Écarté (Lost Birds Book 4)

Part 29 Missing

"Tor..." The faint sound of my name pulled me from a warm and peaceful sleep. I didn't open my eyes at firm. I just enjoyed the comfort and warmth that surrounded me. Judging by the scent of ocean and sandalwood the heat on either side of me had to be Theo and Sab. I wondered briefly when Aydan and Sab had switched places but it was a fleeting though lost among the blankets and lingering edges of sleep that threatened to pull me back under.

"Tor." Came the whisper again.

"zatknis' i voz'mi yeye." Sab rumbled and flipped the blankets off of me. The sudden loss of heat brought me out of the last phases of sleep and into a full blown groggy pout.

"Sab." I whined tucking into Theo for warmth.

The blanket came back around me and both Sab and Theo scooched in closer.

"Tor come on. We've got to show you something." Cam said shaking one of my feet.

"Show her later." Theo sighed.

"It wont be there later!" Cam said exasperated.

Theo sighed, Sab huffed, and then I was pulled up out of the pile of men and blankets and dragged over to the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked around my yawn as Cam shoved a sweater over my head.

"You'll see. Just hurry up." Cam laughed quietly.

I wiggled my arms into the sleeves. Cam wrapped a jacket around my shoulders and I put my arms through it as well. The jackets were follow by sweat pants and boots. By the time I was securely wrapped up in multiple layers I was almost sweating.

"It's too hot." I whined.

"Good." Cam said and opened the door pulling me out with him.

I had to blink several times to get my eyes to adjust to the early morning light. Though it had stopped snowing the overwhelming white reflected every sliver of light and made the entire outside bright and shiny. Too shiny for my sleepy eyes.

Even after they adjusted it took me a second to recognize Mateo and the mound of snow he stood next to. There were three large round snow spheres piled on to of each other. I recognized the familiar shape and turned to glance back at Cam with mouth open slightly in surprise. He held out a carrot and two rocks.

I smiled and took the items. I ran to Tao and flung my arms around his neck. He laughed and caught me in a hug.

"Better hurry up dulzura. Aydan's only giving us ten minutes out here with you." Tao laughed giving me another squeeze before letting go.

I didn't waste any time adding the carrot and stones to the snow man. He was no frosty but it was still my first and best snowman yet.

"I stole Theo's hat too." Cam said pulling a ball cap from his back pocket and offering it to me.

"Will he be mad?" I asked taking the hat.

"Not if you do it." Cam winked.

I shook my head as I laughed. I didn't want to make Theo mad. Especially after he'd been up almost all night checking up on me. Still it was just a hat and There was no reason I couldn't take it back off before we went inside.

"Oh and one more thing." Cam said. He knelt down grabbing something from the snow. He held it carefully in his hands as he stood back up. When he held his hands out for me to take it I was just as careful and slightly concerned so I was completely surprised to discover that it was just snow. I looked up at Cam curiously. He tilted his head ever so slightly in Tao's direction. The realization of what he wanted made me snicker as I glanced over at Tao.

"Don't you dare." Tao warned. His false threatening tone made me laugh even more when I threw it. The snow ball caught Tao in the shoulder and exploded. Some of the snow even caught him in the cheek.

Cam let out a loud bark of laughter and gave me a light shove.

"You should probably run." Cam warned as Tao bent down and scooped up some snow.

I didn't need to be told twice. I took off as fast as I could but running in the snow was a lot harder than I'd anticipated. I didn't make it very far before something struck me on the back. The force wasn't painful but seemed to be just enough to knock me off balance. All of the layers Cam had put me in made it to where I didn't even feel the snow or the fall. They also made it pretty impossible to get up on my own.

I felt like a turtle stuck on it's back. Tao smirked down at me. His hand shot out grabbing a handful of jacket and sweater. With a swift tug I was freed from the snow and on my feet again. Tao's arm slipped around my waist, his hand threaded through my hair, and then I was trapped again this time in a kiss. He didn't engage in his usual teasing. Instead it was a harsh almost punishing kiss. A perfect distraction for me not to feel his hand slipping between my layers until an icy chunk of wet snow was pressed against my lower back.

I whimpered and wiggled in an attempt to escape but Tao's hands were firm. I could feel his smile against my lips but he didn't miss a single stroke of the kiss. I tried to fight it but the only way to get away from the snow was to get away from Tao and his kiss which I certainly didn't want. Eventually he abandoned the snow. The kiss shifted to something far to serious for outdoors.

"Alright. Alright. Our times up you two." Cam called. "Aydan's going to storm out here and ground us all if we don't get back inside."

Tao pulled away just enough to look down at me. The playfulness in his eyes had dimmed and he looked too serious even for what we had just been doing.

"Do me a favor dulzura..." He said.

I nodded. I didn't care what the favor was as long as it brought back some that teasing sparkle I loved.

"Stay the hell away from bodies of water." He said.

I was surprised by his request and nodding my agreement before I'd fully processed his words. I wasn't even sure if that was possible but for Tao I would try.

We headed back into the house to find everyone was awake and in the kitchen. Aydan, Sabbatian, and Theo all had steaming mugs of coffee. I was tempted to grab a couple myself. It looked warm and soothing. Before I could ask Aydan pointed toward the counter where three more mugs were already filled. Two of them had coffee and one had tea for me.

I gave Aydan a thank you smile, grabbed the tea and leaned back against the counter to watch the others. It was kind of strange to have all of them in the kitchen at once. After Tao and Cam grabbed their coffees the kitchen seemed to settle into some kind of unspoken routine. Sab was at the stove cooking bacon. Cam began washing vegetables that he handed over to Theo to cut. Tao was grabbing kitchen ware. I would have felt out of place if Aydan wasn't leaning next to me observing the whole thing as well. Everything seemed perfectly in place until a dull ringing started.

"Collins." Theo answered as he stepped away from the cutting board. Cameron took his place and Aydan stepped up to continue washing.

"Noah slow down, breathe, and tell me again." Theo ordered. His tone was calm and demanding like Aydan's but everyone in the kitchen turned to look at him. There was a mixture f shock and concern on everyone's faces and the entire room was so quiet that even I was holding my breath.

"And Asher's still unconscious?" Theo asked.

"Ok. Push for a CT scan. Threaten to sue. What ever you have to do. If there's brain trauma the sooner we know the better. Keep Chloe informed so she can micromanage where needed. Aydan and I are on the way." Theo said.

The second Theo lowered the phone I expected the others to bombard him with questions. I know I had a ton running through my head so they probably did as well. Instead the silence held on.

Theo took a deep heavy breath and turned to Aydan before he spoke.

"Asher was attacked. He's in the hospital and hasn't woken up. Amanda should have been with him and they can't find her." Theo said carefully.