Chapter Fifteen
Dain
“Sooooooo… how’s it going?” Jed asked as soon as there was a break in customers.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Fine.”
He stared at me for a long moment before groaning—loudly. “Daaaaaiiiiinnn. You have to give me more than that!”
“I don’t have to give you anything.”
He pouted. This ancient-ass vampire pouted with his bottom lip sticking out and everything. “Pleeaaaasssse. Please, please, please tell me how it’s going with your hottie snow yeti.”
I sighed, frowning at him. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would continue bothering me every two seconds unless I gave him something to go on.
And I didn’t think I could bear hearing him complain or put up with that pouty face that long.
I still had a few hours left of my shift, after all.
Honestly, he looked adorable like that, but I would never, ever, ever, ever tell him that. Ever. Never ever.
Then he’d know he could use that face against me to get me to do anything he wanted.
Ugh.
After a few seconds of staring at said cute pouty face, I sighed again. “Fine. If you must know, it’s going great with Lanche.” There. That should do it.
Jed waited a beat, then two. “Uhhhh… what the hell was that?”
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean? What was what?”
He waved his hand at me frantically. “That. That… whatever you just said.”
“What? You asked how it was going, and I told you. It’s going great.”
He stared again, then let out a small vampire hiss. He almost never hissed, at least not at me, so I blinked at him in surprise.
His hiss turned into a groan. “Dain, what the hell?”
A customer interrupted us, so I rang up her items and checked her out before turning back to my friend. “What’s wrong with what I said?”
“You can not be this dense.”
I growled at him—hey, he’d hissed first—and turned away. If he was going to be an ass, then I wouldn’t talk to him at all. There. Problem solved.
Jed gently grabbed my arm and tugged me back to face him. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. I was only messing with you. I was just hoping for a little more information. Like… are you guys officially boyfriends? Are you just dating or courting or whatever you want to call it? Or did you finally admit to him that you’re viramores? Stuff like that.”
I blinked at him, then shrugged. “The last one.” I turned back to the cash register and decided to clean the counter off and organize the shelves under the counter.
No, I was not avoiding talking about this with him.
I wasn’t.
“What?” Jed’s voice came out more like a screech than anything else.
I eyed him but didn’t respond.
After a few seconds, he shook himself out. “You mean… you’re viramores? Like, for real?”
I nodded.
He grabbed my arm and excitedly jumped up and down.
“Holy shit, Dain, that’s amazing! I thought you guys were, but I wasn’t sure.
Lanche seemed so positive, so I was hoping you were.
” He did a little toe bounce thing. “Congratulations, man. Seriously. That’s amazing.
I’m sure you and Lanche will be very happy together. ”
Thinking about being with Lanche and staying with him for the rest of my life made a small smile pop up on my lips. It was automatic, and there was no chance I could hide it.
“Awwwwww. Look at you. You’re so happy. Gah! I love it.” Jed pulled me into a hug that I returned, appreciating him even when he was purposefully driving me nuts. “Seriously, congrats, Dain.”
“Thank you.” I pulled away and offered a small smile. “It’s… really new, so we’re taking things slow, but…”
He grinned. “But you already care about him. I can see it in your eyes. I’m really happy for you.”
And I knew he meant it. He really did.
But I also knew he wished he could find his own viramore. He’d been waiting millennia for his one true love to show up, and he hadn’t found them yet.
The fact that I was only thirty-five and already found mine probably didn’t feel very good to the vamp.
So, even though it pained me, I reached over and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you, Jed. I appreciate it.” I squeezed him tight. I hope you find your viramore soon, my friend.
Before the two of us could continue our conversation, a sudden ache in my chest distracted me. I released Jed and stepped back, rubbing at my chest in confusion.
The ache turned into a sharp pain twinged with panic, and I glanced down at it in confusion. What the… holy shit, that fucking hurt. What the hell was this? Why was I panicking? Why was…
Oh no.
Oh my fucking… no.
It wasn’t my panic.
No, no, no, no, no.
My heart began to race.
Lanche. My poor, sweet Lanche.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze from my own chest to meet Jed’s eyes as mine widened in horror.
“Something’s wrong.”
Taking a deep breath to combat the pain, I reached into my jeans pocket and pulled out my phone, not hesitating to call Lanche.
The call rang and rang and rang, and my heart sank further. I kept rubbing at my chest even though it wasn’t helping.
What I really needed to do was find my Lanche, pull him into a hug, and protect him from whatever was making him panic.
Under normal circumstances, I had no doubt that Lanche would answer my call immediately, no matter what he was doing. The fact he wasn’t was… bad. Really fucking bad.
I looked at Jed again and whispered, “I think someone’s using his icicle. We… we have to find him.”
The call came twenty minutes later, and I couldn’t decide if I was more relieved or horrified by it.
“Did you find him?” I said in lieu of a greeting.
I’d called or texted everyone I knew, asking for help, and everyone had dropped what they were doing to help me find my poor Lanche, whose fear had settled deep in my chest. I didn’t think it was going away anytime soon.
“Yes. Right outside the Tower,” Tan said, sounding breathless. “He’s… he’s surrounded by a blizzard that keeps growing. Get here. Now.”
Since I was already in my car, having driven around in my search, I immediately found a crossroad and turned so I could head in the right direction. I’d noticed the storm brewing over the city, but I’d been hoping it wasn’t Lanche’s doing. Apparently, my wish didn’t come true. Shit.
“On my way. Thanks, Tan.”
“Of course. Just… hurry. I’m doing what I can to keep him contained, but I can’t control a storm. Garrick tried talking to him, but he, uh, kinda blasted him back and won’t respond. It’s like… it’s like he isn’t even in there.”
Hearing that made me want to cry. “Is Garrick okay?”
“Oh yeah. Not much can hurt a dragon. But Lanche…”
“Fuuuuck. Fuck, Tan. This is all my fault.”
“You’re not the one who stole his icicle, Dain. And you certainly didn’t try to control him like this asshole is. It’s not your fault.”
My eyes started to water, and I sniffled and did my best to blink back the tears so I could actually see where I was driving. “Th-thanks.”
“It’s not your fault, but he needs you. If you have to break traffic laws to get here, do it. I won’t let you get arrested or get any tickets. Promise.”
I snorted out a laugh at that. “Okay, thanks. See you in three minutes.”
I hung up and pressed down on the gas pedal. Hopefully, I could cut those three minutes in half.
It was utter chaos the closer I got to the Tower. People were running and screaming, trying to get away, and the wind was blowing, snow was flying all around.
All I could do was wince, park, get out of the car, and run against the crowd.
Clearly, Tan hadn’t been kidding when he said he couldn’t control the weather because it was frigid out and the beginnings of a blizzard were in the making.
When I entered the park in front of the Tower, I could see a huge dome of magic over the entire picnic area, so I headed that way. I was confused for a moment before I realized the dome was a shield. Tan was trying to shield Lanche and his magic, but the blizzard couldn’t be contained.
Being such a giant shield probably didn’t help the situation, but Tan seemed to be keeping the worst of the storm inside. It was bad enough out here already. I couldn’t imagine how much worse it’d be if Lanche’s magic had free rein.
With the snow falling down on me in waves and the wind howling around me, I knew his magic really was powerful as hell because Tan was an insanely powerful witch.
I approached the shield and ran around it until I heard cussing and found my witchy friend—he must’ve been yelling because I’d actually heard his curses over the wind.
“Dain!” Tan shouted.
“Fuck. I can’t even see him. He’s really in there?” I skidded to a stop beside him, sliding on the slippery snow.
“Stand right here and wait a few seconds. The snow’s swirling around, but if you wait, it’ll clear enough to see him.”
I moved to the spot he pointed to and stared into the snowy mess inside the shield, waiting with my heart in my throat. Lanche was somewhere inside that blizzard with someone controlling him.
Fuck, how did it feel not to have control of his own magic? Of his own body?
The thought alone made me want to cry.
The snow swirled around, and finally there was a break in the white, and I gasped.
In the center of the shield, Lanche—my sweet, kind, gentle Lanche—was standing completely still, staring off into the distance. He was in his yeti form, his fur blending in with the snowstorm, but I would be able to pick him out no matter where he was.
He was mine. We were connected. I could see him, feel him, no matter what chaos swarmed around us.
He looked like a statue, like he wasn’t even inside his own body anymore. Like his body was an empty husk being controlled by some evil outsider.
My eyes threatened to water again, but I held it back because Lanche needed me now more than ever, and I was going to fucking save him.
“Oh, Mother of All, please save him,” I whispered. My hand came up to rest on the shield as I swallowed hard. “Lanche, I’m so fucking sorry.” I bit back a sob. “I’ll find a way to save you, baby. I swear it.”
Tan said, “The others are out searching for the person controlling him. They have to be close by. Or at least, that’s the theory. Otherwise, how do they know where to make Lanche go and what to have him do, right?”
I nodded, only half paying attention to him as I stared at my poor Lanche.
Fuck. I had to help him. I had to.
I needed to get to him.
Fucking now.
Turning to Tan, I said, “Let me through.”
“What?”
“Let me through your shield. I need to help him.”
Tan made a face. “Dain, I can’t do that. You’ll be ripped apart in there. If you think the storm’s bad out here, inside there it’s probably twenty times worse, if not more. The wind and ice will literally rip you apart.”
“I don’t care,” I growled out. “I need to get to him.”
From the look on Tan’s face, he wasn’t going to let me.
Fine. I’d rip his shield apart if I had to in order to get to Lanche.