Chapter 45
EVANDER
“What do you mean, you can’t find them?” I growl into my cell. I hit the button on the remote to close the blinds to the den.
“I don’t care about the euros or the damn chocolate. Where are they? Are they back at the inn?”
“No, sir. We have eyes on the inn. They haven’t returned. We are searching the city for them.”
Smoke billows out of me. I’m fighting my dragon for control. “It’s a village. A village of 2,000 people. It’s not that big. It’s not a city.” I’m not shouting.
“Right, we are well-aware of our issue,” she says.
“When did you lose track of them?”
“The tour ended at five.”
“Five? That’s hours ago. Track their phones. You should be able to do that.”
“Yes, sir. We can and we were. But their phones are off.”
“Off? She turned it off. Why would she do that?”
“Not sure, sir. We’ve done some digging into the other Miss Fischer. Her phone is frequently without signal.”
“Her sister kidnapped her?”
Roark walks into the den. “What’s going on? Who’s been kidnapped? Raine?”
“No one’s been kidnapped.” The agent on the phone seemingly answers both Roark and me. “We’ll have them located soon. Wren Fischer’s rental car is still in the inn’s parking lot. I will be in touch with you as soon as I have any information.”
“I want reports every half hour,” I say, doing my best to not crush my phone in the palm of my hand.
“They’ve lost her.” Smoke twirls out of Roark’s nose, joining my steam at the ceiling.
“It appears that way.” I reach out and grab Roark’s arm before he can tear out of the room.
“I’m going after her.”
“No,” I say. My stomach flips at the thought of not going after her.
“What do you mean ‘no?’” His nostrils flare. No one tells Roark no. Not even a thunder mate. His dragon is one of the fiercest dragons in the realm.
“I’m attached to her as much as you are, but we’ve already asserted too much control over her.”
“She’s a candidate.”
“Yes, but we’ve never kept them housebound before.
We can’t lock her up in the tower and see if she has the lightning.
It’s not that simple and you know it. If she’s afraid of us, it might not happen at all even if she is our mate.
And you know as well as I do that out of all the candidates we’ve had, she’s closest to being the one. ”
“She’s a whole different realm from any other candidate.”
“I know. I know. That’s why we can’t have her scared of us. After what happened with Kieren . . . it’s a risk.”
“We should never have let her go.” Roark’s fist comes down on the stone mantel. The fireplace shakes.
“Are you not listening to what I’m saying?
We have to give her space.” I’m saying it to my own dragon as much as I am to Roark.
Because I’m a fraction away from shifting and burning down the village until we find her.
And Kieren’s family has made a blood oath to not burn the damn village down—again.
If I shift, there’s no way I’ll be able to keep that promise, thunder mate or not.
“I don’t like space.”
“I know, big guy. But we can’t pull her down to the basement, chain her up, and . . .”
“Chain her up and what?” Roark asks, eyes dilated. “Claim her on our hoard pile?”
It’s exactly what I was picturing—Raine’s skin radiating gold from the bed of doubloons she’d be lying on.
Roark growls. “Fuck, now I’m pissed and fucking horny. I’m giving them ten minutes to find Raine before I go down to the village.”
I glance at my watch. It’s almost ten. Five hours—they could be out of the valley. Wandering lost in the darkness with their inferior human eyes.
Roark sinks into the chair he always sits in. He pounds at his phone, his fingers typing madly.
“What are you doing?”
“Tracking her phone,” he growls.
“Won’t work—security firm says it’s off.”
He glares at me and back to his phone. “It’s off.”
Not that I thought he would believe me. Roark doesn’t trust anyone. He glares at his phone like he’s going to crush it.
I sit in the chair across from him. I could use a drink, but that’s not going to help me find Raine. Reclining on the sofa, I cross my arms over my chest. “We can wait.”
“Ten minutes is all I’m giving them before I tear the roofs off every building.”
“Roark.” I sit up.
“Evander?” Roark moves back to the fireplace. He urges the flames with his breath, and they flash up the chimney. “She’s the one. We need this fucking ceremony done. We need it done days ago.”
If he’s told me anything that directly before, I don’t remember.
But then, I’ve been distracted, just like Roark and Kieren, ever since I took in her irresistible scent.
“I think you’re right. I’ve never been obsessed with a candidate before.
And I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve thought a few others were the one.
But I’ve never felt a pull like this before.
If she’s not the one, I might not care. We could mate her anyway. ”
“She’s the one. Don’t disrespect our mate that way. Our missing mate.” He blows on the fire, and it roars up the chimney again.
“You start a chimney fire and Leopold will have your—”
“I’m aware, and I don’t care. At all.”
My phone dings again, and I answer it without looking. “What report do you have for me?” I growl out.
No one says anything, but there’s music in the background and people talking. Then a voice not close to the phone says, “I thought you said he was the nice one.” It’s Wren. Raine must have the call on speaker.
“Raine. Where are you?” Rage boils through me. The cellphone in my hand screams from the pressure I’m clutching it with.
She doesn’t answer. I can hear her breathing. This is the exact reason why I told Roark we couldn’t go after her. I’m scaring her.
“Raine,” I say in the most pleasant voice I can. “Where are you?”
Roark’s eyes bulge out of his head. He retrieves his phone from the chair and punches at it. His eyebrows rise, and he races from the room. I’m right on his heels.
“Raine, stay there.”