Chapter 15: Gone
1451 Words
Meghan
It didn’t take long to gear up. Jaden, Ethan, Mason, JP, N, and the royal guard were ready to go in under half an hour the next morning. As I finished strapping on my boots JP approached me. “Meg I know you have been training with Dylan, but maybe you should stay here.”
“No.” I snapped. “I am the fourth and I will not stand idly by while my family is in danger.”
“Very well.” JP bowed his head. He moved away from me, and I sighed as I was approached by Gracey and Izzy.
“If you are going to tell me to stay put, then don’t.” I snarled.
“No way.” Izzy laughed. “I was going to tell you to stay close to me. I believe you can take care of yourself, but Gracey isn’t used to this. We will watch each other’s backs.”
I nodded. Twenty minutes later we were teleporting to Aurora Colorado. The warehouse stood tall in front of us. Jaden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t sense any demons other than Izzy and Gracey.” He announced after a minute.
“Same.” Izzy snarled.
Minutes felt like hours, but soon we were in the warehouse. It was eerily quiet and I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise in warning. “Over here!” A shout came from our left. Izzy, Gracey, and I ran towards them. The room was empty, except for two sets of chains, and chair with a large puddle of blood under it. One sniff told me it was Niky’s blood. A growl tore from my throat.
“They’re not here.” Ethan growled.
“They were here yesterday.” Gracey was shaking. “I don’t understand how he moved them so fast.”
“I didn’t.” A man said as he stepped from the shadows on the other side of the room. “I released them.”
“Father!” Izzy moved to protect Gracey.
“The Trybrids are not home?” He ignored her.
“No.” I said stepping forward. Bastian’s eyes flashed when he saw me.
“The fourth.” He mused. “I should have known that it would be you.”
“Where is my husband?” I growled.
“I don’t know.” Bastian sighed. “I told Gareth to return them last night.”
“I don’t believe you!” Gracey screamed.
“You stupid, insolent girl.” Bastian took a step closer and Gracey shrunk back. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
“Leave her alone.” Izzy snapped. “She is under my protection now.”
“You can’t protect her forever, and when she is back with me I will make her regret her traitorous ways.” Bastian glared at his daughters. “As for those three, I will find out where they are.”
“Why?” JP asked.
“Because this war is not over yet.” Bastian grinned. A shiver racked my body. “I don’t want the Trybrids dead, I want them on my side.”
“We will never be on your side.” I snapped.
“We shall see.” With that Bastian disappeared.
It felt like all over my energy was sapped at once and I collapsed on my knees. Where could they be? “We need to get back to Nahonia.” I tell everyone. “Maybe they are home.”
“Claire would have told us.” Jaden murmured.
“Maybe she doesn’t know?” Alpha Isaac suggested.
We rushed home to Nahonia. Orders were given, every room in the castle, and the grounds were searched. The people of Nahonia helped as well, and when that turned up no results Claire turned to the people of the world. Both Etheria and the human realm were searched high and low, but to no avail. Niky, Justin, and Dylan had disappeared into this air. After three days, Jaden went back to the heavens to look, but I knew they were still alive.
Every night I had awful nightmares. I knew they were from Dylan, and the pain was worse then it had been when Bastian was torturing them. At night I was scared to close my eyes because of the nightmares, but I also welcomed them because it was the only time I felt close to Dylan.
The next few weeks flew by, and I felt like my heart was breaking more and more every day, but I got up and took care of the kids and went to work. Macy, Ethan, Amber, Mason, and their kids came to stay at the castle to help out. Claire had locked herself in her room and barely come out. Anna never stopped crying and both Daniel and Tanner threw themselves into work to distract them from their missing children. This family had never been more broken. I didn’t tell anyone but Amber about the nightmares. It was my burden to bear.
I rubbed my eyes and stretched. I had been spending more and more hours at the hospital. I couldn’t bare to go home to my empty bed. It had been a month since they disappeared. I looked at the chart in front of me again, but the words swam on the page.
“Megahn!” I jumped as someone shouted in my ear. I turned to see Melissa. “We are needed in the pit.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Melissa, Alex’s mate, and I had gotten really close over the last few weeks. She has been my rock. We rushed downstairs. “What’s going?”
“We’ve got three victims.” Chloe told us. “Two males, one female.”
I gasped and Chloe shot me a look that said “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“How bad?” Melissa asked.
“Bad.” Kendall replied. “We have no idea who they are, but if it’s who we think it is-“ She trailed off.
The doors swung open, and the paramedics wheeled in three gurneys. I saw the faces of my team as they tried to process what we were seeing. Three people so bloodied and bruised that it was impossible to see who they were. My heart threatened to explode. Two males, one female. I felt Sam come closer to the front, and I moved without thinking.
On the bed in front of me lay a man, who looked like he could have blonde hair. My stomach twisted painfully at the cuts across his chest. These three were obviously tortured. I heard Chloe calling my name as my hand reached for the man’s face. There was only one way to know for sure. My fingers brushed his face and I shivered at how cold his skin was, but underneath it all was that tiny spark. Sam howled in my mind, and I blinked back tears.
Quickly I moved to the other man, the sparks weren’t the same, but I recognized the bond immediately. Same with the woman. “Call Claire now!” I snapped. “We need to get these three into surgery immediately.” No one argued with me. “I will take Justin. Melissa take Niky. Kendall do not let my husband die.”
The ER flew into action as we rushed them all into separate rooms. We were in the middle of cleaning Justin when JP showed up at the door. “Here let me.” He told me. “Surgery may not be needed.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Jaden is healing Dylan, N is healing Niky, and I’ve got Justin. Let’s see what we can do first okay kid.” I nodded and my staff stepped back to let him work. Thirty minutes later all three of them were cleaned and healed. Laying in the largest room we had in the hospital.
“Where did they find them?” Claire asked.
“Literally in a ditch.” Chloe growled and I jumped.
“How bad is it?” Amber asked.
“As far as we can see they suffered at the hands of maniacs.” Melissa began. “They were beaten, drugged, and tortured, but that’s not all.”
“What?” I looked at her. “What else is there?”
“I don’t know how to say this delicately.” She squared her shoulders. “From the trauma to her genital area, it appears that Niky was r***d, repeatedly.”
- Writer
