From a glance at the time inlaid into his wrist, he could
tell he’d been sitting there too long. He’d delved a little too far into the
connection he held with Adrian that he’d lost track of time. He’d turned off
his sensors that held the mind sharing connection he had with the other
warriors on his team. That, he knew, Ana could trace. The connection he held
with Adrian she couldn’t even touch.
Where the
hell is she? Chase growled in his mind as he searched for her. Pretty soon he’d
have to head back out and follow the trail he’d just caught a whiff of in the
alley behind the bookstore he stood in. He’d wanted to check in with Adrian
first but after standing there for an hour he’d come to the realization she was
blocking him. A large wall, some sort of psychic shield, seemed to stand in his
way and it wasn’t budging. It wasn’t that he stayed in her mind all day or even
that he was always going through her thoughts but just the fact that he couldn’t
even send her a message when he wanted to bothered him. Either something was
wrong or she was hiding something from him.
Withdrawing
from the inner folds of her mind, Chase Hunter felt the outer realm of his
mates mind. Suddenly, a deep emotion hit him. It was coming from somewhere
outside her head, outside his head.
“Hello, you
know, for someone who is chasing me you are doing a very horrible job.” The
sweet seductive sound vibrated against his ear drums. It was physically in
front of him. His eyes popped open and settled on the woman who stood before
him. Ana, with her long hair and gorgeous features smiled up at him, an evil
gleam in the grin.
“Sorry, I’ve
been preoccupied. You know, you could just do me a favor and turn yourself in.”
He smiled at her and waved her in front of him to the chair across the small
table. She looked around the chair at first, ever so cautious, to make certain
he hadn’t booby trapped it. Satisfied, she slid into it and tossed her hair
over her shoulders.
“You know I
can’t do that. But enough about me. We might not have been actual mates but we
did grow up together. Tell me, what’s bothering you?” Her mouth pulled taut on one
side and her brow lowered. He knew by instinct that it was her worried face but
was it genuine? “Come on, I see you weighing your options but honestly, neither
of us is going anywhere anytime soon. I’m not letting you take me in and I know
you won’t leave here unless I do; so! Spill.” He took a deep breath and gazed
into her eyes for any hint of trickery. Seeing none, Chase leaned back in his
chair in a guise of carefree laxation.
“My mate,
my true mate, I found her. She’s blocking me out for some reason.” Chase ran a
frustrated hand through his hair loosening it from the clip at his neck. A few
strands fell forward and before he could catch them back Ana leaned across the
table and tucked them behind his ear. Glancing up at her, Chase’s breath
caught. She’d enthralled him.
“There will
be no arrest made today, tell me what is bothering you, Chase Hunter.” Her
voice leveled out as the heat from her Influence washed over him. A deeper
groove, her only genuine expression he knew, settled between her brows.
“I am in
love.”
“Umm…what?
That is your big problem?” Ana began to laugh but swallowed the chuckle when
Chase’s green eyes pierced hers.
“Something
is wrong with her. I can’t find her and I can’t contact my team. The sensors
are all off. I tried to send her a message, I tried to read her emotions; I’ve
tried everything but I can’t even pinpoint her location. Her gifts, the powers
she has, they are powerful. She’s able to hide her aura. She has the ability to
make invisible her location from any kind of scanner the Malus might use to
locate us but being her mate I am able to find her. It’s like the switch has
just been flipped off.” Chase realized how desperate his voice sounded and
leaned forward to sit up fully in his chair. “Take your thrall off me, woman. I’ll
tell you what I want, the way I want without you forcing me.” He inwardly
sighed as she lifted the net.
“Hide her
aura? I’ve been looking for a way to do that for a while, the only reason I
haven’t been able to fully escape you. Pray, do you think she would tell me how
it’s done?” She sent him a sly sideways smile. He chuckled and shook his head.
“I don’t
even think she knows how to do it. It’s just…the way her gifts work. She doesn’t
even need to think it before it happens. She’s a conduit, she can do…” Chase
shook his head, admiration in his eyes. “…she can probably do anything.” Ana’s
face skewered and she drew back from him.
“I thought
that Egeria Shen was one of the only female conduits of our time.”
“I believe
that you know the answer. That was not a question. What is on your mind,
traitor?” Ana smiled at him again but this time it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I think
that I may know where your mate is. I…” She spoke softly, as to not upset him.
He sat and stared at her, his features schooled. “…I’m afraid that…I am the one
that told him where to find her.” Chase clenched his fists. His eyes burned
emerald green as he leaned closer to her across the small table.
“Who?”
“Devlirus
Malus.” She whispered.
“You…Ana…have
just signed your death sentence.” Snatching her up from where she sat, Chase
ignored the gasped of the readers around him and exited the book store.
“Chase…I
didn’t know. I didn’t know she was yours!” Ana’s voice was shrill, uncollected,
unlike her.
“We shall
see what you do and don’t know.” His eyes burned down at her. He’d find his
mate, no matter what he had to do.
"The only way to be a writer is to write, write and write. The only way...is to write." -Jade Elyzabeth
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