Chapter 32 Peter
PETER
Peter and Benedict spent the entire night searching for Ian and ran out of places to look.
The hunters arrived with Emerson just as the sun was beginning to rise and took over the search, hoping to find him somewhere hidden from the sun.
If he was staying still, it was their best chance of finding him.
The Hawthorne women were trying to figure out how Ian had managed to escape from the temple, but there was no sign of magic or any force upon the lock.
Grams had brewed a truth tonic for everyone with access to the temple, but it had failed to identify any traitor amongst them.
Peter didn’t want to leave Foxford, but Benedict promised to keep him updated and said the last thing they needed was Faye returning to town looking for him.
Back at the castle, Peter brought waffles from Fowler’s Bakery with every possible topping to make up for his disappearing act.
At least she’d had her friends there to keep her distracted.
With the town on high alert and the coven double-checking every way in and out of town, all he could do was keep Faye out of Foxford until Ian was dead or caught. Personally, he preferred the former.
“Faye? I’m back,” he called as he entered the suite with a takeaway box of breakfast goodies. Nothing like carbs and sugar to help battle a hangover. Despite not needing sleep, he felt emotionally drained; he plastered on a smile to try and hide his fears.
When Faye didn’t respond, he figured she was still asleep after a night of celebrating.
“Sorry I had to leave last night, but I’ve got breakfast to cure the worst of all hangovers,” he announced, opening the door to her bedroom. Instead of being greeted by Faye, he found Luisa on the bed in a white robe, staring at him as if he were an intruder.
“Luisa?” he exclaimed, jumping back in surprise.
“Peter?” she yawned.
“Where’s Faye?” Peter asked, putting the takeaway bag down on the coffee table by the couch. Faye’s bags were at the end of the bed and her cosmetics were still on the bathroom sink, but she was gone.
“She went back to Foxford at dawn.”
Peter didn’t have a heart to stop, but it felt like Luisa had punched him in the chest.
“She wanted to see you, and I was far too hungover to get up or drive.” Luisa stretched, still half-asleep and unaware of the consequences of what she was saying. “After you left last night, she couldn’t settle, so she decided to head home early.”
“Damn it!” He ran his hands through his hair. “I should’ve told her. She never would’ve gone if I had just told her the truth.”
Luisa turned pale. “Told her what?”
“Benedict called me. He discovered that Ian had somehow escaped from the temple dungeon. We spent all night searching for him, but we couldn’t find him.”
“Shit, Ian is on the loose?” Luisa jumped up, now fully alert.
“And starving. Hopefully he won’t be stupid enough to remain in Foxford. We’ve got hunters and werewolves searching the woods and our borders, but so far we’ve come up empty.”
“Ian and stupid go hand in hand. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“How did he get out? The temple dungeons aren’t somewhere you can just walk in and out of. Someone must have fed him and helped him escape.”
“I don’t know. We found a vampire acquaintance of his nearby, and she might have had help, but we don’t have time to worry about the ‘how’ right now. How could Faye leave like this?” He couldn’t understand what the hell had motivated her when she knew he was coming back this morning.
“I’m sure Faye’s fine. Even if he manages to get past the hunters, an entire coven and werewolves, he won’t be able to get past the protections you put on her apartment,” Luisa told him hastily as she got ready in the other room.
Peter waited by the door, and when he noticed a notepad on the desk, he picked it up.
I’m sorry. I love you.
Without thinking, Peter punched the mirror above the desk.
No. This can’t be happening. He crumpled the note in his bloody hand and dropped it. The glass shards stuck in his hand slowed down his immediate healing.
Luisa came running as she heard the crash and picked up the note he had discarded on the navy carpet. She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. She was probably right.
“Please don’t panic. We don’t know what this means.” She sounded like she was trying to reassure herself more than him.
“How long ago did she leave?”
“We were up late celebrating, and Lucy teleported home once we came back to the room,” Luisa told him, checking her phone.
“Faye woke me to ask where I put the keys. I didn’t think anything of it.
” She frowned, looking back at the note.
“I thought she just wanted to get back to Foxford to see you. I should have—”
“No, this is my fault. I should’ve told Faye what was happening the moment Benedict called.
” Peter was terrified that her note meant she had learnt about Ian’s escape, or worse, that she’d had some involvement.
His mind swam with a million different possibilities, none reassuring.
She knows the combination to his cell; she got in before.
Did she go to kill him, and couldn’t finish the job?
But that doesn’t make sense, because she was with us when he escaped.
Maybe she had nothing to do with his escape, but what if Ian reached out to her, called the castle somehow and lured her back to Foxford during the night?
His friend might have told him where Faye was before he drained her.
“Take us back to Foxford, now,” Luisa ordered, snapping him out of his endless spiral of questions. “We can find her first.”
Peter didn’t need to be told twice.