Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

L io sat in the conference room, staring into his half-full cup of cold coffee and missing Bel. Why hadn't Morrisey and Farren mentioned a change of plans? A hint of unease stirred in his guts. He didn't fully trust FAET or any of its members yet, but he'd always been suspicious, and his host's experiences didn't make him any more inclined toward trust.

Farren bounded through the door in his energetic, perpetually bright mood. "Good morning. You're here early."

Lio checked the time on his phone. "No, you're late." A strange occurrence for someone normally punctual, who'd texted the new time only a few hours ago.

Farren's grin dulled. He removed his cell phone from his hip pocket and stared at the screen. "No, it's seven forty-five."

The sense of unease coiled tighter in Lio's gut. "The text Bel received said to be here at six."

"Six?" Farren checked his phone again, touching a few buttons. His mouth dropped open. "I didn't send that."

Morrisey strode into the office, a cup of coffee in each hand, his scowl clearly saying, Don't speak to me until I've had coffee.

Farren turned to him. "Morrisey, did you send a text from my phone telling Bel and Lio to meet us here at six?"

Morrisey snorted. "Why would I tell them to get here at the butt crack of dawn? I like my sleep too much for that."

Farren shifted his gaze from Morrisey to Lio and back again. "But if you didn't… Could someone else have sent that text from my phone without me knowing?"

Morrisey scanned the room with his unfathomable dark stare. "Where is Bellamy?"

Icy dread took up residence in the pit of Lio's stomach. He kept his horrified gaze riveted to Morrisey, hoping for a "gotcha." Only, Morrisey wasn't exactly known for his sense of humor, especially not before noon.

Lio dug his nails into his palms. "Greg picked him up two hours ago. Said Farren changed the plan so I could work with you."

"Motherfucker!" Morrisey paused long enough to hand Farren the coffees before slamming both hands down on the table. "I'll kill that little sonofabitch!"

At Lio's wide-eyed horror, Farren explained, "He means Greg. I don't understand. Greg is off duty today. We wouldn't have assigned him work. Plus, he's still in training for a new IT position. We'd never have assigned him to work with newcomers, only as a guide and escort if you needed to go somewhere during your off time. But of course, you couldn't know that."

"Motherfucker!" Morrisey shouted again, throwing his hands in the air.

Farren approached cautiously, set the coffees on the table, and rested his hand on Morrisey's arm. "Calm down, Morse. We don't know what he's up to. It could be harmless."

Deep inside, Lio knew it wasn't.

"What exactly did he say to you?" Farren asked.

"Motherfucker!" Morrisey shouted again. "I can't picture Bel in my mind. The little asshole has him shielded somehow."

Lio had to fight to remain still. Every instinct told him to run, to find Bel. "Greg made some crack about me and Bel bonding?—"

Farren whipped his head around, staring open-mouthed at Lio. "You bonded?"

Heat flushed Lio's cheeks. "Not totally. I think we started the process, though. Greg said every traveler in the compound felt it."

Farren exchanged a wide-eyed look with Morrisey. " We didn't. Then what did he say?"

"There had been a change of plans, and he was taking Bel into the city to show him options for travelers living here."

"I never intended that. I was going to take both of you to meet more of our kind." Farren stared at nothing for a moment. "Wait a minute. Can you sense him? Feel if he's in danger?"

"How do I do that?" If Lio had known of the possibility, he would have tried well before now.

Farren dropped into the chair next to Lio's. "Close your eyes. Take slow, even breaths. Remember what he felt like in your mind when you merged? Try to get that feeling again."

Lio breathed deeply, willing his thoughts to go where he'd been when he'd accidentally entered Bel's mind. Nothing. "I can't feel anything."

Morrisey spoke up, offering something other than a heartfelt "Motherfucker!" "Greg was taught how to block telepathy. I'd never have done that if I'd known he'd use it against us. What the fucking hell does he want with Bel, a Princeps Lux?"

"You're a Princeps Tenebris," Farren pointed out. "Maybe he hoped to use Lio and Bel against each other."

"Which he can't do unless they're fully bonded." Morrisey eyed Farren. "Can he?"

"What the hell is going on?" Lio shoved himself out of his chair. Where was Bel? Why couldn't Lio feel him? Then again, his panicked state likely wasn't helping. He needed to calm down. "Bel is gone with one of your people when we were supposed to be safe here. I want him back."

"So do we, Lio." Farren rose to his feet slowly. "Morse, if we drove around the city, do you think closer proximity might help us connect? If we know roughly where Bel might be…."

"I don't know. The only ones we've had to test are you and me, and we've never tried proximity plus shielding together."

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get him back." Lio ran his fingers through his hair while he paced the room. What if someone was hurting Bel, one of those human "we hate traveler" groups someone had mentioned? Or worse, some evil being from Domus.

Morrisey pressed a button on the phone. "Arianna? Can you send Jessa to conference room seven?" He hung up before she could answer.

Lio nearly snapped, "What can Jessa do?"

"Never underestimate the powers of a woman hell-bent on knowing everything about everybody." Morrisey retrieved one of the coffees and took a sip.

Jessa poked her head into the room. "I was at Arianna's desk when you called."

Morrisey motioned her in. "Greg lured Bel and Lio here early and then took Bel somewhere, saying Farren ordered him to."

"Oh, dear. That's not good." Jessa nibbled her bright red lower lip, removing some lipstick, but the damage immediately fixed itself.

"No, it's not. Have you heard anything about Greg that we need to know? Is he affiliated with any human groups?" Morrisey's scowl had probably sent folks screaming from the room before.

But not Jessa. "Now you know I would've told you if I had. He's always struck me as a bit of a brown noser, and I never would've guessed he'd go against FAET."

Jessa joined Lio in pacing, though how she paced in such high-heeled shoes, he'd never know. "I haven't heard of any recent activity from any groups. Just a few speeches. Of the ones I know about, none are bold enough to take someone from FAET. They're pretty much no action, talk only."

Farren might've attempted to keep his voice calm, but running his fingers through his thick hair gave away his agitation. "Check Greg's rooms. See what turns up. We had him vetted, but someone might've let something get through."

Jessa saluted, "Yes, boss." She turned on her red spike heels and marched off.

Lio sank back into his chair, trying once more to contact Bel. He had to be out there. He had to be okay. This couldn't be happening. They were supposed to be safe here.

Only a few minutes could've passed when Jessa came running back in. "You're not going to like this. Arianna already checked, and all of Greg's things were gone."

"How did she know to find out?"

Jessa rolled her eyes. "Because the moment you mentioned his name, I asked her to check him out."

"Asked? How?" Lio hadn't seen her use her phone.

"You don't have to have a mate bond to exchange basic thoughts. As close friends, she and I can't get too complex, but I can communicate ‘Greg's an asshole' fairly easily. Strong emotion, remember? She took it from there.

"I've got security checking camera footage, but they haven't seen anything suspicious. Greg put Bel through some kind of test this morning to see if he could spot the traveler among the humans and used some security guards for the effort, which meant they weren't at their posts. My guard friend with the walrus mustache told me that in the breakroom this morning. No one was on duty at the front desk when he arrived."

"An excuse to get them away from the posts." Farren steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. "Jessa, check who he deals with outside the compound. Does he keep an apartment? Does he have friends, either human or traveler?"

"I'm not sure he has actual friends, but I'll try." She turned and left the room.

Lio tried not to add to the tension but had to ask, "What if Bel's hurt or killed?"

"If he was in physical pain or in serious danger, no amount of shielding would keep it from you." Farren's words probably weren't nearly as reassuring as he'd meant them.

Just then, in a vivid flash of awareness, Lio heard Bel's scream.