Page 76 of The Seducer
He looked thoughtful. “Hmm, you said she studied martial arts, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I suppose I could call around and see if anyone knows anything. The problem is that I’m new to this area and don’t know many people here.”
“Just find Laura, and do it quick. I only have five days left before I go back and I don’t want to disappoint Magni.”
Hans used the remaining time in the drone to call friends. I had to give it to him that he was pretty creative. For every person he talked to, he made them promise to call other people and ask about a ginger-haired woman around twenty, who would have arrived around May and who would be training in martial arts.
Once we reached the hospital, I was more subdued than normal when I walked around with the two female professors. Not once did I flirt with them.
I kept my answers short and asked a minimum of questions, because underneath my professional surface, I was grieving the loss of Athena.
Over the next two days, we visited an all-blurred-together succession of medically related places. I smiled and waved to the cameras and even joked a time or two, but anyone who knew me would be able to see that I wasn’t myself.
This toned-down version of me was working wonders with the Motlanders. The crowds became bigger and bigger with every place we visited. Hans told me that the press had given us five Nmen nicknames.
“They call you five the Dancer, the Infatuated, the Ranger, the Artist, and the Doctor.”
“Who’s the Infatuated?”
“The one called Bruce Lee. He admitted in an interview that he was infatuated with his mediator, Antoinette.”
Remembering the beautiful woman Bruce had been paired with, I wondered if he would be leaving the Motherlands with a wife or with a broken heart like me.
I had come here with the intention of sleeping with as many women as I could. But that was before Athena got under my skin and connected to a part of me that held a desire much deeper than that. I wanted everything with her.
Two days before I was scheduled to go home, I dragged myself through one more interview, answering the same basic questions about being a carnivore, our lack of females, my time here in the Motherlands, and my hopes for the future.
The rebel in me wanted to throw in a few curse words and shock them. The only thing holding me back was the fact that I’d spoken to Pearl earlier that day. She had been bursting with pride. “They love you, and my mom says the Council received several messages from women who are offering to marry you.”
“That’s great,” I had told her with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.
“Can we go back to the hotel now?” I asked Hans when I got into the drone.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he said and the excitement in his eyes made my heart race faster.
“What happened? Did Athena contact you?”
“No, but my friend Donna did. I’ve had to fabricate more than a few lies, but it paid off. We found Laura.”
CHAPTER 24
Laura
Finn
Laura had changed since I last saw her. Her hair was longer and there was a new level of confidence in the way she moved.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t blame her, even though I was mad at her for having caused my friend so much pain.
“Do you live around here?” I asked and looked out the window from the coffee shop where she had agreed to meet me.
“I’m not telling you where I live, but no, it’s not close to here.” Laura was distracted by two women who had recognized me, and were trying to get my attention by waving.
“I warned you it was a bad idea to meet in a public place like this,” I muttered. “Don’t be surprised if there’s a picture of us on the news tonight with a fabricated love story.”
Laura’s eyes darted around the room. “I thought you were just exaggerating.”
