I’m begging for a response because without one, I’m breaking my promise. I can’t stay behind knowing something’s wrong. So I do the only thing I can do.
I’m coming.
Twenty Six
Kiran
We walk towards the castle sitting on top of the cliff, overlooking the water. The air is fresh and crisp, the view is truly stunning. Maybe we need to come back to Scotland for a vacation some day. Considering Aly can transport us all, we can go anywhere we want. Just as soon as we are free from the threat of the hunters.
“Okay, so we get the information we need from the book, and we get out of here. Don’t mess with anything else and don’t eat or drink. If you see something threatening, warn everyone through the bond,” Nic commands. His voice is strong and steady, helping to calm some of my nerves.
We keep a steady pace as we walk up to the doors of the castle. Jeremy steps forward and uses the huge knocker to signal our arrival.
A beat later the door opens and a man stands in front of us. He’s tall, lanky, pale and incredibly handsome. He’s playing up the vampire stereotypes. Vampires can go in the sun, it’s just a little uncomfortable, and he can still workout or fill out some. He looks exactly like the human tale of Dracula. I wonder if he uses that story to scare people when they meet him.
“Hello, you must be the boys here for the book,” he says, his voice sultry.
Nic steps up and takes charge. “Yes, that’s us. We were hoping to see your copy of it.”
The man looks us over, inspecting us from top to bottom.
“Alright, come in.”
He opens the door wider and gestures us inside. We follow him down the hallway to a sitting room. The furniture is all older but clearly expensive. Rich, dark wood with red accents.
We all find spots around the room and the vampire perches on the arm rest of a chair across from us. He’s still staring at us intently like he’s trying to figure something out.
Nic tries again, “so can we see the book?”
The vampire keeps staring at us. He has no emotion on his face at all. The crazy thing is, I can’t sense he’s a supernatural at all, that’s how powerful he is.
Maybe Nic is being too blunt, I try something new.
“How about some introductions? My name is Kiran, this is Jax, that’s Jeremy, Nic and Jay,” I say gesturing to each of them as I say their names.
The guys give little waves or acknowledgments, some friendlier than others but the vamp continues to stare.
Finally, he says something, “and where is your mate?”
Immediately the tension in the room rises. We all stiffen and I can see that Jeremy is about to go full demon right here in this living room.
“Excuse me?” Nic asks, his voice a pretend calm.
The guy smirks, “well, I assume you have a mate if you want this book so badly. It is about mate bonds between different races and here you are in front of me, a group of men of all different species. We have a mage, a demon, shifter, and even a light and dark fae who seem to be twins. All you’re missing is a hunter although I suspect that’s what your mate is.”
His words stun all of us. He’s confirmed the book has the information we need, but he’s also watching us like we are a science experiment for him to play with. Thank god we didn’t bring Aly.
Aly, we are fine but make sure you stay home. Okay?
I send the thought down the pack bond and wait for a response as the vampire smiles at us creepily. But I don’t get a reply.
Aly? Are you there?
Nothing.
Guys? Can you hear me?
When I get no response I look over at all of them to see horror on their faces. I’m guessing they just realized our pack bond isn’t working anymore. Worse than that, my mate bond with Aly feels muted. I have only the smallest sense of her, not enough to know what she’s feeling or that she’s okay.
