Page 129 of His Atonement
"What?" Colt looks up at me in confusion. "Where is who?"
“Frankie," I growl, my eyes glued to the empty space. "Where the fuck is my mate?!"
"I don't know what you’re—shit!" He gets to his feet quickly and starts sniffing the air. "She was here just a few seconds ago."
"Well, she is clearly not here now," I snap. "So tell me where the fuck my mate went!"
"I don't know!" Colt barks. "She was just here. A bunch of those little creepy demons were hanging around so I was still the… guarding her and I didn't move from in front of Frankie once. Then all of the sudden those things started screeching before they disappeared and then I blinked and was looking up at your bloody ass leaning over me!"
"I swear to the gods if they took her—"
"They didn't!" Colt glares at me, his eyes flashing white. "I had a job to do and I fucking did it. Frankie was right fucking there after those things went back to wherever they came from!"
"Then where did she go?!"
"I don't know!"
“Fuck." I fist my hair, then gag from the pain it creates and start pacing. ”The Maker would not go back on our deal, could not. She said it was done, said Frankie's soul returned to where it belonged!" Fuck, I swear I will find a way to murder the Creator of All Life if I find out She or The Destroyer took my mate’s body. I will find a way and then I will murder them over and over for what they have done.
"This way.” My eyes dart to the wolf as he prowls along the hall, naked and sniffing the air. "Her scent is stronger this way."
"Her scent is all over this place!" I limp toward him then realize he's right. "This makes no sense."
Colt waves me off as he follows the scent back the way I originally carried my mate, through the long hall, out onto the second floor of the main house. Thankfully, it's quiet, and late judging by the darkened windows, so our most unusual state should not draw too much attention for now.
By the time we're in the underground tunnel, Frankie's scent is so strong it's as if she were here with us, but that makes no sense at all.
It should be dimmed by the oils I used, dimmed because she no longer breathes, but instead it becomes more fragrant with each step we take until we're halfway between the main house and our cabin. And that's when it becomes consuming.
"And no one entered the cave while I was gone?" I ask, unjustly pissed at my brother.
He shakes his head and continues smelling everything around us. "Not even a goddamn spider got in."
Our cabin comes into view and when I see the light in the kitchen shine through the burgundy curtains, my blood boils.
If this is some kind of prank? If someone was stupid enough to fuck with me in my grief, hide my mate and desecrate her body, lead me to believe she is once again in my home, I shall bring a wrath so great upon this clan no one shall be spared.
"Stay away from the windows,” Colt whispers. "If someone's inside we don't want them to know we're onto them. I'll go around back, climb in through the spare room."
"Wait for my signal,” I grind out as I cautiously step onto the porch. ”I want a shot at the sick fuck who clearly is enjoying the idea of fucking with the broken demon."
Colt nods, ducks around the side of the house, and disappears while I try to keep myself in check long enough to avoid destroying my home and the last little bit of my mate I have left.
With a deep breath I pull from an untapped reserve of energy, grip the knob then throw open my front door only to have the air knocked out of my shredded lungs.
"Hi, baby."
I drop to my knees immediately at her voice, drop to my knees and try to blink away the delusion that has obviously manifested in my grief.
Frankie, my darling mate, sits at the counter drinking what smells like goddamn coffee out of her favorite mug, still dressed in my Lil Wayne t-shirt and on the other side of the counter, glowing that soft ambient light, is fucking Tolan and Ellida.
"Oh my gods, I've lost my fucking mind.” I scrub my hands over my face, and close my eyes while I bleed all over the floor. "I did not reign victorious. I must not have. This must be the madness of The Desolate Plane, the one madness I am doomed to live for eternity because Thologar succeeded in killing me.” I peek through my fingers, still see the three of them, then shut my eyes tight. "Either that or I have lost too much blood before I began to heal, am hallucinating from what must be liters draining from my body."
"Zan, baby, open your eyes."
I shake my head, and squeeze them harder. "I cannot. If I do and I still see… still see what I think I have seen, then I will know for sure I fabricated everything that transpired and… and…"
Delicate fingers push my hair back from my forehead, stroke the strands matted in blood and dust between my horns in the most familiar of gestures.
