Chapter 18

Chapter 18
Merlot
The door bounced open, and Merlot immediately rolled over onto Margo to shield her from whoever had the balls to storm into their room. He let out a growl as he focused his attention on his brother, who was glaring at him from across the room.
“Get the fuck up! I need your help! Like yesterday,” Jay said.
“Bursting into my room where my mate is naked is not the right way to go about getting my help!”
“AT LEAST YOUR MATE IS HERE, AND YOU KNOW SHE’S SAFE! I CAN’T GET A HOLD OF MINE!”
“What do you mean? Rika is at Deegan with Grandma.”
“No, she’s not. I just got back from Deegan. She never even made it to Deegan. Our grandparents thought we had changed our minds because of everything going on. I just spent the last six hours scouring the land around Deegan for her. She is gone! Poof! Nowhere to be found. Now, Alpha or not, I swear to the Goddess that if you don’t get the fuck up and help me, I will kidnap your mate and hold her hostage until mine is found. GET UP! You have five minutes!”
He left the room, slamming the door behind him. Merlot looked down at Margo, who was staring up at him wide-eyed.
“Is he really going to take me?”
He shook his head as he pecked her lips. “No. He’s always dramatic when it comes to Rika, but just in case he is serious, I should go talk to him.”
He waited for her to retract her tendrils from his skin before getting up and clothing himself with a spell. She sat up, pulling the blankets up to cover her chest.
“When will you come back?”
“I don’t know. Just rest, Margo. We’ll make a plan, and then I’ll come back.”
“But-”
“I’ll ask Joyce to bring you breakfast.”
He kissed her again before rushing out of the room, following his nose to his office, where Jay was pacing agitatedly.
“We need to find her! I thought I was reacting to the stress of this whole situation a few days ago when I got super drowsy and weak, but what if it was because of Rika?”
Merlot raised his eyebrow. “So, you’re finally admitting she’s your mate?”
Jay picked up the printer situated on the counter behind the desk before throwing it across the room. Merlot didn’t flinch as it flew past him to shatter against the wall behind him.
“THAT IS NOT FUCKING IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW! ONLY FINDING HER IS IMPORTANT! GET IT TOGETHER, MERLOT! YOU HAVEN’T LET MARGO OUT OF YOUR SIGHT SINCE YOU FOUND HER! I WANT MY MATE BACK!”
Merlot rolled his shoulders back. “Did you find a trail at all?”
“NO!”
“So, you just gave up and came home?”
“I SWEAR TO THE GODDESS, MERLOT! STOP BEING SO FUCKING KNOW IT ALL! YOU KILLED PEOPLE JUST FOR LOOKING AT MARGO WRONG! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO PROTECT MY MATE, TOO!”
Merlot moved to sit in the rolling chair behind his desk. “We know Rika. We have stuff that belongs to her.” Merlot jumped to his feet. “We can find them all! We just need their stuff. Why didn’t anybody think of this before? Jay, go to Locust and get something with her DNA on it. I’ll meet you at Obsidian.”
“What?”
“Just do what I’m asking you to do. You want her back; this is how we get her back.”
Merlot rushed out of the office as he sent a link through the family line, ordering all of his siblings to the dungeons beneath the Slimmer Coven house. He raced down to the dungeons, amazed when half of his siblings fell into step behind him. When they were all present in the dungeons, Merlot grinned at them all.
“We are so stupid. Did all of you forget who we are related to? The motherfucking trio. Rose, Emily, and Junior have their blood. They’ll all help us if the current trio refuses. Joyce, have you found any of the others?”
“No, Lola, as you can see, is still here. Mayra hasn’t told me that there’s anything in the files there. Are you thinking about doing a locator spell?”
“Yep!”
“We need something to zone in on.”
Merlot grinned wider. “That’s why we need Link and Minton to tell us who is on their list so we can go get links for the spell. Aunt Sasha and Aunt Kalani are quite possibly the only way we get our mates.”
“I want to help.”
“Me, too.”
“You’re not keeping me out.”
Everybody turned to look at the triplets and Link. Merlot shook his head as he rushed over to Margo.
“No. We can’t let them get you back.”
“They won’t. Rika was really nice to us when we got to Locust. If she’s in trouble, we are helping.” Merlot opened his mouth but closed it when Margo placed her finger over his lips. “We are mates, Merlot. I trusted you. Now, it’s time for you to trust me.”
Merlot groaned but nodded, much to his siblings dismay. “Alright, but you have to listen to me. If something happens to you, this world will never again know life as it exists now.”
Margo beamed up at him. “In that case, I know one of the women on the list.”
Merlot narrowed his eyes. “You have the list?”
“Minton gave it to us last night. I recognized Kennedy’s name. We’ve met before. She lives half an hour from where we did. Lovely girl.”
“And you're just telling us this now?”
“I wasn’t sure it was her until I texted her. She usually responds within the hour. It’s been 9 hours since she responded. Something is wrong. We think she was taken.”
“Okay. First things first, Jenna can take Joyce to her place so we can get her hairbrush or something. The rest of you should go to Obsidian and review the list. See if any of the names trigger a bond, and then find their addresses. Margo and I are going to talk to Aunt Sasha and Kalani. Goddess speed, everyone.”
He took Margo’s hand as he opened a portal to Dragão. His aunts looked up from the mugs cradled in their hands when they stepped through. Sasha smiled at him.
“It’s about time you figured it out."