14. Cooper

14

COOPER

T hree hours ago.

It's just after sunset when I reach my building. My heart hammers in my chest as I get onto the elevator.

You're being ridiculous, Cooper.

But I don't believe my own self talk. It's not ridiculous to not want Rosalie to be alone even a minute past sunset—not with what's out there. A vampire doesn't need an invitation to get into a human dwelling. And even if they did, my penthouse isn't a human dwelling.

I watch the elevator numbers go up so much more slowly than normal. Come on. Come on .

What do I think could have happened? I don't even know if there are any vampires in this city. I don't know if anyone caught her scent and put the pieces together. She's so high off the ground that surely she's out of any otherworld being's scent range. It's the only good part about keeping her locked up like this until the mating. So why am I so upset my meeting ran late? Why am I so on edge?

It's the moon, dumbass. It's just the moon making you crazy. Don't forget that's how we got the word lunatic. It even affects the humans.

I sigh, that's true. Of course that's true. It's a reasonable explanation for my unreasonable panic. It must just be the coming moon. I need to be focused on trying to get Rosalie to let me complete the claim before the full moon. Maybe I should have picked up something more romantic for dinner—like spaghetti and meatballs and wine. I should have been more focused on woo'ing her instead of respecting her space. But I know my scent is affecting her. She'll cave soon. The question is... will she cave soon enough?

The elevator opens on the penthouse level.

"Rosalie, I brought home some burgers." I am such a failure as a Woo'er. My shoes echo over the marble floor. I put the bag of food on the counter. "Rosalie?"

She's not in her room or on the main floor. I race up the stairs to find my closet has been ransacked. The money on the nightstand is missing.

"Rosalie!" I climb the final set of steps up to the roof. I'm panicked, but I've also convinced myself she's just having a drink from the cabana bar or maybe she's in the hot tub.

I feel my eyes glowing and a partial shift coming over me when I find the roof as empty as the rest of the penthouse. I glance down to see my claws fighting to push through. I take a long slow breath.

Relax. Relax. Relax.

It isn't as though I can do full shifts without the direct power of the moon.

After several tense minutes I feel my eyes go back to normal and my hands are once again just hands.

How could she have gotten out? Or did someone else get in? What if she's just in the bathroom and I'm being crazy? I go back downstairs to check her bathroom, but the penthouse truly is empty. There's no sign of forced entry, and no one could have gotten up to the penthouse without my literal thumbprint. I go back to my closet and notice the rappelling gear is missing.

Back to the rooftop.

My heart drops into my stomach when I see the glint of rappelling gear and the rope tied around the pole. There isn't enough rope to get to the ground. And if she'd fallen, the entire perimeter of the building would be roped off with police tape. Unless it just happened.

I take a deep breath and look over the edge. And that's when I see the missing window. I pull up the rope, get into the harness, and climb two floors down.

I can smell her here. Okay, so… she ran away. That's better than the alternative. I just have to get to her. I'm going to have to tell her about the vampire threat and just hope she doesn't think it's some made up bullshit to trick her into accepting the mating.

I eat my burger on the way. I barely ate today, and I can't be half-starved when I reach her. I'm irrational when I'm hungry.

But when I reach Rosalie's apartment building and get out of my Jeep I don't smell her—not in the parking lot, and not at her door or window. More importantly, I don't feel her. And that's when I really lose it.

She could have gone somewhere else, but why don't I feel her?

I should feel her. Even when I'm away from her, there is this ephemeral thread of connection that I can sense like some piece of her is always with me. Did it just now break? When did it break?

She's dead. I lost her.

I begin pacing the parking lot like a mad man. I want to do something but there's nothing I can do. Do what? Resurrect her? I don't even think that magic works. And even if it did… she'd come back wrong.

I spend about fifteen minutes having what I'm sure must be something halfway between a panic attack and a nervous breakdown. And yet… the grief doesn't come.

She's my mate . Where is the crushing grief? All I feel is anxiety. And that's when it occurs to me. She's not dead, she's been bitten . That's why I can't feel the link! I race to her apartment and bang on the door.

Otherworld beings don't share our reality with humans. Humans cannot be trusted. The only humans we ever let in are mates. But I'm the last of my line, who's going to stop me? I need something of Rosalie's and her friend is just going to have to learn about magic today.

"What the hell?" Nikki says when she opens the door. I smell food coming from the kitchen. I've clearly interrupted her dinner.

"I need Rosalie," I blurt out. Great, job, Cooper. You sound like a psycho three year old .

And that's when her face changes, and I notice her red-rimmed eyes. Fuck. Yeah, her friend has been missing for almost a week and I didn't even let Rosalie call anyone. In my defense I didn't think it was going to take this long to complete the claim, and I didn't trust her not to yell into the phone that she'd been kidnapped. But seeing what this has done to her friend, combined with how I'm feeling right now. Yeah, I'm an unforgivable dick.

She looks like she's about to start crying again.

"I know where she is," I say. I mean that's not exactly true. I don't know where she is or I wouldn't be here right now trying to negotiate my way into a human's apartment. The clock is ticking, and I don't know how much time Rosalie has, but if she's still alive after being bitten, whoever has her doesn't intend to kill her immediately. This realization stresses me out even more. I don't want to think about all the things a vampire could do to her—especially a vampire with the self-control to bite but not kill.

Nikki's initial annoyance-turned-to-grief has now shifted to suspicion.

"You took her! You're the man from the woods, aren't you? The man she was fleeing from."

What can I say? All that is true, technically. "I can explain," I say.

"I'm calling the police."

I push my way into the apartment before she can shut the door on me, which I know obviously isn't a great way to gain her trust, but we can't have this conversation outside in full view of possible passing neighbors.

She races to the kitchen and grabs a giant knife.

I hold up my hands in surrender. "Please, just listen to me. Just hear me out. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to believe."

"You sick, psycho. Why did you take her?"

"She's my mate."

"What does that even mean? You're fixated on her or something?"

I can't just shift and show her. Though honestly that would probably scare her more.

"No. I mean… no, I'm not fixated." The more I try to explain this, the worse it will be.

My gaze shifts to the wooden block that holds all her kitchen knives. Her gaze shifts there as well. We both race for it, but I beat her there and pull out a knife of my own. I jump out of her reach as she slices at me.

"Nikki, I need you to calm down."

"You're a psycho stalker with a knife. I will not calm down!"

"I need you to just listen. I'm going to tell you something that's going to sound crazy, but I can prove it, so just watch."

She still has her knife raised, but I at least have her attention now. She isn't about to look away from the knife in my hand. I decide a visual demonstration is easier than explanation first.

I raise the knife and slice it down my forearm.

She gasps, horrified. This was clearly not what she was expecting me to do with the knife. I'm also kicking myself for not giving Rosalie this demonstration originally back in my den. It just didn't occur to me at the time—not that it would have made much difference.

"Nikki, watch."

I point to my arm. Her gaze follows to watch as the wound seals itself.

She shakes her head. "It's a trick."

"It's not a trick. How would that be a trick? This isn't stage magic. You literally just saw me heal right in front of you."

The human mind is ridiculously stubborn at accepting any reality that doesn't match its current programming—something which often benefits the otherworld, but isn't nearly as convenient right now. In general we don't worry that much about the humans seeing some bit of unexplainable magic because they never trust their lying eyes anyway.

"How did you… How… What…" Finally her gaze raises to mine. "What are you?"

Oh good. We've finally reached the explanation portion. And she at least is quickly coming around to the idea that I might not be fully human. It's a start.

"I'm a bear shifter."

She wrinkles her nose. "A werebear… like a werewolf?"

I roll my eyes. "We don't say were , but sure. About a month ago on the full moon, I was out in the woods… doing bear things, when I heard a woman scream. It was Rosalie. A man was attacking her."

"The man she was running from?" Nikki says, trying to understand and put the pieces together.

I have to at least give her credit for making an attempt to understand all this instead of screaming and throwing all her kitchen knives at me—not that that would do anything.

"No, she was running from me." I probably shouldn't have said that part.

Nikki raises her knife again, and I raise my hands—minus my own knife—in a placating gesture. I really need to work on my compulsive honesty.

"Wait. I killed the man who was trying to hurt her. She fainted, I realized she was my fated mate, and I brought her back to my den. The next day I told her all this, and the very short version is… she ran away."

"So you kidnapped her," she says.

"Technically, yes, but only for her own safety. So this wouldn't happen."

"So what wouldn't happen?"

I'm losing patience for this back and forth. Rosalie is out there, and I don't have time for a slide show right now. So I just say it. "I think she was taken by a vampire. He bit her and now I can't find her through our link, so I need a personal item of hers to take to my witch friend to try to find her." My panic dampens slightly as I realize just how insane all of this sounds. Even after witnessing my magic healing, I'm not sure she'll be on board, and I don't have time for this.

But apparently my brief bloody demonstration was enough for her because the next words out of her mouth are… "I'm coming with you."