The Goddess and her Sleuth Hound

Come Out, Come Out, Where Ever You Are

October 18th 12:49 am

Persephonie

"What do you mean "Where is Christian", Dad? We obviously don't know. I went in there for the whole purpose of finding Christian!", she answered indignantly. The pain in her head caused her vision to cloud, the room swimming. 

Adrian placed his hand on her shoulder, the warmth from his palm and the strength in his hold helping to ground her. She breathed deeply, his scent once again filling her with a sense of calm. Since when did he bring such serenity? Disgusted and confused with the feelings Adrian stirred within her, but grateful for the calm, she was at war with herself and the voice within her. She wanted to move away from him, but her counterpart kept her where she was.

"Alpha Tristan, his scent was so strong in the clearing. There's no way he hadn't just been there!", the fact that Adrian was speaking to her father on her behalf caused her hackles to rise. And then they fell. He was just as affected by what they'd seen as she was and he was holding strong. He was trying to keep her steady.

The realization struck her that he had been the one to carry her from the entrance to the clearing. How far had he been forced to walk while bearing the weight of her limp body. Persephonie couldn't help but to glance up at him, the line of his jaw more prominent through his daily stubble as if he had his teeth clenched tight. 

"Sephi?", the sound of her father's voice brought her attention back to the conversation at hand. "Did you hear what I said?" 

"No, I'm sorry.", she whispered. Looking down at her hands as she began to pick at the skin next to her thumb nail, she spoke. "I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't seem to focus."

Her father stepped in front of her and crouched low, bringing his eyes level with her own. "I said, we think someone took him. There are definitely signs of a struggle, and he was in that clearing for so long his scent is still lingering there. We searched the surrounding areas and can find no trace of him, we thought we'd found a trail that would lead us straight to him but it ended abruptly near Franklin. It was like he disappeared. It's my and Chris' best guess that he and Justin were in the clearing when someone attacked. We don't know if it could be a hunter in the area we weren't aware of, or an arrant rogue. The damage done to Justin's body leads us to believe a rogue is the better guess."

Thinking of poor Justin made her stomach lurch, her body once again going cold. She began to shiver, Adrian giving her shoulder a tight squeeze.

Persephonie didn't even notice as Tristan stood, looking toward Adrian. "I think she may be in shock, is there any way you could stay with her while we deal with preparations for Justin? I also need to reach out and inform his parents of what's happened."

"Of course, Alpha", Adrian quickly responded.

"I also need to call my brother to inform him his son is missing.", Tristan turned toward his office. "Oh! And Happy Birthday, Adrian. I'm sorry it's started this way."

Adrian

I can't believe this.

Persephonie.

Why her?

Adrian watched as the group of men dispersed before glancing down at Persephonie. Some Happy Birthday, he thought to himself as he sat next to her. He let his hand fall to his thigh as he leaned back against the plush couch cushions. Her body seemed to jerk, her shivering becoming so violent he could feel it through  out his own thighs.

"Seph, please drink your water.", he said as he stood, walking over to the large trunk they kept beneath the tv. He opened the trunk pulling out a large fleece throw; he grabbed a second, just in case, before heading back to the couch. Adrian quickly unfolded the fleece, holding the other beneath his chin as he wrapped it around Persephonie's shoulders. He looked down, only the tops of her thick lashes visible as she continued to look at the hands in her lap.

"Persephonie. Please.", Adrian's pained whisper seemed to shock her into awareness. She looked up quickly, her pupils almost nonexistent in the rich chocolate brown of her large eyes. Her perfect nose led down in the most luscious pout and his eyes were drawn to her full lower lip as her mouth opened slightly, the smallest of breaths escaping. 

"Are you okay, Di?", Persephone asked. A look of concern pulling at her perfectly arched brows, the golden flesh between them wrinkling. Adrian could only chuckle, if only he could answer her honestly. If only he could let her know what was really going on. Tell her that, though they had a real problem on their hands, another had reared it's ugly head.

Adrian replied, clearing his throat before speaking, "Am I okay? Are you okay, Sephi? Will you please drink your water? Are you sure you're not hungry?" Adrian crouched down as her father had moments ago, looking her in her eyes as she righted the position of her head. She looked confused again, maybe he'd asked her one too many questions.

Shit.

"Seph?"

She breathed deeply in through her nose, the look of concern all but gone as her features relaxed. "I'm sorry, Di. I'm okay, It's just taking a minute more than I'd thought." She reached to pick up the bottle of water neither of them had realized was dropped on the floor. Opening the bottle she breathed deeply once again before taking a long pull, nearly emptying the bottle.

Finishing the last sip Persephonie wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, her eyes suddenly much more alert. "I'm serious though, are you okay? I'm sorry I'm so heavy. How far did you have to walk?" She looked at him expectantly, somehow questioning him further with the arch of an already quizzical brow.

There she was, he smiled. She was slowly coming back.

"Hey, how about I answer your questions while you eat a few bites of something? I make a mean grilled cheese."

As she nodded he began to ponder it all, thoughts of the event of the last 9 hours swirling around as he made his way to the kitchen to make his mate a damned grilled cheese sandwich.