“They’re too slow. And you’re too slow. Get everyone in the fortress involved in the search.”
Nevis huffed with annoyance. “Don’t you realize Father Rune may have taken her just to lure you out and make you easier to kill? And you played right into it!”
“I don’t give a shit!”
“Do I have to knock some sense into you?” Nevis yelled.
Leo dragged a gloved hand through his hair. He didn’t want to admit it but Nevis was right. He’d made himself vulnerable by riding ahead of his party. It wasn’t like him to behave this recklessly. Even in battle, he always remained in control. But the second he’d heard that Ana was missing, something crazed and desperate had seized hold of him.
Ana’s father was distraught, too, but he’d been unable to keep up with Leo. He’d charged ahead like a madman, pushing his horse to the limit. “Edmund, will you take care of Fearless?”
“Aye, my lord.” As Edmund took the reins, he gave Leo a hopeful look. “Maybe Father Rune doesn’t have her. Maybe she just went to a secret place to be alone for a while.”
“And not tell anyone?” Nevis grumbled. “Why would she do that?”
Leo didn’t dismiss the idea like Nevis, not when he knew Ana had secrets. Could she have gone to the sea to send another message by seals? “Did you check the beach?”
“No. Hey, where are you going?” Nevis shouted as Leo dashed back across the drawbridge. “Dammit, you’re not wearing your armor!”
Leo kept going. As long as he was running at lightning speed, an assassin would find it difficult to hit him with an arrow. He darted down the path to the beach.
The flat rock where the seals gathered was empty. He sprinted along the beach, calling her name. No reply. She wasn’t among the boulders.
Had she been caught by the undertow? Swept out to sea?
Panic ripped through him so hard, he fell to his knees. No! He couldn’t lose her. Not beautiful, brave, and clever Ana. She was the one who believed in him, the one who gave him hope that he could be a man and not a Beast.
He needed her. She was the strength of his body, the beat of his heart, and the yearning of his soul. The thought that she could be suffering or afraid paralyzed him with a fear he’d never felt before. And there on his knees, the truth struck him hard.
He loved her.
An eternity had happened in the seven days since he’d first met her. An eternity that had bonded her soul with his.
“Leo, what are you doing?” Nevis called as he descended the path to the beach.
He had to find her. Leo jumped to his feet and sprinted back to the path. “We need to enlarge the search. Have you gone into the wine cellars or catacombs?”
“Not yet. They’re—” Nevis lifted a hand to shield his eyes as he gazed out at the sea. “What is that?”
Leo spun toward the water. Please don’t be a body. “Where?”
“There.” Nevis pointed at something black moving through the waves. “Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just a seal.”
A surge of hope replaced the panic that had sizzled through Leo. Could it be Brody? In dog form, he’d be able to track Ana’s scent. “What perfect timing!”
“Huh?”
Before Leo could explain, the seal shifted into a dog.
“What the hell?” Nevis stiffened, a stunned look on his face. “Is that … Brody?”
“Yes.” Leo grinned as he started down the path. “He’s back!”
“Huh?” Nevis followed him. “He went somewhere as a bloody seal? You knew about this, and you didn’t tell me?”
“Not a word to anyone,” Leo warned him.
Nevis scoffed. “Who the hell would believe me?”
Brody splashed through the shallow water, then halted with a jerk when he spotted Leo and Nevis coming toward him.
“Thank the Light you’re back,” Leo told him.
Brody shifted into human form and sat in the shallow water, breathing heavily. “Now you know.”
Nevis gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t know what the hell you are. No offense.”
“We’ll discuss it later,” Leo said. “For now, I want—” He stopped when Brody collapsed onto his back. “Are you all right?”
“Exhausted.”
“I bet!” Nevis continued to stare at him. “How far did you swim? How many animals can you turn into?”
“Later!” Leo shot him an annoyed look. “Right now—”
“There’s something important you need to know,” Brody interrupted.
“It can wait. I need—”
“But it’s about Lady Tatiana,” Brody insisted as he sat up. “She’s not—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” Leo yelled, surprising Brody and Nevis and even himself. Brody might have uncovered Ana’s secrets, but Leo wanted to hear the truth from her first. He wanted her alive, and he wanted her trust.
If only he had trusted her from the beginning. Then he wouldn’t have sent Brody away, and the dog shifter would have been here to track down the remaining assassins before Ana could have been exposed to danger.
“Ana is missing,” Leo told Brody. “We believe she’s been kidnapped by the third assassin, and we need to find her. Can you do that?”
“Sure.” Brody ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. “What happened to the second assassin?”