Cade abducted and held by the Coterie

Cade abducted and held by the Coterie is the crisis that transforms an unexplained absence into an urgent threat. When Cade does not return to pack and leaves no note, Ava and Lock conclude that he has been taken. His captivity is not shown directly in these scenes; its force comes through the people left behind, who must act without knowing where he is or what Venus may do to him.

The Discovery of His Absence

Ava and Lock had been sharing a happy memory when Lock’s mood shifted. He struggled to raise what was troubling him, and Ava urged him to speak plainly. His concern was practical: Cade would have left a note if he had changed his plans. Lock agreed, then sat down on the floor and concluded that Cade probably had never made it back to pack. The missing note and the uncompleted packing turn a gap in their plans into evidence that something has gone wrong.

Ava’s response is immediate and physical. She shakes her head, trying not to collapse into tears, and reaches the conclusion the others have been approaching: the Coterie has kidnapped Cade. The passage does not establish where he is being held or recount the abduction itself. Instead, the realization lands through Ava’s fear, sharpened by the contrast between the ordinary expectation that Cade would return and the sudden recognition that he may be beyond their reach.

The Threat to Cade

Ava distinguishes between what she thinks Venus needs and what she fears Venus might do. She does not believe Venus will kill Cade at first, because a living captive can be used as leverage. That expectation offers no real comfort. Ava believes Venus needs him for now, but also fears that Venus will hurt him, especially because Lock has said Venus has seemed unusually unhinged lately and has little restraint even on good days.

Her fear is made more acute by the difference between Cade and the supernatural beings around him. Ava thinks Venus is unaccustomed to dealing with humans except as food, while humans are fragile compared with the others. She cannot know whether Venus would recognize when to stop if she began hurting Cade. The possibility, rather than any confirmed injury, is what makes his captivity so frightening: Ava imagines the danger without knowing its limits, then tries to steady herself by remembering that she has not lost him yet and that he is only temporarily misplaced.

Family, Anger, and Disagreement

When Lock asks what they should do next, Ava has no answer. Sid supplies one when they rejoin him in the kitchen: they should return to the drove, to Les and Duncan. His proposal gives the group a destination, but the later argument shows that it does not resolve the larger question of how to oppose the Coterie or rescue Cade.

Ava and Lock disagree over the Coterie’s role in a world where supernatural people may lack other protection. Lock points to Luther, whom Ava knows well enough to chat with and whose children she has seen in photographs. She had not known that Luther was a troll, or that he needed extensive wards just to work. Lock’s account complicates her picture of the Coterie: he is not claiming that the organization is wholly good, but argues that not everyone in it is evil and asks what people such as Luther should do while waiting for a Council that might protect them without blackmail or treachery.

Ava cannot reconcile that argument with her own experience of the Coterie while Cade is in its hands. She angrily asks whether Lock expects her to return to The Inferno, throw herself at Venus’s feet, and beg forgiveness. She also challenges him for seeming insufficiently troubled by Cade’s capture. Lock answers that he is worried too, and that Cade is family to both of them; his objection is that there is no good time for the difficult conversation they are having. Ezra, watching from the cot, compares the scene to his parents fighting and alludes to the joke about two Christmases. The exchange makes clear that their conflict is not a lack of concern for Cade, but a collision between immediate danger and a broader argument about what the Coterie provides and at what cost.

Ava’s Choices Under Pressure

Alone with her thoughts while Lock and the others are away, Ava considers the military and political limits on a rescue. A siege against the Coterie would be nearly useless because her side is outnumbered. She imagines the consequences of such a fight through Luther’s possible death and the grief of his wife and children, who might accuse her of murder. The prospect makes a direct assault look not only ineffective but potentially devastating to people outside the conflict.

Seeking help from the Portsmouth Council seems no more certain. Ava considers offering the Council a bargain: provide backup, and she will wipe out the Coterie, handing over the area and strengthening the Council’s position. Yet she doubts what assistance a weak Council could actually provide. The delay is also dangerous. She thinks a trip to Portsmouth would consume half a day, or longer if the Council made her wait, giving the Coterie more time to do terrible things to Cade.

Ava normally would have discussed such a decision with Cade; his absence removes both a trusted adviser and the person whose fate makes delay intolerable. Sitting on the bed with her toothbrush, she tries not to imagine what might be happening to him. Her reasoning returns to the same bleak distinction: she thinks the Coterie is unlikely to kill him because a dead captive is poor leverage, but believes Venus has many ways to torture him. By the end of these scenes, Cade’s condition remains unknown. His captivity has nevertheless reorganized the group’s immediate plans, exposed differences in how they understand the Coterie, and forced Ava to weigh rescue against the risks of delay, political dependence, and an attack that could harm others.