The Altered (24 page)

“No idea.”
Daniel frowned and glanced up at the dark sky as Charlie appeared
at the bottom of the steps from wherever he’d been lurking.
“Where’s the car?” He peered down the street, squinting in the
glare of headlights, but couldn’t see it anywhere.

“I ditched
it.” Charlie ran up the steps to join them, not appearing to feel
the cold at all. “We don’t need it anymore,” he added, probably at
the confused expression on Daniel’s face, because how the hell were
they getting to the apartment? “Jordan’s picking us up in his
van.”

“Oh.” Daniel
guessed that made sense. “I hope he’s not late. I reckon it’s going
to piss it down any minute.”

Sure enough,
five minutes later fat drops of rain spattered the pavement in
front of them.

Ash glared
over at Daniel. “You had to say it, didn’t you?”

Daniel huffed
and moved back, trying to find some shelter. Eventually the three
of them ended up back inside the entranceway, straining to see
through the rain-washed windows as they waited for Jordan to show
up. Daniel called him to let him know they were waiting inside now,
but it went straight to voicemail.

Ash looked at
him expectantly when he’d finished leaving a message.

“He’s probably
driving,” he said, waving his phone at him.

“What time did
he say he’d be here?” Ash checked his watch for the third time in
about a minute.

“Five
o’clock.” Charlie didn’t look over as he spoke, his gaze trained on
the street outside.

“It’s half
past already.” Ash turned and checked the clock on the wall behind
them just to be sure.

“I know.”

Daniel tamped
down the uneasy feeling stirring in his belly. Charlie didn’t
appear too concerned, but then Daniel didn’t know him well enough
to tell. “It’s probably the rain making traffic shit, as
usual.”

“Yeah.” Ash
didn’t sound convinced but let it go.

Daniel pulled
his phone out again and sent Jordan a quick text, asking how long
he’d be.

And
waited.

They waited
another fifteen minutes in silence, Daniel trying to ignore Ash’s
constant fidgeting and not give in to the urge to yell at him to
stop it. Charlie hadn’t said anything for ages.

And still
nothing from Jordan.

“There wasn’t
much to pick up from our place, was there?” Ash asked, rubbing at
the glass where the door had fogged up a little. “I only put a
couple of things on the list. I already had my laptop—didn’t need
much else.”

“Yeah, same,”
Daniel replied, distracted as he tried to see outside through the
rain and the people hurrying to avoid it.

“Keira sent me
a text about three thirty, saying she was on her way to meet Jordan
there.” Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket and thumbed at
the screen. “I haven’t heard anything since, though, and she’s not
answering her phone, either.”

None of them
said anything else as the reality of the situation sank in. Keira
was supposed to meet Jordan at Daniel’s, for backup, and then go
and pick up Matt. Even with bad traffic, it didn’t take this
long.

“Jordan should
have been here by now.” Ash met Daniel’s gaze, worry written all
over his face as he bit his lip.

Daniel shoved
his hands in his pockets, not wanting Ash to see how badly his
hands were shaking. “Yeah.”

Another five
minutes passed with still no sign of him, and both Daniel’s and
Charlie’s phones remained silent. “I’m gonna call Matt, see if he’s
heard anything.”

“Good idea.”
Charlie took out his phone again too. “I’ll try Keira.”

Daniel had
just opened up his contacts when Jordan’s van came screeching to a
halt at the bottom of the library steps. “Oh, thank God.” Daniel
rushed out the doors, with Ash and Charlie right behind him, only
to stop halfway down when it turned out to be Keira in the driver’s
seat.

She had the
window down. “Get in the fucking van! Jordan’s gone.”

Shit
.

“Daniel, come
on.” Ash grabbed his arm and pulled him the rest of the way to the
van, which was just as well because Daniel didn’t think he could
move on his own. Ash pushed him into the front seat next to Charlie
and slammed the door shut behind him before climbing into the
back.

“Why didn’t
you answer your phone?” Charlie hissed, pulling Keira in for a
fierce hug. Daniel couldn’t remember seeing him lose his temper
before. “I was worried.”

Keira
whispered something, too quiet for Daniel to hear, but it seemed to
placate Charlie enough for him to sit back in his seat.

Sam paced
around in the back, but no sooner had they reached for their seat
belts than he growled at the back doors. Keira let out a string of
curses and wheelspun before speeding off down the road.

“Hang on!” she
yelled, and Daniel gasped as she took the corner too fast, smashing
him straight into Charlie’s side.

She ducked
down so many side streets that Daniel was soon lost, and he rested
his head back against the seat.

What the hell
had happened to Jordan?

“Was it
shifters?” he asked, clinging onto the door as Keira weaved past
parked cars and out into traffic.

“No.”

Daniel’s heart
dropped.

Keira glanced
over at him out of the corner of her eye. “We’re going to get him
back.” Her tone left no room for argument, and Daniel wanted to hug
her for not panicking and for being so sure. He kept his hands to
himself, though—he wasn’t that stupid, and he didn’t fancy getting
between her and Charlie right now.

“What
happened?” he asked, settling back into his seat.

Sam had calmed
down in the back and stood nosing at Ash’s fingers. Hopefully that
meant they were out of immediate danger.

Keira sighed
and called over her shoulder for Sam to leave Ash alone and lie
down. “Jordan left early to pick up the van. Me and Sam were
supposed to meet him outside your house before going inside
together. Just in case.”

She signalled
and took a sharp right turn, ignoring the horns beeping behind
them. “But some bastard had slashed my tyres. I called Jordan, but
he didn’t answer, and by the time we got there, he was gone. His
van was open, with the keys and his phone inside.”

Daniel felt
Charlie flinch beside him, clearly still pissed Keira hadn’t called
him. It pissed Daniel off too, if he was honest, but he knew better
than to say that out loud. “Can’t have missed them by much,” he
said instead.

“Yeah, I
figured.” Keira squeezed Charlie’s thigh as she answered, and
Daniel turned to look out the window. “Not that your house is in a
shit area or anything, but I doubt his van would have been around
for long with the keys left in it like that.”

Daniel rubbed
his hand over his face. “How the hell are we going to find
him?”

Sam chose that
moment to prop his head over Keira’s seat and nuzzle at her neck
before turning to look pointedly at Daniel. She pulled up in front
of a pleasant-looking building and parked the van. “I might have an
idea.”

“That’s such
bullshit.” Daniel returned Keira’s incredulous stare, refusing to
acknowledge the gnawing feeling in his gut that she was right.

“Is it?”

“Mates aren’t
real. And anyway… Jordan and I aren’t like that.” It sounded
half-hearted even to Daniel, and he wasn’t that surprised when
Keira sneered at him.

“Shifter,
remember?” she tapped the side of her nose, and Daniel groaned. “So
don’t give me that crap. It’s a lie, and everyone here knows
it.”

Daniel raised
one eyebrow. He didn’t know how much of that was true. Matt could
always tell when Daniel was lying, but then they’d known each other
for years. Matt had never adequately explained how he knew, just
that he did, and the fact remained that Keira might have a point.
Daniel just didn’t want to admit it.

The others
stood around watching as Daniel and Keira faced one another.
Charlie had left to pick up Matt as soon as Daniel and Ash were
safely inside the apartment. The pair of them now leaned up against
the kitchen counter, both seemingly poised to intervene at the
slightest hint of violence—
thank God
—because Keira appeared
seconds away from throwing Daniel against the nearest wall.

Ash stood over
by the doorway, keeping well out of it, with Sam sat by his
feet.

Daniel sighed,
and looked down at the floor to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes. He’d
tried telling himself that the pull he felt around Jordan was just
another weird aftereffect of the pathogen—and it probably was. He’d
never felt it with anyone else before.

Oh God, who
was he trying to kid?

He might not
be fully convinced that being someone’s fated other half was an
actual thing, but there was definitely something “non-human”
between him and Jordan, and if it would help get him back, then
Daniel was willing to let Keira call it whatever the hell she
liked. He opened his mouth to say as much, but Keira rounded on him
before he could get the words out.

“This is your
fucking fault, anyway,” she snarled at him and poked her finger at
his chest.

For someone so
small, Keira was terrifying. Daniel could now fully appreciate why
she made Matt nervous. Her fangs dropped, and the finger digging
into his chest suddenly became a whole lot sharper.

Daniel
swallowed hard as Keira leaned up on her toes, silently willing
Matt to step in any time now.

“They were
looking for you.” She bared her teeth, and her whole body
shuddered. “They got Jordan, when it should have been
you
.”

For one
heart-stopping moment, Daniel thought she was going to shift right
there in the middle of the kitchen area and tear him to shreds—and
fuck Matt so hard for not doing anything to save him. Daniel had
had enough of being threatened by all sides. He knew they’d been
waiting for him, and the lead weight in his chest got heavier with
each passing moment Jordan was missing. Daniel tried not to picture
what they might be doing to him, but he couldn’t help it, and he
had to fight down the bile rising in his throat.

Despite what
Keira said, this wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except
whatever shady organisation was after them. He would do anything to
get Jordan back, and he would have told Keira that if she’d given
him the chance. She might be seconds away from ending his life, but
bollocks to it, he wasn’t going to stand there and just take
it.

He drew
himself up to his full height and met her hard gaze. “Fuck you.
This is
not
my fault, so back the fuck away from me.” Her
mouth dropped open, revealing her teeth in all their sharp-edged
glory, but Daniel refused to let his fear get the better of him.
“And no, I don’t believe in mates, but I’ll admit Jordan and I have
some sort of connection that I can’t explain.”

Keira’s
expression turned smug, and her fangs retracted into place, making
her seem a little less menacing. But not by much.

“I’ll do
whatever it takes to get him back, though, so if you think I can
somehow magically find him, I’m all ears.”

“That’s what I
wanted to hear,” she said softly and stepped back.

Keira
explained what it was Daniel needed to do while Daniel willed his
heart rate down to something resembling normal.

It sounded so
straightforward the way she explained it—relax and concentrate on
feeling the connection, once you have it, the location should be
obvious.

O-kaaay.

Except Daniel
had no idea how to feel the connection between him and Jordan. The
pull was just always there when they were together. He didn’t know
how to reach out and get it when they were apart.

Keira patted
him on the shoulder and left him to it, taking Charlie with her.
“Don’t take too long,” she said, looking back at him. “We can’t
stay here more than a couple of hours, just in case.”

Awesome.

No pressure at
all, then.

Daniel knew
what she was inferring, and the thought of Jordan being tortured
for information made his stomach churn. The whole encounter had
left him wrung out and on edge, not exactly ideal for what he had
to do now.

Ash made some
excuse about needing some fresh air after “all that tension,” and
both he and Sam slipped outside onto the small patio area. That
left Daniel and Matt alone in the kitchen.

“Thanks for
stepping in there, by the way.” Daniel glared at Matt and slumped
into one of the chairs. The apartment had an open plan layout with
the table dividing the kitchen and the lounge. “Nice to know you’ve
got my back when it counts.”

“Come on, she
just needed to let off a bit of steam. She wasn’t going to actually
shift, though. You knew that, right?” Matt studied him closely, his
expression changing from fond exasperation to guilty almost too
quick for Daniel to follow. “Shit.” Matt’s gaze dropped to where
Daniel’s hands still shook a little, even clenched tight into fists
as they were.

Daniel rolled
his shoulders in an effort to get rid of the tension coiled tight
within him. He had to concentrate on finding Jordan, somehow. He
couldn’t afford to break down in front of Matt, no matter how much
he might want to.

“Christ, come
here.” Matt paid no attention to the short sharp headshake Daniel
gave him and pulled Daniel into a fierce hug. “It was all for show.
She wasn’t close to a full shift, and I forgot that you can’t
tell.” He squeezed Daniel so tight, it was getting hard to breathe.
“I’m so bloody sorry.”

Surprisingly,
being hugged to the point of pain appeared to do it for Daniel. He
let himself relax into Matt’s strong grip for as long as he could
stand without needing to breathe, then shoved at him hard and
whispered, “Need air.”

“Sorry.” Matt
immediately stepped back, a sheepish grin on his face as he watched
Daniel suck in a lungful of oxygen. “I’m not doing too well, am
I?”