Jono froze, meeting Sage’s wide-eyed gaze with his own. “They arrested him again?”
“No! The lady lawyer was a demon. Hades and Estelle were in her office, but Estelle had that demon in her.Theytook Patrick. Dragged him through the veil, and I couldn’t—Jono, he gave me his dagger and I couldn’treachhim and I—”
Jono’s hands shook—from rage or fear, he couldn’t tell—as Fenrir roared to life in the back of his mind. Wade was a frantic voice in his ear, the teenager miles away from them in Manhattan. Jono couldn’t let the rapidly rising fear inside him impede his ability to care for his pack.
“Get back to the flat,” Jono ground out. “Get behind the threshold. We’ll be there soon.”
“Jono, I’msorry,” Wade said, voice sounding smaller than it ever had.
“This isn’t your fault, mate. Not one bloody bit of it.” Jono sucked in air through his teeth, refusing to take out his fury on anyone he cared about. “We knew Estelle would never play fair, and this is them being desperate. I want yousafe, so get your arse back to our flat.”
Wade sniffed loudly over the line. “Patrick didn’t give me his keys. I can’t drive the Mustang.”
“I’ll send a car to him,” Tiarnán said, already on his mobile. “They’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Did you hear that?” Jono asked Wade.
“Yeah. But, uh, that asshole attorney called the cops, so I don’t think I should stay here,” Wade said.
“Head to the PCB. Tiarnán’s people can pick you up there.”
Wade’s voice came through the rush of wind over the line as he obeyed Jono’s order to move. “You want me to let them know Patrick got kidnapped?”
“No. The PCB has done sod all for us with this mess. We’ll handle it how we always do. It’s just a safer pickup point.”
“Okay.”
Wade still sounded scared and distraught, but he was focused on getting to the pickup point. Jono didn’t want to leave him without support, but he needed his entire attention free.
“I’m going to conference you in with Sage and drop my side of the call,” Jono warned.
“Okay.” Wade sniffed again, loudly. “You sure you’re not mad at me?”
“No. I’d never be mad at you for something like this. Just stay safe.”
Sage had her mobile out, ready to take the call. Jono looped her in and then ended his side, letting her talk Wade down from the panic attack the teen was so close to having.
Jono closed his eyes, ignoring the explosion of voices around him, reaching deep for the soulbond that tied him to Patrick. He’d been able to find Patrick all the times before when they were separated or missing. This would be no different.
Itcouldn’tbe different.
Except he came up against the same fucking emptiness that always indicated Patrick was out of reach, beyond the veil, and nowhere close for Jono to find.
“Anything?” Sage asked without going into details in front of their audience.
Jono opened his eyes and shook his head. “Not a fucking thing.”
Sage’s mouth thinned into a hard white line. “We’ll get him back. He has a suit fitting on Monday, and he isnotmissing it.”
“Estelle and Andras have him. If they’re working with Hades—”
Jono bit the words off, rage a violent shiver that streaked down his spine, pulling his shoulders tight.
“Then Ethan is in play. We know,” Sage said, not unkindly. “We—no, Wade. It’s still not your fault.”
Sage went back to focusing on Wade and Jono forced himself to step back from the desire for murder when a target wasn’t immediately available. He looked at Austin and Amelia, who were both equal parts shocked and furious.
“I need you to get your packs into Manhattan. Spread the word. Double up in our Manhattan-held territory and wait for further instructions,” Jono ordered.
