“You wanted to ride with me instead of James and Nick,” he replied. “And you don’t need to be a wolf or a vamp to feel the tension coming off of both men and the anger coming off of you. So something happened. What?”
“None of your business,” She shot back then sighed, setting down the papers and leaning back in the seat. “James flipped out, put Nick in a headlock and made him turn a pretty shade of purple before I got him to let go. When he came back to himself, he said something about the vampires when Silvano had taken him, but quickly went into stupid man mode and brushed me off.”
She saw Mitchell stiffen in the front seat when she said James name.
“What happened with the vampires?” Bill asked.
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it and after today, I really don’t feel inclined to talk to him,” Lily said with a nonchalant voice.
Bill made a laugh and grinned at her. “Funny, coming from the queen of evasion.”
“I am not the queen of evasion,” she shot back then rolled her eyes. “Well okay, maybe a little, but James isn’t me. He’s the nice one, I’m the bitch. He doesn’t just brush me off.”
“Talk to him later in private where he knows whatever he says won’t be out for everyone to hear and try to keep your mouth shut,” Bill told her.
She narrowed her eyes at him as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. Lily was just about to demand what he meant by that last part when she saw Wendy running up to them. “I can’t find her! She was in her room, and I just left to go get us some lunch,” she yelled.
“Whoa, whoa Calm down, Wendy,” Nick said getting out of the car. “You can’t find who?”
A knot wedged itself into Lily’s stomach as she waited for Wendy to reply. The teen swallowed and tried to calm her breath. “I can’t find Tristen. When I got back to her room the door was open and the room was a mess. I looked everywhere, Dad! She’s gone,” she said with wide eyes.
“No,” Lily said, dread and anger wrapping around her like a blanket of thorns. “No, no no! You have got to be kidding me” She shouted, running to the room. This couldn’t be happening! The room was just like Wendy said it was, but she could smell Tristen’s fear. The girl left the room terrified.
“Don’t worry we’ll find her,” James told Lily as he set a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked her shoulder away from his hand.
“So you’re talking to me now?” She asked him, the bitterness making her voice hard. “And of course, we’ll find her.” She turned around and marched out of the room.
James sighed and let his hand drop. He’d have to talk to her later, explain what happened back in town, but not when there was so many people around. He was embarrassed enough as it was, losing it in front of Nick and the kid. He didn’t want everyone else knowing that the smell of so many vampires makes him flip his lid.
“Is it true?” Zander asked, his hands in fists at his side. When Lily scowled with a nod, he cursed colorfully and loudly. “How? How did they get her?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Nick said, walking up to them. “My men say they’ve not seen any come in and only one car left.”
“Who was in the car?” James asked, glancing around the parking lot.
“I don’t know yet. I’m in the process of accounting for everyone,” Nick explained.
“We have to find her, Nick. We have to find her now,” Lily said in a growl.
The alpha gave her an irritated look as he blew out a noisy breath. “We can just go run in some random direction and hope we get luck here Lily. We have to figure who took her, where they took her and make some kind of plan. Anything else will just end up getting Tristen killed or worse.”
“Then give me something to do. Because if I don’t do something I’m going to start clawing at the walls,” she told him.
“What you can do is help me locate all our people. Find out if anyone is missing or someone’s slipped in. That goes for you too, Zander and James. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can get her home,” Nick finished.
Lily nodded and turned on her heel, walking towards the hotel. James chased after her, asking her to wait. “Not now, James. You had your chance to talk,” she snapped at him.
Irritated, he grabbed her arm and forced her to stop. “Lily stop, okay. I get it. You’re mad at me,” he told her. “Just want to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shut you out like that, but I… I didn’t like that I freaked out back there… and I didn’t want the others to know that I’ve… I’ve got issues with vampires.” Embarrassment made him duck his head and he couldn’t help, but feel like an idiot.
“Issues with vampires? What kind of issues?” Lily asked, turning to face him.
James glanced around and pulled her a little closer to him. “When Silvano had me kidnapped, I was tied with silver to a chair in some kind of basement. Bianca and others came to feed on me several times. A lot of them got off on trying to make me enjoy it… it was… that smell back there…” He explained, running a hand over his face, trying to rub away the memory of it.
Lily’s angry expression softened. “I understand, James. Thanks to Xavier, I can’t stand hospitals or even sitting on one of those horribly hard beds they have in the rooms. Don’t get me started on needles. What I don’t understand is why you backed off then wouldn’t even look at me, like I had done something wrong!”
“It’s not fun being on the receiving end is it,” he replied with a smirk.
“I didn’t…” Lily started, but James crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a look. “I didn’t… okay, maybe I did. Congrats, life lesson learned,” she said in a flat, sour tone. “So are you going to tell me or just go with the payback’s a bitch card?”
James sighed and glanced around again. “I was ashamed,” he admitted. “I’m James Lacrosse, the most feared werewolf of the country and all that and here I was cracking at a few sleeping vamps. You already think I’m a pushover,” he complained, frowning.
His frown grew as Lily started to smile up at him. “Aww, isn’t that just adorable,” she said in a sticky sweet voice. “You’re man ego got dinged, awww”
“That’s not helping,” he grumbled. He did not like to be called adorable in any form or fashion.
Lily started to laugh then punched him in the arm. “Get over yourself,” she snapped at him. “Yes, you’re THE James Lacrosse, so what? You still human with human problems,” she told him then added with a grin, “Well humanish.” Shaking her head, Lily sighed. “I do not think you’re a pushover James,” she told him. “Yes I tease you about your rep, but it’s only because I know that you’re a much better man than a lot of people know. So as I said, get over yourself.”
Exhaling, James slumped then grinned at her. “Thanks Lily,” he told her then pulled her in for a hug. “Now let’s go find Tristen.”
It took about an hour to place everyone. There was only one person missing. Bonnie. “Her scent leads to the girl’s room and we found Bonnie’s blood in the room and just outside the door,” a tracker informed them.
“The girl has a name,” Lily snapped at her. “Her name is Tristen. How do you know the scent is even from today. Bonnie and Tristen are friends.”
The tracker gave her a look of superiority. “Because it’s stronger than the rest. Friends or not, Bonnie took… Tristen,” she replied, the superior attitude making her tone smug. James tensed with irritation and Lily flipped the woman off with a growl.
“Enough,” Nick demanded. “Evidence points to Bonnie taking Tristen, but why? Lily’s right. They’re friends and Bonnie risked so much to free her from Vincent. It doesn’t make sense that’d she turn around and just give her in.”
“Not when she knows Tristen is mine,” Zander added. His face was hard and cold with a deep frown scarring it. When Lily shot him a ugly look, he scowled at her. “What’s the difference between saying she’s my mate or saying she’s mine? Fucking relax, woman!”