Chapter 139 Chapter 139
Blair nodded, then wiped his wrist under his nose, wishing he could smell.
She shrugged and brushed by him and climbed in the passenger seat, then pulled out the spray bottle again. “The ointment was necessary.”
Blair watched her spray where she’d been standing, then held the bottle out to him. “I get it. I don’t like it but understand why.” As soon as she closed the door, he sprayed the ground and backed around to the front. He didn’t know where he’d stood or not stood since arriving, so he pulled the tube of gunk from his pocket and squirted some on the ground. He doubted even a torrential rain would wash that scent away. Climbing in, he handed her the bottle and tossed the tube on top of his bag.
Holding his hand out, he watched as she looked at it for a moment. “Blair Elden.”
She looked at him for a timeless moment, making him feel like he’d just been thoroughly judged. Placing her hand in his, she gave it a half shake, then pulled it away. “Kobie Sorum.”
Starting the van, he pulled away without leaving a tire mark behind.
“You’re part of the Alliance?”
He glanced in the mirror to see all the women watching him, waiting for him to answer Kobie’s question. “Not directly, no. The king’s son asked me to come to get you.”
“That’s a compliment.” She stated in a serious tone.
Blair shrugged, “He knew I’d get you out safe.” He glanced to see her nod as she watched out the window. “Look,” he looked at the tired, scared women behind him, “I know you’re beat, but I need some details.” He cleared his throat and checked the side mirror. “I feel like I’ve been sent in blind here.” He gave her a quick look, “your one-form friend said you were being followed.” She gave him a slight nod. “By who?”
He heard her blow out a breath. “I’m not sure. My father, the Alpha, and the men didn’t share the details with me. It’s been an ongoing thing though, as far back as I can remember—” she gave him a hard look, searching his face for a second before he looked back at the road. “Women and children were being taken…”
Blair swung his head and looked at her. “Fuck.” He said in as quiet a voice he could manage. “Tomas.” Fuck! He looked back at the road quickly. “Does anyone have a cell phone or any sort of electronic gear with them?”
“I just have a phone; the battery and stick are out of it,” Kobie said quietly.
“Toss it all out the window.” He knew his tone wasn’t pleasant, but he’d just found out they had handed him an impossible task. He liked how she immediately followed his instruction. “So did your Alpha send you...”
“No. This was a contingency plan set up with Fischer—I didn’t know about it.” She cleared her throat. “When we—found our men that were on patrol, I gathered up the others and got out of there.”
He didn’t need to ask if the men were alive. “The rest of your clan go after them?”
“They left and said they were going to get the others—four days before we found the patrol. We haven’t heard a word from them since.”
Blair nodded and glanced in the rearview mirror to see the little girl looking at Kobie. “I get it.” He said quickly so she wouldn’t have to say anymore in front of the child. Glancing at the speed he was driving, he put his foot on the accelerator. This changed his original route back. He motioned to his pack, “grab the map out of there, we need to take the most remote route back.”
Kobie listened and opened his bag and pulled out the map.
“You navigate.” He told her. Grinding his teeth, he went over the routes in his head, trying to find the nearest location he could stop and call Gage. He was going to need some kind of backup on this. “I need to make a quick call.” He glanced in all the mirrors as he slowed again. “See how soon I can meet up with someone along the way.” He chanced a glance at the woman beside him, expecting panic to be on her face. She only nodded and then looked at the map again.
Stepping out of the van, he closed the door and hit send. Being on the outside or not he knew all the shifters in that van that had reached their first turn could still hear him, but it was for the sake of the four he knew hadn’t that he tried to keep his voice down. He wiped at his nose, waiting for Gage to answer.
“Blair?”
“Fuck, Gage, this is a shitshow,” Blair said quietly.
“What’s wrong? Did you pick them up?” Gage sounded like he was running.
“Yeah, I got them.” He glanced over his shoulder at the passengers, “all nine females.”
“They’re all women?”
“Women, girls, and a child.” Blair clarified.
“Are they okay?” Gage said something he couldn’t hear. “We were just about to head home, hang on, Devin’s right here.” He heard more sounds. “You’re on speaker.”
He didn’t waste any time on greetings. “They’re searching for them. The contact had to drop them off to run through a bush because they were being followed.” He heard a few curses but didn’t know who said what. “It’s Tomas, Gage, I feel it to the core of my soul.”
“I spoke to Jesse, and he confirmed the Alpha had been communicating with some of the council members in the Alliance,” Devin’s tone was hard, “and yes, we believe it was part of Tomas’ association they were dealing with.”
“They’re all females.” Gage blurted out.
“Fuck.” Devin hissed. “I was told their best hunter was with them. What do you need, Blair?”
A fucking miracle. Blair glanced in the van to the anxious faces watching him. “Oh, their best hunter is, and she knows her shit. I’m going to back road it as much as I can, so I don’t have an exact route. How close is anyone that can lend a hand?” He heard a commotion. Presumably, they were pulling out a map.
“Closest, right now with everything going on is roughly six hours out…”
Blair closed his eyes and blew out a breath. He opened his eyes and then turned and slowly surveyed all around them. “Okay, text me any locations and numbers from here to that house you set up.” He rubbed his hand across his nose again, wishing to fuck he could smell. “I’m going to be moving fast and crazy as long as I can.”
“Check-in when you can,” Devin said. “I’m calling Dad and filling him in.”
“Their contact said more might return.” He looked at the little girl. For her sake, he hoped it was true.
“Okay, I’ll tell him. See if we can get someone from down there checking into that.” Devin said quickly.
“Blair,” Kelsey sounded like she was holding the phone, “be safe.”
“Always, sweetie.” He said automatically then clamped his tongue between his teeth because he had replied like that. “Gotta get moving.” He hung up and opened the door. Tossing his phone on top of his bag, he had the van moving before his door was closed. “The Alliance is going to alert all clans along our trip, so we have a backup if we need it.” He glanced at Kobie. She only nodded and kept looking out the window.
“Thank you.” One of the women behind him whispered.
“I’ll get you there safe.” He said and hoped to hell he could manage it.
“You must be a fierce warrior to be sent alone.”
He didn’t need to look to see who said it, he knew the voice went with the flirtation he’d gotten from Annamarie. Opening his mouth to answer her, he snapped it shut again. He would not feed her little infatuation.
Devin and Gage had been just as shocked as he was picking up all females. That made him feel a little better, not by much though. He also knew the only reason he was alone was because of all the other shit happening, and they hadn’t been given all the details.