Chapter 26
“The arrangements are complete. We’re set leave for Savadeen tonight. The queen will be expecting us,” Orenda murmured.
Dru nodded. Now that she’d completed her mission, she’d need to report to the queen and present her gift. The royal couple lived deep beyond the Canadian border. This trip was one that Dru would not mind taking. The queen’s words echoed in Dru’s mind.
Then you have my permission to bring me his head.
And his head she would present.
She held on to the leather bag that held the queen’s gift as they strode to a new SUV that had been given to them.
The postmaster would be in charge of ensuring the town was returned to order.
Warriors worked diligently to remove the bodies of the dead lycans.
She arrived at the vehicle and opened the back door.
She placed the heavy bag on the floor and slammed the door shut.
She inhaled sharply. A sense of unease settled in the pit of her stomach.
She glanced around and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Men and women in uniform worked together to clear the carnage, while others checked on the humans hiding in the storefronts.
Darkness had fallen while the clouds had opened up and poured down a heavy rain.
It had finally slowed to a light drizzle.
Dru tried to make sense of what she was feeling. The sensation increased. Her heart rate skyrocketed. She glanced around and didn’t see anything she considered a threat.
“General. Is everything okay?” Orenda paused near the hood, her gaze locked on Dru.
“I believe so.” Dru exhaled and reached for the handle of the passenger door.
Orenda studied her for a moment longer before heading over to the driver’s side.
Maybe it was the effects of coming down off her adrenaline rush from the battle.
Or was it not her own emotions and feelings she was picking up?
Dru froze. Was this Tomesha she was sensing?
Was her mate afraid? It had to be. There was no other explanation for this.
A smile appeared on her lips. This just proved that they were meant to be together.
She didn’t need science to prove what she already felt deep down to her soul.
Her smile disappeared. If these were Tomesha’s emotions, then why the fuck was she scared or uneasy?
“We need to get to my mate. Something is wrong,” Dru snapped.
“Yes, General.” Orenda jumped into the driver’s seat.
Dru followed suit and got into the truck. A warrior flagged her down. She held up a hand to halt Orenda from driving off.
“General. There is a call for you.” The warrior rushed over to the truck.
Dru opened the door and stepped out. “From whom?” She glared at him and snatched the phone from him. Who the hell would be trying to reach her now?
“It’s the postmaster,” he stuttered. He took a step back away from her but not before she caught the hint of fear.
“This is General Moldark,” she growled into the phone.
This had better be important. The postmaster was keeping her from going to collect her mate.
She had a short time to help Tomesha get ready for the long trip they needed to take.
They needed to make plans for Tomesha and her family to move to Crystal Cove.
Once she’d presented the queen with her gift, Dru would be free to assist her mate in relocating her family.
But for her to leave for Savadeen, her mate was going with her.
“General,” the postmaster said.
Dru scowled at the sound of hesitation in his voice. She remained quiet. She had no time for games or another failure.
“It would seem that we have another problem,” he said.
“And that is?” She glanced back to the truck and met Orenda’s curious stare.
Her warrior had the truck on and ready to roll. Dru reached up and rubbed her chest. That sensation returned. She wasn’t sure what the hell was going on with her, but she certainly didn’t like it. She paused and tried to weed through the emotions swelling in her chest. Sadness. Fear. Uncertainty.
This wasn’t her.
It had to be Tomesha.
“What is it?” she barked.
“It would be your mate, General. She’s gone.”
The phone crumpled inside Dru’s fist. She roared her anger and tossed the remains of the phone down. She ignored the stares of the warriors in the area. She flew into the truck and slammed the door.
“Drive. We need to get to the post now!” Dru growled.
Orenda didn’t question. She put the vehicle into drive and sped off.
Who the fuck had taken her mate?
How did they get her?
She should have been safe and secure inside the walls of the vampire post. Dru’s hands balled into tight fists at the thought of someone snatching her away.
The engine roared. Orenda drove quickly. Dru seethed in her seat. The incompetence of the postmaster riled her. She’d given direct orders that her mate was to remain at the post. Even royal guards should have been turned away. Orenda blew past the gates that blocked the road to the post.
The moment she brought the SUV to a stop, Dru was out.
She was a blur of fury. Warriors froze where they stood around in the courtyard in front of the large building.
The air seemed to thrum with her rage. She pounded up the stairs just as the postmaster exited the building with warriors behind him.
“Where is she?” Dru’s words were low and lethal.
The postmaster did not answer fast enough. Dru’s usual calm and calculating nature was gone. She crept up the final stair until she stood in front of the postmaster to stare him down.
“My mate. Where. Is. She?”
“It would appear that two draft guards arrived earlier. They said that Ms. Clay had been drafted and—”
“You let them take her?” Dru moved a step closer to the postmaster, her ire barely contained.
“It is the law, General. No one is to interfere with the draft. You know the rules.”
“Did anyone verify their claims? Verify they were true royal guards from the draft?” Dru demanded.
There was no way Tomesha had been matched with another when Dru was certain beyond a doubt that Tomesha was hers.
She went off the age-old knowing that all vampires were born with. Tomesha was hers. No one else’s.
“My assistant stated that they were dressed in the royal uniforms—”
“So, no, you did not,” Dru growled.
Behind him, the warriors took a step back.
The air tightened around them. Dru could no longer retain the anger and rage at the lack of competence the postmaster showed.
She threw him down the stairs, hard enough the stone cracked beneath him.
He lay there, his breaths coming out in a tight wheeze.
His eyes were wide as he watched her walk down the stairs.
Her chest throbbed. It had to be the bond. The connection between her and her mate. There was no other reason. The draft was wrong. Dru was always a loyal vampire to the crown, but it would appear this time, the king’s scientist had got this wrong.
Tomesha was hers, and she’d find her.
“I want to know where they took her,” Dru snapped.
Alexander pushed up from the ground, the stench of fear sharp and tangible. She glanced around at all of the warriors. They were useless. None of them had tried to interfere in stopping the supposed guards from taking her woman.
“General. You know they will not tell us—” His words died off the moment her gaze cut to him. He jerked his head in a nod. “I’ll reach out and tell them that you want to know where the human went.”
Tomesha’s fear clung to her. Wherever her mate was, she shouldn’t be scared. The farther apart they were, the stronger the pulse of her mate’s emotions became. It was enough to make Dru see red.
She needed to get her back.
“General.” Orenda’s voice broke through her haze.
Dru snapped her head around to face her warrior.
“We have to go. The queen is expecting us. The jet is fueled and ready.”
Dru wanted to hit something. Break something. Kill someone. She had a duty to the crown, and at that moment, she wanted to ignore that. Never in all her years had she ever questioned anything she’d done for the crown, for her people. That had been her purpose since becoming a warrior.
Now, she wanted to only do what was right for her.
And that was go after her mate.
But Orenda was right. The queen would be expecting her. She couldn’t risk being labeled as a traitor for abandoning her mission. The moment she handed over Solomon’s head, she’d leave.
Whoever had taken Tomesha had better hope they were not there when Dru arrived. Their heads would roll. And whoever the vampire was who’d supposedly matched with Tomesha would turn her back over to Dru.
Or they’d die.
“Find where they sent her,” Dru ordered.
The postmaster pounded a fist over his heart. She stalked to the vehicle and snatched open the door. She slid in and slammed it shut. Her body shook with the uncontrolled rage and fury that burned deep within her.
“Don’t worry, General. We’ll find her,” Orenda murmured. She put the truck in gear and drove off.
Dru settled back and thought of Tomesha’s expression when she’d sent her off to be protected at the vampire post. Her mate had trusted her.
Dru would get her back, and when she did, she’d never let her go ever again.
* * *
“What did you just say?” Dru stared at the second pilot who came from the cockpit.
He visibly shuddered at her glare. “I said that there is going to be a delay with landing, General.” He reached up and tugged on the collar of his shirt. He swallowed hard before continuing. “There is a herd of caribou blocking the runway.”
Dru blinked and glanced over at Orenda and Talbot who’d joined them. Seven hours of flying had Dru’s skin crawling. This was time that was being lost from her searching for her mate. She ran a hand along her face.
Caribou was blocking the runway?
“Why can’t you just plow through them?” Dru grunted. How was this even possible? She stood from her chair on the private jet.