He turned the phone around and dialled Mother Estelle’s number. She answered on the second ring. “Can I talk to Garridan?”
“He’s in a meeting with the Alpha, honey. Is something wrong?”
“Yes, I need him. He’s supposed to be here with me. The vampires will come if he’s not. What if they come into the restaurant? They might be waiting for Garridan to leave me before they take me again.I can’t be without him here,” Sage said. Andrea looked at him with concern on her face.
“Isn’t Vaughan there? He’s supposed to be there.”
“Yes, he’s here.”
“Sage, honey, Vaughan is very capable of protecting you.”
“No, he isn’t. Please, will you just put Garridan on the phone?”
“Sage, honey. Talk to me about how you’re feeling.”
She wasn’t going to let him talk to Garridan. He could tell by the tone of her voice. He dropped the phone on Andrea’s desk and slid down the wall.
He thought he heard Andrea talking, but it sounded far away. He tried to make himself as small as possible, drawing his knees up to his chest. Maybe the vampires wouldn’t find him right away, not all the way back there in Andrea’s office. Maybe if he just stayed there, they would overlook him and pass right on by.
Someone touched him on the shoulder, and he shied away from it. “Don’t touch me!”
“Woah. Take it easy, Sage. Garridan is on the phone.” Andrea pressed something to his ear.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Garridan’s voice said into his ear. “I can feel how upset you are. Why are you talking to me on the phone and not through our bonding link?”
Sage was immediately relieved, so much so that he started crying. He took the phone from Andrea and held it against his face with both hands. “I don’t know. I didn’t think of it, I guess. I can’t be here without you. The vampires could come.”
“They won’t come there. Not in public in the middle of the day. You’re safe there with Vaughan. I promise, baby.” Garridan’s voice calmed him just a little bit, even as his words did nothing to alleviate his stress.
“I don’t want Vaughan. He doesn’t pay attention the way that you do.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I wouldn’t have left if I thought you were going to react this way.”
“Why’d you leave?”
“Magnus tried to take Ladon. Ramsey’s talking with Ladon now and we may need to go out and find Magnus. Talk to him about the situation the way that Vaughan suggested the other day.”
“You need to go out and find him, you mean?”
“Yes. He needs to understand before he gets desperate and hurts someone. Vaughan can bring you back here.”
“Why can’t you come and get me?”
Garridan sighed. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
They hung up a minute later and Sage made his way out of the office. At some point during his conversation with Garridan, Andrea had left the office, probably to cover all of his tables. He should’ve felt bad for leaving her hanging like that but couldn’t seem to muster up the guilt. He couldn’t think past the need to take his next breath, even as panic restricted his airflow even more with each passing second. Whatever small amount of calm he had been experiencing while talking to Garridan went completely out of the window.
He stood in the kitchen and looked out at all the people in the restaurant. He knew every single person out there. He knew their stories in a way that only someone who grew up in a small town did.
Mrs. Oppenheimer came in every Sunday because her husband used to take her out for Sunday brunch every week and since he had passed on, she had kept up the tradition. She had told him that three years ago, that Sunday after her husband had died. He’d held her hand as she cried and had given her free pancakes that day.
Then there was Henri who was a very smart guy who liked his books way more than he liked interacting with actual people. He came in a couple of times a week and read his book over a single cup of coffee which Sage silently filled about once an hour.
None of these people would let him get hurt and they wouldn’t hurt him. Still, he couldn’t go out there and pretend he wasn’t scared out of his fucking mind for no other reason, but that his mate wasn’t within a few feet of him.
Andrea came through the kitchen door. “Get out of here for today. Maybe go talk to Dr. Tucker.”
Sage nodded and grabbed his coat. “Would you tell Vaughan that I’m waiting for Garridan outside in the back?”
