Chapter 21
FRANK N. STEIN
“Where is she?” I growl into the receiver of my phone, knowing Mikael will be able to find her easier than I can as I glance around the empty bookstore.
“You didn’t see her leave the bookstore and she’s not inside it?” Mikael asks over the phone.
“She’s not here,” I snarl, and make another round through the place.
I’ve been in every room and broken into two above stairs when I couldn’t find her inside.
I’ve been through the store top to bottom.
It’s been more than twenty minutes since she went inside the bookstore, and I haven’t had sight of her since.
“You’re sure she was wearing the shoes when you left?” Mikael asks.
“Positive. I tracked her onto the balcony just this morning,” I answer, making my way back outside onto the sidewalk.
The line goes silent but for the light clicking of the keyboard while I fume. Taller than everyone by half, it should be a simple thing to find her, no matter how tiny she is. I’m also positive she never came back out of the bookstore.
“We should be able to track her location down to her footsteps then, and I don’t see the device anywhere on the map. It’s like it’s not turned on,” he says.
My phone vibrates at my ear, and I pull it from my ear to look at it as a text from Bruno comes in.
Bruno: She’s not here boss.
Dammit. I unbutton my beige suit jacket, needing airflow as my power ratchets up another dial. I arch a brow, waiting the three tiny dots bounce, letting me know Bruno has more information.
Bruno: But Edgar is, he’s asleep in his carrier.
Bruno: Do you want us to wait here?
My nostrils flare. At least I know she hasn’t tried to leave the mansion. Bernadette wouldn’t leave without the cat.
I glance up at the cloud-dappled sky from where I stand under a maple tree I planted.
“She’s still in the village, I know it. There’s no way she could make it out of it,” I say aloud, knowing Mikael and his team are still busy trying to track her.
Energy crackles beneath my skin, rising and vibrating up through my sternum. I’ve lost my mate not even an hour after finding her.
I should’ve never let her leave the house. The sky begins to darken at the realization.
“We can have a team be there in thirty minutes. Would you like me to mobilize the unit now?” Mikael says across the phone line.
“No, that won't be necessary,” I answer.
Theres no way in hell I’m having a team of men come to the village to track down my would-be human mate, not when there are more important issues to contend with. I need them to find the formula shipments even if I want to use every resource I can to find her now.
“What news on the moonflower?” I ask, forcing my attention elsewhere as I continue to scan the crowd of ghouls making their way across the busy street. There are only half a dozen shops open; it’s probable she’s in one of them.
I scowl harder, half listening as he informs me of the progress the team is making.
“We will need her next week to infiltrate their systems and gain access to the profile data. There’s no way they’re not tracking who they’ve given the serum to, but at this point we won’t be able to tell without that list. Are you listening, Frank?” Mikael asks.
“I’m listening.”
“The security team has been turning away humans from the gate, everyone wants to see your new fiancée.”
“What?” I thunder. Most of the men have been sent around the country, tracking down the leads that Bernadette found while under Mikael’s supervision.
“Don’t worry. Security is managing just fine. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials by the way. Bruno’s report mentioned various cat items?” Mikael says, and I can hear the amusement in his tone.
“Just find her,” I bite out, knowing full well his tune would be a lot different if he knew she is my mate. He would be scrambling to have a team on the ground no matter what I say.
I frown as the electrical current within me becomes a deeper hum, vibrating through my senses.
Shit.
Storm clouds move overhead, the first indication that my power is becoming unstable. I sigh in irritation and shove my hands into my pockets as electricity rolls across the top of my skin.
She’s not been gone that long and can’t have gotten far.
I know she’s still here.
“The PR team has been dealing with an onslaught of calls, all pertaining to your fiancée of course. So far, it’s not impeding any of the progress the alpha teams are making on the serum shipments.”
“Then why are you telling me?” I snap, not wanting to chit chat over the stupidity of the media stations and what sells their bullshit.
“Because we’re going to use it to locate the humans,” Mikael answers calmly, as he always does.
Not much can get under the ghoul’s skin.
“Use what to locate them?” I ask.
“The mayor wants you to attend a gala in your honor—”
“For what?”
“If you’ll stop cutting me off, this conversation will go a lot faster,” Mikael utters, deadpan.
“Fine, get on with it,” I tell him, making use of the time to glance through the crowds for Bernadette again.
“Pelican Group is on the list of attendees. If we announce your betrothal and have the human attend the mayor’s event, we can kill two birds with one stone. Collect everyone who’s used the serum and hack into their system simultaneously.”
I imagine for a moment Bernadette at a black-tie event, and lead fills my gut. “Not happening.”
“Well, you’d better try to make it happen.
It’s the best advantage we can take and is only a week away, giving us just enough time to get the teams back in place.
We spoke to our ghoul at the mayor’s house, he says the mayor wants to use your engagement to sway this year’s vote.
It's because he will get exclusive interview time with the media stations. The mayor is sending them invites to make it a controlled affair for your good deeds. Every broadcast station in the country has emailed and come by with gifts, but they’re already speculating you’ll refuse to talk to them. ”
“They’re right.” I have no intentions of pandering to anyone.
“Either way, we have to use it. You’ve no choice. We won’t get another opportunity with them all in one room,” he mutters, as if it’s a foregone conclusion.
I realize I may very well be forced to parade her in front of thousands of people, and just the idea makes my skin crawl.
Thunder rolls in the distance as if to echo in response.
“Security will be at its highest during the event, no one will be unaccounted for—”
“Fine,” I say. I’ll do whatever is necessary to get the moonflower back.
My mate notwithstanding, is the only thing that truly matters or is important at this time.
No matter how my instincts are rearing to scour every inch of the valley until I have her back, the clock is ticking on the human’s timeline, and they have mere days before going feral.
Chills wrack up my spine, the want for her far greater than the urge to find the serum. Fuck.
“How long do we have?” I ask.
“Given the twelve-week gestation period, we have just enough time to keep them all from going feral. If you’ll approve the operation, I’ll see that the men are in place.”
A streak of black dashes across a tall green hill in the distance, toward the mansion. My gaze narrows at the hellish horse.
What is he doing this close to the village? He never likes to get close to any other kind, it’s why his stable has been moved and rebuilt all the way across the mansion’s estate, the bastard. He neighs and tosses his head up and down.
“It’s in a week?” I ask, knowing he will know I’m asking about when the gala is.
“Five days,” he says.
“Sort it and send me the details. I’ll handle the human.” I end the call and pocket my phone, heading toward the open field in the distance where Brom stands as if waiting.
A few moments later, Brom’s massive hoofs clop loudly across the asphalt covered street as I grip his black mane while trying to find Bernadette. Something inside tells me she’s still here, but where could she be?
“Find her Brom, and you’ll have all the candied apples you want come morning,” I tell him, and he gains speed.
Unexpectedly, he cranes his neck, and I dig my heels into Brom’s flanks as we make another gallop around the small-town square.
I’m an idiot for losing her to begin with, an idiot for allowing her to ever leave the house.
I have only a split second to readjust and tighten my thighs as Brom rears unexpectedly, squealing in the air as he does, and I cling to his thick black mane.
I give him his head, sensing he knows something I don’t, and he veers his large head and barrels down a side-street, one I walked down just moments ago.
I frown when a glimpse of Bernadette’s fiery hair just as Brom pulls to a stop in front of the bookstore.
“Were you in there this whole time?” I ask, an emotion I’ve not felt for a long-time seeping through my bones as I look at her standing on the storefront steps.
Relief courses through me at the sight of her cherubic face, only to be next squashed by fury. I claw at the tight leash on my temper, almost imploding when I get a look at who she’s been spending her time with.
This is why I couldn’t find her.
Lightning cracks the sky and thunder booms as I lose my composure.
“Hello, Frank,” Odette says with a short wave, as if her presence isn’t cause for alarm.
“Odette, what an unwanted surprise.”
The witch shrugs. “Spontaneous pop in, I couldn’t resist when I heard the news of your little fiancée. I’m so glad to see that you’re getting along.”
My lip curls in disgust even as I take in her attire and begin to frown. Since when does the witch queen wear something so casual. Jeans and a white blouse with simple brown shoes make up her outfit, when typically she’s dripping in expensive outfits and sporting her favorite footwear, heels.
But more importantly, what the hell is she doing here?
I glance at Bernadette, slack-jawed at her side and staring up at her as most humans do. Odette’s glamour and charm spells are as potent as they are powerful.
“Bernadette, come here,” I say, my gaze not leaving Odette as my mate makes her way to where I stand waiting at Brom’s side.
Bernadette’s gaze widens but she moves to obey for once in her life, as if sensing whatever strife lies between myself and Odette. She steps off the sidewalk and walks toward me hurriedly, but glances behind her as if she can’t resist.
“Who is she?” Bernadette asks when she reaches me in the street. I smooth a hand down Brom’s back and motion her closer.
“A bitch,” I answer, and grab her by the waist, picking her up easily and gently pushing her onto Brom’s back.
She grips Brom’s mane tight, not that she need bother. He stands still, allowing Bernadette to get settled, his flanks bristling with what I know to be a deep-rooted desire to get away.
It would take weeks to unpeel the levels of disgust I have, and why, for the witch queen.
“I heard that,” Odette calls out.
“She’s no one of importance,” I tell Bernadette, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.
Humans are flighty and for all her hundreds of years in age, Odette still looks young.
I’d mate with Bernadette a thousand times over and let my balls shrivel to dust before I’d ever deign to touch the witch queen.
The storm that same night after she dubbed me Frankenstein was much like the one brewing above us now, only this time, I’m neither powerless nor her servant. Frank Nathaniel Stein was born that same night, and he answers to no one.
“Aww, Frankenstein. You wound me. Here I am just trying to check in on why your magic is so erratic these days, but it looks like congratulations are in order. Anna would be so happy for you,” Odette calls out sweetly from the bookstore steps.
“Frankenstein,” Bernadette gasps at the moniker, and rage boils beneath my skin.
I’ve dealt with the name ever since one fateful visit to her friend’s drawing room.
All it took was her calling me Frankenstein after a visit with Mary Shelley, and the name stuck like glue because of my reaction, I’m sure of it.
I’d been in this world too long to count, and far longer than the tale of a misled doctor and his scorned creation, but Odette saw how I hated the name after hearing the story and delighted in my hatred of it.
“Who’s Anna?” Bernadette asks.
“Old girlfriend,” I answer without thinking, trying to control my rage.
The wind picks up as my hands form into fists. The witch queen smirks, and orange clouds my senses.
“I’ve not yet wounded you Odette, but I’d like to,” I bite out, and start toward her.
I’m well in my rights to deal with her as I see fit since she’s stepped foot in my territory, and she knows it.
The supernatural has only one true law that’s upheld, that we remain hidden from humans, but no laws have been broken.
Bernadette’s status as my mate trumps all else, whether I allow the bond to solidify or not.
“I actually don’t have time for this, and have places to be,” Odette snaps.
A smirk plays on my lips as I stalk closer, a ball of lightning crackling in my palm.
“You should’ve thought of that before coming here,” I say, but the moment I open my hand to grab her, she vanishes, no doubt using her magic to whisk her somewhere to safety.
“Holy shit,” Bernadette breathes behind me.
I glance back at my new mate where she sits wide-eyed on Brom, staring where Odette stood moments ago, and my gaze narrows.
At the bookshop, a wave of unease like I’ve not felt in centuries came over me.
It must have been Odette’s mask taking hold over the village, and that would explain why I couldn’t find Bernadette anywhere.
Odette was keeping her presence hidden. Probably to try and gauge whether she’s my mate in truth.
“Is she a witch?” Bernadette gasps.
It suddenly all comes together. My teeth grind in my mouth and my jaw pops in my cheek. There’s a wave of supernatural mating with humans, and its highly probable Odette has something to do with it.