"Nova," Kieran's voice was firm, "you didn't want to do it before. There are other ways."
I was searching for the mage's name online, trying to find some way to contact him. He said that my mom had his information, but there was no way to get in contact with her. I texted her number a few times, pretending that I was just checking in, but there was no response. One would think my shit head of a father and his piece of shit master would keep up their ploy to make me believe she was still home.
I scrolled through my mom's Facebook friends, looking for his name.
"Find my heart," why the hell did my mom have so many Facebook friends, "find my mom."
"You can track her phone," Lucian said.
"If the phone is off, you can't track it." I thought everyone knew that.
I found someone by the name of Merlin on her list and clicked his name. His profile picture was of the cover of a book, and everything else was private. I didn't get his last name, but I figured the name Merlin wasn't common, so hopefully I had the right one.
Kyler stopped me before I clicked on the message button. "Think about it for a minute. I understand you're scared for your mom, but why are you assuming it's your father?"
I started typing, feeling a surge of rage I had no right to feel. I wasn't assuming anything. I knew it was him, right to the very marrow of my bones. There was a gut feeling, then there was this indescribable understanding and knowledge that your worst fear has come true.
Ever since the raising at the morgue, I feared it was my father, and that he'd eventually come for me, or my mother. He came for me, and while I came out of it relatively unscathed, my mom wouldn't fare so well. She wished, up until the point she realized what he was, that he'd come and find her one day. That he'd whisk her away and they'd fall in love.
He whisked her away, but what exactly would come of it?
"I am not assuming," I said, finishing my message to him. "This whole time, people from both sides were taken and held hostage for who knows what. Jason is missing in action, so I don't know if he's moved on or if he's hiding. Either way, I can't take his memories without him allowing me to have them, so I have no clue what the hell they've been doing to the people they've taken."
I read over my message.
Merlin, I need your help. My mom has been taken, and the only way I know how to find her is to be able to find my heart. I don't care about the cost. I just need to find her.
I hit send.
I didn't care about the cost - whether that be someone's life for my mom's, or even if it was monetary. I'd give just about anything to find her at that point. Alaric couldn't have had anything good planned for her.
Lucian glanced at his cell phone. "The house we found Nova in is completely vacant. There is a for sale sign in the front yard."
I figured they wouldn't just go back to that house, what with Lucian and Kieran both knowing the location. If they had remained there, maybe I would have second guessed myself. Maybe I would have somehow talked myself out of the idea that my mom was taken by Alaric and Vincenzo. But the fact that they left solidified my suspicion. Any possible doubt I may have felt was gone.
I didn't have a plan. I needed one. Merlin said he'd help me, so I had no doubt after he replied, twenty four hours later I would have my answer. So I had twenty four hours, plus a bit of response time to think up a plan and piece it together.
"We'll help," Kieran said. "I'll call together a few of my clan and we will go with you. You can call the shots as well."
I didn't say anything, because if I did, I would have probably broken down and cried. My fight or flight senses didn't click over to flight like it normally did. It fell so hard into the fight sense that I got a mental whiplash.
I'd do anything for my mom. And doubting that was Alaric and Vincenzo's first mistake.
Their second was underestimating how far I'd go.
If any harm had come to her, I'd kill them. Plain and simple. The moment they laid a hand on her to harm her in any way, was the moment they signed their death warrant. I did not have these thoughts normally. But once I loved something or someone with my whole heart, I became fiercely protective.
Kieran forced me to look at him. "Nova, get control over your blood lust. Now isn't the time."
I narrowed my eyes at him, remaining silent.
"Save it for when you find your mom," Lucian stepped up beside me.
Kyler came to my other side and placed a hand on the back of my neck, slowly kneading the tensed muscles there. I waited, feeling the anger slowly slip back into fear. Then I became calm.
I'd find her. If I thought rationally, they kept Jason and Selene for a long time before Jason showed up at my house as a spirit. If they were planning on doing whatever it was they did to them, then my mom had quite a bit of time. I just had to get to her before they decided her usefulness ran out.
"I need to speak with Selene," I finally said. "Jason disappeared, and she is the only one I know of that can tell me what exactly they did to her and Jason while they were there."
"Do you think that's a good idea?" Kieran's eyebrows drew together in concern. "I can tell you what Selene told me, but if you're having problems controlling your blood lust now..."
He let the rest of his sentence hang, and I knew what he was trying to get at. What Selene and Jason went through would be enough to make me lose it. I couldn't do much without knowing where they were, but he seemed like he was afraid of how I would react.
It became abundantly clear that none of them wanted to tell me about what happened. I could call Jason back to me, but I doubted he would share his memories, even if I attempted to force him to move on. I also doubted that he'd be willing to tell me what happened either. But the fact that they were withholding that information told me all I needed to know.
The ground shook. It was gentle at first, and grew as my anger resurfaced. I felt my eyes shift colors - something I'd never felt before.
Kieran's eyes widened and he gripped the chair as the ground shook so hard that it made even Lucian and Kyler stumble. Plates crashed to the ground from the table, exploding into millions of little shards. In the next room, I heard something hit the floor.
"Nova!" Kyler grabbed my arm and ripped me out of my seat, pulling me to him. He fell to the ground, holding me against him, one hand on the back of my neck and the other wrapped around my waist.
"Nova," he repeated, rocking me. Or was that the ground? "Nova, shh."
Lucian appeared in my vision behind Kyler. He looked calm as he reached out and grabbed my face, gently cupping my cheeks in his hands.
"Baby," he said, "look at me."
My eyes shot up to meet his at the term of endearment instead of my name.
"We will get your mom back." His eyes held the truth he was trying to convey through his words. "We will get her back and you can do whatever you want or need to do to Vincenzo and Alaric. But for now you need to think logically. Make a plan."
Kieran knelt beside Lucian, reaching out and grabbing a hand. "And we will help you as much as you want. You have absolutely every right to be angry, but save that anger for them."
I hadn't realized the shaking had slowed until it disappeared completely. Kyler still held me against him and continued to rock me, Lucian still held my face, his thumbs rubbing my skin gently, and Kieran still gripped my hand.
I lowered my head and rested it against Kyler's shoulder. Lucian's hand found my head, petting my hair, and all three men kept their hands on me, allowing me the time I needed to calm down.
*****
A/N: Random Sunday update for you.