24. Sebastian

24

Sebastian

" W hat the hell do you mean she's been missing for two days?" Sebastian roared into the phone.

"Savvy and Beth talk to her every day. The day before yesterday, neither of them could get ahold of her. I went over to her place. The door was wide open, the place was torn apart, and she was gone."

"Why didn't the alarm company alert someone from my office? Why weren't the police called?" Sebastian demanded angrily.

"Somehow the alarm system had been bypassed. The cameras caught the four men going into her house and coming back out about a minute later, carrying her limp body."

"What's been done to find her?"

"Nightshade shifters and others have been all over the mountain and haven't seen a sign of her," Rory said.

"Could they have taken her to Chamman Mountain?" Sebastian asked. "It's not as close as Miniry Peak, but it's close enough."

"That's where we planned to go today. We were going to head out in an hour with daybreak."

"Can you guys meet here in half an hour? I have an idea who might be responsible and why."

Anthony, Adam, Julian, Lacey, and Jordan crowded into his office.

"We overheard. I was coming to your office to let you know we were leaving and I heard," Anthony said. "We're here to help."

Sebastian nodded his thanks.

Within half an hour Rory, Sean, Conner, Zac, and Colby, as well as Marvin, the dragon shifter married to Jade, had joined his team in the conference room. Sean quickly outlined the mission they had just returned from, including the fact that he had killed General Sorn's son.

"So, this is a revenge attack," Rory said. "He's trying to lure you out to kill you and her."

"Yeah. He had to be stupid to think I would come alone, but he's probably not thinking clearly right now. However, everyone should be careful. They are dangerous."

"Roger that," Marvin said.

"They will likely kill her as soon as they see any of us, so it's important we get the drop on them."

Everyone nodded.

Sebastian brought out a map of the mountain and identified known caves and a few unknown caves where they might be hiding out with Talia. The general's men weren't native to the area, so they likely didn't know about any caves that Sebastian's team didn't.

The two dragon shifters would venture out solo and call out if they found anything. The others would pair up and search the mountain in grids. Sebastian would be teamed up with Rory.

The sun was just peaking over the eastern part of the mountain when they reached the base, shifted, and began their search.

Sebastian and Rory hadn't been searching for very long when Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks.

"I hear her. She's in a small cave. She said ‘south' but south of what?"

"There is a cliff that is over that ridge that has three tiny caves at the base. You would never know they are there unless you were looking for them. I bet she's hiding there."

Sebastian, I need you. He heard her words again and then they faded out.

Sebastian's heart nearly stopped. She sounded so weak. "We need to move."

They ran toward the caves, which happened to be in their grid. Sebastian ignored the exhaustion and the pain in his side as he pushed himself to keep moving. He breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the cliff.

She wasn't in the first cave. Sebastian almost missed the second cave because the entrance was covered with brush. He pulled the leaves and branches aside and sent a telepathic message to everyone. "She's in the center cave under the cliff on the south side of the massive cave about a mile from here. It's the largest cave on the mountain."

"On it," Julian said.

"Us, too," Zac and Conner replied.

Sebastian shifted and ran to Talia. She was shivering and her skin was burning up. She had blood around her mouth. He couldn't wake her up. "This isn't good."

Rory shook his head. "It will take us an hour or more to get her down the mountain if we carry her."

Sebastian nodded. "Marvin, can you meet us? We need to get her off of this mountain as soon as possible."

"Be there in five."

Sebastian looked her over carefully but didn't see any injuries. "I don't think the blood is hers."

"That's one good thing, at least."

Marvin swooshed in and waited near the mouth of the cave.

"How are we going to get her down? She'll slide off his back," Rory said.

"I can carry her in my claws," Marvin said. "She probably wouldn't enjoy it if she was awake, but since she's unconscious, she'll be fine. I'll take her to your truck and wait for you there."

Marvin picked her up by her wrists and ankles as gently as he could and flew off.

Let's hope he clears those trees. Sebastian groaned at his own thought.

He and Rory raced back down the mountain. Marvin was waiting by the truck, shifted, and dressed. Talia lay in the back seat, still unconscious.

"Let's get her to Beth," Rory said. He called Beth to let her know that they were on their way.

Sebastian broke every speed limit in the state as he raced toward Conner's ranch. They had just arrived when Zac sent out a message to everyone. "We found them. One of the men already had his throat ripped out. The other three were spread out, looking for Talia. They have been neutralized and their bodies dumped in the ravine. After a few days with the coyotes, birds, and other wildlife, there won't be anything left."

Beth threw open the front door as Sebastian slid to a stop in the driveway. He jumped out, carefully picked up Talia, and ran toward the house.

Taryn was waiting at the base of the stairs. "Bring her up here." She raced ahead of them and pointed to an open door. "Put her on the bed."

Sebastian carefully laid her on the sheet. She moaned but never woke up. Talia looked so pale that she was almost see-through. His heart lurched.

"Is she going to …" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Beth scanned Talia's body. She closed her eyes as the palms of her hands moved about an inch above Talia, starting from her head down to her toes.

"She has an extremely high fever. I think she has double pneumonia and she's dehydrated. She's very sick." Beth's voice was grave.

"Can you heal her?"

"I think so, with Taryn's help."

Rage exploded inside of Sebastian. "I'm going back to Queswen. No one gets away with hurting someone I love."

Rory put his hand on Sebastian's arm. "Don't do anything rash. You know better than to let your emotions rule your head."

"If I don't take care of the problem, then General Sorn is just going to keep kidnapping wealthy people from all over the world. Plus, he'll keep coming after me, which means that Talia, you, Savvy, the kids, or anyone else I care about will never be safe."

Rory sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't argue with Sebastian's logic.

Leaning over, he kissed Talia's hot lips. "You had better pull through. I love you, and I will spend the rest of my life making this right."

He nodded to Rory, Beth, and Taryn and left.

Sebastian was surprised to see his crew waiting for him when he arrived.

"What are you guys doing here? I figured you'd either be in bed or celebrating your huge payday."

Anthony spoke up. "Rory contacted us. He's worried and said you were going back to Queswen. You aren't going alone."

He looked at the five shifters standing in front of him, their arms crossed over their chests. They looked like a solid wall of muscle and determination.

Sebastian nodded. "I'll order the chopper and the plane. There will be a bonus in it for you all when we get back."

"That's an insult," Lacey said. "General Sorn attacked one of us. We protect our own."

Sebastian nodded. "Let's get this show on the road."