55. Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Four
Kian
My heart sinks when I see Trick and Sapphire aren’t where they were. I don’t even know how long they’ve been gone. I haven’t exactly been paying attention to the time since we got here, and I’ve been so lost in my own thoughts that I can’t even say for sure it hasn’t been very long.
If I had to guess, it’s been less than an hour, probably, and more than twenty minutes, likely.
Beyond that, who knows?
I rush toward the jet, assuming they had to go grab something, though I’m not sure exactly what.
I’m running around the first few trees when I see Xane coming toward me.
He has a grim look on his face, but that’s nothing new.
“Did Sapphire come this way?” I ask as I reach him.
He frowns at me as he stops walking. “No. Why would she?”
“She’s not on the beach!”
“What do you mean, she’s not on the beach? She was with you …”
“Where would they go?” I ask myself.
“Kian, tell me what happened!” Xane snaps.
I look at him, and he frowns even harder than usual.
Right, yeah. I need to tell him before we can look for them.
“I went to sit with Riley for a while. We couldn’t see Trick and Sapphire where we were, and when I went back to check on them, they’d gone.”
“Uh huh,” he murmurs, raising an eyebrow at me. “So, they went somewhere together?”
“You don’t need to make it sound so … seedy!”
“She’s with Trick. She’ll be fine.”
He glances past me and nods.
I turn to see Riley leaning against a nearby tree, looking out of breath.
“You didn’t even slow down a little,” he complains at me, before he puts his shades on and straightens up.
“Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn’t have been drinking so much.”
“And maybe you should cut Trick a break …”
“Could you two not do this right now?” Xane asks. “We’ve got bigger problems.”
“Exactly!” I agree.
Xane snorts, and I realize he’s probably not talking about Trick and Sapphire being missing.
“Wait. Bigger problems?” I ask. “Like what?”
“We can talk about it once everyone’s together.”
Sounds ominous, but it’s not my main concern.
“Then we need to find Trick and Sapphire now.”
“Agreed,” he says, making Riley sigh.
I get to feel victorious for a second, before he opens his big, drunken mouth. “Can’t we leave it? I’m sure they’ll come back, once Trick has finally popped his cherry.”
He smirks, and the growl that comes out of me is feral.
“Calm down,” Xane mutters. “We all know Riley’s yanking your chain.”
“I’ll calm down once we get his passed-out ass on the jet and push it into the ocean!”
It’s supposed to be threatening, but Riley just laughs.
“Just try it. We’ll see who ends up drowning.”
“Stop being an asshole!” Xane snaps. “We’re looking for the others, and we’re figuring out a plan, and that’s the end of this fucking conversation.”
He moves past Riley, heading to the beach.
Riley lifts his sunglasses and raises his eyebrows at me.
I shake my head at him.
This isn’t a moment I want to share with him.
We’re both sick of his shit, and he damn well knows it.
I follow Xane back to the beach, and I can hear Riley behind me, muttering curses under his breath, just low enough not to irritate our lead Alpha.
I ignore him, waiting to find out Xane’s orders now that he’s taking the lead.
“They must have gone into the jungle. Stay close until we find them. I don’t want anyone else going missing.” Xane waits for us to respond, one hand pushing back some foliage next to the tree Trick was sitting in front of before.
“Sure,” I agree, glancing back at Riley.
“Whatever,” he mutters.
Xane sighs as he heads into the jungle.
I realize how unsettled I really am when I start to follow him through the unfamiliar landscape.
None of us really know what’s out here.
That includes Trick and Sapphire.