Page 113 of Petals and Strings
Ares turned to us. “Keep them safe.”
Then he was gone.
“Go,” I told Rydell. Even though my alpha was desperate to be out there, I couldn’t risk leaving Ansel vulnerable.
Rydell was out the door with him, their footsteps pounding against the tile as they rushed away.
“What’s going on?” Ansel asked, pushing himself up to sit. I never realized how tiny he was until now, in just his boxers and skin sickly pale.
“Audrey is missing,” I admitted. His eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.
“We have to go,” he said, calling out to Caspian and Kane who were stumbling our way. “Audrey is missing.”
“No,” Caspian said, looking even more green but he shoved his legs into sweatpants and tossed Ansel his. “Let’s go.”
We weren’t quick, but we were just desperate enough to make it out of here. Ares was nowhere to be seen but Rydell was pounding on Malik’s door. The doctor wasn’t answering but from the way Rydell was hitting the door near the hinges, he didn’t care if he was in there or not.
“Is she in there?” I called out. Rydell turned and nodded, his fist slamming down as if to punctuate his answer.
“I can scent her. It was faint and off, but it led here. He’s got her,” he growled, slamming his foot near the hinge again. The door groaned but didn’t give away. We saw the lock on the other side.
“What is the meaning of this?” Dr. Malik’s cold voice rang out. Rydell spun around, moving so he was pushing Malik against the wall. The doctor sputtered but he had no hope of pushing Rydell away.
In fact, Rydell had never looked so feral.
“Where. Is. She?”
“Who?” the doctor asked, but I clocked the small smirk that was there and gone in an instant.
He had her.
“Then you don’t mind showing us inside,” Ares said evenly, glancing around at the growing crowd of guards.
He started to protest when Dr. Cross walked over. “What’s going on?”
It was a demand, one even Malik couldn’t ignore.
“Audrey is inside and he won’t open the door,” Ansel said. His voice was stronger now, firm. He might be soft for her, quiet for us, but he was ready to battle when she was missing.
“Let us in. Now.” Rydell’s growled words weren’t a question, but a warning. They had seconds before he continued to bombard the door.
“Fine,” Malik bit out. I watched as he moved, eyeing every loud movement, then banged against the door as he pretended to struggle getting it open after Rydell’s pounding.
When Director Cross cleared his throat, Malik had no choice but to open it fully and go inside. Letting our pack, Ares, and Cross inside with him. He stood off to the side, twitchy but angry as we searched. Rydell’s nose was stronger than the rest, a supposed side effect of his condition.
I’d call it an asset. Right now, he was like a bloodhound on a trail. He walked right through the office, breathing in deep and not stopping until he hit Malik’s personal office.
There was no Audrey inside. Not even a trace of her outside the faint hint of fresh rain and sandalwood.
“No,” Ansel’s broken voice was the first to speak, my heart aching at the pain there. “No, no, no!”
His words shattered on a scream that sounded raw. Caspian caught him as he collapsed, but the alpha looked just as broken.
“Where are you, Wildling?” I begged her as I glanced around.
“She’s here,” Rydell insisted. “I can tell.”
“You’re insane,” Malik huffed. “Now kindly get the fuck out of my office. I’ll be reporting this little incident to the board.”
