***
He walked back into the penthouse and went straight to his room, ignoring the questioning look from Corde. The scene was far too reminiscent of a kid coming home in a tantrum trying to avoid his parents for his liking, but there was little to be done about that.
Moments later Corde entered his room.
“Have you not heard of knocking, ‘Dad’?”
Corde’s face bunched up in confusion. “Huh?”
“Never mind. What do you want?”
“Your shirt is covered in blood. Are you okay? Did you find an Outsider?”
Vanek’s brow wrinkled in surprise as he looked at his shirt. “Well, that would explain all the weird looks I got on the way home. But no, no Outsider. Now, can you go away?”
“What the hell’s got you in such a foul mood?” Corde snapped.
“This,” he retorted, reaching into his back pocket and giving Corde the crumpled piece of paper from Harlow. “Now get out.”
Corde didn’t move at all, standing in place as he read. Vanek sighed and started tapping his foot, but the other dragon studiously ignored him. His fingers tightened into a fist, but he dropped them. Fighting Corde wasn’t the answer, just like fighting the door hadn’t been. It would just be another expense he’d have to pay, and his funds were getting dangerously low as it was.
“What the hell happened?” Corde asked at last, his voice full of compassion for his friend.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have lost the fight with the door,” he answered grumpily.
“What door?” Corde looked back out into the main part of their suite, as if wondering if he should go check for damage.
“At the warehouse. I tried to fight it.”
“Why the hell did you do that?”
“It looked at me weird, okay? Fuck, I lost my temper after reading that and lashed out at the first inanimate object I could find.”
“Ah. Yeah, I understand that feeling. So what are you going to do about it now?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Before Corde could answer his phone started to ring in his pocket. He pulled it out to shut it off, but then held it up. “It’s Kallore. I’m putting him on speakerphone.”
“What? No, don’t do that,” he growled, reaching for the metal object.
Corde snatched it away. “Yeah, definitely. You need to hear it from him too. Hey, Kal?”
“Hey.”
“Listen, you’re on speakerphone.”
“Don’t do this. Hang up.” Vanek’s long hair swished as he shook his head back and forth, pleading.
“Okay. Why am I on speakerphone? And why does Vanek sound like a twelve-year-old girl complaining to her mom?”
“Oh, that’s rich,” Corde laughed. “Definitely not letting that go. But he has a real reason. His mate left him a letter today, dumping him.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’re grounded, Vanek. Did she leave a reason?” Kallore added.
“No.”
Vanek threw up his hands and sank back onto the bed while Corde brought the third dragon up to speed on his personal life drama.
“Oooh, that hurts. Where is she now, Van?”
“I don’t know.”
“You mean you didn’t go hunt her down?”
“What? No? Why would I do that?”
“One second. I’m putting you on speakerphone.”
“Hello? Vanek?”
He groaned and slid to the floor, hands covering his face as Elin came on the phone too.
“What?” he asked eventually.
“So you didn’t go chase after her?” That was Elin.
“No. I just got the letter. Then I beat up a door, which by the way you’re paying for. Then I came home.”
“See, I told you he didn’t chase after her.”
“But Kal, this is a tailor-made cry for him to demonstrate that he cares.”
“Don’t tell me, tell Vanek that! That’s what I thought too.”
This was getting ridiculous.
“They’re right, Van.”
He glared at Corde. “This is all your fault.”
The other dragon grinned, the smile stretching from ear to ear. “Just because you’re being a grump doesn’t mean our advice isn’t valid.”
“Hey, what’s going on in here? I heard voices.”
“Oh come on,” he griped, eyes looking skyward as Kylie entered the room.
“Kylie, is that you?”
“Hey Elin! What’s going on?”
“Oh, Vanek got a letter. He was dumped.”
In front of him Corde handed the letter over to Kylie who skimmed it quickly. She looked up, her luminous violet eyes focused on him. “Have you gone after her yet?”
Laughter erupted from the phone as Vanek slammed his head back into the bed repeatedly.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?!” he half-shouted.
“Because,” Kylie said patiently. “This is a cry for help. It’s basically a tailor-made situation for you to go make a huge demonstration that you care and want to keep her.”
“See! We told you!”
“I hate you,” Vanek told Corde. “This is all your fault.”
His friend, though it sure didn’t feel like it right now, just kept on smiling like an idiot, completely happy with what he’d engineered.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll go chase her down! But how do you geniuses propose I do that? She’s not answering her cell phone or her hotel phone. I even asked and they said she’s not there. I paid for someone to go knock on the door.”
“That’s a start,” Kylie said.
“I…may be able to help with that,” Elin said, her voice slightly tinny and distorted over the phone.
“How?” Despite the grief his friends were giving him, they were his friends, and they had his best intentions in mind.
“My hands are tied when it comes to giving you money and killing the Outsiders. But I have a lot of resources at my disposal for trying to find out where those bastards are hidden. Including a few things that I shouldn’t. Give me an hour, and I’ll find out where her phone is. We’ll track it until you get to her.”
Vanek stared at the phone, open-mouthed in astonishment. “That can’t be legal.”
“It’s not. Would you rather I not do it?”
“NO! Please! Do it,” he said, calming down. “I’ll take whatever help I can. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Literally, don’t tell anyone. I feel bad about the situation you’re in, but we don’t have a lot of time. My superiors might not want to give you another chance, but I’m willing to. Don’t prove me wrong, Vanek. I’ll be in touch.”
The line went dead.
He looked up at Corde.
“This is all my fault,” the gray-eyed dragon said merrily. “And don’t you forget it.”
Vanek got up and crossed the room, embracing his friend swiftly.
“I won’t.”