They would have been very careful to keep Alistair far enough away to not alert him. But he also worried theyhad drugged him into sleep. Drugging a dragon could be unpredictable, and Alistair was pregnant to boot.
Rage roared through him, and he tamped it down, heading down to the garage. He had to be cool. Calm. That was the only way to get this situation fixed.
And once he had Alistair safe and back with him, negotiations were over. He would burn the Galandel clan to the ground.
He got in the car and headed to Luigi’s, because that was where his mate was supposed to have been last. He had the driver park in the alley, because that would be where Alistair had pulled in. People would be more than a little shocked about a pregnant male.
Sometimes, integrating into human society was difficult, but they had taken over the world they lived in, so there was no other choice.
“Keep the car running,” Des told his driver.
“Yes, sir.”
He climbed out of the big SUV and walked to the back door of the restaurant. He closed his eyes as he stood there, trying to sharpen his other senses.
Alistair had been here. He could feel it. The faint traces of fear scent in the air, the tiny hint of blood… But not Starry’s blood. No, it was Starry’s driver who had been hurt.
He felt guilty thanking the gods and goddesses that none of Starry’s blood had been spilled. He hoped the driver wasn’t dead. But the car, and its driver, had been moved.
He breathed deeply, searching for… Yes. Starry had been drugged. Oh, fuck. The vehicle that had taken him had a unique signature, though, and he would be able to follow it pretty easily.
So he took off like a bloodhound, and the car followed, his driver jumping into the car to give chase.
And every so many minutes, he would call out.Alistair! Starry, where are you?
Chapter
Three
Alistair’s mouth felt as dry as the Sahara. And it tasted foul. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to work. He had been drugged, and now he had to figure out where he was. He put a hand on his belly, pleased to note that he wasn’t bound hand and foot. This way he had a chance of getting out.
The magical dampener put a bit of a kibosh on things, he knew, and his fingers hovered over it for a moment. He didn’t dare touch it, for who knew what sort of spell it had on it? But it was keeping him from reaching out with his mind to find Des.
If he could even do that anymore, as much as they’d been apart.
“Okay, sprite,” he said to his baby. “It’s you and me. And we need to get ourselves out of this.” Des might not even know he was gone yet. He had no idea what Lila would do if he didn’t show. He’d been napping a lot lately, so she might think he’d just fallen asleep and forgotten their meet.
He breathed in, then out, his head clearing with every inhale and exhale. He could do this. He could rescue himself.
He looked about, finding himself in a luxurious glass and chrome bedroom. Not his thing at all. He was totally cottagecore, which made his and Des’s penthouse sort of ridiculous, but there it was.
Des didn’t seem to mind.
His chest ached, and he missed his mate suddenly with a sharp, awful intensity.
Des? Can you hear me?
Of course there was no answer. The damned collar. Would Des hear him even if it wasn’t there?
He finally managed to crawl out of the bed he sat on, his legs shaking. It took him a moment to find his footing, but then he began to explore the room, trying to find a way out.
Sadly, while it was a luxurious room, it had remote control blinds that were locked into place, and the attached en suite had no windows.
It was an effective prison.
“Dammit.”
He stood in the center of the room, looking around for something to make into a weapon. Which, of course, was when the rattle of the door being unlocked sounded. An omega dragon, slight of build and worried around the eyes, came in carrying a tray.
