"Layla is already pulling footage from the traffic cameras and is tracing the van," Charlotte told him. "Take a breath and then tell us everything."
"Especially the part about Apollo nearly getting kidnapped last night and no one fucking telling his family," Valentine snarled softly.
"He didn't want to go home. It's why I brought him here," Lachlan snapped back. He quickly told them everything about the club, the kidnapping attempt, and trying to locate whatever the fuck Sanguis Vitae was.
"They are meant to have disbanded after Catherine Medici's death," Valentine said, recognizing the name immediately. "What? I'm a magician, and I went through a period of being interested in Nostradamus and how legitimate he was."
"'Meantto have disbanded' doesn't mean they did. They clearly have funding, and they weren't going to stop until they had your brother," Lachlan said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed so he could sit up properly.
Reeve ran a hand through his messy brown hair. "How did they know to hit you here?"
Lachlan pinched the bridge of his nose and swore. "The van. I had some recruits tow it here so I could go over it. I have the body in it of the guy who tried to kidnap Apollo the first time."
Valentine clapped his hands, making Lachlan wince. "Get your pants on, Lachie. I need to see this van. If the magic signature is still fresh on the suicide spell, I might be able to figure out what we are dealing with."
"Apollo..."
"Layla is still tracing the van from the highway. Until then, we follow our own leads. If Layla can't find him, we have someof Apollo's hair that we can use to track him," Valentine replied, handing Lachlan a pair of clean jeans.
"Why do you have his hair?"
"Are you kidding me? He has four different hairbrushes. I will take some from one of those," Valentine replied with a shrug. "That is, of course, if Apollo doesn't talk his way out of the situation and they end up giving him back. He will probably annoy them so much that they dump him in sheer frustration."
"Really funny," Lachlan replied, pulling on his jeans. "These fuckers aren't amateurs."
"Neither is Apollo. I know you see him as some delicate unicorn, but he can be a right fucker himself. He knows this kind of magic, especially if the Sanguis Vitae are still primarily interested in alchemy. He will find a way to escape, or we will rescue him."
"Gods, you're so cold about this." Lachlan found a shirt and put it on, his ribs barking in pain.
Valentine gave him a scathing smile. "One of us needs to be. You can't see past the hearts in your eyes. My brother isn't a fool. He will handle the situation until we find him. Now, show me this van."
Charlotte caught Lachlan by the arm. "Please be gentle with yourself for the next few hours. Let the patches work, and I'll prepare others to take with you wherever you end up going."
"Thanks, cousin," Lachlan said and hugged her. "And thank you for getting me off the road."
"That was Valentine, but I helped clean you up. Passing out on asphalt is never a good idea."
Lachlan looked at Valentine. "Thanks."
"You called me, and I tracked your phone. I was in the area," Valentine replied and made a hurry-up gesture. "Reeve? Call Dad and update him. Get him to find some of Apollo's hair, just in case. Ask him to check the archives about the Sanguis Vitae."
"Will do," Reeve said, already reaching for his phone.
Lachlan hobbled down to the elevator and tried to swallow the panic bubbling up his throat.
"You need to breathe, Lachie. You are no use to him if you panic," Valentine said, getting in beside him.
"I can't help it. I got the van brought here. I had a bad feeling about moving him from the estate, but he insisted on leaving. I shouldn't have let him go," Lachlan replied.
Valentine laughed softly. "You really are naive if you think you could stop Apollo from leaving if he wanted to. This isn't your fault, Lachlan. We will find him. Don't you worry about that."
Lachlan nodded, but he didn't feel any better. He should never have let Apollo out of his bed.
"I'm concerned about what they want with him. If they want his opinion as an alchemist, why not approach him through conventional means? Why go through the drama of kidnapping if they didn't mean to hurt him? They know who our families are and still thought it was worth the risk."
"Which tells us what?" Valentine pushed as they stepped out of the elevator.
"That they are idiots or powerful enough to think they could stand against the family."
