The sunroom that she likes to relax in is void of her presence. I can feel an emptiness which only comes when she closes herself off to me; it’s just like when Joseph had her and I couldn’t feel her anymore. I don’t like it. I’m beyond pissed. My body shakes with anger and I find a focus point as Darynda comes into the sunroom from one of the entrances and looks around.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“She…uh, she was here. Right there,” she stumbles over her words as her slim finger points to the very empty chair.
“She isn’t there now; if you’ve helped her to escape or have agreed to help my enemies, I will end you,” I warn her, my voice filled with deadly promise I will keep.
“I swear it! She was right there, I mean, she was when I stepped out a few moments ago. She has to be here!”
She is about to get hysterical and I don’t have time for it. I didn’t miss Synthia by much. I can smell her sweet scent still. I call the guard violently. Zahruk sifts in, his eyes searching for threat instantly.
“Synthia is missing. Search the entire castle for her,” I growl. One by one they sift in and then out. I stand perfectly still, using my magic to search for her, but she’s gone. I can feel that the medallion is still here, but she’s no longer in possession of it…which means someone has removed it from her neck. I eye the room, sensing for it as I leave the room—because it’s not here. It’s close, though. Synthia is powerful, and I’m not sure if she can shield both the necklace and the mark.
I turn and walk out of the sunroom, searching the corridor, following her scent even as I change forms. He’s better with scents and tracking and he’s shaking the fucking cage. Wings unfurl from my back, the pain of the shift brief as I don’t fight it.
At the end of the hall is the medallion. I reach down swoop it up, smelling it. It’s male. I don’t recognize the scent. I growl from deep in my chest and turn to find my men watching me, waiting for me to give them direction. My eyes take in the blood on the floor, and I feel eviscerated as I determine my next move.
I can’t feel her connection through the mark either. It’s a bad sign, very bad.
“She’s with a male,” I snarl; the kick to my gut is raw and brutal. The beast growls deadly, the thought of another male touching our woman is un-fucking-thinkable.
“She’s no longer in the walls of this Kingdom,” Zahruk says as he dares to step closer.
“She left here with another warrior,” Claire states as she moves close to me, pushing her way through my men. “I was coming to find you, Ryder,” she says as she moves closer and tries to place her hand on my chest. I catch it and twist it painfully.
“What man did she leave with?” I seethe, watching as her pupils dilate.
“I’ve seen him around a few times; they were practically all over each other, and she doesn’t deserve you. Not like I do,” she whispers seductively.
For a brief second I hesitate, but the thought of someone impersonating me well enough to fool my own brother burns through my mind, then Syn’s eyes full of desire and love flash in my mind, and I know her; she’s not deceitful, not with me. She wouldn’t leave me without saying something. She isn’t like that; she’d come up to me and slap it in my face, but she wouldn’t hide it from me. Reason returns and I realize that males aren’t permitted in the pavilion unless they have medallion marking them as mine, so this male had to have had help to access this place. My eyes narrow on the simpering beauty before me.