Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

W ade tried again to call Wendy.

She should be answering her damn phone. She loved that stupid device and always had it with her unless she was swimming, which she did a lot. She had a place on a lake somewhere in the Alps, and she loved the icy cold water.

So where was she?

Dammit, he wanted to tell her about Morgan. The baby. Everything.

He was starting to get scared. His neck was back to aching.

What was he supposed to do? Go to Europe and leave his pregnant mate alone?

He couldn't believe this. There was no way he could desert Morgan, not for any length of time.

He also couldn't just leave his sister.

He closed his eyes and tried to think. All right. There had to be an answer that made sense. An answer that made more sense than leaving Morgan here to worry about vampires.

Morgan was obsessed with vampires.

They couldn't get hold of his sister, and they couldn't get hold of Morgan's brothers. What if something serious had happened to them? What if they'd been abducted?

What if?

Wade was beginning to channel Morgan. This was almost as bad as when he had been courting his mate back at the beginning, back when Morgan had showed up, and he'd been standing next to his then-best friend, and had been struck dumb.

He blinked.

His best friend, that Spanish fop of a dragon that he'd threatened to smother on their last meeting. What about Daniel?

Morgan? Mate?

Hmm. I'm making an apple pie. What do you need?

Morgan didn't bake. You're making an apple pie?

Shut up. What do you need?

Do you know where Daniel is?

Daniel?

Yes, dear. Daniel Candelario. Tall, bright-green eyes, breathes pure devastating light? Do you know where he is?

There was a moment of confusion and then, Yes. Why? You don't like him anymore…

No, but he likes you and I need to know where my sister is. He can help.

This is a terrible idea.

I'll bring you the phone.

He walked into the kitchen, wherein Morgan had a premade pie crust and two cans of apple pie filling on the counter. Well, at least he knew it would be edible.

"Do you really think Daniel can help?"

Daniel had been absolutely smitten with Morgan over the years, but Morgan had paid Daniel even less attention than he had paid Wade. Up until they'd fought, of course.

Then suddenly, every single place that Morgan was, there was Daniel. At the balls. At tea. At dinner. At social clubs, jazz clubs, dance halls, it was absolutely asinine.

And no, he didn't like Daniel, but Daniel owed him, if for no other reason than that Wade hadn't killed him in all of these years. That was something, right? They had history.

Centuries of secrets between them.

Besides, now that Morgan was pregnant, there was no question who Morgan was mating with, and he was going to beg this dragon for help.

And Daniel was going to say yes, because Wade had to help his sister.

"All right. So you're sure? You honestly want me to call Daniel?"

"I'm sure. He was my friend, and he knows Wendy. I need to find my sister."

Morgan nodded and picked up his phone, putting it on speaker and pushing a few buttons. It didn't take but a few seconds for Daniel to answer. "Well, Morgan lovely, how long has it been? I thought perhaps you'd fallen off the face of the earth."

"No. No, I haven't. I have someone here who needs to speak to you." Morgan couldn't sound more nervous if he tried.

"Someone?"

"It's me." Wade waited with bated breath.

"What do you want? You know that I don't have anything to say to you, you…you…cad."

"Maybe you don't. But there's a situation that—it's serious, and I need your help." He put all the true worry that he felt into his voice.

There was a long pause, and then Daniel sighed. "All right, where can I find you?"

"We're up near the Colorado, New Mexico border. My mate is pregnant, and his brothers, along with my sister, are missing. And I need help finding them."

"Morgan?"

"Yes, Morgan."

"Well, I'll be damned. You lucky bastard."

"I am." But that wasn't the point right now. The point right this moment was that there was something wrong with Wendy, and he needed to find her.

"Something is going on, Daniel. Something really strange. We're at Morgan's brother's place, and he's vanished. And I can't get a hold of Wendy."

"What?" Daniel's tone sharpened. "Did the two of you quarrel?"

"Me and Wends? No. And she would answer the phone even if we had."

He could hear Daniel breathing as he mulled that over. That cagey son of a bitch never spoke unless it was well thought out. "That is strange," he finally murmured. "And you said Max is gone?"

Morgan nodded. "And he didn't take anything with him. His phone is here."

Wade blinked at that. He hadn't known about the phone.

"Damnation." Daniel sighed. "I know some people in Paris. I'm on this side of the pond right now, so I'll come to you and send someone to her apartments. Is she still on the Rue Cremieux?"

"Yeah. She loves that place." Wendy was far better at hiding among humans than he was, having a much better grasp on illusions, and on changing her appearance every decade or so.

"All right. I'll send someone her direction and keep you posted. Drop me a pin for your location."

He looked at Morgan, who had one hand on his belly, and who was chewing his lower lip again.

"I'm not sure we need you here?—"

"I'm coming. I rather like Max, and I'll need to start at the beginning if I am to help find him."

Wade sighed. "Okay, but don't raise a fuss when you arrive."

"What supplies do you need? I may as well be useful as well as ornamental."

"Oh, that would be a blessing. If I make an order at a few different places, could you stop and bring things? That way I don't have to leave Morgan here alone."

"Of course. Do I need to bring a trailer?"

"Probably."

Daniel's laugh filled his ears. "That's the way to do it. Once he gets big enough to show, you won't be able to go down off the mountain."

He glanced at Morgan, whose belly was already sweet and round. "We've already gotten beyond that point."

"Ah. Then I won't dawdle. Make your orders, tell me where to pick them up, and I'll get a trailer when I get closer."

"Thank you."

"We were friends longer than we were enemies. I expect to be the godfather."

The line went dead, and Wade felt his cheeks heat. Daniel was right. They had been friends for a very long time.

Morgan looked at him, eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I was the reason you fought? I was the reason you were both so angry? I wanted to be desired. It wasn't kind."

He stared at Morgan. "Don't be any dumber than you have to be. The three of us were playing a game. We were playing a game, and Daniel lost."

And it didn't matter. He wasn't going to give Morgan up. So he was grateful that Daniel could accept them.

"I know. It was kind of fun," Morgan admitted. "You are a jealous dragon. Grumpy, possibly territorial."

"I'll show you territorial." He chuckled. "Is your pie done?"

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"I think…"

The top crust was sitting on the top of the pie, uncrimped. It was torn and had fingerprints in it. He'd only used one can of pie filling, so it was sunken and sad and…

Morgan's expression was a mixture of hopeful and worried.

He smiled. "I think it looks amazing."

"Oh, good." Morgan breathed a happy sigh. "There's whipped cream too."

"Mmm." He took a little kiss. "Well, that solves our problem of how to get the baby stuff here. And maybe some new pants for you that will be a tad more comfy."

Morgan favored big, soft sweaters already, so it was just the pants.

"Oh, and we'll get you some warm socks, too. You don't have good ones."

"At some point, we'll have to go get my stuff out of storage. I've just been moving from place to place."

Morgan gave him a side-eyed sort of look. "Well, you can always bring it here. Now, if you want. We will make room and Max will understand."

"Are you sure?" Wade felt a little like jumping up and down and screaming in sheer, absolute joy. But he wasn't going to let that show. No way.

"I know Max. I know both of my brothers. They'd be happy for me. They always wanted me to choose you as my mate." Morgan rolled his eyes. "I hate when they're right."

Wade started laughing. He couldn't help it. He, for one, was tickled pink. He grabbed Morgan and danced him in a circle.

It was probably awful to be so happy when his sister and Morgan's brothers were lost, but?—

Morgan had called him mate.