Chapter Five
Ivor
Heart racing with more worry than he would have expected, Ivor sheathed his daggers and stared in the direction Rowan had gone. When Rowan ran, the draugr had lost all interest in fighting them and disappeared. “We need to find that apartment. Fast. What was the address again?”
Emory, still breathing hard from all the jumping, rattled it off between puffs of air that fogged in the cold.
Ivor pulled out his phone and typed it into the map. It was really close, so he started running in the right direction. His heart felt lodged in his throat, and sweat sprang up on his back as he sped toward the apartment building. Visions of Rowan torn to shreds filled his head, making him find a new burst of speed.
Emory sped to catch up with him. “We’re going to need a spell to trap that thing. We’re basically fighting a fucking ghost.”
“What we have to do is take Rowan back to the office in Seattle. The wards will keep the draugr away.” It had been in the office before, but it had been released from a chunk of nephrite during a spell. It wouldn’t be able to get back in.
Ivor spotted the building and shot up the stairs. When he saw the open apartment door, he didn’t hesitate to run inside.
Absolutely everything had been torn to shreds. The couch was nothing but a frame, the cushions ripped into fragments of material and stuffing all over the floor. Shelves were overturned, drawers pulled from side tables.
Ivor dashed into the bedroom, shouting, “Rowan!”
He expected to find the beautiful man in pieces somewhere in the tiny room, so he tried to brace himself. But the room was empty—just more of the same debris everywhere. It crunched under his feet as he walked back into the living area where Emory stood.
His mouth was dry with fear, and he tried to swallow as he stared at his friend. “Emory, we have to find him.”
“I know.” Emory tilted his head, staring hard at him. “You have to realize it will probably find him before we do. He must have the arm ring on him. Might even be wearing it. The draugr is following that.”
“It must have sensed it here as well to have torn this place apart. I wish it had found it.” He knew the utter bleak feeling in his chest showed in his gaze. “Fuck, he could be anywhere.”
“We’ll check all the hotels in town.” His friend reached out and touched his arm. “Shit, Ivor, you really like this guy.”
“There’s something I felt when we were looking at each other. Something I’ve never felt before.
“You think fate is in play here?”
Ivor slowly nodded, as the urgency to find Rowan had every muscle in his body tight. “I know it is. Let’s go.”
They made sure to lock up the apartment as they left.
Over the next few days, Ivor grew more and more frantic as they didn’t find Rowan. They checked every motel and hotel in town and in the towns close by and nothing. Ivor used his powerof seduction to question everyone, but they simply couldn’t find him.
And Ivor was afraid, so afraid he could barely function, because that draugr had more than likely gotten to Rowan. He had to have been wearing the arm ring.
Ivor now stood outside another hotel and glanced around for Emory who had walked down the sidewalk a ways to make a call to Dax. He probably should have been calling his friend, too, to congratulate him on moving in with his soulmate. But he could only think about Rowan, out there somewhere and vulnerable.
Emory walked back to him while he slipped his phone into his back pocket. He stopped right in front of Ivor, eyeing him with real concern. “Ivor, I think you’d better prepare yourself to admit that we failed. I’m sure the draugr has found him by now.”
Ivor shook his head. “I just can’t let myself believe that.”
“You don’t even know this guy. Why are you taking this so hard?”
He sighed and rubbed his gritty eyes as he tried to come up with a reason. One he didn’t have. “I honestly don’t know, Emory. I felt something when I saw him. Like a connection—a strong one.”
“He was cute, yes, but?—”
“He’s beautiful,” Ivor interrupted. “I got the strangest feeling that he felt something as well. The way he looked at me…”
Emory frowned as he kept studying Ivor; then he nodded. “We’ll keep looking. We also need to check in with Xavier soon. There’s another motel just down the street we haven’t checked. You go there, and I’ll call Xavier.”
“Okay.” Ivor left him and jogged toward the motel. When he walked into the front office, he didn’t have the patience to try and get information from the clerk, so he let his pheromones spill heavy and thick into the air.
