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It had been the worst week in Vidar’s very long life, and that was saying something. He had been confident they would find Millard and Charlie within hours. But hours had turned to days and they still didn’t know exactly where the traitor had taken Charlie, or what he was doing to her. Vidar pushed the thought from his mind. He couldn’t go there, not right now. He needed to focus on getting Charlie back, on finding the next clue that would get them to the next step. For four days, they had turned Jun’s warehouse into the headquarters of the search. Their initial thought that he would take her out of the country via a ship had proven wrong. Looking back, it was f**king obvious a ship would have been too slow and vulnerable. Vidar had wanted to put silver to himself when they had realised there had been a private plane taking off from a small, private airstrip just an hour after the kidnapping. It made more sense. The flight plan showed it was heading for Guatemala. From there, the trace went cold. They all had the feeling Millard had switched planes and taken off from a different airstrip. It was harder to track them. Guatemala didn’t have as strict of a demand on flight plans and there were too many small planes to track them all in a short time. Nasir had finally found a witch willing to help them with enough power to be of use. On the fourth day, as Caine had been brought out of his forced sleep, the witch had verified Charlie’s suspicions from weeks before. There was magic hiding Millard’s whereabouts. She could lift it, but it wouldn’t give them any new information. It would just make it possible to find him. After going on a tirade for being put under, Caine joined their efforts, swearing to Vidar that he would do anything to find Charlie. Vidar hadn’t needed it. He knew Caine was almost as protective of her as he himself. One thing Caine brought to the table was his experience of tracking people down. The first thing he asked them as he joined them in the headquarters was where they thought Millard would feel safest. Vidar had never thought about it like that. But it was a brilliant way. to start their search. They talked it through and they all agreed he would stay away from North America and Asia due to their clan’s influences in those areas. They also excluded Africa, as Millard didn’t have a stronghold there. After some more reasoning, they concluded he would most likely be held up either in South America or Europe. Vidar was almost certain that Europe would be the given choice as it was where Millard had spent his youth. They decided to split up. Vidar, Caine and Jun travelled to Europe to continue the hunt there.
Henry, Adisa and Nasir went to South America.
Now, a week after Charlie had been taken, Vidar paced his office in the townhouse outside Strasbourg. It felt like they were on the right path, but they couldn’t get a hold of anything tangible.
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“Do you think we should call Mauritius again?” Jun asked. Vidar sighed. His first call with Millard’s father after the betrayal had not been a fun experience. Mauritius was a couple of hundred years Vidar’s senior, and the two had been friends for almost five hundred years. It hadn’t been fun telling the man his son was a traitor. More over, Vidar had a feeling Mauritius wanted to deal with Millard himself. Maybe he should call him just to explain that the situation had become worse.
“It’s not a bad idea,” he agreed as his phone rang. He looked down at it. “Talk about the devil,” he muttered and answered.
“Vidar?” Charlie’s faint voice sounded. Vidar’s brain malfunctioned. It was the combination of not expecting her voice after seeing Millard’s father’s name, and the fact that his b*dy physically reacted to hearing her voice again. After making sure she was unharmed and figuring out why she had called from Mauritius‘ number, he asked to talk to Millard’s father as he waved at Caine. Caine had already understood what was going on and as Vidar repeated the name of the DeVoen family home, Caine was getting things moving. Minutes later, they were all in a car heading to the airport.
“The flight to Finland will take about two hours,” Caine told them. Vidar grunted. It was too. long for his liking. He had Mauritius‘ word Charlie would be safe. He trusted the man. But in his mind, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until she was in his arms. When he knew she was safe, he would hand her over to Caine for an hour as he dealt with Millard. If Mauritius. thought he could protect his son from Vidar’s wrath, he would find out just how wrong he was. Vidar had respect for the man, but Millard had betrayed his clan, killed his men and tried to take his imprinted mate. He would die, and it would be a slow process. The flight was a two–hour long torture, the three vampires and their men were restless.
“I have to give it to Millard. It’s ballsy to take her back to his father’s house,” Jun said..
“That or desperate,” Caine agreed.
“Desperate?” Jun asked.
“Most of his plans have been well thought out. I’m assuming he has been planning for a long time. It’s a solid plan. But he hasn’t been able to plan Charlie’s kidnapping for long. It hasn’t been that long since he met her. I’m guessing his childhood home has something he needed. and couldn’t get ready in a short time. Something he needed bad enough to face the
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possibility of his parents discovering what he was doing.”
“What would that be?” Jun asked.
“How the fuck should I know? My best guess is either the ability to keep someone captive without other noticing, or maybe the witch he is using is local to the area?” Caine guessed. Vidar and Jun grunted. They would have time to find out, if the damned plane would just hurry up and get there, Vidar thought. He resited the urge to ask how long it would be before they landed like a f**king five–year–old. When they finally did land, three cars were waiting
for them with local drivers of the DeVoen family. It took them another half an hour
to reach the old castle. Vidar didn’t notice the beautiful weather, the well–kept garden or the luxurious decorations as he entered the building. All he focused on was getting to Charlie. He could swear he scented her in the air. They walked into the large, open entrance hall and his heart soared when he saw her come running down a huge staircase. He ran towards her. As she was almost at the bottom of the stairs, a little voice told him something was unusual about Charlie. It looked like she was glowing. He didn’t have time to think about it closer as she launched herself off the steps towards him. Vidar covered the last paces and caught her in his arms. Hugging her against his b*dy, taking in her scent, had never felt as good as it did in that moment. He felt her tight grip around him as she clung to him. He opened his eyes to take her in. The glow was more prominent, there was no denying it now. Charlie was glowing and Vidar was trying to think of a reason when she let out a blood–curdling scream and he felt her b*dy tense in his arms. Vidar’s heart stopped as he called her name. She didn’t answer, she ju
just dug her small fingers into his shoulders as pain contoured her face. Vidar gently lowered her to the floor as he felt and heard Caine and Jun take up posts on either side of him. Protecting both him and Charlie. What was wrong with Charlie?
“She is changing!” Britta called out from a few steps up the stairs. Vidar tore his eyes off Charlie to look at her. She eyed Jun and Caine with caution. Changing? Vidar looked down at the love of his life. He had seen the change of a maiden a couple of times in his life and he recognised the glow. He felt stupid to not have understood sooner. But there shouldn’t be any pain. There had never been pain the other times he had witnessed the change.
“Why the fuck is she in pain? There should be no pain!” he growled back at her, as if this thing was all her fault. Vidar knew it probably wasn’t.
“Not under normal circumstances. But nothing about this is normal,” Britta said, taking a tentative step closer, only to have Caine growl at her. “A maiden is usually well taken care of. They will be well fed, rested, and safe. So when the change comes, they have an abundance of
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energy to draw from. Because of what Charlie has been through the last week, she doesn’t have as much energy. But for some reason she decided to change and it requires a lot of power. The transition is fueling itself on her life power and that hurts.” Vidar looked down at Charlie. She was quiet, but she was struggling as the glow intensified. He had no idea what she was turning into. He didn’t care. She was his and she was in pain because of what Millard had put her through. Vidar didn’t even know what that included. He hadn’t wanted to ask her over the phone.
“Can we stop it?” he asked Britta. She looked pale but shook her head. Vidar swore under his breath.
“Please, follow me. At least we can make her comfortable. We’ll call our healer and we will do everything in our power to help her through this.” Vidar wanted to turn the offer down. He wanted Charlie out of this place. But her needs had to come first. He hadn’t even had time to talk about this part with her. He hadn’t prepared her for the change. Vidar had thought they had time as he knew she had been struggling with leaving behind her human life. And even if he had talked to her. He wouldn’t have known about the pain. He lifted her into his arms and looked at Britta.
“We will accept your offer. But me, Caine and Jun do not leave her side,” he told her..
“Of course, follow me.”
“Do you have
your son contained?” Vidar asked as they were walking. He saw Britta’s steps
falter.
“His father is controlling him,” she said.
“My men, Bishop and Smith, will make sure he is kept in place. Please make sure they know where to find him and where they can keep him,” he said. The two gargoyles stepped forward, towering over them all.
“Jaakko, please show these men to our sitting room and tell my husband that they will be taking over the care of Millard,” Britta told one of her men.
“Yes, mistress,” the man said.
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“He needs to stay alive,” Vidar told his men before they left. They nodded. They knew better than to go too far and end Millard’s life. At the same time, Vidar wanted them to be free to take their pound of flesh for what Millard had done to their brother. He had promised them,
after all.