She had eleven missed calls and twice as many missed texts. No one except Nick ever called or texted her, and he knew better than to bug her with minor concerns while she was at work. Something was very wrong. With shaking fingers, Elise unlocked the phone and started to read the texts. The missed calls were all from Violet and Holden, as were the texts. The words “Nick” and “missing” jumped out at her through the tears that were starting to fill her eyes. How had she been so stupid? She had known that something was wrong this morning. Why had she ignored the feeling?
Elise immediately started stuffing her morning’s tips into her purse, not caring that she was messing up the carefully sorted pile. What did it matter how well sorted her tips were, or how much money she’d made, when her son, the joy of her life, was missing? She ran toward the office door, ready to bolt for her car and drive like hell away from the diner. She didn’t even know where she would go. Home? To Holden and Violet’s apartment? To the police? She would figure it out on the way, when she called Holden back. All she knew right now was that she had to get away from the diner.
She had barely made it out of the office door, though, before she ran smack into a towering figure of a man. She knew before she even looked up that it was Holden. No one in town had a chest that muscular, or a scent that woodsy.
“Holden!” she yelped, looking up at him with wild eyes. She wasn’t sure whether to be angry at him or to collapse into his arms in tears. “What’s going on? I just saw your texts. What happened to Nick? How long has he been missing? Does anyone know where he went? And how did you get back here? My boss would kill me and you if he knew you were back here!”
“One of the cooks told me you were back here. And I’d like to see your boss try to kill me,” Holden said. “He thinks he’s such a badass, but he’s never had to deal with a dragon before.”
Holden’s voice was strained, and Elise felt her heart clenching with fear as she looked up at his pale, drawn face.
“What’s going on? Please tell me you know where Nicky is, and that he’s going to be alright.”
“I know where Nick is,” Holden said, his voice breaking with emotion as he spoke. “And you’re not going to like it.”
Chapter Eleven
Holden reached a hand across the table to hold Elise’s, but her expression didn’t change. Her mind didn’t even seem to register the fact that someone was touching her. Holden had never seen anyone’s eyes as filled with fear as Elise’s were right then, and he’d seen plenty of people scared shitless in his lifetime. His heart broke, and he felt terrible for the part he’d played in the heartache she was feeling right now. He had been the one who had planted the idea in Nick’s head to sneak into Saul’s camp and take pictures. And now, Nick was there, against his mother’s wishes, placing himself in danger with no plan in place to call for help if needed.
“You’re sure that’s where he is?” Elise asked, her voice sounding hollow and empty. She looked down at the table as she spoke.
“That’s what his note said,” Violet replied, answering before Holden could. Holden studied Elise’s face carefully, but her expression did not change. She kept looking down at the table without really seeing it, fear swirling in her eyes.
Holden picked up the note that had been left behind when Nick left Violet’s apartment that morning. According to Violet, Nick had still been asleep on the couch when she went out to the living room at nine a.m. She’d gone to buy some donuts for him as a breakfast treat, but when she returned, Nick was gone with only a short note left in his place. The note was written in hurried, childish scrawl, but it was direct and to the point.
Dear Violet, I’m sorry to leave without telling you, but I need to go through the tunnel and see what Saul’s army is doing. I know my mom does not want me to, but I’m the only one who can get through without his soldiers knowing I’m there. I want to do my part to help stop the evil dragons and wizards. Please tell my mom not to worry about me. I’ll be back soon. Nick
Oh the naïveté of youth, Holden thought. Telling his mom not to worry was about as pointless as throwing a bird out of a tree and telling it not to fly. Some things were gut instincts that could not be overridden. That bird would flap its wings and fly, and Elise would worry about her son. That’s just the way it was.
Holden wished he could take Nick by the shoulders and give him a good firm shake right about now, shaking some sense into him. Of course, that was impossible at the moment, too. They would all just have to wait things out. Holden had called Weston in a panic when he realized what was going on, hoping that his friend, the expert on ghosters, might have some advice on what to do. Weston did have advice, but Holden hadn’t liked it. Neither had Elise. The best way to keep Nick safe was to stay as far away from Saul’s soldiers as possible. If Holden went through the tunnel to try to rescue Nick or bring him back, Saul’s soldiers would smell him, and know there was a shifter stalking them. This would blow Nick’s cover, probably before Holden was even close enough to take Nick under his dragon wings and protect him.
So Holden waited, a constant stream of curses running through his head as he looked over at Elise. She had insisted at first that they needed to chase after Nick. It had been all Violet and Holden could do to convince her that they had to stay away to keep Nick safe. Holden could see the accusations in her eyes, even though she didn’t give voice to them.
You dragged him into this war, and gave him visions of glory, her eyes seemed to say. You put the idea of spying on the enemy in his head. This is all your fault.
Holden stood and paced the room. He couldn’t bear the weight of guilt on his shoulders right now. At least keeping his body in motion made him feel like he was doing something, even if he wasn’t. He hated being cooped up in Elise’s tiny apartment, staying still and silent while Nick ran straight into the enemy’s camp. Part of Holden was angry with the boy, and part of him was just jealous that Nick was taking action—action that could very possibly make a difference in the war.
Holden resisted the urge to punch a wall in frustration. When he’d come up with the idea for Nick to sneak into Saul’s camp and spy on the enemy’s operations, he’d never intended to have Nick go in blindly. Holden had wanted to set up a video feed back to himself and Violet, so that he could see what was going on and know immediately if Nick was in trouble. Holden had also planned to give Nick a secret signal to use if he was in trouble. But now, Holden had nothing to go on except the hope that ghosting really was as effective as Weston believed it to be, and that Nick was smart enough not to be actually seen by any of Saul’s soldiers. Holden had been holding out these hopes for the last four hours. He was trying to decide at what point he would need to stop waiting around and go rescue Nick. Finally, he told himself that if the boy wasn’t back by six p.m. he was going to go find him, even if that meant potentially giving away Nick’s position and ruining the spying mission for which Holden had been sent to Blackstone. He could only sit here so long, hoping that Nick wasn’t already in the hands of Saul’s men. Holden was trying to stay strong and appear calm for Elise’s sake, but the truth was that it was killing him to wait. He cared deeply about Nick. He might not be able to understand what the depths of a mother’s love felt like, but he did know that the thought of anything happening to Nick took his own breath away. He glanced helplessly at his watch, even though he’d already looked a hundred times in the last ten minutes. The time had just inched past two p.m. Four more hours to wait, if he was going to stick to his six p.m. deadline. God, he hoped Nick showed up at the apartment before then, laughing and oblivious to how worried everyone was about him, as children were wont to be.
Holden’s pacing was interrupted when he saw Elise standing. The weary, frightened look on her face broke Holden’s heart, and he longed to go to her and put his arms around her. But he wasn’t sure how she would take it, and the last thing he wanted right now was to give her more cause for distress. So he stayed where he was, feet planted uneasily in the middle of her
tiny living room, and waited to see what she was doing.
“I’m going to try to get some rest,” she said in a shaky voice. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night. Let me know right away if there’s any word about Nicky.”
“Of course,” Violet said, reaching over to touch Elise’s arm. Holden envied the fact that Violet could so easily reach out to comfort Elise, without worries that the gesture would be misconstrued. He wondered anew whether Elise would still want to talk to him when this was all said and done. She hadn’t been openly hostile to him when he broke the news that Nick had gone to spy on Saul’s soldiers, but that didn’t necessarily mean much. She was in shock right now, and at some point she was going to come out of that shock enough to be angry at Holden.
He tried to think of something to say that would ease Elise’s mind, but words seemed so futile right now. Before he could settle on what to say, she had disappeared into her bedroom, closing the door behind her with a gentle click. Holden stared at the closed door for several seconds, resisting the urge to run after her. Violet’s voice finally pulled him back to the present, away from his internal struggles.
“Weston is coming,” she said.
Holden whipped his head around to look at her. “What?!? Here?”
Violet nodded. “I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Elise, because I’m afraid it will only worry her more. But he sent me a message several hours ago, right after he talked to you, letting me know he got permission to leave Falcon Cross and come to Blackstone. He was taking the next flight out, and should be here sometime this afternoon.”
“Why didn’t he tell me he was coming?” Holden asked. He felt his heart sinking. If Weston felt the need to come, that meant he was worried that something awful would happen to Nick. But if that was the case, why hadn’t he said so on the phone? Holden felt a little hurt. Weston was his best friend. Why was he keeping secrets, and telling those secrets to Violet, no less.
“He didn’t want to worry you,” Violet said. “He knew if he told you that he was coming, that you’d freak out. And he was right—you did freak out. I can see it in your face.”
“Well, hell, Violet. Maybe I am freaking out. But I think I should know if there’s a reason to freak out, don’t you? I’ve seen a lot of shit in my life, remember? My own parents were killed right in front of me. There’s no need to shelter my delicate feelings from the harsh realities of war.”
Violet kept a neutral expression on her face. “It’s not about your feelings, Holden. It’s about Elise. You two obviously have some sort of connection. If she saw you this upset, she’d be losing it.”
Holden took a deep breath, and forced himself to listen to Violet and actually process what she was saying. He realized that Violet was more right than she knew. Holden and Elise did have a connection—a lifemate bond. Although, Holden wasn’t sure how Elise would feel about spending the rest of her life with him after he’d inadvertently encouraged Nick to run off into enemy territory on his own. But he’d have to worry about that later. Right now, the important thing was getting Nick home safely.
“Fine, you didn’t want to upset Elise,” Holden said. “But now that Elise is in her room sleeping…at least I hope she’s sleeping and not eavesdropping on us through the door—”
“Oh she’s sleeping,” Violet said. “I secretly put a sleeping spell on her as she walked toward her bedroom.”
Holden managed his first genuine smile since he’d heard the news of Nick’s disappearance. “You’re a rascal, V, you know that? No wonder you and Weston get along so well.”
He half-expected her to protest at his thinly veiled insinuation that she and Weston liked each other, but she didn’t. She looked away for a moment and blushed, and Holden couldn’t help but grin. He knew in that moment that, despite the fact that the reasons for Weston’s impending visit weren’t happy ones, Violet was looking forward to seeing him. The happy expression didn’t last long on his face, however.
“So if Weston’s coming, he must be worried about Nick’s safety,” Holden said. It was more of a question than a statement. He was fishing for information, wanting Violet to tell him what Weston’s fears were. But Violet merely shrugged.
“He thinks the boy has a good chance of making it out okay. After all, Nick’s been there several times before. Maybe not on a spying mission, exactly, but he’s snuck around and watched Saul’s soldiers, and he’s lived to tell about it. Of course, there’s a chance that things could go poorly, though. And if they do, Weston knows you’re going to be heading toward Saul’s camp as fast as you can. He knows you’re not going to leave the boy alone in enemy territory, even if that means risking your own neck to get Nick back.”
“Well, of course I’m going to fight for Nick. The whole reason he’s there in the first place is that I put this stupid idea in his head. Besides, I care about him. I’ve never had a son, but if I did, I’d want him to be just like Nick. A little too fearless, a little too wild, and madly devoted to seeing good prevail in the world. We need more kids like Nick. He’s had a rough time of it lately, sure. But it’s not easy to discover you’re a dragon, and he’s handled the transition beautifully. You can see he has a good heart. And I’ll be damned if I let Saul’s men hurt him while there’s still breath left in my own body.”
Violet smiled at Holden. “I know. And Weston knows that, too. He knows I won’t be able to hold you back very long, so he’s on his way out here to help you. He’s your ride or die, Holden, you know that. If you fight, you fight together. Of course, I’m still hoping it won’t come to that.”
Holden glanced at his watch. It was getting close to two-thirty now. “I hope so, too,” he said. But every minute that passed was causing his stomach to tie itself up in tighter knots. Nick could already be in the hands of the enemy, for all he knew.
“So what do we do now?” Holden asked, beginning his helpless pacing once again.
Violet looked at him calmly from her seat at the dining room table. “Now we wait,” she said. Holden gritted his teeth together, but did not answer Violet.
A dragon could only wait for so long.
Chapter Twelve
The next hour felt torturous. Violet tried to distract Holden by discussing what the next steps in their Blackstone mission should be, but she might as well have been speaking Latin to him. Holden could not focus on anything she was saying well enough to comprehend it. His mind swam with thoughts of Elise and Nick, and he wished more than anything that Weston would hurry up and arrive. Maybe, once Weston was there, he’d agree to start heading towards Saul’s camp on a rescue mission. Holden was beginning to feel like waiting until six o’clock was going to be an impossibility. The more time that went by, the more he felt like he was failing Elise. She was sleeping in the next room, blissfully unaware of the passing hours thanks to Violet’s sleeping spell. But Violet would have to break the spell eventually. If Elise woke up and Nick wasn’t back yet, she was going to jump to the conclusion that he’d been captured. And with every passing minute, that conclusion felt more and more like a real possibility.
A sharp knock at the door made both Violet and Holden jump in their seats a bit. They looked at each other, eyes wide with hope for a split second. But Violet shook her head slightly.
“That’ll be Weston,” she said. “Nick wouldn’t knock on the door of the apartment where he lives.”
Holden nodded. He would have preferred to have Nick reappear, but even Weston would be a welcome sight at this point. Having his clanmate nearby would make Holden feel a little less helpless. One dragon would have a difficult time stealing a prisoner away from Saul’s men, but perhaps two dragons could manage a sneak attack together? The odds of success were better, at least, even if they still weren’t good.
Holden and Violet stood in unison and went to the door. Violet got there a split-second before Holden and peered through the peephole.
“It’s Weston,” she confirmed, then reached for the doorknob and flung the do
or open.
“Wes!” she said, throwing her arms around him in greeting. She must have been too happy to see him to worry about whether her gesture would be interpreted as a romantic one. Holden’s own heart felt encouraged at the sight of his best friend. As soon as Violet stepped aside reluctantly, Holden pulled the man into a big bear hug.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, brother,” Holden said. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wasn’t about to leave you here to deal with this situation on your own,” Weston said. “Coming here was the right thing to do. And besides, I can’t complain about the chance to get away from the office for a bit. Dragons weren’t meant to sit behind desks, doing research. My god, I was ready to poke my own eyes out if I had to spend one more day in front of a damn computer screen.”
Holden smiled, feeling less discouraged by the moment. “Well, if you want some action, I think you’ve come to the right place. I told myself I was going to wait until six p.m. to go storm Saul’s hideout, but now that you’re here I’d be willing to leave now and go get Nick away from those bastards. What do you say?”
Weston shook his head no, and Holden felt his heart sinking. “I say that we’re not going to be storming Saul’s camp. Not tonight, anyway.”
Holden’s heart sank further, and he felt confusion and anger rising in his chest. Was Weston really going to refuse to fight? So much for being his ride or die. “Weston, Nick’s been there for almost six hours. He should’ve been back by now. We need to go rescue him before Saul’s men really hurt him!”
But Weston just shook his head again. “No, we don’t need to go rescue him. Because he’s already found his way home.”
Holden blinked, confused. Violet furrowed her brow, looking just as confused.
“What are you talking about?” Holden asked. “We’ve been here the whole time, mate, and I can promise you that Nick has not shown up.”
Stealth and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 7) Page 12