"I don't suppose I will meet these mysterious leaders any time soon?" Apollo asked.
Alain smiled again. "You are. I will wait until you have finished eating, and then I will escort you to them."
Apollo sipped his wine. Like everything else, it was expensive. "Do you know where my driver has been imprisoned?"
"The man who was with you was not taken. He lives if that comforts you?" Alain replied.
"I don't particularly care. He was only an Uber driver," Apollo replied as nonchalantly as he could. If they didn't know Lachlan's real identity, he wasn't about to tell them. He smiled and drank his wine.
If they had left Lachie alive, then he would be hunting for Apollo. Not finishing him off would be one of the biggest mistakes this mysterious order had ever made.
Apollo ate a few mouthfuls of stew, the panic in him easing now he knew Lachlan wasn't dead or imprisoned. Apollo would meet with the heads of the order...and then he would dismantle their whole operation from the inside out.
The Sanguis Vitae might have survived in secret since Catherine de Medici's death in 1589, but they sure as hell weren't going to survive him.
8
Lachlan paced around the Greatdrakes library, where Cosimo, Valentine, Bas, and Bridget were all standing around a table.
Layla had called to say she had traced the van to a private airfield but was having trouble getting details of the plane. Sanguis Vitae were covering their tracks better than most.
Lachlan and Valentine had gone to the Greatdrakes manor to try a tracking spell. Lachlan hadn't slept and doubted he would be able to relax even if he tried.
"Please stop pacing, Lachlan. You are making me agitated, and I need to concentrate," Cosimo said, gathering a small tuft of Apollo's hair from one of the brushes arranged before him.
They had already ruled out Ireland and England. Lachlan hoped the plane had landed; otherwise, they would keep getting negative results.
Lachlan moved to stand beside Valentine. Bas was quietly whispering to Bridget, explaining the magic Cosimo was doing. It all sounded way too complicated to Lachlan, but Bridget seemed to understand and soak it all in like a sponge.
"We are going to run out of hair at this rate," Lachlan grumbled to Valentine.
"Apollo sheds like a German shepherd. There will always be more hair, trust me," he reassured him.
Lachlan shoved his hands into his pockets and tried to sit still. He hated waiting at the best of times, but not knowing where Apollo was? That was enough to drive him insane.
Cosimo was whispering under his breath, and he dropped the small tuft of hair. It floated over the map before landing on Paris.
"Paris is huge. Can we narrow it down further?" Lachlan asked. He pulled out his phone and texted the update to Layla. Maybe she would be better off tracking private airfields or something.
"There might be a variation of the spell we can do with more detailed maps of Paris, but I suggest you go home and sleep, Lachlan. You and Valentine can go to Paris tomorrow and continue the hunt from there," Cosimo said. He placed a hand on Lachlan's shoulder. "He's going to be okay."
"You don't know that."
Cosimo, who never met a sad person he didn't want to hug, pulled Lachlan into an embrace. "I know my son, Lachlan. By the time we find him, he will either be leading this occult order, or he will have burned it to the ground. No one blames you for him getting kidnapped."
Lachlan stepped out of the hug. "Iblame myself for this. I won't be able to rest until he's home. I promise I will get him back."
"I know you will." Cosimo gave him a gentle push. "Now go home."
Valentine walked Lachlan back to his car. It was one of the Ironwood fleet vehicles because the other SUV was trashed.
"We will fly to Paris tomorrow morning, bright and early. I'll update you if we get a more accurate hit on his location,"Valentine said. He grabbed Lachlan by the arm. "Don't think we aren't worried, Lachie. We are. We just can't let it distract us. They want Apollo alive. That gives us time."
Lachlan nodded but didn't say anything. What could he say? They already knew he was drowning in guilt and worry. Nothing would be right until Apollo was found.
The Ironwood estate was quiet when he got back. It was nearly 11 p.m., but Lachlan was still too wired to sleep. He grabbed one of his hunting duffles and started packing clothes and weapons. Apollo's laundered clothes, including his ridiculous rainbow socks, also went in. Lachlan swallowed the hard lump of emotion in his throat. He had to find him and stop the Sanguis Vitae from ever coming after him again.
He reached into the bottom drawer of his bedside table and pulled out the box that held a present for Apollo.
