*Maddox*
“Seth, do you know where Isla is?”
I burst into my office and demand that my Beta answer me immediately. He is sitting at my desk, the telephone in his hand, and when I march in, he tells whoever is on the line that he will call them back. “What’s going on?” He looks from me to Trinity and then back again.
“Isla!” I demand. “Do you know where she is? She’s not in her room. And I found this!” I drop the suspicious book on my desk. It’s heavy enough that the whole desk shakes.
“I don’t know.” Seth shakes his head, his eye wide, but something in them tells me that he’s not being completely truthful with me.
But why would he lie?
“Check the cameras. See if she left. Have any vehicles left the castle in the last twenty-four hours?” How long had it been since I left the castle? I know she was here when I left. I try the mind-link again. Nothing. I pull out my cell phone, but it’s of no use to me. If she has a cell phone with her, I don’t know the number. I have no missed calls from anyone.
Seth sighs. “Perhaps we should check the castle before we get too far ahead of ourselves?”
“No, I have a bad feeling about this,” I tell him. “Do as I say. We can search both simultaneously.”
I pick up the book and hand it to Trinity. “I want to know the closest port to Maatua from here, and every boat that has sailed in or out of there in the last week, got it?”
“Yes, my King,” she says, taking the book.
“You can use this phone. Seth, go to your own office.”
My Beta grumbles and gets up. He never seems to think things like this are important until someone ends up dead. Well, I’m not letting that happen this time. Isla and the baby are too important to me to take any chances.
For the next hour or so, I search the castle, waiting for some kind of news. I hear from Trinity first. She gives me the schedule of boats leaving Port Westerly, the closest port to Maatua and to the castle. It makes sense that Isla would leave from there if that’s where she was going.
It’s not until we’ve searched the entire castle that Seth reaches out to me. “It looks like a car left here a little while after you did. Mystica was driving it. I can’t see who is in the back seat on the video.”
“Mystica—was driving?” I didn’t even know the older woman knew how to drive a car. “Was there a tracker on the car?” There should be. We have trackers on all of our cars.
“No, it was disabled.” Seth doesn’t sound too worried. Why isn’t he concerned about this? How would Mystica steal a car and disable the tracker? Who was this woman?
“Who else is missing from the castle?” I ask, wondering if they had help.
“Just Mystica, Poppy, and Isla,” Seth answers quickly and then adds, “as far as I know.”
“Poppy is a talker. I want to know if she spoke to anyone about this,” I tell him. “You’re in charge while Trinity and I are gone. Don’t fuck it up this time!”
“Gone? Where are you going?” Seth asks me.
I walk back into my office to see Trinity writing some notes down on a piece of paper.
“To find Isla.”
To Trinity, I ask, “What’s that?”
“This is information about a boat seen pulling into a smaller dock a few hours ago that just left in the middle of the night. Maybe she’s on it?”
I look at the information. The boat is called The Treasure Seeker.
“Yeah, that could be it all right. Come on. Let’s go,” I tell her.
Trinity’s eyes bulge. “Wait—go where?”
“To the port. To Maatua if we have to. I’ll get a navy vessel to take us out to the island. It will be faster than any other boat at sea. We’ll catch up to this boat and see if she’s on it.”
“I don’t want to go to Maatua.” Trinity is shaking her head, and I can see the fear in her eyes. “That place is dangerous. It’s cursed. Anyone who goes there could be in danger.”
“I have no choice, Trinity. If that’s where Isla is headed, for who knows what stupid reason, I have to go there, too.”
“Well, judging by the pages she has marked in the book, I’d say that she’s looking for the Diamond of Faith,” Trinity explains.
I didn’t see any tags or bookmarks in the book, but then, I didn’t have it in my possession for very long, and when I did, I was carrying it. Maybe Trinity has had a chance to make a more careful inspection.
“Why would Isla think she should go to Maatua to get that diamond?” It doesn’t make sense to me. That would be a job for a warrior or a party of archaeologists or something, not a pregnant woman who can’t even shift.
“I don’t know. Maybe she thinks she’s the only one who can get it since she has magical powers and was born there?” Trinity asks.
I raise an eyebrow. “How do you know about Isla’s powers?”
“She told me about them,” Trinity replies. “She told me about that baby she brought back to life and her brother. Is it a secret?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess not. Still… it doesn’t make any sense. She wouldn’t just decide to go do this on her own.”
“The book.” Trinity opens to a page that is clearly about the lost treasure. “I think that she must’ve read it in here.”
“But how did that book even get here? We both know it’s banned in our kingdom. My father didn’t want anyone else going out there trying to get the treasure.”
“Did he think it was too dangerous?” Trinity asks, a sympathetic tone to her voice.
“No, he thought someone else might get it, and he never would. He sent expedition after expedition out there when I was younger, but no one ever came back alive.”
Trinity’s eyes widen. “That sounds terrifying. What happened to them?”
“Who knows? That’s what I’m saying. It’s a dangerous, inhospitable island where the woman I love has apparently taken our unborn child. Anything could happen to them. So we’ve got to go immediately.”
“Your Majesty, I understand why you want to go, why you have to go. I do. But… I don’t understand why I have to go.” Trinity looks frightened. I’ve never seen her look scared of anything before. Why is she afraid now?
“Because… I know I can trust you. You’re dependable and smart. Just like….”
I stop talking. We both know what I was going to say. Just like Rebecca. I wanted Trinity to go with me because she reminds me of her dead cousin. Not just because she looks like her but because she acts like her, too. Rebecca would know just what to do in a situation like this one.
Trinity calmly says, “I’m not Rebecca. I’m not brave like Rebecca. I’m scared. If you want me to stay here and keep an eye on things while you’re gone, I can do that. But I can’t go with you, King Maddox. I’m just… not brave enough. I’m not as brave as Isla is.”
“Then you think that Isla went of her own accord? You don’t think she was kidnapped?” I have to consider the possibility. After all, none of this makes sense to me.
“By Mystica and Poppy? No. I don’t think so.”
I nod. She’s right that doesn’t make any sense. But then, I have to ask her, “How did you know no one else was with them?”
Her eyes widen slightly before she nods and says, “Seth told me. Over the mind-link. Just before you came in. I’d asked him.”
I stare at her for a moment, thinking that through. I guess it makes sense that Seth would tell her that.
But I’m not sure I trust Seth at the moment. Not that I think he knew about this, but he keeps fucking everything up. Perhaps it would be best to leave Trinity in charge here. “All right. I’ll take Seth with me. Commander Vember is on his way to replace me with negotiations with the Alphas, and Commander Givens is still working on the situation with the packs that went to battle against us. You shouldn’t have too much to do in our absence, but I have no idea how long we’ll be gone either.”
“Just… be careful, Maddox.” Trinity’s bottom lip quivers slightly. “I have appreciated how much you’ve come to trust me, and I do hope that you and everyone else return to the castle safely. If anything were to happen to you, the kingdom would be in shambles.”
I can’t stop to think about what would happen to the kingdom if I didn’t return. It doesn’t matter. I’m coming back. With Isla and my unborn child.
I thank Trinity and tell her goodbye and then tell Seth he has ten minutes to grab a bag and meet me at the garage. I get a few of my most trusted warriors together as well, and I have someone alert the royal navy that I am on the way. I want the best vessel available to track down that boat Trinity found out about, The Treasure Seeker.
I have no idea why Isla would think something like this was necessary. We’ve talked several times about the possibility of her going back to Maatua someday. I’ve told her it’s silly. There’s nothing for her there. She should just stay here and forget about her past. But clearly, she didn’t want to do that. Whether it’s because of this silly treasure, the diamond that’s supposed to put things back in order, or because she thinks our son will die at birth if he’s not close to that fountain, I don’t know.
But I will find her, and when I do, I’ll make sure she understands the importance of her never leaving my side again.
It’s the middle of the night when my car pulls away from the castle, headed to Port Westerly at a great speed.
“King Maddox, I’m not sure if this is related or not,” one of my warriors who is with us says, his voice interrupting my thoughts. “Commander Pepelos was spotted today in Willow pack.”
That catches my attention. “Willow pack? That’s Isla’s home pack.”
“Yes, and her brother, Ben, is missing from there as well, sir,” the warrior, Lawrence, continues.
“But… what would Commander Pepelos have to do with any of this?” My mind starts running wild as I try to think of the possibilities. Could Isla and the commander have had a secret affair?
“Sir, we believe that Commander Pepelos is actually from Maatua,” Lawrence continues. “We think he’s been using an assumed name and pretending to be from another pack.”
I already knew all of that except for the part about Maatua. “Do you know who he is?” I ask.
Lawrence nods. “We aren’t a hundred percent certain, but we think his name is Antony Moon.”
“Antony Moon?” A chill goes down my spine.
Isla’s cousin.