Astrid's Wish (19 page)

“Or worse, he’s hanging out with Trevor.” They both groaned in unison.

“I heard that, you assholes.”

He and Ben turned to see Trevor and Miles standing behind them.

Trevor had his arms crossed over his chest, trying his best to give them a good, hard stare down. He had to bite back his chuckle. Miles
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and Trevor held their own against a couple of dark warriors, but Klaus felt confident in saying he could take both Trevor and Miles in a fight with one arm tied behind his back.

“Truth hurts.” Ben shrugged and continued to eat his cake.

Trevor started to gear up to argue with Ben, but Klaus didn’t have time for it. Astrid wasn’t with his two buddies, so where was he?

“Have you guys seen Astrid? He’s not in our room, and I can’t seem to find him anywhere.”

“We haven’t seen him, but he’s part of the reason we came looking for you.” Miles gave Trevor a nudge, pushing him forward a step. “Tell them what you told me.”

“Why?” Trevor asked.

“Because I want to see what they think of your little revelation.”

Miles nudged Trevor’s shoulder again.

The cousins started to bicker back and forth. Ben had finished his cake and stood bored as the pair continued to argue. Apparently having heard enough, Ben roared as loud as he could. As shocked by the sound as Mile sand Trevor were, he startled in surprise.

“Boys, I’m tired and horny, and I really don’t have time for this.”

“TMI,” Trevor said as he waved a hand in the air.

“What?” Ben said to Miles. “Translate.”

“Too much information.” Ben’s brow knitted together as he stared at his mate. “Babe, you just told Trev that you were horny.”

Ben grumbled under his breath. Klaus felt his pain. It had been a long day, and he wanted nothing more than to find his mate and cuddle until they both fell asleep. But no, he stood on the staircase listening to his friends argue. Worry for his mate had him refereeing the men before another argument broke out.

“Gentleman, I hate to interrupt, but can you get back to what you were saying about Astrid.”

Trevor stuck his tongue out at Ben, who in response did the same back.

“Boys,” he warned.

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“Okay, I was talking to Miles, and we started to discuss Ivan’s hotness.”

“We?” Miles said, interrupting Trevor.

“Okay, I was talking about Ivan’s hotness.”

“Eww,” Ben said as he took a seat on the stair. “I just spent an hour with that guy. He’s a complete douche. Loves himself way too much.”

“Daddy’s boy.” Klaus couldn’t help commenting.

“Back to what I was saying.” Trevor narrowed his eyes at them.

“We went from talking about Ivan’s hotness to how he and Astrid kind of look alike.” Trevor leaned against the banister and waved his hand around as he described the two men. “I mean, Ivan’s hair is a deeper shade of blond, and he is taller than Astrid. But it’s the facial features that got me. The wide-set blue eyes, straight-edged nose, and the high cheekbones. I told Miles they could pass for brothers or something.”

He brought up an image of his angel and of Ivan in his mind. The similarities, now that they were pointed out to him, were uncanny.

But what did it mean? Astrid didn’t have any family that they knew of except…

“Fuck,” he shouted as he took the stairs two at a time. He ran to his bedroom to check for Astrid one more time.
Please say he’s there.

The sound of pounding feet followed him.

As he got to the room he stopped so fast, Ben bumped into his back. He peered around the room. Still no Astrid. Where was he?

“You can’t possibly think that Ivan is Astrid’s father? If he is, he has some big balls for coming here, don’t you think?” Ben bent at the waist to catch his breath.

“That’s what I thought, honey, but think about it. No one would suspect him. Hell, I didn’t even put the possibility together until Trevor brought it up,” Miles said.

“Hold up,” Trevor said as he walked farther into Klaus’s bedroom. “Are you guys telling me the hot witch is Astrid’s father?”

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Klaus could faintly hear the conversation going on around him.

Concern for Astrid had him on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Has anyone even seen Ivan lately?” Ben asked. “He left the office way before any of us. He said he had to make a call, but he never came back.”

“The last time I saw Astrid was about an hour ago. I haven’t seen Ivan since dinner. What’s going on here?” Trevor said to Klaus.

Shit! Shit! Shit!
He searched his room, checking the bathroom, the closet, under the bed, and even tossing the bedding to the floor, searching for any sign of his mate. His stomach began to swim as dread set heavy in his gut. He had a bad feeling itching at his skin, and over the years he had come to trust his instincts, and they were telling him Astrid was in danger.

“Carter,” he mumbled as he walked out of the room. “We need to find Carter.” He raced down the hallway with Ben, Miles, and Trevor right behind him.

When he came to Carter’s door, it was shut. He knocked loudly once then waited. Carter didn’t answer, so he knocked again more frantically. He banged on the door and shouted for Carter to let them in, but nothing.

“Hey, guys, what you up to?” Abner asked as he headed in their direction.

“Have you seen Carter?” He continued to pound on the closed door.

“No.” Abner shook his head. “I was coming up here to check on him.” His head dropped to his chest as he spoke. “We had a fight, and I was just coming to check on him.”

He exchanged a look with Ben. Ben nodded, and Klaus kicked the door down. He rushed into the room but didn’t see any sign of Astrid or Carter. The sound of screaming had him spinning around. Trevor and Miles stood to the entryway of the bathroom. Both men were white as ghosts. He rushed to the pair and pushed past them to see what had them so frightened.

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“Oh my god.”

Carter lay on the tile floor in a pool of his own blood. His face had been so badly beaten, if Klaus didn’t already know it was Carter, he wouldn’t have been able to recognize the man. Both of Carter’s eyes were puffy and swollen shut. Black-and-blue bruises marred the bloody skin. He fell to his knees and felt for a pulse. A faint
thump-thump
beat under his fingers.

Abner came barreling through the door, half shifted into his bear form. The pain at seeing his mate so badly beaten had brought on the change. He roared and growled at Klaus. He scooted back and held his hands up, letting Abner know he wasn’t a threat to his mate.

“Abner, I’m just checking to make sure he’s breathing,” he said sympathetically.

Still in partial shift, Abner gathered Carter up into his arms. His hands had shifted into paws, and he rubbed his extended nose against Carter’s cheek. After a few deep breaths and finding comfort that his mate still lived, Abner’s body started to shrink back to his human form.

“Who did this?” Abner hissed. The man had reined in his bear, but just barely. The beast was right under his skin, threatening to break loose and kill whoever was responsible for hurting his mate, and Klaus couldn’t blame the man.

“We think Ivan.” Ben spoke first. He stepped forward and placed a hand on Abner’s shoulder. “We also think he might have kidnapped Astrid and left the house.”

Abner roared so loud everyone in the bathroom grabbed their ears.

The sound magnified in the small room. The sound trailed off as Carter stirred in Abner’s arms. Klaus moved forward.

“Carter?” Klaus paused. “Carter, can you hear us?”

“Baby,” Abner said, his voice heavy with tears. “Come back to me.”

Carter jerked in Abner’s arms and tried to open his eyes. “I can’t see.” Blood gargled in his mouth as he spoke.

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“It’s okay, baby. Your eyes are just swollen shut.” Abner combed his fingers through the blood-matted hair on Carter’s forehead.

“Carter, can you tell us who did this to you?” Klaus asked, but he already knew.

“Ivan.” Carter gasped for breath with every word he spoke.

Ben stepped forward and knelt next to Abner. “Carter, do you have any idea where Ivan would have taken Astrid?”

Carter gave a slight shake of his head. Klaus cursed under his breath. They had no clue where Ivan had taken Astrid, and they’d had a good hour head start. If Ivan hadn’t been a witch, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but Ivan was. He would use any means necessary to hide his tracks, and with magic on his side, the possibilities were endless.

“I failed him.” Klaus brought his legs up, resting in his elbows on his knees. He then dropped his head forward into his hands and began to cry. His angel was lost to him.

“Klaus, look at me.” Ben moved forward and grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a hard shake. His head snapped back, and he looked up at Ben. “We will find him. I promise you that. Just stay with me, my friend, okay?”

The trance of utter despair he started to slip into broke.

Determination filled his veins. He had to believe they would find Astrid because without his sweet mate in his life, life wasn’t worth living. And if he gave up on ever finding Astrid, who would save him from the monster that abducted him?

“Okay.” He nodded his head. Ben stood, and he allowed him to pull him to his feet. “Where should we start?”

“I thought you would never ask.” Ben chuckled. “First, we’re going to have Elias check the surveillance tapes to see about how long ago Ivan took off with Astrid. I’ll also have Elias hack into the city’s street cameras to see if we can at least get the general direction Ivan took off in. How’s that sound to you?”

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“Sounds like a plan.” It sounded good and, at this point, like their only option. He had to believe they would find Astrid.

“Don’t give up. Just when you think all hope is lost, a light at the end of the tunnel shines the way.”

He took comfort in Ben’s words. The man had suffered through the same turmoil as him, and he made it through with his mate by his side.

Ben instructed Abner to take Carter to the room they had set up as their makeshift hospital. Being a paranormal, Carter would heal faster than the average human, but he was still pretty banged up. He would need his wounds cleaned and stitched up. Klaus admired the young witch. Through it all he didn’t complain, just kept apologizing for letting Ivan escape with Astrid. They all reassured Carter there was nothing he could have done.

When they got to the war room, Ben started to bark out orders, and Klaus had complete faith in the man’s abilities as a leader. Hope sparked where doom had settled. He would find his mate one way or another. With the help of Ben and the other warriors, they would bring Astrid back home.

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He came to when his head hit the passenger-side window. He cracked an eyelid open just a pinch to see where he was. Turning his head just slightly, he saw Ivan in the driver’s seat. He clamped his eyelids shut as he remembered how he had gotten in this situation.

He had stood talking with Carter when Ivan came into the room.

Ivan had made a comment on how he was going to teach Carter a lesson then proceeded to beat the tar out of the poor guy. His stomach started to roll, and bile rose to the back of his throat at the memory of the horrible sounds. Astrid remembered the thud as Carter hit the floor, and the sickening sound of bone crunching under Ivan’s fist as he pounded into Carter without mercy. Astrid wasn’t even sure the young witch had survived.

The other thing that he remembered, and probably the worst news he had ever heard, was that Ivan had said he was his father. It couldn’t be true. After all this time, he discovered he had parents, and his father turned out to be a piece of shit. Because if his father was a good guy, why would he beat Carter the way he did? Or kidnap him? So many questions sat at the tip of his tongue, but the longer he played possum, the more time he had to try and figure a way out of this mess.

“I know you’re awake,” Ivan said from his perch behind the wheel, never taking his eyes off the road.

Astrid sat up in his seat. He scooted as close to the passenger door as he could, the handle held tightly in his hand. Maybe he could open the door and jump. He had no idea where they were heading or why, and would rather take his chances of surviving a fall at high speeds from the car than the alternative.

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“Don’t even think about it, son. The doors have child-safety locks on them.” Ivan laughed. “How appropriate, don’t you think? Being as you’re my child and all.”

“Don’t call me that,” he snapped with more courage than he actually felt at the moment. He continued to fidget with the door handle, trying to wrench it open.

“If I were you, I’d watch my tone. Son or not, I’ll still give you a dose of what I gave Carter.” Ivan sighed. “That’s what’s wrong with the youth of today, no respect for your elders.” Ivan turned to narrow his eyes at him. “I’m rather surprised you’re not happy to see me. To know you’re not just another worthless orphan in the world, taking up space.”

He couldn’t believe his ears. The man truly thought he should be happy about the news that they were related. Of all the time he dreamt of meeting his parents, he never imagined it to be like this with his mother being dead and his father a witch off his rocker.

Fear clutched at his neck like a pair of icy fingers strangling the life out of him. His life had just started to get better, and now he was hit with another blow of disappointment. He took a few deep breaths to help calm his racing heart. His stomach began to clench with a mixture of anger and terror. Between his heart convulsing and his stomach aching, he feared he would throw up the beating organ along with his dinner. But he had to be strong and pray Klaus would find him. If he lost hope then he truly would be fucked.

A few minutes passed by, but it could have been hours for all he knew. Ivan didn’t speak again, so he assumed the older man preferred the silence, and that worked for Astrid. He needed time to think. The memory of when he and Miles had been held prisoner by Malcolm came to the forefront of his mind. They had figured out Astrid could escape from locked rooms if the distance wasn’t too far. Maybe being bonded to Klaus would give him that extra boost to get back home.