The Lynx Who Claimed the Sun (11 page)

Nicolas took deep breaths, trying to draw out every possible memory from the flashback. It was useless. He still couldn’t figure out why his family hated him.

He looked up at his father, always aware of his sire’s eyes on him.

“What do you intend to do with me?”

“For the moment, nothing,” the other man replied enigmatically.

“But your time will come, and on that day, you’ll at last wash the shame you brought upon our family.”

With those final words, Nicolas’s father took the lantern and left the cell. The heavy door closed behind him, and Nicolas was left in the darkness once again, struggling alone with his faceless demons.

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Preston stole a look at his father, and tears emerged in his eyes.

He’d never seen his dad like this. Ever since Nicolas had disappeared, Preston’s father had fallen more and more into despair.

Oh, he still tried to pretend. Whenever Preston and Corbin were around, he smiled at them and hugged them with the same affection as before. But Preston could feel the difference in his father. It was as if the older lynx was slowly withering inside. Even now, as they sat at the table together, he was only pretending to eat.

Everyone else seemed concerned as well. Preston could see it in Skylar and also in all of the other people present. When they thought Preston and Corbin weren’t watching, they gave Garth worried looks.

Preston focused on his plate and did his best to hold his sorrow in check. The conversation that buzzed around him passed him by. He was thankful for their presence. Soren, his brother, Brody, and their friend, Liam, took turns in going out with Garth to try to find Nicolas.

Carson, Brody’s mate, helped Skylar with taking care of all the children in the house, and Preston had taken to spending a lot of time with the lamb-shifter. He was nice, and he told happy stories, stories that sometimes made him believe Nicolas would return and they’d be happy after all. He also liked Shiloh a lot. The swan shifter was funny, and when he and Carson sang, it soothed a part of Preston that had rarely known gentleness.

Rather, when they sang, Preston remembered Nicolas. Before Preston’s mother had showed up, Preston had actually allowed
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Nicolas to get close. He remembered times when they would go to visit Nicolas in his workplace, a large, beautiful bookstore. Nicolas would show both him and Corbin around and tell them stories about different places all over the world. He’d even given them books as presents. Preston still kept those books and, now that Nicolas was gone, spent his time reading through them.

All throughout dinner, Preston thought about those times and those stories. He wondered if he’d ever see the inside of Nicolas’s bookstore again. He wondered his dad would find his genuine smile or if their lives had forever been robbed of that warmth.

The meal ended on a somber note. Skylar’s parents gestured for the servants to clean the table and to bring them dessert. Preston opened his mouth to decline. He did like sweets, but he wasn’t in the mood for eating anything.

“Father, can we be excused?” Corbin asked, obviously guessing Preston’s thoughts.

Their dad gave them a surprised look. “But your dessert… Don’t you want to eat it?”

“Maybe later,” Preston answered.

“Perhaps we could have the cake taken to the children’s room,”

Mrs. Pierce suggested. “Is that okay with you, Garth?”

“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Pierce,” Preston’s dad replied. “Okay, boys. You can go play.”

Preston and Corbin thanked their father and rushed out of the dining room. Preston still wasn’t sure what to believe about the Pierces. They were always very kind to Preston and his brother.

Besides, how many people were willing to receive a dozen strangers in their home, just like that? Even if he was young, Preston knew very few would be so nice. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that, whenever Mr. and Mrs. Pierce looked at his dad, there was a degree of tension in them.

Sighing, Preston followed behind his brother, unsurprised when their steps led them toward the big gardens. All of a sudden, Corbin
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stopped dead in his tracks. There was someone talking in front of them, two guards if Preston guessed right.

“I don’t think Mr. Mckenna will find Mr. Shields,” a male voice said. “Too much time has passed.”

“He’s getting careless,” another man answered. “He’s not even trying to keep his actions a secret anymore.”

“I know,” a woman whispered. “Just the other day, I overheard him talking on the phone about his ex.”

“Mr. Mckenna thinks she’s involved, right?” the first man inquired.

“It’s quite likely,” the second man added. “I’ve worked with Mr.

Pierce for years, and I remember her. She was not a pleasant person.

One time, she—” He suddenly stopped speaking. “Hey, do you feel that?” he asked, voice cautious.

Preston knew the guards must have sensed them. Corbin grabbed his arm, and they made a dash for their room. They reached their destination with no incident. As soon as the closed door was behind them, Preston gave his brother an earnest look. “Do you really think Mom could have done something like that?” he asked.

Corbin seemed thoughtful. “I don’t know, but we have to find out.

We’re the only ones who can do it.”

“But how?” Preston inquired. They couldn’t get out of the Pierce compound and, even if they did, they wouldn’t know where to even start searching.

“We need help,” Corbin answered. “We can’t leave the mansion on our own.”

Preston’s eyes widened at his brother’s words. Corbin always tried to be as independent as possible. Apparently, Corbin wanted Nicolas to be found more than he’d admitted. “But who would help us sneak out of here? Skylar?”

Preston considered the suggestion, but shook his head. “Daddy would never allow us to go outside, and Skylar would never be able to
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hide the plan. Maybe Shiloh.” The swan was very fond of Nicolas and was more likely to try a daring idea.

Corbin didn’t seem convinced. “It won’t work. They’ll never agree.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s just talk to Dad. We have to trust that he’ll know what to do.”

Preston nodded. “But first, let’s ask Skylar to lend us a hand.

We’ll need all the help we can get.”

* * * *

“No, absolutely not.” Garth glowered at his two kits. “I refuse to risk you.”

He was touched by his sons’ offer, but at the same time, he knew he could never take it.

He’d been searching for Nicolas and Bella for weeks now, with no luck. At the same time, all the hummingbirds in Los Angeles seemed to have disappeared. There had never actually been all that many, at least not to Garth’s knowledge. On one occasion, Byron’s men had managed to track down one particular hummingbird, but they’d missed their target. From that point on, their search had been in vain.

Since hummingbirds were, by nature, cautious, they must have left the city entirely.

For Garth, their inability to find a lead meant both Bella and the people who’d taken Nicolas were even more dangerous than he’d originally thought. He couldn’t chance getting his kits hurt by involving them in this.

“But, Dad, if we convince Mom that you want her back, we can get her to talk and tell us the truth.” Corbin gave Garth a pleading look. “We could bring Nicolas back.”

“Maybe it’s an idea worth considering,” Skylar suggested gently.

If the words had come from anyone else, Garth would have exploded, but he knew the seahorse meant well.

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“Skylar, they’re just kids. What could we possibly have them do to find Bella?”

“What if you released the rumor that you were in the market for a mate again?” Skylar suggested. “Bella might try to approach you or the boys.”

That wasn’t a bad plan, and it wouldn’t involve risking Preston and Corbin. Still, the mere thought of denying his bond with Nicolas made Garth sick to his stomach.

He forced his nausea back and nodded. “All right. Start making arrangements at the agency. I’ll talk to Byron to keep things low key from now on.”

“What do we do?” Preston asked.

“You wait,” Garth told his son. “We all have to wait.”

It wouldn’t be as easy as his children thought. Even if Bella did want him back, she would be reluctant to approach him. It would take forever for her arrogance to defeat her caution.

Still, a far-fetched plan was better than no plan. At present, the only lead they had was Nicolas’s Mexican roots, but searching beyond the borders of the United States proved to be more difficult than expected. The area was controlled by hostile shape-shifters who didn’t believe in cooperation. Byron might have been able to draw something out of them, but they all hid in the rainforest, where sea creatures had a significant disadvantage. Garth himself had tried to go there, to sniff out his mate, but he’d failed abysmally in finding one single trace. There were simply too many scents in the rainforest.

Even if Nicolas had been there, Garth couldn’t feel him.

So Garth agreed to Skylar’s suggestion. As the seahorse ushered the kids out of the room, Garth picked up his phone and dialed. God, he hoped this worked because he was running out of ideas and out of time.

* * * *

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One week later

Corbin and Preston sat together in the large garden of the agency.

There were other kids around, but no one in specific either of them wanted to play with. These days, they made it their business to stay within sight of the building, but not close enough so as to scare their mother away.

Corbin knew now that he’d made a serious mistake in pushing Nicolas out of their lives. He couldn’t understand why their mother had sought them out in the first place, and he wanted to find out. He wanted to know if she truly didn’t care about them and if she’d used them.

He hated the thought, but he could see the suspicion every time he looked in his brother’s eyes. When Nicolas had been around, Preston never had that sad look. Corbin wanted to fix it.

Still, as the days passed, Corbin had begun to believe that their mother would not approach them. Their plan would fail, and Nicolas would never be found. The only reason why they went through the motions each day was that they couldn’t give up.

But today turned out to be different. Corbin sensed his mother approach and hope rekindled inside him. They were far enough away from the agency so that fewer guards were around, so they’d have to stall until everyone could get into position and trap her.

It was surreal that he’d even think that about his own mom. A part of him still wanted her to be by his side, still craved her affection. But Corbin had never been one to dwell too much on untruths. He understood more than adults gave him credit for. Perhaps it made him a little pushy with his brother, but he always meant well.

He’d wanted so much to have a family, and he didn’t realize that he’d already had it until Nicolas disappeared. Now, he would fix it—

for his dad and for Preston, but also for himself and Nicolas.

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Their mother approached them, emerging from the trees that formed a pleasant plant barrier between the agency and the concrete jungle outside. “Hi, children.”

“Hello, Mommy.” Preston smiled at her, looking genuinely excited.

“We missed you,” Corbin added.

“So did I.” She sat by their side, and for a brief moment, Corbin hesitated. Was he truly doing the right thing? She was his mother, after all, and there were no real clues that she’d been the one to cause Nicolas’s disappearance. He desperately needed to know, to make sure.

“Have you heard? The hummingbird’s gone.”

He imagined the moment when they would find Nicolas and managed to add a dose of satisfaction to his voice. His mother took the bait. “I heard.” She laughed. “Well, just between you and me, of course he is. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t get rid of that stupid intruder trying to steal our happiness?”

“It was you?” Preston asked. He sounded shocked and upset, and Corbin immediately popped up to cover his brother’s mistake. “Wow, I didn’t realize that you could do something like that.”

“Let’s just say I have friends in right places.”

“I would love to meet those friends.” The voice of Byron Cunningham came strong and clear as day, closer than Corbin expected. He hadn’t felt a thing, and apparently, neither had his mother. She shot to his feet and turned around to face the new arrival.

Corbin secretly admired Byron. He never got to see his dad’s friend much, since for whatever reason, Byron didn’t come by Skylar’s place or the agency. However, he’d met the man a couple of times, and he’d immediately liked him. There was just something about him, a strength that made Corbin trust him. It wasn’t discreet, like Nicolas’s, but rather, veiled, hidden. Now that Byron was here, Corbin knew they’d be all right. His mother would have probably felt
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approaching guards and then all the plan would have been for nothing.

“W–Who are you?”

To a certain extent, it surprised Corbin that his mom didn’t know Byron, but he supposed it was for the best. Perhaps she would have never approached them had she been aware of the aid the man offered Corbin’s dad.

Byron didn’t bother to reply. He grabbed her arm and began to lead her toward the agency. “Come along, boys,” he said pleasantly.

“Your mom and I have a little conversation pending.”

Corbin’s mom hissed angrily, and her form rippled as she began to shift. Before she could do so, though, there was a slight change in the air, as if the atmosphere were charged with electricity. “Don’t even think about it.” Byron’s tone was as polite and calm as ever.

“Just come quietly and you won’t be harmed.”