Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Lanche
To say I was surprised to wake up to a message from Dain asking if we could meet for breakfast was an understatement.
But I couldn’t say I was upset about it.
As soon as I texted him back and made plans, I quickly showered and got ready before heading out.
I ended up getting to the diner early, so I was surprised to find Dain already sitting at a table.
I headed over with a smile, but when I got a look at Dain’s face, my smile faltered, and I almost tripped over my own feet.
He looked… terrible. He had dark circles under his eyes and a haggard look about him. He was pale and was emitting a sort of sad and upset, perhaps worried, aura around him.
“Hey,” I said when I was close to the table.
He jerked like he hadn’t realized I was standing there, and when his gaze met mine, I could tell he’d been crying.
What in the hell had happened since he’d left me last night? He’d been so happy only hours ago.
“Lanche,” he breathed out before jumping to his feet and stepping up to me. He stared at me like he didn’t know what to do or say.
For a few seconds, I didn’t know what to do or say either, but I really wanted to comfort him. So I gingerly leaned down and pulled the werewolf into my arms. He let out a shuddering breath as he clung to me, and for a moment, I was afraid he was crying. I heard a few sniffles, so he might’ve been.
What the hell? Did someone hurt him?
“Hey, Dain,” I whispered into his fluffy hair. “I’ve got you.”
He let out a little hiccup noise, sniffled again, and cleared his throat, but he didn’t pull away.
After a few seconds, I asked, “What’s wrong, sweet little wolf?”
He snorted, then sighed. “I… I’m afraid to tell you.”
My brow furrowed. “Why in the world would you be afraid to tell me? You can tell me anything.”
With another long sigh, he pushed away and moved back to his seat, gesturing across the table. “Have a seat, okay?”
We both sat, and Dain picked up his menu, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off him.
“You wanna tell me what’s wrong? You’re kind of freaking me out over here.”
He set his menu down and took a deep breath. “Someone broke into my apartment last night.”
My entire body went rigid. “What? Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
He shook his head. “I’m fine. They broke in while we were on our date. They were already gone by the time I got home.”
When I realized he was fidgeting with a napkin, I reached across the table and covered his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Is your apartment okay? Did a lot get taken?”
His eyes met mine, and I could see a mixture of pain and fear in them. “Lanche… I… I had… I had your icicle there. They… they stole it.” He looked like he was about to cry again.
But I froze. My icicle. Someone stole my icicle from him.
My chest tightened as true fear rushed through me.
Some… some stranger, some thief, had my icicle. They could access my magic any time they wanted. They could control me.
Holy shit. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
They could control me and my magic.
What the hell was I going to do?
What the hell could I do?
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
“Lanche?”
Fuck. Oh great Ice Goddess, please help me. Please save me from this evil.
“Lanche?”
How could I stop this? How could I keep my autonomy?
“Lanche!”
Dain’s voice made me jerk my attention to him.
“Hey, big guy, you with me? Can you hear me?”
I swallowed thickly and nodded. “I… I’m with you.”
He sent me a sad smile. “Okay, good. I know you’re freaking out right now—I am too—but I need you to stay calm, okay? We’re doing everything we can to find it. It’s… it’s going to be alright.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me or himself, but either way, he clearly didn’t believe the words.
Neither did I.
How could it be okay? Someone had a piece of me, and they could use it against me at any moment.
“You have every right to be mad at me, Lanche. Trust me, I’ve never been more upset, disappointed, and pissed at myself than I am right now.”
I blanched. “Dain—”
“I’m so fucking sorry, Lanche. I… it’s all my fault, and I’m so, so, so fucking sorry.”
I squeezed his hand again, lacing our fingers together, trying to calm us both. “It’s not your fault.”
He let out an unamused bark of laughter. “Yeah, it is.”
I glared. “Dain, how in the hell is this your fault? Unless you hired someone to steal it or gave it away, there’s no way in hell this is your fault. You can’t control other people.”
He wiped at his eyes. “Yeah, but if I’d been more careful—”
“Careful how? Did you go around waving the thing at strangers and proclaiming what it is? Most people wouldn’t even understand the significance of it anyway. This isn’t your fault.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. I’m over here making you comfort me when it should be the other way around.”
I sent him a small grin. “Honestly, needing to help you knocked me out of my panicky spiral, so you were still helping.”
He snorted, then wiped his face with his free hand again.
“Ugh. I’m… I’m just so sorry, Lanche. I swear that we’re all trying to find it.
We tried to track the person last night, but they used a bunch of magic to block their scent.
They even busted through my wards, which I didn’t think was possible.
Granted, I never let Tan and Remi come back to shore them up even though they wanted to… which I’m seriously regretting now.”
“Who’s we?”
“Um… Anton, Jed, Phea, Beshiro, Tray, Kat, Oakley, Roman, Tan, and Garrick… although I might’ve missed someone.”
My eyebrows rose as he listed everyone off. “Tan and Garrick, as in the king and agusha?”
“Yep.”
“Holy shit.”
He sent me another sad smile. “They’ve been helping all night, but we all decided to go home and get some sleep before we go out again.”
I really wished he would’ve called me. “But… you’re not home sleeping.”
He snorted. “I need to eat first, and I… I wanted to see you.”
Despite the horror of the situation, his words made my belly swoop a tiny bit. But then I remembered that he no longer had my icicle, and I had to keep myself from frowning. “I wanted to see you too.” I cleared my throat. “So they broke through wards and used scent-blocking magic?”
He nodded. “Yes. And the only thing they took was your icicle. They left everything else alone.”
“Shit,” I whispered. That likely meant they had plans… plans for me and my magic.
That… that was the worst news yet.
A waitress came over and said, “It looked like you boys were having a serious conversation, so I didn’t want to interrupt before. What can I get you?”
I blinked at her. What could she get us? How about my icicle back?
Dain asked me, “Do you want some waffles and eggs?”
I nodded because I hadn’t even looked at the menu.
“Coffee and apple juice?”
I nodded again.
He looked at her. “Two orders of waffles, scrambled eggs, coffee, and apple juice, please.”
She smiled at him. “Coming right up.”
Once she was gone, he looked me in the eyes. “I didn’t tell anyone about it, but there were kind of a lot of people there when I opened it, as you know.”
I nodded. “True. Do you think any of them would have…?”
“Absolutely not. They never would. Ever.”
I held in a sigh because obviously someone had. But… I knew he was close with his coworkers and everyone. I’d heard they all acted like extended family there, so… I wouldn’t point fingers. Not yet, anyway.
“What about you? Who did you tell?”
“Only my sisters and brother. I didn’t even tell my parents, and I told my siblings when we had a game night at my house last weekend. There’s no way we were overheard.”
He blew out a breath. “Well, crap. There has to be someone…”
“Maybe someone was spying at the bookshop?”
He nodded. “Maybe. The footage isn’t very clear since it’s focused on the register and one camera at the front door. We don’t have cameras everywhere or anything. But I bet we will from now on…”
“Do you know all your coworkers well?”
He nodded. “There are a few new hires I don’t really know, but everyone else is family.”
“Were any of the new hires there when you opened the box?”
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yes. Two of them. But they weren’t in the back with us.”
“Maybe they overheard? Do any of them have good hearing?”
He bit his bottom lip. “Um… yeah… yeah, maybe. Let me text Jed and Anton. They’re resting now, but they’ll see it when they wake up. Maybe they can reach out to the new guys then.”
I nodded. “Okay… good.” I swallowed thickly again.
“Can you… find it yourself? Like… follow your magic or something?”
I shook my head. “I can only feel it when you’re touching it.”
He blinked at that. “Well, maybe if this person picks it up, we can—”
“No, I mean you. You have to touch it…” When he stared at me blankly, I added, “Because you’re my viramore.”
“But… you… what?”
“Sweetheart, I know you don’t believe it yet, but you’re my viramore, and feeling you touch my magic that way is proof. That’s how I know for sure. I felt you every time you touched my icicle. No one else registers at all.”
He stared at me for a long moment. “You could really feel it when I touched it?”
I nodded. “Yep. But I haven’t felt anything since before our date. So… clearly, I can’t feel this person’s touch in the same way.”
“Unless they’re using gloves or something.”
I held in a sigh. “Dain, you’re my viramore. It makes a difference.”
He bit his cheek for a long moment before shrugging, and I figured I wasn’t going to convince him right now anyway, so I might as well change the subject.
“If I… if I end up… if this person ends up controlling my magic, can you… make sure they throw me in a holding cell or something? I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
But I also didn’t want to be taken down by dragons or king’s guards or something either because I was out of control.
The thought made me shiver.
This whole thing made my belly sour, and my heart feel like it was ready to pound out of my chest. Sweat pooled at the base of my back the more I thought about it.
This was my literal worst nightmare.
Someone I didn’t know, someone I didn’t trust, had my icicle. They had a piece of my soul.
The piece of my soul that was supposed to belong to Dain.
“Hey.” Dain’s voice was quiet, and he was looking at me with worry written all over his face. “It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”
I knew he meant it, but that just wasn’t possible.
I sent him a sad smile. “Sweetheart, I don’t think there’s anything either of us can do to stop it.”
He blew out a breath and hung his head for a few seconds. “I’m so damn sorry, Avalanche.”
“It’s not your fault.”
He surprised me by lifting my hand and kissing my wrist. “I will do everything in my power to find your icicle and keep you safe.”
I knew he meant that too. “Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “Maybe I should ask the king to lock me up in a holding cell until we find it. If I’m locked up, I can’t hurt anyone, right?”
“What if it takes days? Or weeks? Or fuck, months to find it? We’re not locking you up, babe. No way in hell.”
“But—”
“Do you really think anyone would agree to that?”
I shrugged since I didn’t really know the king or any of the higher-ups.
“I know them, and I know that they won’t be willing to lock up an innocent man. There’s no way.”
“Okay, then… I guess we wait.”
He sent me another sad smile. “First, we eat breakfast, then we can meet with my friends to keep searching. Sound good?”
“No. First we eat, then you get some sleep, and then we can meet with your friends to search.”
He sighed. “Fine, fine. Your plan works too.”
I sent him a sad smile, gave his hand a squeeze, and prayed we’d find my icicle before anything bad happened.
There really wasn’t anything else to do.