Damon locked the door behind him, and kept his food on the table. He began pacing the room.
'I can't control my powers yet. I could have hurt her. Why wasn't she afraid of me?... I could have hurt her,' he sat on the ground leaning on the wall. 'Why am I even staying here? The more I get closer to her, the more likely I am to hurt her. Right now it's just being woken up by her, but what if… No! I can't think of hurting her. I need to get out of here.'
Damon racked his mind, making a plan for him to escape, but first he needed to break Kaia out of the dungeons.
After an hour of getting everything together for his big plan, Damon looked at the outfit he bought for the masquerade. Echo's happy, and excited face flashed in his mind, causing him to think twice about what he was doing. He felt deep regret about kissing her, but he was glad he did… at least then she would know that he really loves her, and that's why he was doing what he was.
He got dressed, and put on the mask. Taking the invitation, he left the house.
Hunter, who was sleeping in the living room, opened her eyes at the sound of the door closing. She immediately stood up, and rushed to Damon's room to find him gone. As quick as lightning, she ran to Echo's room, waking her master up.
"Damon left!" the cub blurted as soon as Echo opened her eyes.
Echo sat up, a little confused she questioned what she heard, "Damon… Left?"
"Yes. I heard the front door close, and checked his room. He was gone, so was his clothes, and the invitation," the cub explained. She looked at Echo's dress, and continued, "Get dressed for the masquerade, I have a feeling we might find him there."
Echo glanced at her clothes, and got out of bed. Hunter left the room, so that her master could get dressed.
After getting dressed, and completing her makeup, Echo put on the mask that matched the deep purple off shoulder ball gown. The gown was fluffy with several layers, and a silver ribbon around the waist that consisted of silver sequins and purple glitter. All that was paired with a gloss purple wrap heel.
Echo had her hair up in a crown plait, with two loose strands of hair on either side of her face.
She stepped out of her room, and looked at Hunter, who was lying on the ground, "You ready!"
"Yes!" Hunter blurted with enthusiasm, continuing, "You look gorgeous. I wish I could be that pretty. There's no doubt you'd hypnotise everyone at the masquerade with your beautiful looks."
Echo chuckled at the cubs response, "More like I'll get killed by everyone if Damon escapes… Come on, we don't have time to waste."
—
Echo arrived at the ballroom with Hunter. She had not met the commander or Sebastian on their way to the party.
As expected, the two casually blended in with the other Protectors. Even though they had their attention on finding Damon, it was almost impossible to spot him.
'This is not good. Everyone here looks the same, and the dark lighting makes it much more difficult. Ugh! I need to find him soon… before he does something crazy, and puts all of us in more trouble,' Echo thought to herself, as she came face to face with someone.
It was hard to recognise him, but Echo eventually realised that it was the commander standing in front of her, with Jasmine.
"Where's your boyfriend?" the commander asked, it was hard to read his expressions with the mask he was wearing. But there was no doubt to Echo that he was suspecting something.
"He went to grab some drinks," Echo replied without thinking much, glancing at the table with drinks on it.
The commander had his gaze on her, "What's going on here, Echo? I know when something is out of place."
Echo sighed, glancing at Jasmine, "Fine. I messed up, and he took off. I thought he'll be here, but I haven't spotted him yet."
The commander took a quick glance around the room, "We can't talk here. Follow me."
Echo and Hunter followed the commander and Jasmine straight to the briefing room, which was empty. Jasmine slumped on a chair, taking off her heels and removing her mask. The commander too took off his mask, and glared at Echo.
"Explain everything!" the commander ordered, he sounded angry and annoyed.
Echo explained briefly, in hopes of not wasting time. Once she had finished, the commander was silent. The silence was more deafening than any words he would have shouted at her.
She knew very well that she had messed up. Not to mention the look of betrayal in the commander's eyes.
"Why didn't you come to me right away? I trusted you to keep a close eye on him," the commander berated her.
Echo took off her mask, and lowered her head, not trying to give excuses, or even an explanation of the plan she had. In fact, she wanted to get Damon back, and then explain everything to the commander.
The commander turned away from Echo, and took a few steps forward, turning back to her, "Were you ever planning to tell me?" Echo was silent, which made the commander shout at her "Answer me!"
"Yes, sir," was the only reply he got from her. He was surprised at the composure she kept, instead of being afraid of him. Her eyes were filled with guilt.
"I'll get him back… I promise. I won't rest till I find him," Echo got on one knee, as she lowered her head, like she was bowing to a king.
Jasmine stood up in shock, "Echo!" she called out, grabbing Echo's shoulders and lifting her up.
The commander sighed, pacing the room, "I invited the witches to the ball. So whatever you do… you better do it soon, or we'll both have our heads on spike at the end of this."