Mate Healer (10 page)

A hard grip on his shoulder turned his attention to Davin. "Thank you. My family owes you a debt I know we'll never be able to pay."

Lian wondered how many times he'd have to relive this scene. The dragonkin were a grateful bunch, but he didn't want anyone to feel they should pay him back. "The goddess gave me a gift, I'm happy to return the favor."

Relief and joy crossed both their faces. "She might have given you the gift but I know many who'd be happy to take advantage of people in order to use it," Davin said.

"If you tell me everything you know about your water distributor we might be able to help the entire race of dragonkin."

Lian listened as they explained how the water delivered belonged to a new company. "They claim to add minerals and that it's healthier. I thought with the baby…" Carti trailed off.

"How long have they been in business?" Lian cut her off not wanting her to wallow in self-recrimination.

Davin and Carti exchanged looks before Davin spoke. "I think about a year now."

Carti nodded her agreement. "About that."

"Thank you." Lian helped Carti down from the table. "Go home drink some juice and I'll let you know how everything turns out." The water ads he'd noticed before were starting to take a sinister twist. Milot's water had contained poison but the man confessed to Lian that more than one person might have reason to want him dead. To find the same poison in an innocent woman's drink told him it was a wider spread problem than a vendetta against one man.

"Thank you." They spoke in that freaky unison some couples get when they spend a lot of time together. Lian hoped he never reached that point with Nevair; it was weird.

The fact his lover hadn't called him started to bother Lian.

Grabbing his communicator, he dialed. Once again, no answer.

"Is there a problem, doc?" Milot asked, entering the lab.

"I think I know where the poison came from." With a quick summary he shared what little he'd learned so far. "Did you find out who owns the company?"

Milot shook his head. "Not yet but I'm expecting a phone call soon."

"Good." The more Lian learned the better off they'd be.

"Come eat. I'm sure we'll have an answer by dinner time," Milot assured him.

Lian nodded. "Okay."

Milot put his hand on Lian's back as he led him from the lab. "Will his holiness be joining us for dinner?"

"I don't know." Worry crinkled Lian's brow. "I haven't been able to get a hold of him since he returned to the cathedral."

"That is odd. Do you want me to send some of my men over there? I doubt they'd make the connection between us."

Lian nibbled his bottom lip as he thought it over. "If you don't mind. I might just be paranoid, but it isn't like Nevair not to check in with me." Even with only being mates a short time, Nevair had proven to be the type of man who called when he said he would.

"No, it's not. A new mating is a fragile thing. Most dragonkin won't leave their mates the first twenty-four hours after their mark appears. I'll send over a few people and ask discreetly. As long as they stay away from Tres they shouldn't be detected."

"Thank you. You've been great, really. I mean, you didn't have to take in a complete stranger."

Milot's eyes glowed with the power of his emotions. "You didn't have to stop and help a couple of injured kids. I heard from their parents. They sobbed over the phone, so thankful someone stopped to help. So many people don't care anymore. You did." Milot gripped Lian's shoulder. "Your act of kindness saved two of my nephew's best friends. That's worth a lot more than a small lab, a guest room and asking a few questions."

Lian nodded. He didn't want to argue. He'd always lived with his gift so he didn't always understand how his actions affected others. Milot appreciated his efforts and Lian received a lot of benefits for one moment of compassion. "Thanks."

"No problem. My cook made some of her amazing pasta and I'm dying to eat. We can dine while we wait for our report," Milot smiled as if everything would be fine now.

Lian gave a weak smile. "Sounds good." His stomach hadn't stopped churning at the thought of Nevair in trouble.

Chapter Seven

The news, when it came, shook Lian to the core. "What do you mean he's disappeared?"

Milot's detective shifted nervously on his feet, his gaze skittering across the room, desperate to look anywhere but into Lian's eyes.

"No one's seen him since he entered the cathedral and the cathedral staff say he never showed up for his sermon," the detective announced.

"Who saw him last?" Lian asked, leaning forward and barely resisting the urge to choke the messenger.

The man took a cautious step back, obviously reading the intent in Lian's eyes. Scanning his compad the detective answered. "Trestair Dragonwing met his holiness at the steps according to eyewitnesses, but no one inside verified seeing him afterwards."

Lian's heart plunged somewhere around his ankles. "Shit."

"Calm down, Lian. What about the water company," Milot asked.

The man's chocolate brown eyes jumped between Lian and Milot. "The company board lists both Dr Bourne and Trestair Dragonwing as primary owners."

"What?" Milot asked.

"Why would they work together?" Lian asked.

On the surface neither man should have a connection. If Tres cared for Nevair why would he want him to be poisoned?

"That I don't know," the detective replied.

"You're dismissed, Barth. Go get some food in the kitchen," Milot ordered.

"Thank you, sir," Barth bowed and quickly left.

Lian leaned back in his seat, trying to figure out the puzzle pieces. "Why would a dragonkin want to poison his own kind?"

"Tres isn't dragonkin," Milot said.

"What do you mean?" Lian had thought Tres must be dragonkin the way he reacted to Lian's lack of a dragon.

"I mean he was adopted. You don't know the story because you're new but his parents adopted him after his mother turned out to be sterile. They gave him a dragonkin last name. It was quite the scandal at the time," Milot remarked.

"The adoption?" Lian tried to figure out how an adoption would be scandalous.

Milot shook his head. "No, the naming. No one has ever given a non-dragonkin a dragon name unless they are direct offspring or bonded. Some people ostracized his parents over it."

"What happened to them?" Lian wondered if Tres had killed his parents too.

Milo got a faraway look in his eyes. "If my memory serves me they died about six years ago in a space ship collision."

It still didn't make sense. "Huh. I can see why Bourne would be in on the act because for some reason he hates dragonkin. But why Tres?"

"I guess they'll have to ask him at the police station," Milot said.

Lian raised a brow. "You think they'll arrest him on such a flimsy case?"

Milot shrugged. "They can at least take him in for questioning."

"True. I think it would be best if you called it in. I'm not a citizen and they might not believe me." Not to mention Lian had enough problems with the number of issues he already caused with Bourne.

"Yeah, the police know me well," Milot said with a wry grin. "They'll get a kick out of me reporting someone for a crime."

Lian didn't comment on Milot's amusement. He didn't want to know Milot's business. The man had been a good friend and Lian had no plans to upset their delicate balance.

"I'm going to go to the cathedral. I need to know what happened to Nevair." He didn't care what it took but he'd find out where his mate went if he had to tear apart the cathedral.

"I'll send a couple of my guys to go with you," Milot offered.

Lian would've objected, but since he didn't know what he might be walking into, he nodded his agreement.

After dinner, Lian headed out with two human bodyguards who towered over Lian like giants. They both had dark hair, dark eyes, and massive shoulders. Lian watched dubiously to see if they could make it through the door.

He accepted Milot's offer of his driver and hovercar and headed to the cathedral.

"Are we expecting trouble?" one of the guards asked.

Lian shrugged. "I don't know."

Inside, he felt like a hollowed out shell. After several hours of not hearing from Nevair, Lian was officially beginning to panic.

He fidgeted nervously as the car raced down the busy streets. Milot's driver must've been a combat star fighter in a previous job from the way he whipped in and out of the smallest amount of space. Lian's nerves trembled at the speed they traveled, but the sooner they reached the cathedral the sooner they could find Nevair.

As soon as the hovercar reached its destination, Lian opened the door and rushed out.

"Sir, wait for us," one of the guards called out.

Lian gave that request the attention it deserved, absolutely none. Fear had him yanking open the door and marching in. At the astonished look of the worshippers praying on their mats, Lian tried to soften his step. Ignoring the man speaking from the pulpit, Lian walked right past and straight to the staircase behind it.

The preacher or priest or whatever his title stumbled across his words as Lian pretended he wasn't there. Following the path he remembered from a few days before, Lian reached Nevair's bedroom and yanked open the door.

A quick search of Nevair's space revealed nothing. With a frustrated growl, Lian spun on his heel, intent on searching every inch of the castle if it would net him his lover.

"Can I help you sir?" A tiny woman in a white service uniform hovered in the hall.

"I'm looking for Nevair, my mate," Lian stated.

"Oh!" The woman's face clouded over. "Mr Dragonwing told me not to let anyone else inside the room."

"What room?" Lian asked.

"I'm not supposed to say," the woman replied.

One of the guards stepped forward. "If you don't say, you'll be arrested for interfering with a mating bond."

The maid gasped, her hand rising to cover her open mouth. "I had no idea. Mr Dragonwing told me it was for his holiness's best interests that we tell no one."

"You could show me instead of tell me," Lian offered.

She thought it over, taking longer than Lian was comfortable with before answering. "Come with me."

Lian followed her as they walked down a flight of steps and a twisty hallway.

She finally stopped at a large wooden door and took out a key. Giving Lian an apologetic look, she unlocked the door. Lian barely resisted the urge to shove her aside. Marching into the room, he came to a screeching halt. It was empty. Nothing. A bed, a small side table and a wardrobe filled the space, all good quality but nothing else.

"Where is he?" Lian shouted.

The maid's mouth dropped open. "I don't know, sir. He was here a few hours ago."

Lian ran his fingers through his hair, yanking at it in frustration.

"Where would he go?" Lian asked.

The maid shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

Lian resisted the urge to throttle the woman. She couldn't give him information she didn't have and he couldn't blame her for that. "Can you think of any place in the building you can hide someone? Some place secret?"

The maid gave Lian and apologetic look. "It's an old building sir, there are tons of places you can hide someone."

Failure tasted bitter in Lian's mouth. His one chance to have the perfect mate and he couldn't even keep track of him. Would Tres kill Nevair? Did Tres even have him? Would he have passed Nevair over to Bourne? Questions and possibilities spun in his head? Tears dripped down Lian's cheeks. He'd not felt this helpless since his parents' deaths.

Lian sat on the bed and put his face in his hands. He couldn't give up but he had no idea what to do now.

"I'd like to report the kidnapping of Pontifex Nevair Dragonfang." Lian heard the guard rambling on but little of it stuck in his head. How could he have lost the man when he'd barely had him?

* * * *

Nevair snapped awake in a single jolt. Blinking, he looked around trying to figure out his location. The smell of sand and oak filled his nose and he struggled to focus his gaze.

The wine cellars.

Built hundreds of years ago, the cathedral had several levels below ground that few people remembered. The first Pontifex had considered himself an expert on wine and had used his position to force his parishioners to work as his personal slaves to create a dessert wine from cacti. It wasn't until after his death that his behavior had been discovered. Behavior the council had worked hard to cover up to protect the religious order.

Still, why was he here? Nevair tried to move his hands. The shock of cold metal wrapped around his wrists and ankles made his stomach sink with dread. Glancing up, a red sheen struck fear into his heart. The shackles were coated with dragon glaze. Originally invented to brush on jewelry for adolescent dragonkin who had difficulty controlling their transforming powers, it had since been outlawed due to illegal use by slavers. Searching his mind, Nevair tried to figure out how he'd come to this point. In his last memory he'd run into Tres outside the cathedral.

Tres!

Why would his best friend kidnap him?

"Goddess help me," he whispered.

"I'm afraid I can't interfere, beloved Nevair," a woman's voice echoed in the cave.

Nevair had only seen the goddess twice in his life. To see her now only increased his fear. The Pontifex generally only saw the goddess three times in their lives: At birth, at their naming as Pontifex, and at their death.

"I can't leave him," Nevair shouted.

He didn't care about being rude. He couldn't abandon Lian not when he finally got the man to agree to be his. It might have only been a few days but damn it had felt like a century.

The female form shimmered before him. "I can't free you. It would be too much interference."

"Then show him where I am. Whisper my location in his ear. Something!" Nevair screamed.

"Your man is different. He has a pure heart," the goddess mused.

"Yes, he does." He didn't know Lian well, but the way he interacted with others, how he healed with no thought of his own recompense, spoke well of the man.

"I know what I'll do." With a gleeful laugh the goddess vanished.

"Crap," Nevair muttered, thunking his head against the cave walls. The sharp pain added to his misery.

Dangling in the manacles time ceased to have any meaning. Nevair fell in and out of consciousness, more out of boredom than anything else. His wrists ached and his spine, twisted in an unnatural angle, would never be the same. To top off his misery, a painful cramp came and went in his left foot. He tried to keep his breaths shallow because the cave smelled of mold and fungus. Enough damp had seeped into the room to keep the floor wet. A few puddles dotted the area. Nevair could almost make them out in the dim light.

"Find me, babe, please," he whispered. Even his whisper sounded loud in the echoing cavern.

The screech of the cave's metal door snapped him out of his semi-sleep. The person who appeared through the opening made joy shoot through Nevair's heart.

"Lian," he choked.

"Nevair!" Lian pushed enough to widen his opening and slipped through. Rushing over, Lian yanked futilely at the cuffs. "I need help!" he shouted.

"I've got a cutter!" One of the people accompanying Lian rushed forward with a key chain.

Nevair watched, bemused, when the man removed a small red laser and quickly severed the cuffs from the wall, then neatly from around Nevair's wrist.

"Thanks," Nevair rubbed the raw marks on his arms.

"Gimme," Lian took Nevair's hands in his own as the guard took care of the leg shackles.

"How did you find me?" Nevair asked.

Lian frowned. "It was really strange. I called the cops and when they were on their way, I suddenly knew where to find you."

Nevair smiled. "The goddess showed you the way."

Lian gave him an odd look. "Um, okay. Sure."

"You don't believe me." He shouldn't be surprised. Lian had told him he wasn't a believer.

Lian shrugged. "I don't have a lot of experience with goddesses. The one time a goddess spoke to me she appeared in person. I don't know about the more subtle influence of a goddess."

His mate's easy disregard of the goddess's intervention unnerved him. "You know I am the speaker for the goddess." It might not be the time or place, but the compulsion to straighten things out between them rode him hard after his imprisonment.

" I know," Lian assured him.

A wave of energy slammed through him, before his eyes his wrists and ankles healed from his mate's magic.

"Thanks," Nevair said.

Lian cupped Nevair's face. "You don't need to thank me, I'm your mate."

Nevair shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't show my appreciation."

"I can think of a lot of better ways to show appreciation," Lian's wicked smile made Nevair wish they were alone.

A policeman entered the cavern, his face serious. "We captured your assistant. He's insisting to talk to you before they take him in."

"Milot's detective has information that points to Tres being at least partly responsible for poisoning the dragonkin," Lian said.

"Really." Nevair wondered if he'd really known Tres after all. The boy he'd grown up with had turned into a man he couldn't recognize. "Let's see what he has to say."

Acid boiled in Nevair's stomach as his dragon growled. Neither of them appreciated betrayal in any form. The sight of Tres in handcuffs, not that different from Nevair's shackles, made his inner beast give a happy snort.

"You think you're so important, Nevair, but you're not. The goddess doesn't love you above all others. She should've chosen me!"

"What are you talking about?" Nevair asked, truly puzzled.

"All you dragonkin think you're so special, but the goddess doesn't care about you. You only think so. Everyone always thought I had a crush on you but I kept hoping you'd find a mate so I could kill him and destroy you once and for all. All you dragonkin are so smug thinking you're superior because you can turn into a beast. The kids at school used to mock me because I had a dragon name. No more!" Tres turned a venomous glare towards Lian. "I call for the goddess rite!"