Authors: Sarah Brocious
Nolan sighed into the phone. "Knowing Raina, you had no choice," he growled. He couldn't help the smile that instantly pulled at his lips. He had no problem imagining her insisting on the date. It was hard to say no to that girl. Once again he forgave Thanatos. Nolan would never be able to hold a grudge against the immortal that loved his Aelan almost as much as he did.
"I didn't…have a choice," Thanatos chuckled. The chuckle ended in a soft groan. "What are we getting to? I mean, I know we have to wait, but what do we do in the meantime?"
"I can't answer that. I'm still in shock," Nolan admitted.
Michael rested a hand on Nolan’s shoulder in comfort. Nolan barely felt it. His whole body was numb.
"Look for clues, Thanatos. Find anything that might give us some sort of answer as to who did this. You know who I think it is but I don't think it was just him." Nolan tugged his own hair with agitated fingers. He relished the pain it caused. He had to fight to not internalize this or he would never be able to think straight. He needed his bearings now. He needed to find his Raina.
"I will not rest, Nolan, until she is safe."
"Neither will I," Nolan groaned. He sat down on the bed. His shoulders slumped forward and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Let me know if you hear anything… doesn't matter what time of night. I will leave in the middle of training if I have to. There was a reason for her disappearance and for right now the ball is in their court. We'll have to wait."
"So sorry, Nolan."
"I have a feeling even if you had been there with her tonight this would've happened. Nothing against your protection, Thanatos, but there's a stronger force at work. Maybe, maybe this is my fault. Maybe they want me." There was pain in Nolan's voice as the realization came to him.
Michael sensed the change. He came to stand beside Nolan. "What is it?"
"Oh my God, it is my fault. Oh God, Michael… I need to tell you something." His face was filled with anguish and he had never felt more lost.
He grabbed Michael's arm and drove him from the room. He shook his head at his friend when he saw that he was ready to say something. He could not allow them to be noticed. He made his way through the house in the dark until he reached the room that Joseph had shown him.
Michael's brow furrowed but he followed him readily. The door closed behind them.
"We're safe here," Nolan sighed. "We can speak freely."
"What's going on?" Thanatos’ voice reverberated from the phone.
Nolan sat the phone down on the bench after hitting the speaker button. "They are after me, Thanatos. They took Raina to get to me. They want me to find them. They want to separate me from this house and they know the only way to do that is by having her."
Michael shook his head. "Then we tell Our Sovereignty. Whoever did this is breaking rules and Our Sovereignty will take care of this, Nolan. They want Raina safe as much as you want her safe."
Nolan's eyes closed and he shook his head. "How do I go to Our Sovereignty when I believe the orchestrator of Raina's disappearance is one of them?"
Thanatos swore into the phone. "You are sure about this?"
"I swear on Raina’s life," he growled. "Emmanuel wants me to himself. He as much as said it to me this morning. I took it as just a creepy statement but now it’s making sense. He has fought the course of the training since I got here. Not openly but it in gestures and the look on his face and his overall countenance.”
Michael considered this. “You may be right,” he agreed. He had also noted the opposition.
Nolan paced a bit. “It's just a theory."
"What does he seek to benefit by having you all to himself? And why you? Why not Michael too?" Thanatos sounded agitated and Nolan knew that he didn't want to be bothered with conspiracy theories. He wanted to be looking for Raina. But they had nothing to go on and Nolan knew that Raina was nowhere near.
"I'm going to conference Jonathan and hopefully he will answer his phone. He's had to have heard something."
"Oh great," Thanatos growled. "I'm just Jonathan's favorite person in the whole wide world. He’s going to jump at the chance to help me!"
Nolan chuckled bitterly. "Jonathan loves Raina. He will help us with this."
Jonathan did pick up his phone and he groggily whispered, "Nolan? What are you doing calling right now?"
"Can you come to your music room?" Nolan knew that the request would sound ridiculous to his friend.
"I'm sleeping," he growled.
"It's about Raina. I had to come here so I wouldn’t be overheard." Nolan shared a smile with Michael as they heard Jonathan tumble out of his bed.
"What's going on? Why is our R...."
"Don't say anything more, Jonathan, just come," Nolan commanded. “Please, we need to talk,” his voice softened. He didn't want to chance that someone would overhear Jonathan.
“I’m on my way,” Jonathan assured him.
True to his word, he was soon walking through the door which startled Nolan and Michael. All immortals depended on their senses. Hearing was one of their strongest gifts. As much as the weakness startled him, Nolan took comfort in knowing no sound was escaping this room.
"What's going on with Raina?" Jonathan face was full of concern. "And why are we hiding in a soundproof room?" He looked for Michael to Nolan. "It's the middle of the night."
Nolan quickly filled him in on what was going on.
Jonathan face fell and he visibly shook, swearing softly and dragging a hand over his face. Raina had become very special to him and his grandfather. The news was very upsetting.
"Did you tell grandpa?"
"The fewer people know about this the better," Nolan insisted. "I just need your help. You surely have heard Emmanuel’s thoughts, haven’t you? Something that would clue us in on what's going on."
Jonathan grimaced. "He has shielded his thoughts from me. I'm not sure if that’s the gift that he has. I truly don't even know what Emmanuel's true gift is. I can hear Isaac's thoughts and Titus's thoughts but never Emmanuel's."
Nolan sighed and sat down in defeat.
"But like I said, I hear the others thoughts. And they are not happy with him, Nolan. They did not like that he pushes his agenda and wants to take over the training."
Nolan ran a hand through his hair. "So you think that they suspect he may have turned?"
"I just thought at first that they were annoyed with him. But with this coming up that make sense."
"So I'm right to trust Isaac? And Titus? His compassion and his goodness aren’t a put on, are they?"
Jonathan shook his head. "They are both good men."
Nolan took courage in that little bit of information. He turned toward the phone to address his other friend. "Thanatos, check up on Elenora. See what she has to say about her father."
Thanatos made a snorting sound the phone. ”Wouldn’t it be easier for you to just ask her?”
Nolan frowned. “How would it be easier for me to seek her out?”
Thanatos was silent, and they all heard him clear his throat. "You mean to say that she isn’t with you there at the house?”
“No, she’s not,” Nolan growled. “Is she supposed to be here?”
“Yeah, she’s supposed to be there,” Thanatos sighed. ”The little liar! She told us just the other night that she intended on coming to see you."
"So, she was part of the kidnapping, and Richard is involved," Nolan growled. "Emmanuel and Richard are in it together. Son of a….” Nolan shook his head. “That’s just great! One of Our Sovereignty and a man who kills immortals… what a great combination that is."
"So where have they taken her?" Michael spoke up. "And should I be worried about my wife?"
Jonathan gave a shake of his head. "This has always been about Nolan. You are a great healer, Michael, but there's something that they see it Nolan. You know I hear their thoughts clearly and they hold you with great respect but you were brought here to help Nolan in the basics of healing. Nolan though, he has a gift in him he hasn't yet touched. Raina is a big part of that. They were getting ready to ask that she be brought here. Emmanuel decided to beat them to punch obviously.” He looked frustrated to not know the exact truth. “It has to be him."
Nolan and Michael nodded in agreement.
"So where the hell did they take Raina?" Thanatos shouted from the phone. "These theories are all well and good but it's not getting us any closer to getting her back. We obviously can't tell Our Sovereignty without proof."
"I have a feeling that I'm supposed to find out," Nolan spoke up. "They want me. That's why they have her. I am meant to be drawn there…somehow. If I could just beat them to the punch."
"You can't possibly go after her," Michael interrupted, almost shouting. Concern marred his face. "It's what they want and Nolan we don't know what exactly they’re requiring of you. They could hurt you or worse. And then where would Raina be? You can’t try to do this on your own."
Nolan shook his head. "I can't leave her out there." There was desperation in his eyes and in his voice.
"So Thanatos goes after her," Michael insisted. "He is her protector and he'll have the strength."
Nolan lifted his eyes to his friends and shook his head. "It was me who felt the moment she was taken. Thanatos didn’t even feel it and I'm not saying that to be cruel. But the bond that I have with Raina can't be severed. No one is going to fight harder than I am. Do you not realize I would give my very life for this girl? I'm the only one who can get her back."
His face was so devastatingly tortured that it broke the hearts of the two men in the room with him. The anguish in his voice touched Thanatos. They all knew that it would have to be Nolan.
“We have to wait,” Jonathan said softly. “We have to be sure…and we have to be united in our choices together.” He gave a short nod.
"So we wait? That's the plan? Thanatos asked bitterly. He was always a man of action so this answer angered him most. "We wait for one of these douche bags to give us a clue? Sounds lovely."
"What else can we do?" Jonathan spat at the phone.
There was no answer from the other end.
"I really feel like we should tell grandfather," Jonathan said softly. "If anyone would know how to handle this he would. He has favor in many ways with Our Sovereignty. I have heard in his own thoughts his dislike for Emmanuel. And you know he would do about anything for Raina as well. He would do about anything for you, Nolan. You're like a son to him. You are family. We can trust to tell him this."
Nolan nodded. "We will tell him and we will gather from his wisdom." He sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes.
"Let's get our rest." Michael gave a quick nod. "We have training tomorrow and we just need to act like everything is normal."
Nolan nodded. "Yes that's the best thing right now."
Michael looked to Jonathan. "And you're sure my wife is safe?"
Jonathan clapped a hand to Michael shoulder. "Yes, she's fine. They only ever intended on bringing Raina here."
"What? What do I do in the meantime?" Thanatos voice came through the phone, still frustrated. "I’m hanging here on the other end with her mortal life. How do I explain away that Raina is missing? You know her best friend is going to be all over me and I’m going to be the target. How do I tell her?"
Nolan growled in irritation. "I don't have all the answers, Thanatos." He got up from his seat on the bench and glanced over his shoulder as he went for the door. "I'll see you in the morning." His voice was raw with emotion, so they let him leave without explaining himself.
Michael picked up Nolan's phone. "Go to Melinda and tell her what's going on. She will know a way to break it to Emily. She's had to do much the same for myself and Arabella."
Thanatos sighed. "I'm not one of her favorites," he chuckled. "But I will talk to her."
"You don't have very many friends do you?" Jonathan teased.
"Melinda respects you," Michael said with a surety. "She's told me this herself. She will listen to you and she will help you."
Thanatos grunted over the phone.
"We'll figure this out. I know we will get Raina safely back," Jonathan said without a smidge of sarcasm. He had never been a fan of Thanatos but he knew Thanatos would do everything in his power to help someone he did care for.
"Keep me posted on your end," Thanatos requested. "Call me whenever. I doubt I'll be getting much sleep."
With that, their meeting ended. They would have to wait until tomorrow and it was killing every one of them to feel so useless.
Thanatos awoke the next morning exhausted. He had managed to get a few hours of sleep. He knew he would be needing his rest because he would need his strength to help find Raina. He woke up on her couch covered in a furry mass that was Turk. Percy slept on the back of the couch.
He heard Raina’s phone on the countertop buzzing again. It had been buzzing all night. He was sure without even looking at the phone who the missed calls and the thousands of texts would be from. Emily would be on a rampage and he wasn't sure what he was going to tell her to keep her from completely flipping out. He expected that she would be banging on the door any moment now demanding to know why calls were not being answered. She worried over Raina like a mother hen.
“Oh Hell,” he sighed.
He sure hope that Michael was correct and Melinda would be a great help to him.
He reached for his phone nearby, peaking at it and hoping by some chance an unknown caller had rung through and there would be a message with some sort of clue as to where to start his search for Raina. There were no missed calls and no clue giving texts.