32. JAX

THIRTY-TWO

jax

“You were supposed to keep an eye on her,” Asher sneered, getting in my face.

“What are you going on about?” I bunched the front of Asher’s shirt, shoving him away from me. His eyes flared red and settled soon after.

“Catalina is gone. There’s no sign of her and her car is gone.” His words sucker punched me in the throat. The human left? My brain lagged on processing the information, but my body had stiffened to a painful extent. The sluggish muscle in my chest thumped.

“She was sleeping . . .” I trailed off. I didn’t think she would leave. I knew it, I shouldn’t have trusted the fucking human. Look what it got me.

“You lost her?” Tobias gritted out between his clenched teeth. The accusation was thrown at me. I fished my phone out of my pocket. “What are you doing?” Tobias narrowed his eyes at me.

“Calling V so he can put a freeze on her passport,” I said grimly.

“She didn’t flee,” Asher spat, shoving my shoulder. I returned it with a punch to the stomach.

“Watch it,” I growled.

“She was taken,” Asher continued, almost desperate.

I pitied my brother. The girl had wrapped him around her feeble fingers and he did not know it. He claimed I was a pussy for Imogen, doing as she bid without complaint, but look at him now. At the very least, I’d followed the orders of someone of our own ilk.

I was ashamed to admit, she had started to sink her traitorous little claws into me as well and if it had been a moment longer, she may have succeeded.

Asher crossed his arms. “She was taken,” he insisted again, seeing the doubt on my face. The surety in his tone gave me pause.

“I don’t believe she would leave either,” Tobias’s gaze became unfocused as he fell into his own thoughts.

I was supposed to keep track of her. If she had been taken and she hadn’t run away like I initially thought, I’d put the weak girl in harm’s way.

No, she’d left without informing us and that was enough to cause doubt.

“It’s clear, Calliope must have her,” Asher spat. “I’ll go look for her?—”

“You stay,” Tobias shoved Asher back. “You make poor decisions when you’re emotional.” Asher scoffed at his observation. “Do you think I don’t know about the human you killed?” Tobias snapped.

Asher snarled.

“I’ll go see if Calliope will meet with me.” Tobias’s tone remained stiff and matter-of-fact. “Jax, you?—”

“I’ll check with all my contacts,” I said grimly. I’d send word out to our progeny as well. If someone came back to us with information, they would be rewarded.

“If she’s dead Jaxon, I wi—” Asher hissed and turned on his heel mid-word, disappearing down the hall. I gritted my teeth, retracting my fangs that had popped out at some point. Pressure compounded on my chest, urging me to find her.