"Are we expecting trouble?" one of the guards asked.
Lian shrugged. "I don't know."
Inside, he felt like a hollowed out shell. After several hours of not hearing from Nevair, Lian was officially beginning to panic.
He fidgeted nervously as the car raced down the busy streets. Milot's driver must've been a combat star fighter in a previous job from the way he whipped in and out of the smallest amount of space. Lian's nerves trembled at the speed they traveled, but the sooner they reached the cathedral the sooner they could find Nevair.
As soon as the hovercar reached its destination, Lian opened the door and rushed out.
"Sir, wait for us," one of the guards called out.
Lian gave that request the attention it deserved, absolutely none. Fear had him yanking open the door and marching in. At the astonished look of the worshippers praying on their mats, Lian tried to soften his step. Ignoring the man speaking from the pulpit, Lian walked right past and straight to the staircase behind it.
The preacher or priest or whatever his title stumbled across his words as Lian pretended he wasn't there. Following the path he remembered from a few days before, Lian reached Nevair's bedroom and yanked open the door.
A quick search of Nevair's space revealed nothing. With a frustrated growl, Lian spun on his heel, intent on searching every inch of the castle if it would net him his lover.
"Can I help you sir?" A tiny woman in a white service uniform hovered in the hall.
"I'm looking for Nevair, my mate," Lian stated.
"Oh!" The woman's face clouded over. "Mr Dragonwing told me not to let anyone else inside the room."
"What room?" Lian asked.
"I'm not supposed to say," the woman replied.
One of the guards stepped forward. "If you don't say, you'll be arrested for interfering with a mating bond."
The maid gasped, her hand rising to cover her open mouth. "I had no idea. Mr Dragonwing told me it was for his holiness's best interests that we tell no one."
"You could show me instead of tell me," Lian offered.
She thought it over, taking longer than Lian was comfortable with before answering. "Come with me."
Lian followed her as they walked down a flight of steps and a twisty hallway.
She finally stopped at a large wooden door and took out a key. Giving Lian an apologetic look, she unlocked the door. Lian barely resisted the urge to shove her aside. Marching into the room, he came to a screeching halt. It was empty. Nothing. A bed, a small side table and a wardrobe filled the space, all good quality but nothing else.
"Where is he?" Lian shouted.
The maid's mouth dropped open. "I don't know, sir. He was here a few hours ago."
Lian ran his fingers through his hair, yanking at it in frustration.
"Where would he go?" Lian asked.
The maid shrugged. "I don't know, sir."
Lian resisted the urge to throttle the woman. She couldn't give him information she didn't have and he couldn't blame her for that. "Can you think of any place in the building you can hide someone? Some place secret?"
The maid gave Lian and apologetic look. "It's an old building sir, there are tons of places you can hide someone."
Failure tasted bitter in Lian's mouth. His one chance to have the perfect mate and he couldn't even keep track of him. Would Tres kill Nevair? Did Tres even have him? Would he have passed Nevair over to Bourne? Questions and possibilities spun in his head? Tears dripped down Lian's cheeks. He'd not felt this helpless since his parents' deaths.
Lian sat on the bed and put his face in his hands. He couldn't give up but he had no idea what to do now.
"I'd like to report the kidnapping of Pontifex Nevair Dragonfang." Lian heard the guard rambling on but little of it stuck in his head. How could he have lost the man when he'd barely had him?
