“I’m so sorry, Kady.” Sabs tugs at her red locks. “I tried to catch him, I really did. Del’s already out looking for him now. Faye and the Silverwoods are in Clover Hollow with Faye’s Gram, otherwise I’d have more feet on the ground.”
“You could have called.” I sniffle, wiping my eyes, hating that Calder is seeing me like this.
He leans against a desk, listening to our conversation silently.
“I tried. It kept going through to voicemail.”
Is this some kind of karma for what Calder and I just did?
“There’s one more thing too.” Sabs looks at her sneakers. “When I spoke to Margie at the gate to let her know that Larry escaped, I didn’t realize that Tyler was prowling around at the entrance.” She takes a deep breath. “I think the Blandon Pack is looking for him too.”
My earlier sadness and despair turn to sheer anger. “They can hurt me, but they can’t hurt Larry.” My heart sinks, thinking of worst case scenarios and remembering how Kyro once joked about putting Larry down.
I turn to Calder. “They tried to poison you! What will they do if they find him?”
Sabs’s saucer-like eyes swivel from me to Calder. “Who tried to poison who?”
“Doesn’t matter.” I shake my head. “I’ll fill you in later.”
“It’ll be okay,” Calder tries reasoning with me. “We’ll find Larry before they do. I’ll call the others. We can help look for him.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I turn my back on him. “You’re busy here.”
“What Kady meant to say is that she’d love all the help she can get,” Sabs butts in. “By the way, I’m Sabrina Maverick, but everyone calls me Sabs.”
“This is Calder.” I wave at him offhandedly before he can introduce himself. “And if you must help, that’s fine, but we’ll have to plan this properly, split up the campus into quadrants to search.” Keeping my mind focused will hopefully stop me from going into a complete downward spiral. “We have to do this methodically.”
“Of course.” Calder marches over to a shelf to grab a campus map. “Let’s divide and conquer. I’m happy to search the alpha quad. It’ll be safer for us to look there than having omegas look alone.”
I snatch the map for him, dividing it up like a soldier drawing up a battle plan.
“We’ll need a photograph of Larry,” Calder tells me. Why didn’t I think of that? “He’s very…” I glare at him before he can insult Larry again. “All I was going to say is that he’s very distinctive. And we should probably swap numbers too, so we can stay in touch?” He pulls out a business card with his details on. “Here.”
“Are you sure you can spare the time?” I give him a final chance to opt out.
“We’re helping,” Calder insists firmly. He must sense my unease as his voice softens. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him in no time. I promise.”
“Thanks,” I mumble, hating the fact that he’s seeing me so vulnerable. The unshakable Kady Sinclair is now a total mess.
“And don’t forget this.” Calder scoops my scarf from my desk then wraps it around my neck. Our eyes meet for a second as he holds my gaze with intensity. “It’s cold outside.”
The scent points on his wrists seem to emanate more pheromones than usual, and his citrus scent gives me a new burst of clarity and energy that helps power me up for the search.
I clear my throat then blink hard, back to thinking about Larry. I scribble my number on the nearest piece of paper before clapping my hands. “Come on, Sabs. Let’s go.”
“I’ll keep in touch,” Calder calls after me, but I don’t look back, too preoccupied with texting him photographs of Larry.
“What is going on between you and your—I assume—new editor?” Sabs waits maybe two seconds after we leave the building to ask. “That look between you just now was hot, and the smell?—”
“He was just… helping me with something.” I don’t even know where to start with unpacking the situation. “That’s all.”
“Well, it certainly looked like he was helping you with something.” She smirks knowingly. “Is he one of the mystery alphas from Forestville?”
“No comment,” I mutter. “Besides, this is the last thing we should be talking about right now. Less talking and more looking.”
We need to find Larry before the Blandon Pack.
TWENTY-THREE
