by Lola Gabriel
“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Errol said from beside her.
Ellery nodded her head and tried to smile.
“Yes,” she said. “It is.”
“Hey, what’s that over there?” Errol said suddenly, pausing and pointing.
Ellery looked where he was pointing, turning her head to the side. She felt something slam into her temple and a sharp pain filled her head. She opened her mouth to cry out, but the sharp pain came again. Ellery’s eyes rolled back in her head and she tumbled to the ground, unconscious.
9
Max glanced at the clock beside him on the table. It was almost nine thirty and he knew Ellery would want to get out of the house soon. He hoped she wasn’t angry at him for sneaking away in the middle of the night, but he had felt like he had had no choice but to do it.
The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that Ellery had felt their sacred bond forming just like he had, and he knew that he couldn’t walk away from her for good, job or no job. He also knew that if they were going to be together, Ellery’s parents would need to find out at some point, but he didn’t want that to happen by one of them finding him in their daughter’s bed. That was the only reason he had snuck away, and he had hated to leave her that way.
Now he was starting to wonder if she was angry with him. He got up and headed toward Ellery’s quarters. He knocked on her door, but there was no answer.
“Ellery? Are you in there? It’s Max,” he called.
There was still no answer and he felt a deep sense of dread within him. He told himself he was being silly. Ellery wasn’t petty enough to stop speaking to him because he had left her rooms last night. She would know why he had left; he had admitted to her his fear of being caught there, after all.
Maybe she’s downstairs grabbing some coffee or something before she has to leave, Max thought to himself. He moved away from Ellery’s rooms and went down the stairs, heading for the main kitchen. As he approached it, he heard low voices drifting out and he relaxed. He had been right. Ellery was in there.
He pushed the door open and stepped into the room, only to see that he had been wrong. Ellery wasn’t in the kitchen. The voices were coming from Freya and Faust, who sat at the table drinking cups of coffee and eating toast.
“Is everything okay, Maxen?” Faust asked.
Max nodded, not willing to tell Ellery’s parents he had lost her. He told himself that was stupid. He hadn’t lost her. She was likely in her rooms, and if she wasn’t, her parents might know where she was.
“Have you seen Ellery?” Max said, choosing his words carefully so as not to give anything away. “She’s had some errands to run today and I thought she would want to get going.”
“Oh, she’s probably still in bed nursing a hangover after the party last night,” Freya laughed. “She’s likely not going to want to do anything today.”
“Thanks,” Max smiled, feeling relieved.
That sounded plausible. He turned to leave when Faust called him back.
“Have some coffee and relax for a bit,” he said. “If Ellery is anything like her mother, it’ll be lunchtime before she surfaces.”
Freya slapped Faust’s arm but she laughed and nodded her head, beckoning to Max. He couldn’t think of any way out of this without seeming rude, so he sat down and Freya poured him a coffee and handed it to him. He thanked her and took a sip. It was strong and good and he took another sip.
Max looked up from his cup as a light tap came at the kitchen door and then it opened and Peter stepped in.
“Sir, ma’am, you have a visitor. Says his name is Errol Rogers and you are expecting him,” Peter said.
Max felt his stomach tighten at the mention of Errol. The man Ellery’s parents had tried to set her up with. What the hell was he doing here? It seemed her parents were still trying to make it happen between Ellery and Errol, but Max saw the glance the couple shared and he realized they had no idea why Errol was here either.
“Show him in,” Faust said.
Peter gave his funny little bow and then he stepped back and a black-haired young man stepped into the room.
“Faust, Freya. A pleasure to see you both,” he said. “Please accept my most sincere apologies for having to delay my arrival. Business stuff, you know how it goes. I hope Ellery wasn’t too disappointed that we had to reschedule dinner.”
Faust and Freya exchanged another look, a look that told Max they were both as confused about all of this as he was.
“Sorry, Errol, what are you talking about?” Faust said.
“My delay,” Errol frowned. “I’ve just flown in from Boston overnight. Oh, please tell me you got my message informing you of this.”
“No,” Faust said. His expression had gone from confusion to worry. “Something strange is going on here. I didn’t get a message from you, and Ellery thinks she’s already been out with you.”
“Already been out with me? No, it definitely wasn’t me, Faust, I assure you.”
“She said he was rude,” Freya put in. “That he propositioned her. I thought it didn’t seem like Errol, but I didn’t give it too much thought until now. Who the hell was she out with, Faust?”
Max stood up.
“Let me go and fetch Ellery and see if we can get to the bottom of this,” he said.
“Thanks, Max,” Faust said, sounding a little bit distracted.
Max had a really bad feeling about all of this, and as he headed toward Ellery’s quarters, he found himself running. His instincts had kicked in since the moment Errol was announced. He had thought he was jealous, afraid Faust and Freya would convince Ellery to choose Errol over him. But now, he recognized the feeling for what it was. Ellery was in danger and the bond they now shared was warning him about it.
10
Ellery woke up and blinked, wincing at the thumping headache she had. For a second, she allowed herself to believe she was hungover after her party, but her senses soon kicked in, reminding her of Errol smacking her in the temple, knocking her unconscious. She sat up.
She was in a room, lying on a couch in front of a TV. Ellery didn’t recognize the room. She looked toward the window, hoping to see a familiar landmark, and she started when she saw Errol sitting in an armchair, watching her with a smile on his face.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “What’s going on, Errol?”
He ignored her and she looked over her shoulder, seeing the door. She ran for it and Errol laughed behind her as she tugged on the handle. The door didn’t budge.
“It’s locked,” Errol said. “And so is the other one. You can’t get out, Ellery.”
Ellery felt panic welling up inside of her, but she swallowed it back down and turned back to face Errol.
“What’s going on here?” she demanded. “Why the hell have you taken me prisoner?”
“There’s no need to be so melodramatic, Ellery. You make it sound like I want to hurt you,” Errol said.
He smiled at her and she shivered.
“And what? You don’t want to hurt me?” she said.
“Of course not,” Errol said, shaking his head. “I love you, Ellery. I would never hurt you. We’re meant to be together. I can feel it. And I know you can’t yet, but that’s okay. You will in time. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to stay here together until you love me like I love you.”
He was still smiling the whole time he talked, the smile that didn’t meet his eyes, the smile that made Ellery feel panicked inside. She shook her head, unable to bite her tongue.
“You’re crazy,” she said.
She immediately regretted her words as Errol got to his feet and came toward her. She shrank back and Errol laughed.
“You won’t think I’m crazy once you get to know me properly. You’ll fall in love with me and then you’ll look back on this and see how romantic it all was,” Errol said.
Errol grabbed Ellery’s arm as he spoke, dragging her away from the door and back toward
the couch. She tried to resist his pull, but he was much stronger than she was and he pulled her along easily, pushing her into a sitting position on the couch. He sat down beside her, much closer to her than she would have liked him to be.
He picked up a remote control from the coffee table and smiled at Ellery again.
“I thought we should watch a movie,” he said.
Ellery did bite her tongue that time, wondering at how surreal this whole thing was. Errol was clearly crazy, and she had no idea how she could get away from him. She still couldn’t for the life of her work out how her parents had thought she might like this man, how her mom had described him as sweet. It was like the whole world had gone mad, and now here she was, staring at the TV screen, watching a movie with her psycho captor.
Errol put the remote control back down and settled back against the couch. He waited for a moment, and then he put his arm around Ellery’s shoulders. His touch repulsed her and she sat forward quickly, pushing his arm away.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped.
“That’s no way to talk to me, Ellery,” Errol said.
He reached forward and put his arm around her again, digging his fingers into her shoulder and pulling her back against the couch again. She reached up, peeling his fingers away from her and trying to disentangle herself from underneath his arm.
“Get off me!” she shouted, scratching at Errol’s hand in a vain attempt to get him off her.
Errol hissed in pain as Ellery scratched him. He pulled his arm away from Ellery, but before she could celebrate her victory, he slapped her face hard. Stinging pain exploded through her cheek and the dull ache in her head intensified. She reached up to her cheek, feeling the heat from her skin. Tears formed in her eyes and she peered warily at Errol.
“You’re going to have to learn to be a little bit better behaved if this is going to work out, Ellery,” Errol said. “I would hate to have to cut that pretty little face of yours.”
He put his arm around her again, and this time, she was too afraid to try to shrug him off, so she bore the arm, hating the feeling of him touching her, but knowing she had no real choice in the matter.
All she could do now was wait and hope that the bond she and Max now shared was strong enough to lead him to her.
11
By the time Max returned to the kitchen after searching the whole house and the grounds for Ellery, his senses were in overdrive, screaming at him that Ellery was in danger.
“She’s not anywhere on the premises,” Max announced as he walked into the room, interrupting Freya mid-sentence and not caring.
Neither one of the ruling couple commented on Max’s lack of manners and respect for them and he knew then that they were as worried about Ellery as he was.
“I spoke to some of the staff as I searched the house,” Max added. “And no one has seen her at all this morning.”
“So she disappeared some time between the party and now,” Freya said.
“She was there right to the end of the party,” Max said. “I accompanied her to her quarters and made sure no one had snuck into them. So I think it’s happened this morning.”
“We have to go out and look for her,” Faust said. “And I’ll call the head of the royal guard, get them all out looking for her too. And if I find out she’s snuck away to go for a walk or something and is fine, I swear I’ll kill her myself.”
He started to stand up. Max knew he could find Ellery quicker alone than all of the royal guard put together. Now that they had begun to bond, he was confident he could tap into Ellery’s thoughts and let her lead him to her. The problem with that solution was that Max would have to tell Ellery’s parents the truth: that he was her one true mate. And he didn’t think they would react well to the news.
He knew, though, that Ellery’s life and her safety were way more important than anything else, and he could tell her parents loved her. Even if they forbade them from being together, he knew they would let him find her first. And finding her was all that mattered right now.
“There’s another way. A quicker way,” Max said before Faust could hurry away or before his nerve went.
All eyes turned to him and he felt himself blushing slightly, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
“Spit it out, Maxen,” Faust snapped.
He looked around the room and then he began to speak, looking down at the ground.
“I’m sorry, for I have betrayed your trust,” he said. “But Ellery and I...we fell for each other. I’m her one true mate. I know that probably isn’t good news to you, but the sacred bond has already begun to form, and I’m confident I can use it to find Ellery.”
For a second, no one spoke and Max wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. It felt as though time had stopped moving, everyone frozen to the spot as his news sank in. It was Errol who finally broke the silence.
“Forgive me for interfering, but isn’t this a good thing? That we can find her quickly?” he said.
“Yes. Yes, it is,” Freya said.
Max finally dared to look at her. He didn’t see anger on her face. She looked a little bit surprised, which was to be expected, but more than anything, he saw hope. Freya knew he had a chance of finding Ellery. Max dared to shift his attention to Faust. Faust wore a similar expression to Freya’s, although he was quick to cover it when he saw Max looking at him, arranging his face into a mask that showed nothing of how he was feeling.
“Come on, then, Maxen. Lead the way. Let’s go,” Faust said.
“No, Faust,” Errol said, getting to his feet. “The ruling couple is too important to the tribe to place themselves into the direct line of danger.”
“But she’s our daughter,” Faust protested. “How can we be expected to just sit here?”
“Because that’s what a leader would do,” Max said. “Faust, Freya, I promise you I will find Ellery and bring her back to you.”
Faust and Freya exchanged a look and for a second, they seemed to communicate without words. Finally, Faust nodded and returned to his seat around the table.
“I’m coming with you,” Errol said. “You might need some help. We have no idea what’s happening.”
Max opened his mouth to argue with Errol, but he thought better of it. Errol was right. He had no idea what he might be walking into, and if having some backup gave Ellery a better chance of being safe, then he would take it. Besides, he figured it would be quicker to agree to this than to stand around here arguing about it with Errol.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said to Errol.
They turned and ran from the kitchen, heading out of the house. Max led Errol to his car and they jumped in. As Max started the engine, he pictured Ellery, pictured the moment when they had bonded, and then he slowly tried to tap into her mind. He felt a warm spot in his head, and an itchy feeling started up there. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, just strange. As Max pondered what it was, he felt the itch intensifying, becoming less itchy yet more urgent, and it began to pull him forward. He put his foot down on the accelerator, excited to know the bond was working. The itchy spot was leading him to Ellery.
As he drove, he glanced at Errol sitting in the passenger seat. He felt a bit of sympathy for the other man. He had flown all the way out here to meet Ellery as a potential mate only to learn that he was already too late.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Max said. “I realize it must have been disappointing for you to learn that you’re too late for Ellery.”
“Actually, I’m kind of relieved, if I’m honest,” Errol said.
Max frowned and Errol rushed on.
“Oh, that sounded awful. I’m sure Ellery is a lovely girl and all of that, but the truth is, the thought of being part of a ruling couple, running the whole tribe… it terrifies me. I only agreed to come here and go out to dinner with her because, well, when the ruling couple requests your presence, you don’t say no to them, do you?” Errol said.
Max shook his head.
“No, y
ou don’t,” he agreed. “So why are you coming with me if you don’t have any ideas about trying to steal Ellery away from me?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Errol said. “Just because I don’t want to take Ellery as my mate doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to her.”
“Fair enough,” Max said. “Thank you, by the way.”
Errol gave a little nod of his head.
“This is it,” Max said as the itchy spot in his head commanded him to stop.
He hit the brakes and looked to the house on his left. It was right on the outskirts of the village, and by rights, it should have been empty. Max knew the owner of the house and he knew he was traveling around Asia on some pack business. He hadn’t rented the house out to anyone else. It was, Max had to admit, a good place to hold someone. He knew for sure now that his senses had been right. Ellery was really in danger. Some bastard had taken her.
Max and Errol got out of the car and moved to the house. Max tried the door, finding it locked, of course. He stood back and kicked the door just below the lock. The door flew open and Max and Errol ran into a small hallway. Two doors opened off the hallway and a staircase wound away from them.
“Start down here,” Max said. He nodded to one of the doors. “You take that one, I’ll take this one.”
Errol nodded and they ran to their respective doors. Neither of them even bothered trying the handles this time. As one, they raised their feet, each of them kicking in their doors. Max’s door flew open and for a second, he was frozen.
A man was moving across the room, dragging Ellery by a handful of her hair. He felt sick at the thought of this man touching Ellery.
