Theodora’s POV
The Pantomath did exactly what I expected him to do. Try to outsmart me. Assume that he was a few steps in front of me, but really, I held all the cards. The one thing I didn’t predict was the fact that Mads knew him.
Seeing the warlock dragged up demons. I could see them in Mads’s eyes. Those soulful eyes became stormy, a war raging inside of him. I could feel it. The abyss opened up for him. The same nightmares, but a different fear.
I couldn’t help him, but Javier did. I watched Javier pull him from the darkness as Mads had helped me. We were all connected. All three of us. I could feel it deep in my chest when Mads came back to me.
To us.
As badly as I wanted to hold him, comfort him, be his anchor, I couldn’t. I had to play the Pantomath like a fiddle, buy enough time for someone to hear our distress beacon. The message played on repeat, hitting any ship docked at Aeolus.