Which was exactly why I wouldn’t tell her this.
If she asked, I was oath bound to give her the information, of course. But why would she ask? Nolan using his contacts to get information on Maisie was an unlikely scenario. I hoped Nolan stuck to his original request and didn’t tell her either. She needed to focus on Kylan — the immediate threat to her safety and life. When Kylan was dead, then we would tell her. We’d have the resources then to go after her sister.
Well, maybe not a whole wealth of resources. The only powerful one in our little group was Nolan, and he wasn’t indoctrinated yet. Shan, Cas, and Em were officially fugitives. And I was, once again, a fucking cat. Not much in the way of resources here.
Freya was scrappy when she wanted to be, though. There was a reason Shan had gifted her the nickname. If she had to use her bare hands to strangle Charles’ palace guards, she would do it.
Although, his palace being underwater was a problem for another day. She’d never developed her nymph side enough to breathe underwater, though in theory it was possible for her. There also had to be another palace, not underwater, where they hosted guests. With careful planning, we could get Maisie back without needing to go in the water.
Julian and Nolan bid each other goodbye, with Nolan promising to be available if Julian ever needed assistance. When he put the phone face down on the desk, he leaned back in his chair and groaned. “I was really hoping he would tell me she was alive and happy, you know?” he said. “Then I could give Freya some good news. Now I can’t tell her anything, because there’s no way I’m distracting her by saying ‘hey, your sister is alive with two children and being abused’. She needs to kill Kylan first. He’s too big of a threat to ignore.”
Good, we were on the same page. I released a little meow, reaching out a paw to touch his lower stomach in a gesture of comfort. Since I was already lying in his lap, there wasn’t much further comfort I could give.
“I’m going to look into Charles a little more. He has a lot of allies, but no holdings on Earth himself.”
Nolan continued to mutter to himself as he scrolled and clicked through intelligence files filled with information we never would have had access to on our own. By the time his eyelids were drooping shut, I was feeling like a nap myself. I should go back to Freya first, but it wasn’t often I felt the urge to sleep as a familiar. I wouldn’t give up the warm blanket wrapping around me and dragging me under.
That’s what I told myself when I purred my way into sleep, curled on Nolan’s lap.
ChapterTwenty
FREYA
When neither Nolan nor Oswald had come by the previous night, I wasn’t worried. Ozzy liked to wander, and as much as I demanded his presence I knew Nolan had to be busy. Now, in the light of the next morning, I was worried. And irritated. Pacing the living room, I kept my footfalls soft and my irritation quiet so I didn’t wake anyone else. I was the only one who’d felt the acute weight of Ozzy’s absence and been bothered by it.
None of us had tried to leave other than him, with the door being guarded. Ultimately, we were prisoners even when it felt like we were guests. Right now, I wouldn’t stand for being a prisoner. I needed my gods damned familiar, and I was too angsty to summon him and call it a day. Wandering the halls searching for him would release some of my pent up energy.
Pulling open the front door, the demand was halfway out of my mouth before I cut it off. “Where the fuck is my familiar? Bring me to—”
Outside the door, no one stood guard. A quick glance down the hallway, both ways, confirmed no one was standing in the hallway at all. Were we free to wander? Wasn’t that a risk? We could wreak havoc on the facility, not to mention the potential for our escape. The front doors weren’t the only place we could leave through.
Nolan was too trusting. It really was going to get him killed one day.
Why did that make me worry about him?
I glanced down at my attire and decided shoes may be a good idea if I was going to wander the building. Closing the door, I padded on light feet into the bedroom we’d used. All four of us had slept on the same bed. Even with a king, three big men and me was a tight fit. I’d practically been on top of Shan, and Emmett had been hanging off the edge and clutching Caspian for dear life.
“Freya?” Emmett’s sleep-roughened voice asked from his side of the bed. “Where are you going?”
Caspian was still snoring softly, clinging to Shan. Em threw his feet over the edge of the bed, picking up on my desire to stay quiet and not wake the whole group. “Oswald isn’t back yet. I’m worried about him.”
“Can’t you just summon him?”
“Yeah, but I’m going stir-crazy. There are no guards. I’m going to find him the old-fashioned way.”
One of his thick eyebrows raised, which was about the reaction I’d had. “Trusting,” he murmured under his breath.
Standing up, he put on his clothes as I found socks and shoes. When I went out to the main area, he followed me. “You don’t have to come,” I said.
“Wouldn’t company be nice?”
His smile was genuine and kind. There was an underlying hint of worry for me, but he wouldn’t force me to accept his help. Not like Shan. It was a breath of fresh air and made me want to have him along on the ride. Besides, it was better if we got to know each other. Both of us being with Caspian would keep us close.
“Fine. You better be good company. No Shan overprotective bullshit.”
“I’m protective of Cas, but I’ve learned firsthand you can protect yourself. I’ll follow your lead.”
We went out into the hallway, which was still empty. It was early, only five or six in the morning, an odd hour even for a twenty-four-hour company. Some of the night dwellers had gone to sleep, while most of the day people hadn’t woken up yet.
