Page 54 of Virtually Guarded

“I don’t know.” I took a few too-shallow breaths and tried to pull myself together. “An hour or so? The sun was still up. I heard the door, but I didn’t know it was him leaving.”

“Yeah, I heard it too.” He frowned. “I saw him outside, but I didn’t think anything of it. I should have checked on him.”

“No. I should have.” Privately, I agreed. If Laurits had seen Ren outside, he should have gone out to talk to him. Then again, Ren probably wouldn’t have talked, and he was my mate. If I’d just followed him out of the attic…

I couldn’t think that way. Not right now.

“If it’s only been an hour, he can’t have gone more than a few miles,” Laurits said. “Unless he took a bus or the train, but let’s assume he stayed on foot.”

I hadn’t even considered public transportation. I thought about it now and shook my head. “He doesn’t like being closed in. Or being around a lot of people.”

“Okay. On foot.” Laurits took out his phone and thumbed the screen. After a couple of seconds, Davion’s voice filtered out of the speaker. “Davion. Ren’s missing. Get the others and meet me in the kitchen.”

He shoved the phone back into his pocket as footsteps thudded above us. Within a minute, the other guards surrounded us, speaking questions over each other while I bristled, needing to get the fuck out there to find my mate. Now that I’d brought Laurits into it, I couldn’t leave without his orders.

I barely heard Laurits giving instructions. My entire being was focused on my bond with Ren. His presence had grown fainter still. He was alive, but I couldn’t guess how much longer that would be the case.

His presence. I couldn’t get an answer from him, but maybe I could follow that faint sense to wherever he was. I yanked open the door and bolted outside, ignoring the others calling after me until Laurits shouted, “Xavier, wait! Get in the SUV. I’ll drive.”

One of the SUVs was parked in front of the house. I ran around the building to it and jumped into the passenger seat, because there was no way in hell I was in any shape to drive. Laurits was in the driver’s seat before I managed to close my door. “You’re following the bond,” he said. “I’m sending the others out too, but tell me which way to go.”

“East Boston.” I closed my eyes. The absence of visual input strengthened the bond. Only a touch, but maybe enough. “West. Northwest, a little.”

“Can you see anything?” Laurits asked as the vehicle started moving. “Through the bond. Can you see what he’s seeing?”

Could I? I concentrated harder. Reddish black filled my inner vision. “No. Just dark.” I hesitated, registering the colors in my mind. “He’s bleeding.” I opened my eyes. “Drive faster, Laurits!”

I had no right barking orders at him, but thankfully, he didn’t react. “I’m going as fast as I can, Xavier.”

I didn’t answer, because I would have gone off on him. Of course he couldn’t drive any faster on the narrow streets with other traffic.

Minutes passed. We reached Route 1A, the road that went into Revere in one direction and brought people to the tunnel under Boston Harbor in the other. Hoping my instincts and the sense of Ren, fainter but still there, were correct, I directed Laurits toward Revere.

At least rush hour had died down, so fewer cars were on the road. Laurits sped up, ignoring the speed limit, though since most drivers on this road ignored it, we didn’t stand out.

Hang on, I told Ren, not knowing whether he could hear me. We’re on the way. Hold on.

Again, he didn’t answer, but I felt something. A tentative brush against my mind, as if he was reaching for me. I closed my eyes, hoping to strengthen the connection again, and a brief image of a brick wall flashed into my mind. A wall with a sign that I recognized as the logo of one of the area banks.

“Downtown,” I told Laurits without opening my eyes.

“The city?” he asked

I shook my head. “Revere. Downtown Revere.” I named the bank. “He’s there. He’s hurt.”

“Got it.” The SUV sped up, and Laurits said, “Davion. Downtown Revere.” He, too, named the bank. “Meet us there.”

“On the way,” Davion’s slightly tinny voice responded through the SUV’s speakers.

I kept my eyes closed, feeling the car rumbling over minor potholes, hearing the occasional too-loud blasts of music from other vehicles. Clinging desperately to Ren at the other end of the bond. If I held on tightly enough, he would be okay until we found him.

“He’s there!” Laurits shouted suddenly after several minutes. “Xavier, I see him. Hang on.”

Tires squealed as I opened my eyes to see Laurits pulling a U-turn in the middle of Revere’s main street. A group of humans stood nearby, watching with wide, fearful eyes but making no move to intervene. Against the brick side of the bank I’d seen in my mind, beneath a mounted spotlight, a thin form slumped, head tipped to the side. A human form, but I sensed Ren’s wolf close to the surface. In front of him, a man I recognized. Gregory Malkin, his hand raised to deliver another blow.

Don’t shift, Ren, I said, hoping the urgency in my tone would keep Ren’s wolf where he belonged. Humans will see.

I know, a faint voice replied, and I wasn’t sure if it was Ren’s human voice or his wolf’s. Hurry.