Page 232 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Eduard

Eduard had taken to the air again, this time with Andvari on his back. They needed to get closer to civilization so he could call his father, but there was no way Sawyer was up for travel.

He’d put on a brave show, but once Andvari had removed the bandage covering Sawyer’s side, Eduard had seen red. Between the bruises covering his body and his torn apart feet, Sawyer hadn’t had an easy time at all.

But that claw mark.

It had taken every ounce of self control he possessed to not lose control then and there. He wanted to flay Magdalen alive, and then claw her to pieces himself. No one touched his mate. No one.

He could see a group of buildings not too far ahead along the coast, probably a small village. After making sure his magic was shielding them from potential onlookers, Eduard landed on a deserted strip of beach.

Andvari slipped off his back and had the phone out and waiting for Eduard as he shifted back to his human form. He’d dialed his father seconds later.

“Eduard, did you find him?”

“No,” Eduard lied. “I’ve had an emergency call from a client though, and I’m hoping you can handle it while we continue our search. Could you head to your office and make a sell for me?”

Augustus paused for a moment then agreed. “Stock prices wait for no man. I understand, Eduard. Hold on.”

His father understood. He heard muffled voices and then a door closed. “I’m in my office, son. Alone.”

“We found him, Dad.”

“Oh, thank the goddess. How bad is it?”

“Bad,” Eduard said. “Magdalen was behind it all. She…” He breathed deeply, tried to control his emotions.

“I’ll remove her head from her body myself,” Augustus snarled.

“No. We need to question her. She tried to sacrifice him to Tiamat. We need more information and we need to know if anyone else helped her. You’re the only person I trust with this. It’s hard to imagine she did this without help.”

“I won’t let you down. What do you need?”

“The boats Henry had you send north. If I send you coordinates, can you find out if one is relatively close? We’re in Maine as far as I can tell. We were in the air for several hours.”

“Hold on. We’re satellite mapping them. Message me the coordinates and I’ll see who is close. I’ve been spreading them out along the coast.”

“We’ll need to keep this quiet.”

“I’ll take care of it. Now, tell me how he is.”

“Pretty bruised. He took a good beating. His feet are bad. When he got away—” His breath hitched once again. “She clawed him, Dad. She marked my mate.”

Augustus made a pained noise, the anger in the sound approaching the rage that boiled in Eduard’s veins.

“He got away, though. Focus on that. We will take care of her, son. No one in this clan harms another’s mate and lives to tell the tale. You know the law. You know your rights. As head of this family, I demand that you take recompense for this.”

Eduard breathed deeply, his father’s words soothing another fear he hadn’t wanted to admit. They’d smoothed over his father’s immediate rejection of Sawyer, easing a wound neither had realized had been open for some time. Eduard fully intended on making his cousin pay with her life for daring to touch his mate, but he’d known he risked his father’s wrath if he did.

There were only a few of their generation left, and none had produced an heir. If Eduard killed her, there would be one fewer chances of their survival. But of course, his father understood and supported his decision.

He took another calming breath, and then shared the other news he had to tell his father.

“He managed to find a new guardian in the process. You’re not going to believe this one.”

Augustus wasn’t one to beg so he simply remained quiet. Eduard let the moment stretch out a bit, the only small bit of good news to come out of this. He really wanted to hear his father’s reaction.

“He’s from the Atlantean clan.”