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“She vanished that night. We parted well enough on both our sides that evening, and I thought I’d see her the next morning. But she didn’t come in the whole weekend. So, I went to check in with her on Monday, and her apartment was vacant. She disappeared without a trace. I thought she might come back, but…”
“She stole one of my Byzantian rings,” he shared, his voice a mix of bitterness and astonishment. “They’re 9th century, Murtagh! I couldn’t believe it. Right from under my nose!” he huffed. I could almost see him throwing his arms up in the air with exasperation like he used to. “Well, if she’s not Zarah, I have no idea why she was here. It wasn’t to steal from me—I’m pretty sure that was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
“You should’ve secured those better,” I chided, shaking my head in disbelief.
“They were, but she…” Caspian’s frustration was palpable. “I’m going to find her, Murtagh. She can’t just walk away with my ring.”
“How will you find her?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Social media,” he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I frowned, feeling out of my depth. “The tweet-bird thing?”
His exasperation was clear. “You truly are an impossible troglodyte.”
“And you’re an insufferable narcissist,” I shot back, unable to resist the jab.
Caspian’s voice was cold. “Murtagh, let’s be adults. I want her found. I want my ring, I want retribution, and I want… offspring.”
I wanted that, too… more than anything. But to have offspring, he’d need me too, and he knew that. “So, am I invited to this hunt?”
“Miles will find her. But I could use your help eventually,” he conceded grudgingly.
I narrowed my eyes, sensing his smugness even through the phone. “I’m coming.”
“Then get here soon, or I’m hunting her down without your help,” he growled, hanging up abruptly.
Staring at the receiver, I felt a mix of anger and determination.
“Asshole,” I muttered, slamming the phone down.
I rushed to my apartment, mind racing with plans. I wanted to find a way home, but while I was looking, which could take another millennia for all I knew, I had to find Zazie.
I had a plan, and I wasn’t going to waste a single moment.
CHAPTER 8
Zazie
I was in a very uncomfortable moment. My brother was staring at me like he was going to use the rest of the strength on his shrunken frame to leap across the table and pull out my heart Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom-style.
And I was too frightened of Ryan to even look in his direction. I could feel his glare. It was as if his expression was actually burning a pit in the bottom of my stomach.
I pursed my lips together. “Before you guys start roasting me,” I began, “I would like to say I know what I did was wrong. And stupid. And I am sorry.” I was angry at myself, too, but that was stupid because I was remembering how that moment had felt. There was no choice! As soon as I saw those rings out of the corner of my eye, I knew that I had to have at least one of them. The world wanted me to have it, and during that moment I was absolutely certain of it.
I still was. I knew neither my brother nor his husband would understand just how mine my new ring was. They’d never understood, never heard something like this call to them like a siren.
This was my cross to bear.
A cross I liked very much. It looked good on my hand, too.
“I want you to—” Ryan began in his firm tone.
“I can’t return it! It would be so bad for you! You’re representing the man who’s suing him! Yikes, right?” I reminded, trying to head off the demand that I return my ring at the pass.
“You can’t keep it, Zazie,” Zach reminded me, his tone tired.
We had had this pow-wow before. Twice we had this pow-wow after Ryan had paid my bail. Because occasionally I had been caught doing this shit. The only reason I wasn’t still in jail was because Ryan was an amazingly talented lawyer that I couldn’t have otherwise ever afforded.
