That Hunter would have been able to track her if he were still here. Which he was not. Only the contingent of other warlords with me had kept me from going insane. Or turning into my beast. We’d gone immediately to Quinn’s home, but there had been no sign of her. No sign of the male scent I’d picked up in the makeup room. Her car was in the parking lot where she’d parked this morning. With me.
There were no recording devices on the television station’s floor. There was no way to know who had walked into the makeup room. Who had walked out. Where they’d gone. While there were cameras in the parking garage and lobby, Quinn had not been on the recordings. Law enforcement confirmed that Jeff Randall also wasn’t on any of them.
“It’s like she just disappeared,” Tane said as we paced the hallway outside the makeup room.
“I should have remained with Quinn,” I told him. “Stayed at her side. Fuck, had my cuffs on her wrists; then I’d have known the second she’d been taken.” The cuffs caused pain when claimed mates were too far apart. The pain I felt now was within and close to unendurable. Helpless.
I’d rescued. Saved. Killed. Maimed. Ambushed. Destroyed. Protected. I’d done so many things in the IC that made me the perfect weapon for Quinn. The perfect shield from harm.
I’d failed. In the most important mission of all.
“Where the fuck is she?” I snarled.
Someone cleared her throat. I spun on my heel. Ellen. She was wringing her hands again, and her eyes were puffy and red. “There’s a phone call for you, Warlord.”
My eyebrows winged up. I’d never used the human communication tool and knew no one on Earth but—
“Quinn?” I asked, stalking over to her. I loomed over her, which made me realize how small she was.
She shook her head. “No… no. It’s a woman from the Brides Program. A warden, I think she said.”
I looked to Tane. “There’s no fucking way she was matched.” It wasn’t a question, and Tane didn’t reply. What could he say?
“Where is this phone call?” I asked.
Ellen pointed to the makeup room, and she led us within—the door was propped open and the knob had been tested for fingerprints—and handed me a plastic device attached to a cord.
I put it to my ear, and Ellen nodded, giving me a weak smile. I could tell she was a close friend of Quinn’s, afraid for my mate’s life.
“Warlord Bahre,” I said, not sure how to communicate properly, so I introduced myself. Tane stood at my side, hands on hips.
“Warlord, this is Warden Egara from the Interstellar Brides Program.”
I didn’t respond.
“I have information about your mate.”
My beast perked up. “Tell me.”
Tane stilled, having recognized this was data we needed to find Quinn.
“This is not something to be shared with human law enforcement nor given over the phone. I am sending one of the center’s Atlan guards to retrieve you and bring you to me.”
“Yes.”
“I will end this call now. Please proceed to the lobby and wait for him.” Her instructions were clear and succinct. I had to assume because she knew I was unfamiliar with their communications system.
“I must know,” I replied.
“I will tell you. Just get here. Goodbye.”
After I heard a click, I pulled the device away from my ear and stared at it. Then I howled and ripped the cord from the communication device and flung the handset against the wall.
Ellen started to cry.
I took a deep breath, exhaled out my mouth. Clenching my hands into fists, I attempted to even my voice. Humans were easily fearful, and Ellen was not the enemy. “I will find your friend. I will find my mate,” I vowed.
She nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks. I practically ran out the room, taking the stairwell to the lobby. My footsteps, along with Tane’s, echoed off the concrete.
“The warden has news,” I said, updating him although he followed me regardless of what the call had been about. He would see me through this. This was a battle I had to fight. And win. There was no other option.
When I burst out the building’s front doors, a white vehicle honked a horn, drawing my attention. It was the one that had brought the five of us from the transport room to the program’s building when we first arrived. Behind the wheel was an Atlan, and he waved us over. I took the front seat, Tane settling into the back. The Atlan drove off before we even had our doors closed. I was pleased with his haste.
“I am Velik. I will take you to the warden.” His eyes were focused on the road in front of us. I didn’t pay attention to the bright blue sky or the intense sunshine. Humans were driving vehicles without roofs. Things called bicycles. Even stranger, wheels on their feet. They were happy. Carefree. Their mate hadn’t disappeared.
“Can this thing go faster?” I asked.
Immediately, the vehicle sped up, and the Atlan weaved through the Florida traffic.
Not ten minutes later, the guard at the gate to the testing center hastily raised the gate, and the Atlan didn’t slow. Not until we were directly in front of the entrance to the building, and then he slammed on the brakes, the vehicle squealing to a stop.
“Many thanks,” I said, climbing from the vehicle.
“I shall assist in any way I can to find your mate. Good—” I didn’t hear the rest of his words as I was already yanking open the door. The planet’s heat had sweat dripping from my brow.
There, within the lobby, waited a small woman in the Brides Program uniform. She looked efficient and tidy. And not happy.
“Warlord Bahre. Follow me.”
I followed her down several hallways, Tane behind me. She walked quickly but seemed slow since my legs had to be twice the length of hers.
“I am
