Chapter 52: Lights Out

Rose’s POV

We just finished shopping for our graduation dresses. I went with a simple sky blue dress with a hem that reaches mid-calf while Sophie went with a bright pink off the shoulder slip that reaches above the knees. As we left I looked back at the coffee shop where we came across Garrett a few days ago. We ended up exchanging numbers and have been chatting sporadically. He still hasn’t decided which university he wants to go to but the university of Oregon is appealing apparently. He texted me last night about meeting my mates. I have mixed feelings about whether to have them meet or not. I’m concerned that my guys will compare themselves to him when there’s no reason to. So far I evaded the question but I’m not sure if he’ll keep asking or not.

“What’s on your mind girly?” Sophie asked me.

“I was thinking about Garrett, we’ve been texting and he wants to meet my mates.” I tell her.

She gives me a pointed look. “If there’s nothing to worry about then why not let them meet? Especially if you are trying to keep him as a friend.”

I thought over what she said and it makes sense. On the drive back to her house she makes a detour to a small diner on the outskirts of town.

“Sit where you want ladies,” a young guy about our age tells us. We decided to sit in a booth in the corner. The guy comes up to the table to take our order when I notice my bracelet glowing, “shit!” I whisper out loud. He tilts his head to the side and looks down at the bracelet. “That’s pretty,” he pointed out. I nod and look at Sophie who shrugs at me. We both order a couple of burgers and shakes and the boy leaves to put in the order.

“Relax,” Sophie tells me, “remember there are many classes of demons, he could be an incubus like Max.”

“You’re right. It’s the first time the bracelet has gone off and I was ready to bolt out of here but I thought maybe that’d look suspicious.” I tell her.

“Well if for some reason the vibe becomes off, we can leave.” She reassured me.

The boy, who’s name tag said Jimmy, brings us our food and shakes and takes off towards the kitchen.

“See there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just eat quick and head out if you’re uncomfortable.”

I agree and start eating. After a few bites I noticed my vision getting blurry. I get tunnel vision and everything goes dark.

*cough, cough*

I lift my head and try to figure out what just happened. I look around and I’m in what looks like a basement.

“Sophie!” I whisper yelled. In the corner I see her figure still laying on the ground. I rush to her on wobbly feet and shake her body. After a minute I see she’s out cold and give up. I go up the stairs and start banging on the door.

“Help me! Somebody help!” I yell out. After a few minutes of hitting on the door I give up. I start looking around for my phone and I check Sophie’s body for her but I’m unable to find them. Sighing, I sit down on my haunches and try think.

After another thirty minutes or so of searching around the room for any place to escape and trying the door here and there, there’s finally the sound of a click. I rush up the stairs to try to overpower whoever answered.

“Whoa there girly, don’t hurt yourself.” A stocky guy with dark hair and eyes grabs my wrists and holds them behind my back, cuffing them. I start to recite a spell to knock him out but before I could complete it he slapped a piece of duct tape over my mouth.

“Are you sure this is the right girl?” The guy asks Jimmy, who comes up from behind him.

“Yes, I have the photo that was sent out. You know what this means? We’ll be filthy rich. I already called him and he’s on his way.”

I look between the two helplessly, trying to piece together the conversation. Sophie is still passed out on the floor behind me and I’m overpowered. I really wish I brought one of the guys with me.

“What do we do with the other one?” The dark haired guy asked, licking his chops.

“Whatever you want, add her to your harem if you want, I don’t care.” Jimmy shrugs.

I tried to run past the men and am stopped almost immediately by Jimmy.

“I don’t think so girlie, you’re my meal ticket and you’re not going anywhere. Just sit tight and your ride will get here soon.” He pats me on the top of my head, making my skin crawl. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a baggie with blue powder and pours some into his palm before blowing it in my face.

“Lights out.” Is the last thing I hear before I succumb to the darkness again.

Brent’s POV

I know something is wrong because I’ve tried reaching out to Rose several times but to no avail. Mindlinking isn’t working, her phone is shut off, and I can’t feel her through the bond. I’m also unable to reach out to Sophie. Dammit, one of us should have gone with her dress shopping! I called all the guys and they all came to meet up at mine and Damien’s house. I’m pacing back and forth, feeling helpless and restless.

“Will you sit the fuck down so I can think?” Joel yelled out at me. I acquiesce his request and plop down on my ass and put my head in my hands. My woman and babies are missing, I’m absolutely livid.

“So we have two possibilities,” Joel begins, “the first is she recently ran into her ex boyfriend and now she’s conveniently missing. The other possibility is Asmodeus.”

“I hope it’s the ex.” Damien chimed in. Frankly so do I, it would be way easier to get her back that way. "I think we should split up in two groups. We don’t have time to try to figure out what exactly happened. Rose is due soon enough and we don’t need the stress to affect our babies. Max, Damien and Brent should investigate Asmodeus. Colten and I will investigate the ex. Are there any disagreements?” Joel asked. We all shook our heads and broke up the meeting to get started.

“So how do we get in touch with this Asmodeus?” I asked Max. He looked at me a bit nervously. “Well we have to go to hell. There’s a few different ways to do so but the easiest is through one of the portals. We will have to travel to Las Vegas. No place has more portals to hell than Vegas.” He laughed humorlessly.

Sin City here we come.

Colten’s POV

“So what do we know about her ex?” I asked Joel.

“Not much, she was high school sweethearts with him before moving here. We may have to talk to her parents and see how much they know. Otherwise we may need to go back to Texas and try to find him there.”

We immediately hopped in my truck and drove to her parent’s house. This was a trip I was not looking forward to.

“What the fuck do you mean she’s missing?! AGAIN?!” Her father shouted out. He looked like he was going to strangle Joel and me.

“Sir, we wanted to ask you some questions about her ex from before she moved here. She recently came into contact with him and now she’s gone. We are unsure if the two are related but we are trying to cover all our bases.” I tried to talk to him and calm him down. Her mother led us inside and sat us down at the kitchen table.

“He was a nice NORMAL boy.” Her father started. Well shit he obviously doesn’t realize that he was a vampire. For now I bit my tongue and let him continue. “His name was Garrett James. They were the same age. He lived with his older brothers in an apartment, his parents passed away when they were younger. She didn’t date him for very long, he had just moved to the area about a year prior. If we didn’t move they probably would’ve still been together.” He made sure to emphasize. Ok I get it Mr. Canto, you’re pissed off at us. I could see Joel try to restrain himself from growling at the information that her father just gave us.

“Do you know where we could find him?” Joel asked.

Her mother spoke up this time, “well I can give you the name of the apartments and the apartment number. Other than that I don’t know the exact address, just the approximate location.”

“That would be more than enough, thank you Mrs. Canto.” I told her appreciatively.

She grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down the apartments and what was located around the area. Apparently it was in some area in Fort Worth, Texas. The first thing I pulled up was apartments in Fort Worth, Texas and the list was mind-blowingly huge. I narrowed it down by the apartment name and got five hits. Well looks like we need to go to the town and check out the surroundings.

“Thank you for your help. We will get her back.” I assured them. Her mother seemed to believe me, her father didn’t seem convinced.

“See that you get it done as soon as possible. Graduation is a week away and it’s important to her.” Her mother mentioned as she guided us out of the house. We walked back to my truck and I couldn’t help but let out a growl. Someone took our mate and we’re going to find them.