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“Blake? BLAKE? Are you here?” I’m yelling at this point, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest.
The shirt I pretended not to notice she stole is hanging off the side of her bed, torn at the neck, and I bring it to my nose. Desperately hoping that if I inhale deeply enough, I can permanently embed her scent into my nose. Bringing the shirt with me, I stomp back downstairs and outside. Stopping in front of the growing group of worried-looking adults, I growl.
“Where. The hell. Is she? Somebody better tell me something before I lose it.” I’m shaking hard, and my breakfast is threatening to escape my stomach.
Amy walks over slowly, hands up like she’s approaching a cornered animal. Can’t say I’m much calmer than one right now, anyway.
“Hades, will you come sit in the car with me for a few minutes so we can talk?” she asks in a soothing tone.
I can’t bring myself to snap at her the way I could somebody else right now, so instead I grind out a “Fine.”
She doesn’t get on me about my tone as we walk to the car, so I know whatever she’s about to tell me is going to hurt. Once we’re settled in the back seat, she turns to me and says three words that tear my heart straight from my chest.
“Blake is missing.”
I quickly lean out the car door and throw up everything I’ve eaten my entire life, probably. At least, that’s what it feels like.
Everything hurts, and my vision goes fuzzy for a second before a gentle hand runs down my back and I hear Amy saying, “It’s alright, honey. I know. Just let it out.”
And I stop holding back the sobs that are desperate to break free.
Wiping my mouth with the wipes she pulls out of the console, she pulls me into her chest and rocks me like I’m a child. Normally I would hate this, but right now I feel like a child. My best friend in the whole world is missing and I don’t know what to do.
She goes on to explain that according to Dianne, who was told by a neighbor that called her around three a.m., Blake snuck out shortly after I did and never came home. When they woke up this morning to find both of us missing, they assumed we had run off together and were waiting the requisite twenty-four hours before reporting us as runaways to the police. Me showing up here alone means Blake was most likely kidnapped.
None of it makes any sense. I talked to her before she fell asleep, and she knew exactly where I was going. Even if I didn’t come back, there’s no way she would have followed me to the rink in the middle of the night after all the times I’ve lectured her about safety. The girl is as wild as they come. I mean, her middle name isWilder, for God’s sake, but she’s not stupid and she’s not naïve. Going out alone in this city after dark is both of those things, and Blake knows that. So, what really happened?
I’m going to find Blake, no matter what it takes.
I’m jolted out of the memory when Rook elbows me in the side, nodding towards a very angry Shortcake.
“Blake,that’s not—I’msosorry,” I whisper, my eyes pleading with her for a chance to explain.
She looks like she’s ready to rip me a new one when suddenly she cries out, doubling over and clutching her abdomen. Kai catches her before anyone else can get to her, and he scoops her up with an arm around her back and one under her knees. He’s murmuring questions to her, too quietly for me to hear, and she nods in response.
Turning to me, her face is a mask of pain while she croaks out, “I can’t do this right now. I need you to give me some space and let me process… all of this.” She gestures around the room at me and my packmates.
Feeling my heart slowly breaking, I nod slowly. “Okay… I can… I can do that. Will you please consider hearing me out at some point? I’ll get down on my knees and beg if I have to. I missed you so much, Short—Blake. I want to explain what happened the day I left. It’s not at all what you think.”
She looks wary, and rightfully so, if she thinks I abandoned her, but she finally gives me the tiniest nod before Kai carries her upstairs and away from me.
* * *
Less than ten minutes later, Kai comes back down alone and calls for a pack meeting.
He gives us all a serious look I’m not used to seeing on his perpetually happy face. “This needs to be done while she can’t hear us. Y’all need to hear this and I don’t want your reactions scaring her.”
I already feel sick, and I just know I’m not going to like whatever he’s about to say.
He takes a deep breath before starting. “So, we all know Blake was drugged.” Growls sound out around the room at that, and Kai cuts a glare at all of us, waiting until it’s silent before speaking again.
“After speaking with her about her symptoms, it’s clear she was experiencing the beginning stages of pre-heat,”
My jaw drops open in shock, as do several of the others.
“When we brought her here last night, we had a concierge nurse come by and draw blood and send it off to a private lab to get 24-hour results. I already had a pretty good idea of what she was drugged with, but I just got the email confirming it.”
He pauses, and we’re all surprised when it’s Rook who snaps, “Get on with it already, I’m gonna lose it, man.”
