Chapter 10 #2
I burst out the front door and jog down the stone steps. Jareth looks impatient, pacing on the stone walkway while Tezrias stands a few feet away “guarding” him. When I’m not so worried about him, I’m going to have a good laugh about the fact that he bruised two demons’ egos with his shield.
“Jare,” I call out. He stops pacing and spins to face me, relief washing over his face.
My instinct to wrap my arms around him and scent him just like I always do is tempered by the acidic guilt churning in my stomach.
If he knew what happened between me and Loch, would he want me touching him at all?
I reach him and shove my hands into my pockets instead of grabbing him. He blinks in surprise and frowns, but then he shakes his head and seems to focus on the reason he’s here.
“I need to talk to you. I think Lochlan is in trouble.”
His words feel like a punch to the gut.
“What?”
Loch can’t be in trouble. He can’t. Fur ripples over my skin and I can feel my teeth sharpening, my wolf pushing towards the surface while my pulse thunders in my ears and Jare’s words repeat on a loop in my head. Lochlan is in trouble. Lochlan is in trouble. Lochlan is in trouble.
Jareth steps back, shock and confusion written all over his face as I take a few deep breaths and pull myself together, wrangling my wolf back into submission.
“What the fuck is going on, Roman?” he demands. “I got a weird reading from my tea leaves that told me that Loch was in danger, and then I get here and you’re being even more strange. I’m about to freak out if you don’t tell me what the fuck is happening right now.”
“It’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth. “Let’s go check Loch’s room first. Maybe he’s just… upset or something and that’s the reading you got.”
I don’t know if I believe that, but we have to at least check before we go off half-cocked into the underworld looking for a rogue vampire.
Jare gives me a skeptical look but follows me back inside.
I keep my pace in check since he doesn’t have any of the physical benefits like super speed or stamina that I do, and I lead him through the winding hallways of the compound.
“This place is somehow exactly how I pictured it,” he murmurs.
I chuckle. “I’d give you a proper tour, but…”
“Next time.” He finishes the thought for me and I nod, slowing to a stop when we reach Loch’s room.
I pound on the door, but there’s no answer.
“Fuck,” Jare mutters, and I grunt in agreement and reach for the doorknob.
It’s locked, but this isn’t the time for respecting anyone’s privacy, so I give the handle a rough jerk and the lock breaks with a crunching sound. I shove the door open and find the room empty. I march inside anyway, just to be sure, and Jare is right behind me.
“When did you see him last?” he demands, heading for the en suite bathroom and peeking his head inside. “Was he okay? Did something happen?”
I rub the back of my neck. How the fuck am I supposed to answer that? I can’t be honest with him, not right now when he’s already so upset, but I’m not sure I can bring myself to lie to Jareth either. We’ve never lied to each other, even when it’s hurt, even when a lie might have been preferable.
He stops in the middle of the room and closes his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath, then frowning.
“The energy in here is… strange. It’s heavy and charged and…” He swallows and a slight blush creeps into his cheeks before he opens his eyes without finishing that sentence out loud.
“We’ll find him,” I promise. “Come on, let’s go talk to Cassius. If Loch isn’t with him, he might know where he would go. Hell, he can’t even leave the underworld without one of us, and he knows that, so I can’t imagine he went far. Maybe he just needed to go for a walk and clear his head.”
“There was a very clear hourglass and a skull in my tea leaves, Rome, that means imminent danger and violence. He’s not just ‘out for a walk to clear his head.’”
My wolf thrashes and whines again, but I’m ready for it this time, keeping control of myself by balling my hands into fists and grinding my teeth together. “Talking to Cassius will be faster than rushing outside and looking under every rock for him. We need somewhere to start.”
“Fine,” he snaps, then waves for me to lead the way.
“Are you pissed at me?” I bristle.
“You were supposed to be keeping him safe. He’s been here a couple of days and he’s already missing and in danger. How could you have let that happen? And you’re being weird. It feels like you’re hiding something.”
“I’m not hiding what you think I am.” That’s the best answer I can give him right now.
He sniffles and I stop and spin around to face him.
Fuck it. I pull him into my arms, and a tiny bit of the tension inside me eases at the familiar feeling of his body melting against mine and his comforting scent surrounding me.
After kissing Lochlan and knowing that he’s my mate, I’m expecting my reaction to Jareth to be different now, but it’s not.
The ache of wanting him is the same as ever, the urge to bury my face in the crook of his neck and live in his scent is still there, and my cock still swells against his hip like it always has.
I rub his back in slow, comforting circles until he stops sniffling and takes a few deep breaths.
“We’re going to find him, okay?” I promise him.
He nods against my shoulder.
“Come on, let’s go find Cas.”