Page 103 of The Outcast
She reached out for me and drew me to her side. “None of us do. Khan and Pearl have called around, but no one has seen or talked to him since yesterday. The tracker on his drone isn’t showing anything, which indicates it was sabotaged.”
“You mean sabotaged like they do to drones in Alaska?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Maybe he has a lover somewhere and he’s trying to hide his location,” Ryder suggested.
“Why would he do that?” Aspen argued as if that was the stupidest thing he ever heard.
“Could be a male lover. Not everyone is comfortable about their sexuality like me.”
“Actually, Thor has admitted to being gay,” Archer said and hung up his jacket. “He informed Magni and Khan a few weeks back. I told them that it’s not a big deal and suggested that Ryder would make a wonderful partner to Thor, but it was a raw subject to them.”
“Thor isn’t my type anyway,” Ryder declared. “I prefer feminine men.”
“Thor isn’t gay,” I objected. “And he’s not in love. He would have told me.”
Ryder lowered his brow. “With all respect, Banni, we’ve known Thor since he was a child. You and he became friends a few months ago.”
“Sure, but we discussed this exact thing. He told his father and Magni that he was gay to piss them off. He’s tired of them controlling his life.”
Archer rubbed his beard and looked down. “Khan did mention the two of them have been arguing a lot lately. He’s frustrated that Thor isn’t more engaged in his role as his heir.”
When Kya finished talking, she came to stand by the dining table. “Pearl says that it’s like Thor disappeared into thin air.”
“What do we do?” Sparrow asked. “Do you think someone kidnapped him too?”
“It’s possible. But no one has made a demand of a ransom yet. A search party is gathering at the Mansion as we speak. I said we would join them, of course.”
Archer walked over to take his jacket again. “This shit feels familiar. I hope for Thor’s sake that he isn’t drunk in a bar somewhere.”
“Let’s just find him and bring him home safe and sound. Then you can get mad at him later,” Kya exclaimed.
We returned to the Gray Mansion much sooner than I had expected. This time, I arrived as a member of the Rex family and once again, we were a large group of concerned people searching for a loved one.
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CHAPTER 34
Searching for Clues
Sparrow
Khan’s hands were shaking when he informed us about what they knew so far.
“Thor arrived safely home after the successful trip to Old Europe. He seemed happy for Banni and Sparrow, and both Pearl and I spoke to him briefly. About thirty minutes later he took off again, this time in his own drone with his dogs Muninn and Huginn. Not ten minutes ago, we learned that he flew to the Motherlands where he visited Mila. She says that he was supposed to stay for the night, but when she woke up this morning, both Thor and his dogs were missing. The odd thing is that his bed was untouched and his drone was still there. We have contacted every known friend in the Motherlands, but no one has seen or heard from Thor. At this moment, he’s been missing for at least twelve hours.”
“Could this be someone taking revenge on your family for killing Keith?” Christina asked.
Pearl shook her head. “We considered that, but Keith didn’t have any friends. It’s unlikely that this is a criminal act since it happened in the Motherlands.”
“If any of you have any information, now is the time to speak up,” Khan implored.
Banni and I looked around at the group of around twenty-five people, but when no one spoke up, Banni cleared his throat and said, “I talked to Thor...”
He didn’t get a chance to finish before Khan eagerly asked:
“When? Today?”
