Chapter 29
Felix
My eyes flew open, my heart beating like I was being chased by someone, or something.
But there was nothing, just our dark bedroom.
Sev was sleeping next to me, softly snoring as he did whenever he was truly exhausted.
And he had to be, after the sickness hit us, all of them had spent their waking hours figuring out what had happened and then taking care of us.
Samantha and her pack had stayed here, intent on helping us.
Still having no clue on what woke me up, I figured some water would do me good. I’d only taken four steps to the bathroom when loud knocking scared the shit out of me. “Severin!” Dina called from the other side of the door. I hurried to open it. She was panting and holding on to her knees. “Joel.”
Sev was beside me in an instant, both of us only wearing our underwear, but neither of us caring. “Joel what?” Sev asked worriedly.
“He’s gone! I’ve looked everywhere! In every empty room. Even the garden!”
I was fully awake now, and realizing the illness seemed to have dissipated, I just felt achy, like I always did after recovering from a sickness, but I felt… normal.
“Oh gods,” I said, realization dawning on me.
“What?!” they both demanded.
“Um, how are you feeling right now, Dina?” I asked, needing to know before telling them my theory.
“I feel fine! It’s Joel I’m worried about!”
“So, you’re no longer sick?”
She paled. “Shit.”
I nodded. “They have to have taken him, knowing we were too sick to fight them if needed.”
“You sure?” Sev asked.
“Only us witches got sick and when we feel fine, he’s gone? That has to mean they planned to take him.”
“They want us to find him,” Dina said, finally reaching the same conclusion I had.
I nodded. “They likely weakened our ward, making it possible for them to steal him away while we slept.”
“Is anyone else missing?” Sev demanded, fully on alert now.
Dina shook her head. “I woke everyone up to check the rooms, only Joel is gone. The werewolves are searching the property, seeing if they can scent him.”
“We’ll get dressed. Tell everyone we need to have a meeting before acting. We might need to call your coven, too,” I said, giving Dina an encouraging smile. “We’ll find him.”
Thirty minutes later, we all sat in the dining room, Dina’s phone on speaker so her coven sisters could be in on everything.
I was sitting comfortably in Sev’s lap, both of us needing the closeness.
Now that I was feeling better, I would need to feed him after this meeting, unless we had to move out of here immediately after.
I hoped not, as much as I wanted to find Joel, I also knew both Sev and Peter needed to feed to be at their best.
“Joel is missing,” Dina said, starting the meeting with running over the facts so her coven knew everything. “All of us witches are feeling better, a bit achy, but still better. We think they cursed us with sickness to weaken our ward and take Joel from us.”
“But why Joel?” Samantha asked. I’d thought the same thing.
“Maybe because he’s the weakest one? The only human at least, right?” Jenny asked through the phone.
I shook my head. “Claire’s human, too. So that can’t be the reason.”
“It could,” Liam countered. “If they needed to pick one, maybe it was just who was the closest to the front door. And that was Joel.”
I frowned at that logic, because it did make sense.
“We fear they want us to follow him,” Sev continued.
“Which we will,” Dina said, her tone firm.
“Of course,” Sev agreed easily. “But we need to figure out if they took him because he was the easiest victim, or if there was any other reason why they picked him.”
“Where did he sleep?” Jenny asked. “Because so far, we have: human, and closest human to door. He was your cook, right?”
Sev replied. “Right, and I believe he was with Dina in their room. Correct?” Sev looked to Dina who blushed.
“I um, yeah. I slept through him leaving,” she admitted. So, he’d gone back to her room to sleep even though I’d found him another one so he could rest better while she was sick? It didn’t make any sense.
There was silence before Jenny spoke again. “So, let me get this straight. He’s human and involved with a witch?”
“Yes,” I replied, already feeling done with this. “Now can we get a move on things? They could be hurting him as we speak.”
Jenny continued, seemingly ignoring my urgency. “They for sure want you to track him down. They know Dina is involved with him, and he’s weak on his own. The perfect target.”
Dina snapped at hearing that, “Now that we’ve cleared that up, could we move things along like Felix suggested?”
Liam hummed, before pointing at the phone. “Can they do tracking spells? I figure a strand of his hair or some of his clothes could work? As soon as we have a location, we can call in help.”
“You want to help us get him back?” I asked, a bit stunned over how easy they just went with it.
“Of course,” Samantha said, speaking for her pack. “We already told you they’re up to something, might as well come in hot and deal with them once and for all.”
“Wait,” I said, holding up my hand. “You think this will turn into a fight? Not just a rescue mission?”
Everyone shot me a wide-eyed look. It was Jenny who broke the silence. “Felix, did you seriously think they went into all of this hassle just for us to march in there and grab him? They want us to fight them. This is no longer just a battle, it’s a war.”
Finding Joel’s location turned out to be harder than we thought. No matter how long the witches searched, nothing came of it. Not with his hair, nor his clothes. The Silver Lock Coven wasn’t playing around.
I sat and tended to my small garden, removing the plants the deer had eaten. It seemed rather fond of one plant in particular, I just hoped it wouldn’t upset its stomach.
“Think it died?” Giro asked, helping me with the ruined stems.
“No, it seems fine,” I replied, grabbing some crushed crystals for the earth. It helps fertilize it and when the moon shone it would add certain qualities to the plants, which would come in handy when we used them for potions.
“Not the plant,” Giro said, rolling his eyes. “I meant the deer.”
“Why would it die?”
“Well, I don’t know what a Vullis plant can do to a deer, but considering we use it for salves and bug repellant. It can’t be good to eat.”
I laughed. “At least it would’ve learned its lesson. Let’s hope nothing more than a stomach ache will hit it.”
“Considering it hasn’t been back, I would say it’s a lesson well learned.”
We stayed like that, pouring our anger and fear over those plants, hoping Dina and her coven would have answers for us soon.
I wasn’t the only one who felt played with, like they enjoyed toying with us and our bodies.
We still had no clue on how they could curse us from a distance.
According to Giro it should be possible, but how it was possible, he couldn’t say.
Astrea and Claire spent most of their time by themselves.
My poor sister was still struggling walking around for longer periods, so she needed to do a little every day to get better.
I’d seen them walk around the garden, Astrea’s hand in Claire’s as they laughed together.
I still had no clue what their current relationship was, and since I hadn’t been able to find one without the other, I would remain clueless until they told me themselves.
I missed Claire the most, which hurt to admit, but I’d gotten used to Astrea being gone for years, or at least unable to talk to me.
But Claire had been my rock for those years, the one I always had in my corner.
I missed having her for myself. It was a selfish thought, I knew that.
I wouldn’t do anything about it. Astrea needed her more than I did, but I could still feel the distance between Claire and me.
It was foreign and well, I hated it. Hopefully, I’d get some bestie time in the near future, once all of this Silver Lock drama was over and done with.
“Ready for a break?” Sev’s smooth voice reached me, and my body felt instantly at ease, and a tad bit aroused. It seemed to be the two emotions he awoke in me the fastest.
I gave him a seductive grin, taking his offered hand as he helped me up from the ground.
“You two have fun!” Giro called after us. Peter was right beside Giro before we’d even left the garden. I guessed there was another vampire in need of feeding.
I was pushed against the now closed bedroom door, Sev claiming my mouth with his, as his nimble fingers undressed me. I’d needed this. Needed him. Our bonding time should’ve been spent like this, but instead we had coven drama and kidnappings to deal with.
“I need you too much,” his tone was urgent and laced with need.
“Then give me my oil,” I begged, knowing it would get me ready quicker.
His smile was all teeth and filled with promise as he handed me the oil, the oil he somehow already had…. Somewhere on him. And, I was naked. When did that happen?
I never got to ask, because Sev’s fingers breached me while his mouth found mine again, making me melt against the door, unable to think about anything other than Sev.
“Please,” I begged, not knowing if I wanted it hard and fast against the door, or in our bed. I hoped Sev would make the decision for us, and soon.
I was spun around, his hard cock entering me in one swift movement.
I hadn’t even seen him get undressed! I moaned, loving the sting the rough movement caused.
Sev knew this, too, having seen how well I could take him numerous times.
I’d yet to take him, but it was definitely something I would ask about in the future.
For now, I allowed myself to lean against the door, letting my bonded hold me up.
He kept thrusting harder into me, like he needed to feel me there, as if he, too, suffered when we were apart.
“Felix,” he grunted. “My Felix.” He liked claiming me vocally every time we had sex now. My agreement that I was his was somehow the way to calm his instincts.
“Yours,” I agreed, like I always did.
He reached around my middle, stroking my aching dick.
I moaned, offering my neck. He bit down on it, hard, and I came.
The rush I normally got when he fed was only just hitting after I’d come, making me experience another sort of pleasure-pain, my body humming with pleasure whilst my dick was too sensitive to get on with it.
I could only groan as my body continued in this state of confused feelings.
Sev had come, too, at least I thought so.
It was hard sensing my surroundings with the humming, even my hearing seemed muffled.
I blinked and was laying in our bed, Sev stroking my hair and offering me sweet words of praise.
As if I’d been the one doing the hard part of our fucking and not him.
That had me chuckling softly. Maybe I should praise him more.
“I love your cock,” was all I got out before I dozed off. I could’ve sworn I heard him laugh.