thirty-four
Jade is fine. The refrain was on repeat in my head until it was replaced with: Jade is fine, but the last time she was out of your sight, she was attacked and injured.
I stood up with enough force to send my chair into the wall behind me. All conversation stopped and everyone looked at me.
“Sorry, I need to move.”
The rooms on the bottom floor of Roul’s house flowed one into the next and formed a circle around a central staircase to the upstairs. It was an excellent pacing track.
“What does your bond tell you?” Drym called as I passed through the living room.
I focused on the dancing lights as I made a lap. “That she’s fine,” I answered as I passed him.
I saw Kendal shake her head before entering the kitchen.
“If it were me…,” she said.
Drym grunted. “I’d be going crazy too.”
“Exactly. Leave him be, Drym.”
On my fourth lap, Nanna blocked my path. When I moved to go around her, she moved with me.
“That’s enough. You’re making me dizzy. Just call her, for fuck’s sake.”
My jaw dropped open. Using the phone had never entered my mind. I scattered the group of cell phones on the kitchen counter, digging to find mine.
Quin shouted, “Hey!” at my rough treatment of the electronics, but they were all in near indestructible cases—a necessity for us, since we didn’t want to replace them every time we made a phone call.
I mashed the phone button and then Jade’s name. It rang once and then went straight to voice mail. Her cheerful tone told me to leave a message, and she’d call me right back. After the beep, I took too long thinking of what to say, and a robotic voice asked me if I was happy with the message.
I tried again, and this time managed, “Wanted to make sure you’re okay,” before hanging up.
I clenched the phone, staring at the screen like it might magically light up with Jade’s name. The bond told me she was safe, but her not answering left a gnawing feeling in my gut. Behind me, there was a clatter—Nanna dropped her tea mug in the sink with a sharp thud.
“I’m sure she’s just busy,” Kendal ventured, her voice soft but not entirely convincing. “It’s only been a few minutes.”
“Busy?” I scraped my claws across the back of my neck. “Yes, maybe. Or maybe… Maybe I’m just being paranoid,” I added, a little too loud, hoping to convince myself.
Drym pushed off the couch and came into the kitchen, arms crossed over his broad chest. “You don’t need to explain anything to us. But this pacing in circles is getting on everyone’s nerves—including yours.”
I couldn’t argue with that. My pulse throbbed in my ears, the same refrain beating like a drum: Jade is fine. Jade is fine. Except… the last time I assumed she was fine, she ended up hurt. I growled in frustration. I couldn’t follow her. It was still daylight. I was trapped in the compound until dark.
I stared at the red motes of light that bobbed around me, willing myself to calm down.
A small hand tapped my forearm, and I looked down to find River standing in front of me.
“I know where they are. I’ll go.”
I shook my head. It still wouldn’t be me.
She held up her phone and then grabbed mine, dialing herself. “I’ll leave it on speaker. You’ll be able to hear everything.”
I nodded. “Yes. Please.”
As she stepped through the door I called after her. “Thank you.”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “We take care of our own, Thurl.”
In that moment, I finally felt like a creature that others cared about and would help. My entire life it had been just me and my brothers. It was hard to rely on someone else. Hard to trust. She still scared me, but I trusted Zeus. He trusted River.
I hoped she would find nothing, and my brothers could laugh at how silly I’d been. I hoped to hear her voice chiding me for sending River after her on the other end of the line.
I would let them tease as much as they wanted if it were true. I couldn’t lose Jade. Without her sugar and sunshine, I would be a dark shell. To have the depth of the mate bond ripped away—it would be too much to bear.
I sank into a crouch, the phone still cradled in my hands as I listened to the sounds of River getting into her vehicle and driving.
Please, please let her be okay.