gabriel’s POVI stared at Annie’s laptop. My whole body was trembling.He hit her. He touched her.Nick was shaking next to me. I don’t think he realized, but he hasn’t stopped growling since the moment Annie played the video.“Why did you insist we watch this?” Jacob asked, his voice trembling.“Because she told us where she is,” Cassie said with a small smile.My eyes snapped to her.“What?” Nick, Jacob, and I asked at the same time.Cassie took the laptop and played the video again. It was the part where Victor was asking her who killed Calvin.“You are protecting someone, little witch,” he said. “I am not a fool. I will break you.”“You can try,” Aria said defiantly. “I thrive where others barely survive. I won’t break down that easily.”Cassie hit a pause and looked at us. “I thrive where others barely survive. Curious choice of words, don’t you think?”I furrowed my eyebrows.“Get to the point,” Nick snapped at her.I grabbed his arm. “Calm down, Nick.”He sighed and ran his han