Chapter 45
Maverick
Fury, panic, and sorrow pulsed down the bond with Raven before her chaotic emotions shut off like a steel door had slammed down between us.
I pushed for a response but got nothing. My bear paced anxiously in my chest, trying to force a shift so he could hunt down his mate, but I reminded him humans would shoot us if we ran into the city.
The minute she told me Adam had taken her to meet the sour-faced witch, Willow, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t trust that fucker as far as I could throw him. Yes, he’d saved my mate’s life when the sea witch cursed her, but he’d been acting shifty since he arrived.
I flung open the door to the guest room where Nula rested.
“Where is he?” I growled, not caring if I scared her. If Adam had hurt my mate, I’d end him.
“What do you mean?” Nula blinked at me as she sat up, confused. “I’ve been asleep.”
My teeth clenched in irritation, but I swallowed down a sharp retort.
“He took Raven to meet with Willow. Something happened and now I can’t reach her down the bond.”
Nula kicked the covers back, and I averted my gaze while she pulled some clothes on.
“He wouldn’t leave me by choice!”
Goddess save me, I wanted to wring the female’s neck and demand she tell me everything, but I fought to hang on to some semblance of calm. Whatever Adam had done, Nula wasn’t a part of it. I detected no deception in her voice or scent, only anxiety.
“Tell me exactly what he said before he left you here,” I demanded.
She sat on the edge of the bed, hands trembling, eyes tearful.
“He said he wanted to apologize to Raven. I think he felt bad about…him and me. About her mother.”
“They were soul-bonded mates. I’m surprised he has room in his heart for another.” Blunt, perhaps, but I had no fucks left to give.
How Adam had survived the loss of Raven’s mother was a mystery when so many mates died of sorrow in the aftermath.
Nula wiped a tear away. “I met Ellora one time, very early in my marriage to Tiberius, when she visited the mansion. She was kind to me.”
Of course she was kind. Raven was the kindest, most selfless witch in the entire realm. It made sense she’d inherited her best qualities from her mother.
The sound of yelling from downstairs distracted me. It was clear the shifter female knew nothing, so I left her.
When I reached the hall, Zane and Kai had returned. The naked merman dripped water all over the polished parquet floor. He turned to me, frantic.
“I had a vision. She was with the storm mage. There were shadows everywhere. Something bad is coming!”
Goddess save us all.
My phone rang. It was Boon calling. Boon never called unless it was urgent.
“Have you seen the news?” he barked without preamble.
“No, I’m too busy trying to figure out why my mate’s gone missing again!”
“Then check the news.” The line went dead.
A chill ran down my spine as three kitsunes blinked into the hall. Kenji barked at me, his hackles raised.
Zane and I both stared at our phones while the merman grabbed some pants from a basket near the door.
“The mage cunt has my little mate,” I roared, flinging my phone at the wall in anger.
“He’s dead,” Zane hissed, although I was unclear which mage he meant. Not that I cared. All mages would die. “I’ll go wake the vampire.”
The house shuddered as something massive landed on the roof. Kenji blinked out of sight and then reappeared with a naked Olaf and Rasmus’s sister dressed for battle with leather armor and a bunch of medieval weapons strapped to her body.
“Greetings. I saw the news,” Olaf grunted, still naked. It was doubtful we had any pants that would fit him, so I hoped he planned to go to war in his dragon form. “I left my eggs with Kyro.”
Zane opened his mouth like he wanted to say something inappropriate but thankfully thought better of it for once.
“I’ll open the armory.” Rasmus appeared, fangs on show. The naked aggression radiating from the vampire made me want to assert my alpha status, and I thanked the goddess the vampire was on our side because I knew he was a formidable opponent.
“Do we know where the mage has taken her?” he asked me.
“Adam took Raven?” Nula’s quiet voice made me jump. I’d forgotten she was there, hovering in the shadows. “He would never hurt Raven. He adored her. Tiberius must have found them somehow.”
“Kenji says this was planned. He heard Tiberius thanking Adam.”
Nula collapsed in horror. “No! He wouldn’t betray her! Raven was like a daughter to him.”
“The evidence suggests otherwise,” I pointed out, unmoved by the female’s pained sobs.
Adam was a dead male walking. I no longer cared if he was Raven’s guardian, the male she viewed as a father figure. He’d destroyed whatever relationship they had when he betrayed her.