Chapter 16
The second Marko heard that Thea was missing, he crouched and then vaulted himself as high into the air as he could, shifting mid-leap back into falcon form. His wings beat the air and blasted snow up around him as he climbed higher. He wanted to just get as high as he could to see what he could see, but he knew he needed Intel, so against every beast inside him raging that he track, he forced his falcon to fly down to the gutter just over the back door where he landed heavily and listened.
“When’s the last time you saw here?” A man—presumably her father—asked.
“An…an hour ago. I was at the sink washing beans, and she was out there swinging away just like she loves to do.”
The head of Marko’s falcon jerked up and to the swing. His eyes narrowed on the numerous footprints marring the snow there.
In one glide, he was to the branch where the swing hung. Looking down, he saw Thea’s tiny footprints surrounded by other larger footprints. He automatically assumed the worst.
Closing his eyes, he reached out through the mist, and fuck all if he wasn’t able to connect to King. Another unwelcome gift of his time spent in captivity was that he had difficulty connecting telepathically to other Walkers. While most could communicate as far as a couple hundred miles, Marko’s ability wasn’t as honed. No, he needed to be much closer, which had never been a problem before. Now though, he was torn between tracking the footprints and following whoever kidnapped Thea or flying closer to StoneCrow to call in for help. He couldn’t afford not to follow the footsteps, and he couldn’t afford to go chasing the Megalya alone either.
Just then the back door of the farmhouse banged, and an older gentleman came out with a shotgun held tight in his hands.
“THEA!”
Marko beat wings, and his heart stuttered a minute when the man jerked his rifle up and aimed it at him.
Thankfully, Thea’s father didn’t shoot. He did track Marko’s path with the shotgun a little too long for comfort before he finally lowered the weapon and turned back toward the field behind the house and yelled again, “THEAAAA!”
***
This is either the smartest or the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” Marko muttered as he pounded—back in human form—up the front stairs of the Kinsey farmhouse.
He’d just left Thea’s old man out back, and he knew his only option at getting help and going after Thea was relying on her family. Decided, he knocked loudly.
Inside, he heard a woman call out, “Dick! Someone’s knocking!”
She sounded afraid, and that didn’t bode well. He just hoped Thea’s dad showed as much restraint as he had when he’d had his weapon locked on Marko in animal form.
With his heightened senses, he heard the back door open, and the man mutter a curse before ordering, “Get the rifle and stay inside.”
Sheit!
The man came to the door, shotgun tucked under his arm and frowned hard at Marko. “Who are you and what do you want?”
“Sir,” Marko began. “My name is Marko. Marko Storm. I work with Thea at the school in the Highwoods, and I think she’s in trouble. I’m here to make sure she’s okay.”
He prayed the lie worked and waited in the pregnant silence that hung between him and the older gentleman.
The guy finally asked, “What do you mean trouble? What kind of trouble?”
“I think people are trying to hurt her,” he implored. “The school was attacked.” It wasn’t a complete lie. “And I’m really worried about Thea. Did she tell you about what happened?”
The man’s frown deepened. “What? No. No, she didn’t say anything.” Turning, he bellowed over his shoulder, “Ethel!”
A slight woman who looked a lot like Thea slunk out of the kitchen holding a rifle in a surprisingly steady grip. “Who is it?”
“This fella knows Thea. Says she might be in trouble.”
The woman lowered the rifle with a terrified, “Oh God!” She rushed the door and waved him in. “Come in, come in.”
Without time to waste, Marko stepped inside and asked, “Can I speak to Thea? It’s very important.”
“She…she’s not here.” The woman’s eyes glistened with emotion. “She was.” She pointed over her shoulder. “Just an hour ago she was out back swinging, and the next time I looked up, she was gone.” She looked at the man. “What do we do? If she’s in trouble, we should call the police.”
Marko didn’t care who they called, but he needed to use the phone first. “Can I borrow your phone? I have friends, co-workers of Thea’s, who might know something.”
Without hesitation, the woman nodded vehemently and led him to an old-fashioned phone that was attached to the wall near the kitchen.
Marko dialed StoneCrow, and when reception picked up, he demanded, “This is Marko Storm. I need to speak to King Mulholland or his Dominant. I’m without resources.”
“Without resources” was code for an emergency, which the receptionist understood because he was transferred immediately.
“This is King.”
“King, it’s Marko. Thea’s been taken. I need a team. She’s been gone about an hour and…”
“She’s on her way to Apex.”
Marko’s explanation stalled. “What?”
“Tyce sent a team. She’s been intercepted and…”
Marko cut him off. “Why in the fuck is she going to Apex and not back to StoneCrow?”
“Jenny wants her back here,” King explained, “but Tyce made a good argument that Dr. Ames at Apex wasn’t as inundated at the current moment as Jenny is here at StoneCrow, so I…”
It took every ounce of Marko’s will to simply hang up the phone on King rather than slam it onto the receiver.
“Well?” An eager voice prodded from behind him.
Turning, he did his best to mask his anger. “She’s safe.”
The woman practically collapsed into her husband’s arms, “Oh, thank God!”
Ten minutes later, after offering an explanation that seemed to satisfy both Thea’s parents, and after proper introductions, Marko was back in the air beating wings to Apex. All the flight he seethed at how easily King had dismissed Thea. Sure Pyper was good, but everyone knew that Jenny was better. And, who in the hell did King think he was to decide Thea deserved substandard care. Fucker! If it were King’s precious Lilly, it’d be a totally different story.
Shoving his anger aside, he concentrated on the task at hand. He had to get to Apex. He had to see Thea. He had to make sure she was okay. It felt imperative, and that was confusing. She wasn’t his. He knew she wasn’t his, yet he still couldn’t stop the swell of possessiveness that surged up inside. He felt…off. His skin itched, and his muscles were tense. He felt like he’d had twenty cups of coffee and was on a hideous caffeine high. His head kept telling him to move faster because Thea needed him. His heart though whispered that it was him that needed her. Honestly, he wasn’t convinced that he hadn’t grown addicted to Thea in their few short days together. Before the attack, he knew she was a kind and generous woman. After the attack, once he’d laid claim to her body, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. All of her. Images of her consumed his thoughts. Memories of the sounds she’d made when he was buried between her thighs kept him constantly distracted. Even the taste of her lips and skin on his mouth seemed to keep his lips tingling.
He told himself that his feelings were only the result of gratitude. Thea had taken a tranq intended for him, and she’d suffered because of it. Hell, she was probably suffering now. The thought incited Marko to beat his wings faster because even just imagining Thea going back into heat had his heart hammering against the wall of his chest. Who would she go to if he wasn’t there? Who would see to her needs? Images of all the males at Apex flashed through his head and distracted his wings from their constant rhythm. His shift faltered, and suddenly he was dropping from the sky like a stone. Shit, shit, shit! Pinching his eyes shut he concentrated on his form. Falcon, falcon, I’m a falcon! His thoughts kept betraying him though and straying back to Thea being eased by another male. Snapping his eyes open he looked down. He didn’t have much longer before he was nothing but a smear on the ground. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly, he cleared his mind and envisioned his outstretched wings catching a current and shooting him upward. He knew the feel of it, the taste of the air on his tongue, the blast of wind on his face.
His wings caught and the knuckles of his bird’s claws scraped along the ground as he shifted at the last possible moment. Eyes open, he maneuvered his bird through a stand of trees before slowing and shifting back to human form. He rolled as he hit the ground, sending snow and clumps of mud shooting up before he came up on his feet and jogged a few steps to slow his momentum. When he was finally stopped, breath chugged out of him in great white puffs as he looked up at the sky and shook his head.
That was too damn close.
For the first time ever, he was actually considering taking Jenny’s advice and visiting the psychiatrist at StoneCrow. Everyone knew he’d been captured and tortured. And, everyone knew he had problems holding a shift, but it wasn’t until now that it actually bothered him. Before, his life had been clipping along at his pace. He figured his head would heal itself in time, but now that Thea was in the picture, waiting wasn’t good enough. She needed him, and he couldn’t get to her as fast as he needed to, and that gutted him in ways none of the Megalya torture ever had.
Glancing up again, he decided to forego the risk of flying, but he still needed to haul ass. Breaking out into a run, he was four strides in when a pale mountain lion burst from him. Losing this form would be a lot less detrimental, but he shoved those thoughts back as he focused on just running as hard and as fast as his lion would let him. He had to get to Thea!