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Chapter Twenty-One

ETHAN

Teo and I watch the last of his people board the tram back to Alejo Prowl territory. Teo puts up his hood and shoves his hands into his pockets, not looking at me.

Despite my team’s rapid response, the violence had already started by the time we got here and resulted in the arrests of two of Teo’s prowl.

Still, it could have been much worse. It took hours to calm everyone down and disperse the humans who had gathered to see what was happening, including DI Gough who, despite the mayor’s assurances that the human police wouldn’t be involved, wanted to provide assistance and find out why the protest had turned into a riot.

That man is going to be a thorn in our sides, I swear. I sicced Skye on him again to check he didn’t clue into anything he isn’t supposed to know.

By silent agreement, Teo and I turn and start walking through the square towards the town hall, where the mayor has asked to speak to both of us.

I still can’t decide what to make of Teo. While he was right there with his people, leading the protest, he was also instrumental in calming them down after we arrived.

His phone buzzes and he takes it out to check the message, then angles the screen towards me. “Finally got a pic of Xana to send to li’l bro.”

I stop dead and grab his wrist, taking a closer look at the photo of the black jaguar with green eyes. My heart races because we’re back in the running. “We can get her out with this.”

Teo yanks his wrist out of my grasp. “How? And don’t fucking touch me.”

“Ayo’s attacker had amber eyes.”

“You’re sure?”

I give a sharp nod. “He still has nightmares about yellow eyes in the darkness.”

Teo snarls, low enough that nearby humans can’t hear. “That fucker.”

My thoughts exactly. “We already have Ayo’s statement on file. It should be enough to at least get her out of Wargate. Forward this to Lorenzo.”

When I met Ayo’s uncle, he explained how much work he does as a defence solicitor for the supes in this city.

He’s the reason Teo’s prowl have such a low conviction rate compared to the number of arrests, and I already know he’s working on getting Xana free.

In return, the prowl pay him a high ongoing retainer.

“Don’t order me about.” Teo jabs a finger at my chest, then taps away at his phone anyway.

My wolf and I ignore his posturing as I pull out my own phone to check in with Ayo and tell the team the good news.

Ayo has sent a couple of messages on the team group chat so I read those first, not sure what the hell I’m looking at since he’s included photographs of the grimoires, but then I see the text underneath saying ‘Found it!’.

Holy shit, this must mean there is a spell that allows a magic-user to shift into an animal. He was right.

I immediately dial Ayo, needing to speak to him now more than ever. I frown when it goes straight to voicemail. “Call me, sweet thing.”

I hang up and check my signal, but it’s fine, so I try again and hang up when it goes to voicemail again.

“Problem?” Teo looks up from his phone and frowns. My scent is probably giving away my growing concern.

“I can’t get hold of Ayo.” My gut twists as I dial Kit, who picks up on the first ring.

“ Is it time for Thai yet? I need comfort food after all that bullshit. ”

“Can you check Ayo’s location for me? He’s not answering his phone.”

Kit immediately switches to work mode. “ Checking now, boss. Huh. No, there’s no location showing for his phone. ”

“Shit. Who’s at the office? Anyone?” That twisting sensation is getting worse. My instincts are screaming at me that something is wrong.

I race down the nearest street, vaguely aware that Teo is hot on my heels.

“ Raj headed back but he’s not there yet. He’s closest. ”

“I’ll call him.” I hang up and immediately dial Raj

“ Hey, boss. ”

“I need you to check my flat. Ayo isn’t answering his phone.”

“ Copy that. ”

“Call me back when you get there.”

I hang up and concentrate on controlling my speed.

There are times when I hate that humans don’t know about us, and this is definitely one of them because I have to limit myself to the speed of the fastest humans I encountered in the army.

It’s the end of the working day for most people so the narrow pavements are crowded with commuters, the streets are full of buses and trams, and my wolf is urging me to hurry the fuck up and get to our mate.

When we finally reach the building there seem to be more people milling about the foyer than usual, but I pay them no attention.

Teo and I don’t bother with the lifts because they’re too slow, instead running straight for the stairs.

Thankfully the stairwell is empty so we don’t have to stick to human speed, but the mix of scents in here is insane.

It smells like a hundred people went through here today.

My phone rings as we reach the third floor. “Raj, tell me you’ve found him.”

“ I’m at your place and he’s not here. The scent is a couple of hours old. ”

“Fuck. Okay, we’re almost at the office. Meet us there.” I hang up and sprint up two more flights of stairs to the fourth floor, praying Ayo went down to the office for something. Maybe he left his phone charger down here?

Teo passes through the office wards without a problem, telling me that maybe he is a decent guy, or at least not out to hurt or sabotage any of us or the business. Not today, anyway.

“Ayo!” I don’t know why I bother shouting his name as I check every room, because I can’t smell him.

Raj bursts through the door just as I finish checking the bathroom, Kit hot on his heels.

“He’s not here. Fuck!” I run a hand through my hair, panic clawing at my insides. “Why would he leave? He promised not to leave.”

“There’s no signs of a struggle upstairs.” Raj’s expression is sombre. We both know there wouldn’t be a struggle because no one would get past Ayo’s wards.

Kit rushes into the conference room, opens their laptop, and starts tapping away as we follow. “I’m recalling Jet, Cal, and Skye, boss.”

Thank fuck my team know what to do without me having to give orders. First step, bring everyone together. Still, I need to calm my racing heart and chaotic thoughts long enough to figure this out.

“Raj, call the mayor’s office and let them know we’ve got an emergency. We’ll have to debrief Yasmine later. Kit, pull up the photos Ayo sent. Teo, I don’t suppose you speak Latin?”

“Not a chance.” Teo’s scent is filled with the same concern as the rest of us. Whatever I think of the cat shifter leader, I’ve never doubted his affection for my mate, which is why I’m not going to send him away.

“All right, Cal can read it when he gets here.” I scroll through my contacts, trying to think who Ayo might have called if he’d found something he needed to leave the premises for.

I can’t think of a single reason why he would, but I call Zaiden’s number anyway.

If we were all busy, he might have gotten in touch with his best friend.

Zaiden picks up on the third ring. “ Hello? ”

“It’s Ethan Lupo. Ayo gave me your number a while back. Have you heard from him today?”

“ No, why? ”

“He’s missing.” My voice cracks a little on the last word.

“ Oh, fuck. I’m on my way. I’ll bring backup. Where do you need us to search? ”

I close my eyes, trying to think straight enough to make some sort of plan. Raj puts a firm hand on my shoulder, and it helps. “Get together as many people as you can. I’ll call you back as soon as we have a plan to divide up the search. Maybe half an hour.”

“ We’ll start searching the neutral zone if we don’t hear from you. ” Zaiden hangs up without a goodbye, which I appreciate. All of Ayo’s stories of the two of them paint a picture of mischief, so I really fucking respect that he’s no-nonsense when it counts.

Teo palms his phone. “I’ve told my enforcers to turn around and come back. They’re grabbing vehicles in case we need them.”

“Good. Thank you.” I’m really fucking glad Ayo has so many friends. Searching the city for him isn’t a small job.

Cal rushes in with Skye right behind him.

“Cal, you’re on translation duty.” I point at the screen.

“On it.” Cal accepts the laptop Kit relinquishes and splits the screen so he can type the translation on the right hand side.

“Boss, I overheard the humans downstairs talking about a fire drill for the building.” Skye runs his hand through his hair. “Apparently there was a notice sent out a few days ago.”

“What?” There was definitely not a notice to my flat, I know that much.

Kit shakes their head, arms folded. “No way. We didn’t get notified of that.”

If the humans in the building knew about a planned fire drill and we didn’t…

“They must have planned this.” Fuck. “Skye and Raj, head downstairs, talk to some people. See if anyone remembers Ayo. Show them his photo.”

Raj is finished with his phone call, so he and Skye nod and rush out. Jet’s name lights up my phone, and I swipe to answer it. “Talk to me.”

“ I’m searching the area immediately around the building unless you want me doing something else? ”

“No, that’s perfect. Keep in touch.” I hang up and turn to Teo. “Whose idea was the protest? Because the timing of this is starting to look deliberate.”

Teo’s expression is grim. “I really want to say none of my people had anything to do with this, but I’m beginning to wonder the same thing. A few of my people came to me with the idea. I’ll call them, see what I can find out.”

Teo steps out into the corridor. Ordinarily, I’d be concerned about him wandering into the office and seeing something confidential, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about anything except Ayo right now.

My wolf is growing steadily more enraged that our mate is missing. My hands shake as I try to remain in control. Shifting right now won’t get Ayo back.

Kit dashes out and returns with another laptop. “I’ll create a search grid, boss.”