“Is everything a fucking joke with you?” I snapped.
“It’s my defense mechanism, okay?”
“I get that things are tense over there,” Asher said, sounding more serious than he had since I’d taken the phone, “but I need details, man. Sunday who? What does she look like? Any tats or easily identifiable markings? When did you last see her? Where are you? Give me some crumbs to go off of.”
Taking long, slow breaths, I pulled myself together and gave him what he wanted. Everything I could think of, with help from the other guys. When we described Caleb, each of us tensed, and if my own righteous anger was any indication, we were each planning very specific ways to make the vampire suffer once we caught him.
“So... let me get this straight. Sunday has three mates?” Asher asked.
“Four,” Moira corrected.
“No. We can’t call Caleb her mate. Not when he drugged and stole her.” Kingston’s words were more snarl than anything.
“Why does it even matter how many mates she has? Can you find her or not?” I asked, nearly at my wit’s end.
My question was met with frantic typing. “Yeah... yeah, this should get me started. Let me know if you think of anything else. Otherwise I’ll be in touch when I get some answers.”
The line went dead, and I instantly flicked my gaze to Moira. “Is he always that... short?”
Moira blew out a breath. “I’m shocked he was on the line for as long as he was. Asher may be a hermit, but he’s a busy guy.”
“If he’s such a hermit, how’d he get on the bad side of a witch?” Alek asked.
Moira bit her lip. “Well, he made the wrong person disappear. You see, his specialty is helping people vanish. Poof. Like they never existed. New identities, documents, the works. The reason he’s so good at his job is that he knows all the ways people can be found. But a while back, he ran into some trouble when one of his clients ended up being a witch hunter.”
“And you helped him anyway?” I asked, surprised she’d willingly assist someone who’d worked with one of her mortal enemies.
“It was really good money. And an honest mistake. Asher is the kind of person you want on your side. You never know when having someone like him in your back pocket will come in handy.” She waved her arm around. “Case in point.”
Rosie gave a delicate little shiver pulling my attention.
“You should go inside, love. No need for you to get caught up in this mess.”
“She’s your mate, Noah. That makes her family. I’m already caught up.”
My sweet sister, always trying to help. I hated that we’d be losing her to Gavin Donoghue in a matter of weeks.
“How long will it take him to find something we can go off of?” Alek asked, flickers of lightning back in his eyes.
Moira shrugged. “Minutes. Days. Weeks. Hard to say.”
“We don’t have weeks,” Kingston growled.
“I don’t think she’s in any danger, you guys. Not from Caleb, anyway. Have you seen how he watches her when he thinks she isn’t looking? He’d never hurt her.”
I knew it the moment my father stepped in the doorway; I didn’t even have to turn around. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“What are you talking about?” The harsh bite of Kingston’s question would have been offensive if the situation had been different. My father would have had him pinned against a wall, fangs bared, ready to answer to such disrespect. As it stood, he glared at the wolf and held his composure.
“Caleb isn’t who you think he is.”
“You don’t fucking say.”
“Insolent pup.”
Kingston sneered, eyes glowing. “Caleb’s a lying sack of shit? What’s new about that? My trust for vampires has never been very high, but it’s been waning by the second since setting foot in your house. Maybe you drained her dry and set Caleb up to take the fall.”
It didn’t take an expert to see that Kingston was fighting against a full shift. Fur rippled beneath his skin, and his face had taken on a gaunt cast that looked more canine than human.