Just The Beginning... (Solangelo)

Chapter 28

Will's POV:

I should have known it was too easy. I've never been able to leave my father's study without one lecture or the other, so when my father called me back with questions about my new blood slave I wasn't too surprised. Octavian had left the room a bit after I'd sat back down, following a look from Kronos. That was the most I had seen my uncle do after he had spoken to me. After that, he'd simply been watching, giving a smile here and there as my father scolded me yet again. My father could never be satisfied with letting me leave without yet another speech on how I was a disgrace to the coven. I may have taken a blood slave, but according to my father, I still wasn't behaving as a proper heir should. I was still 'weak', he'd said. I let him speak, hoping if I was quiet and gave a nod when necessary, he'd let me go faster. It lasted the better part of the hour, yet it was still one of his shorter ones.

I was frustrated. I was itching to get back to my mate.

Literally itching.

My skin was crawling, and I felt goosebumps rise along my skin and I didn't have any idea why. I wanted to leave, but my father was on a roll and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

I sat through it all, trying to ignore the discomfort that was only getting worse. My father and uncle paid no mind to my constant fidgeting, not even batting an eye when I would reach up to rub at the area that felt the most uncomfortable; right in the middle of my chest.

Soon the sensation that had been simply uncomfortable mere moments before gripped me with painful urgency,

I knew this feeling.

It was the feeling that picked at me every time Nico had a nightmare. The picking turned to a gnawing every time he had a panic attack. That feeling right now wasn't picking. Neither was it gnawing. No, this time it was tearing into my chest, ripping out piece after piece.

I shot out of the chair, not bothering to explain to the men calling after me as I left the office. There would be consequences, but they could wait; there were more important things.

I don't think I'd ever moved so fast not even when he'd gotten lost the first time. The feeling in my chest was almost the same as what I felt when Nico bumped into my uncle. But worse, so much worse. Whatever was happening to my mate had him terrified.

I got to my room in mere seconds, throwing the doors open without care for the hour. I went for the bed first, still holding on to the hope that it was merely a particularly bad nightmare. My worry grew into a panic when I found it empty. I went to the bathroom where I'd left him. It was also empty. I knew he wasn't in the room, but I searched nonetheless, not willing to ignore the possibility. There was no reason for him to leave here without me. He didn't know his way around the castle, and he knew he wasn't allowed to go anywhere without me.

Unless someone had taken him.

I considered asking Lou and Cecil. They were the only people I could think of that could know where he was, but the thought went as quickly as it came. They wouldn't take him anywhere without telling me. I was sure of it.

My next option was Asclepius. He might have taken him to the clinic, but there was no reason for the doctor to take him out of the room for something as inconsequential as a checkup. Anything he might need to do could easily be done in my room. Under my supervision. It also wouldn't explain the distress I was feeling that hadn't waned in the slightest.

That made everyone that had interacted with Nico ever. And if he wasn't with any of them, then something was seriously wrong.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It wasn't working much, but I needed to focus if I was going to have any chance of finding him. Closing my eyes, I focused on the feeling that was screaming that my mate was in distress and needed me. If it needed me to do something so bad, maybe it would help.