Chapter 326

Lucien stared at the window from where he sat on the bed he usually shared with Elain. The warm orange glow of the sunset had faded and there had still been no sign of his mate. When she hadn't appeared after lunch, he'd assumed that her walk with the other Courtiers had been successful and that she was spending the afternoon with them, busily doing whatever they were doing to serve the Court, but then she hadn't arrived by sunset and now, as he stared at the dark window, he had to acknowledge that he was beginning to feel sick with worry. Getting to his feet, Lucien tried to push the nagging anxiety aside in order to think.

Dinner was mere minutes away from being called and he figured that he would mention it to Helion. Surely, if Elain hadn't returned then the rest of them hadn't either. If they had, yet she had not, he didn't know what he would do. What could have happened to her here? The Court was safe, wasn't it? It had felt safe to him. It had felt like home. How could home be somewhere that threatened his mate, though?

Taking a deep breath, Lucien tried to rein his thoughts in. There was no evidence to suggest that something had happened to Elain. Steading himself, one hand on the window frame, Lucien reached for the bond. And couldn't find it.

Reeling, he staggered back and turned to face the rest of the room. He couldn't feel her. Where was she? "Elain…?" he muttered, trying to stamp down the panic building within him. Without another thought, he ran for the door, flinging it open as he sprinted out into the hallway and toward his father's rooms.

Lucien didn't bother knocking. He reached the doors to Helion's rooms and twisted the handle so brutally he just about ripped it off the door as he yanked it open. Helion was reclining on a couch when Lucien rushed in, and he saw the look on his father's face change in surprise and then slight alarm when Lucien hurried toward him. "What is the matter?" Helion got to his feet, all elegance and grace despite the concern etched across his impossibly handsome face.

"I can't feel Elain." Lucien said, fear evident in his voice even to himself. "She hasn't come back from this morning when she went into the city with the Courtiers, and when I tried to find her down the bond…" he tried to swallow, trying to control himself, "I can't feel her at all."

Helion tilted his head, his amber eyes turning hard and serious. "You can't feel her down the bond?"

"There's nothing." Lucien replied, his hands clenching at handfuls of his tunic. "There's nothing…"he felt the panic rising again, "Does that mean… no…" Turning, Lucien raked his fingers through his hair, tugging savagely on it. "She's not dead. She can't be. Nothing could have happened to her here, could it?" turning again, he stared at his father. "What can we do? What can be done? Can you find her somehow?"

"I'm not… omniscient." Helion said softly, and Lucien could hear the soothing tone in his father's voice. The older male moved closer and Lucien forced himself to stand still as those strong hands came out to take him gently by the shoulders. "Ashk has not returned either."

Dread washed over Lucien. His mate and his mother were both missing. Swallowing a moan of anguish, he tried to force himself into a reasonable reaction of calm steadfastness. "So…" he breathed, trying to remain as stoic as possible. "What do we do?"

Helion straightened his tunic, drawing himself up to his full height. "We find them."