Chapter 18

Robin stared into the fire in the library of Crofton Hall. He was numb, couldn't think of anything other than Simon. Where was he? Was he hurt? He'd tried to concentrate on the bond, he would get so far and then it would spark backwards with a painful jolt.

Ben poured him a glass of brandy and sat next to him. "We'll find him. Sebastian and Liam will tear the world apart, you know that."

"I should never have taken him away from the castle before he was ready to feed."

"You can't blame yourself for the actions of who has him."

He'd wanted to do something special, find them somewhere to start their life together but instead he'd helped some bastard take Simon from him. "I need to find him, but we still have no idea who's behind this."

"The warlocks have the tracking spells in place but they take time. Ashley's hopeful that because of Simon's level of magic they should be able to find him."

"What does Alex think? I know you sent him to look at the house again with Karl?" Alex's elf ancestry was different to the fae and the warlocks and Robin had noticed he'd not ventured an opinion, or no one had told Robin. "Don't soft soap it."

"He went with Ashley and then a second time with Jack Webb and Karl because he thought he might have missed something. He's helped set up the tracking spells but he did say that the magic involved was dark and complicated, and would take time to unpick."

"We don't have time, we need to bring him home now."

Ben squeezed his hand. "I know it's not any comfort, but the theory that Simon was taken because his magic could be useful for someone else means he'll be kept somewhere and not have been extinguished."

"They could drain him." He had thought of every terrible thing Simon could be suffering through, and that he was being held somewhere meant there were new tortures he could be exposed to.

"Robin, you are not doing yourself any favours thinking this way. Within a few hours we'll have more answers. Alex said he had other leads he wanted to follow and I have full confidence we'll have something to move forward with soon."

Ben couldn't understand what he was going through, to have finally found Simon, to have been able to make him his after all these years, and now he was gone. This was not something he could ever recover from. He needed Simon back, loved him beyond anything and it hurt every fibre of his being not to have been able to protect him.

It had been almost a week and they hadn't heard anything. He knocked back his brandy and stood. "I need to be on my own."

He was grateful Ben didn't try to stop him. He didn't know where he was going, maybe a moonlit stroll around the lake to clear his head but he wasn't so lucky. Sebastian was heading towards him having just entered the hall through the main entrance. "Robin, there you are. You're going to want to hear this."

"You have news?"

"Some. Ashley and Alex will meet us in the library, Liam has gone to speak to James and Hylei."

Whatever had been found warranted personal attention from the Heads of House, and Robin didn't know if he wanted to hear. At least when there was no news there was an open ending and the worst might not have happened. "Have you found him?"

"Not yet."

Sebastian grabbed his arm and Robin let himself be led through the house. Ashley and Alex were in the library, they'd set up some sort of projection unit and Ashley was there as was Karl, Ben's demon valet.

"Right," Sebastian said, "Ashley, explain to Robin what it is you think you've found."

Ashley rotated his wrist and an image of the house Robin and Simon had gone to view appeared. "We found evidence that a branch of the Tilinot Ley line had been temporarily redirected under this house, it's important because the ley line would have acted both as a power source and conduit, meaning strength and stamina could be added to the casting of any spell."

"So whoever took Simon was leeching magic from the ley line?" Robin said.

"Yes," said Ashley, "once we realised that, it opened the scope to a wider range of potential suspects. It took a while but Alex was able to reverse the masking and filter the noise out back through the ley line and uncover a faint trace of the magic signal of the perpetrators."

"Who was it?" Robin asked.

Alex cleared his throat. "I had my suspicions already, but I think this was a kidnapping to order. Prince Simon's kidnappers were most likely hired for their skills to do this and would have delivered him to their client. From what I've uncovered I'm certain it's a unit for hire that is part of the Red Stars, elf military and an elite team of the Delurian Guard."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. And I know what they're capable of, I used to be one."

Robin knew of bits and pieces about elf military units, but none of it was good. "Will they have hurt him?"

"It all depends on the contract, but I doubt it. In this case, and if our suspicions are correct, Simon is worth more unharmed with his magic undamaged. The Red Stars won't risk losing the money or whatever else they stand to gain from this level of operation."

"What do you mean by that?" Robin asked.

"It would have been a highly intricate and involved operation, luring both you and Simon into the place where they could take him and overpower you then leave you on a rooftop hoping no doubt that you would succumb to the sunlight, that's not a five-minute plan. This would have taken weeks, longer even."

"We haven't been together weeks."

"The contract between the House of Hewel and Cartwright has been in place for seventy-five years," said Ashley. "That's a long enough time to be able to plan for every eventuality. They would have known what you do in Los Angeles, and it would just be a matter of picking whatever version of the plan they'd had developed that would work given the circumstance."

Sebastian scowled. "We've not been publicly discussing this contract. How could they have known of its existence?"

"It would have been recorded within the annals, otherwise it would not have been deemed as legal. I already checked in with Jack, he's looking to see if he can figure out how they would have uncovered the contract."

"I will be speaking to Niall Niven personally about this. If I find out there are any links to the Invigilators and the elves discovering a private contract between myself and another House I will be upset."

Robin flinched. Sebastian was not known for his level-headed response to things he thought were damaging to his family. Ben had told him what had happened to the aswang that had extinguished Catlin Redbourn, and had tried to discredit Ben from taking his seat as the next Dark Earl of Crofton, but there had been countless stories over the centuries of Sebastian's retribution for the smallest of indiscretions.

"The Invigilators would not have purposely allowed this," Ashley said, sounding far calmer than Robin could have imagined he'd have been if the situation had reversed. "There's evidence that someone or something has been tampering with older files. It could be a lich."

Sebastian snarled. "A lich?"

Robin had only heard of them from a mythological creature course he'd done during his degree, neither he nor his lecturer were convinced they existed. "An undead magician? Really?"

"Yes, really. They're more than that," Ashley said. "Both of the ones I've encountered were sapient remnants of a powerful magic user, in both cases they were looking for immortality and found it, after a fashion."

"But why would a lich want Simon?" He didn't understand most things at the moment and this was no different.

"It takes a lot of power to maintain their existence and they could be after a reliable energy source. You have to remember, they are usually ancient creatures so have knowledge of things that may have been lost to everyone else. So it is entirely possible they may have come across the life cycle of a vampire-fae including the period between bonding and feeding, which would in theory give them an excellent chance to acquire a living battery."

"So they may have known for decades?"

"If it is a lich, they may have known for centuries, but had to wait for a new vampire-fae to be born," Sebastian said. "Your Simon is a rare creature, and if the lich had realised James was a vampire-fae, they would have just had to wait out their time. It's not like they would have a deadline."

"But why would they need him, from what you said they'll have been alive and thriving without Simon as a power source?"

"Simon would be an easy option, once connected to his magic the lich could drain him, then allow him to recharge and go again, and it would continue until he feeds from you," Alex explained.

"The lich might be doing other things with its magic apart from merely existing. Something that exists for so long as a lich would need a way to pass the time," Ashley said. "We might be running ahead of ourselves, as there may be many possibilities, but I think we use it as one avenue to explore to search for Simon."

"Lich-hunting is not easy. You'll need specialists," Sebastian said. "I have a suggestion, but you might not like it, and he's not the easiest to get hold of or work with."

Robin didn't care at this point, he'd do anything to get Simon back. "Who?"

"Solivatus."

Robin had heard of him, but had never met him. There was almost as much myth around him as vampire-fae. "I've heard he's not exactly what you'd call a team player, Sebastian. I don't doubt his skills but the stories I've heard say he can be a little difficult."

"He's not that bad. And he has many connections, in part because he is not officially affiliated with any of the Houses in terms of being a successor to a Vampire Council seat," Sebastian said. "But I believe he would help if I asked him. Or rather we get his mother to ask him."

Robin thought Sebastian was on to something. Solivatus was something of a firebrand, and was almost venerated by some. "Is it true that Solivatus is the son of Devereaux—born a vampire and not sired after Devereaux herself had been turned?"

"Yes, he's Devereaux's biological son, which was a bit of a shock as she had thought she couldn't get knocked up. Neither her nor his father, the son of a warlock who Devereaux had sired, had predicted it would happen, and it caused a bit of a ruckus because the father wasn't a Council member or one of her husbands. Although having said that, it's not the most convoluted family arrangement I've heard."

"Do you think he'd help because Simon is a vampire-fae? Born with his vampire heritage like Solivatus was?" Robin asked.

"He's not got magic himself so he's different to Simon, but I'd like to think he'd just help, since he's not an arsehole—most of the time. But it is a matter of locating him, hence why I would need to speak to his mother."

Ashley looked as if he'd swallowed something that had given him indigestion. "I seem to recall he had a bit of an altercation with Liam Cartwright. Didn't Liam try and remove his head once?"

"A misunderstanding, they made amends after. I'm sure it's all water under the bridge, and Liam would be completely supportive of bringing in Solivatus to help get Simon home."

"What did Solivatus do?" asked Robin.

"He sired far too many vampires and made promises he couldn't keep. I supposed in modern parlance it was a bit like a pyramid scheme. Liam took offence when Solivatus turned a couple of people he had his eye on, and, well, Liam had a bad couple of decades in the 1800s. But he's much more stable now."

Robin would have hated to have seen an unstable version of Liam Cartwright because he was a crazy fucker at the best of times. "Probably better that the request comes from the House of Hewel then," he said, trying to be as diplomatic as he could.

"It wouldn't hurt, and I have a favour or two I can call in." Sebastian turned back to Ashley. "I'll make arrangements to contact Solivatus. Can you do some whizzy-whizz to see what you can find in terms of weird hocus-pocus patterns?"

Robin didn't know Ashley that well. He'd spent a few evenings with him when he was out with Ben but he knew he hadn't liked people being flippant about magic. But he was also an intelligent man who wouldn't be stupid enough to take issue with Sebastian. "I'll get right on it. I'll go and liaise with Jack… see if he's found anything else."

"You should be contacted by James and Hylei. They've instructed the most powerful magical researchers of the fae realm to support the search and rescue efforts. Liam is with them now, and James knows Solivatus well."

Robin expected Yerial would also want to be involved, he'd taken Simon's disappearance as a reflection of his failings as Simon's bodyguard, much in the same way as Robin had thought he'd failed as a husband.

"We're already aware," Ashley said, opening a portal. "I'd be more surprised if they hadn't."

Ashley left and Alex excused himself, so Robin was alone with Sebastian. "I can't imagine what you're going through, Robin. If someone were to take Anthony I'd be devastated. We will find him."

He hadn't expected Sebastian to be so candid, but then he had also found his Eternal, and while Ben had told him that Anthony and Sebastian had been known to spend years apart at a time, there was never a doubt they loved each other and no one could come between them. "Do you think Solivatus will help?"

"Yes, I do. In things like this, we all come together. Whoever has taken Simon has made enemies that do not forgive or forget."

"I can't believe how lost I feel. I've known him for such a short time, yet everything is wrong without him." He didn't know what to do, but he would trust Sebastian and the others, and when the time came he would do everything he could to bring Simon home. "Whatever it takes to get him back, I'll do it. I don't care about the cost."

Sebastian squeezed his shoulder. "If you need anything from me, just call and I will be there. Stay at Crofton Hall, it is better for you not to be alone or somewhere you are expected to be. Losing Simon was bad enough, we will not lose you too… whether that is to an outsider or to yourself."