Part 23 (1/2)

I hadn't had the pleasure of spending much time at home lately, unable to leave Tristan all chained up like an animal while I luxuriated in the comforts of our home. I never knew what I could do to repay Blossom and Heather for all the time they spent with Dorian, watching him for me, but I would have to find a way. I also needed to find a way to repent with my son himself for all the time we've spent apart.

”Blossom?” I called when Dorian didn't answer. I frowned. The house was empty. My mind felt no signatures except Sasha's. The lykora sat at my feet, looking up at me with puppy-dog eyes. Weird. Dorian never went anywhere without her.

Where could they be? I'd just been on the beach, so I knew they weren't there. I called the safe house. Although I kept Dorian away from the safe house as much as possible, if they'd needed something, maybe they'd gone there after I left, and we'd crossed paths. I was about to nix that idea because n.o.body was answering, but then Bree picked up.

”No, Dorian's not here,” she said. ”I haven't seen him or Blossom since yesterday.”

”Did you find Sheree?” I asked as my heart picked up speed. Something's wrong. The frightening feeling began creeping under my skin.

”No. She's nowhere in the mansion. I can't sense her at all. Maybe she went to the store or the coffeehouse? Maybe she just needed to get out for a few.”

”She never goes anywhere without telling me. What about Owen?”

Bree didn't answer at first. ”I don't sense him here, either.”

I told myself that was a good thing. Dorian must have been with them, and he'd be safe with them, especially with Owen. But where could they have gone? Why hadn't anyone told me? My heart rate spiked again. This didn't feel right. My finger could barely tap the b.u.t.tons on the phone as I tried to dial Owen's number. No answer. I tried Blossom's. Again, no answer. Sheree's went straight to voicemail, which wasn't even set up. She rarely left the safe house, so hadn't bothered with it yet.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. My throat tightened as I thought of all the possibilities. What if something had happened to Dorian? Maybe he was hurt when Heather was watching him and not knowing any better, she took him to the hospital. I shook my head. No. Heather would know better. Besides, Dorian could heal himself before they'd even get to the hospital, and that didn't explain everyone else's absences. I could barely scroll through the contacts on my phone, searching for Heather's number, as more possibilities shot through my mind.

He ran away, mad at us for not giving him enough attention. He'd been practicing his flying, as we had reluctantly allowed him to do, and he'd gone beyond Owen's cloak so they were all searching for him. He was bored and demanded all of them to take him to the village on Captiva for something to do and their phones were off. All of them. Maybe the batteries were drained.

But no. Those were all stupid excuses my mind created while trying to suppress the one and only real possibility: the Daemoni had come for him.

Strange choking sounds barked through the empty house. They came from me. Strangled sobs trying to make their way out of my constricted throat.

”Dorian!” I screamed. Oh, G.o.d, no. I ran through the house, throwing open every single door, looking, looking, looking. Sasha ran at my heels, barking. ”Where is he, Sasha? Where's my baby?”

Tears flooded my eyes as I charged into his room, tripping over toys scattered on the floor. I collapsed on the unmade bed, pulled the covers to my chest and sobbed. What am I going to do? What will I tell Tristan? Oh, G.o.d, my baby! Sasha cuddled next to me and licked my tears away, but they gushed too fast for her to keep up.

”No, no, no! I can't do this. Dorian, please ...”

”Please what, Mom?”

I bolted out of the bed and swiped at my eyes.

”Dorian?” I could hardly believe what I saw, but there he was, standing in the doorway.

”What?” His c.o.c.ked his head. ”What's the matter, Mom?”

I lunged at him and swept him into my arms, lifting him off the ground and spinning in circles. I kissed him all over his face.

”Mom, what's going on?” he demanded. ”Put me down already.”

His annoyed tone shocked me back to reality. I put him back on his feet as my heart finally stopped racing. I took a step back, put my fists on my hips and narrowed my eyes.

”Where on earth have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I was?” I shook a finger in his face.

”Universal Studios. Since you and Dad couldn't bother to take me, Uncle Owen, Sheree, and Blossom did.”

I recoiled with the verbal smack. ”What?”

He lifted his chin, a look of triumph all over his face. ”Yep. They took me and Heather. We didn't want to bother you with permission.”

The grief and longing fell away. Far, far away. Anger bubbled up in my chest. Tristan's condition and my frustrations had sent me into panic mode over Dorian's absence, and I admittedly overreacted. Okay, I freaked the h.e.l.l out. I didn't even use all my gifts to search for him, but jumped to the worst conclusion. But that emotional outburst paled to the anger I felt now. Which was one-hundred-percent, unequivocally justified.

”You, young man, stay right here. You will not leave this room until I say.” I stomped out of his bedroom toward the kitchen where I found Owen and Blossom.

Blossom took one look at my face and bolted for the backdoor. ”I need to take Heather home and Sheree back to the safe house.”

She didn't wait for a response, swinging the door shut behind her.

”Are you trying to kill me, Owen?” I shrieked. ”What were you thinking?”

He gave a casual shrug. ”Dorian's been begging to go, and you and Tristan can't exactly take him. I thought I'd do the uncle thing and help you all out.”

”You didn't ask me!”

”You were a little busy with more important problems.”

”More important problems? Nothing is more important than my son! How dare you!”

”Calm down, Alexis. Everything's okay. Why are you so worked up?”

I half-expected the top of my head to literally blow off and steam to pour out of my ears, just like in Dorian's cartoons.

”Oh, I don't know, Owen, maybe because I came home to spend some time with my son only to find that he's gone. Gone. The son who may permanently be gone at any time. Or maybe because I couldn't get a hold of any of you, and no one bothered to tell me a thing. You didn't think I might freak out a little? And Universal Studios? Really, Owen? In what dimension would you think that was safe, because definitely not this one. Not with Daemoni everywhere, any of them looking for a chance to s.n.a.t.c.h him up.”

He cleared his throat and dropped his head. He stared at the floor, scuffing his toe against the tile floor. ”Sorry. The s.h.i.+eld blocked the cell signals. I thought-”

”What s.h.i.+eld?”

”I s.h.i.+elded the park, of course. No one was there but us.”

”Except the workers, any of which could have been Dae-”

”Nope, no workers either. The park was closed, Alexis. Closed. We were completely alone, with a s.h.i.+eld. You had nothing to worry about.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. ”Then how exactly did the rides run? With mag- Oh.”

He wiggled his fingers in the air. ”Between Blossom and me, yeah, with magic. And Dorian had a great time.”

I glowered at him for a long moment. At least he'd taken every precaution possible, and my son was home, safe and sound. But still ...

I took a step toward him, trying to get in his face, but like most people, he towered over me. ”Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again. Got it?”

He lifted his chin in a nod.

”That's an order, Owen!”