Declan. Where was Declan?
He’d wanted to put him out of his mind, to forget everything about him. He’d even succeeded for a time.
But if Declan was in danger, he would destroy anyone who had harmed him.
The clothes he’d left on the dock were gone now, but he didn’t know if that indicated anything good or bad. He was tempted to just charge up the hill naked, as the sense of fear and invasion hit him harder.
But he also didn’t want to be at a disadvantage when he got up there. He took a detour to the plastic box he’d secured behind a rock years ago and took out a pair of shorts. They smelled musty and damp, but they would serve their purpose. There was a shirt in there, too, but he left it. He needed to get up that hill.
The first sounds he heard were low shouts and growls, punctuated by higher pitched cries that he knew were Declan’s.
As he got closer, he could make out the words. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” Whatever someone was saying, that was Declan’s only answer. “I don’t know!”
Two of the People, one in human form and one fox, blocked his path. He charged between them and they let him pass, whether from fear of him or because they wanted him to go that way, he didn’t know or care.
In front of the cabin, Declan was backed up against a strange truck, surrounded by perhaps a dozen shifters in human and animal form.
Geir snarled angrily, this base of his spine tingling as his tentacles sprouted.
Declan looked both desperate and defiant, frightened but not willing to be cowed. Until he saw Geir and broke into a run.
Geir swept him up, wrapping him tightly in both his tentacles and human arms. He wouldn’t typically show himself like this to anyone, but right now he had more important things to worry about.
Like the frantic boy in his arms. “Daddy! You’re safe! I was so worried. And the shifters, tell them I wouldn’t tell anyone. I didn’t tell anyone. I don’t know where anyone is. I’m so glad you’re alright. And they think...”
Geir placed a finger gently over his mouth. All of these words were moving too quickly for him to parse out. The only one he’d really heard was Daddy. He still didn’t quite understand it, but if it meant that Declan turned to him when he was in trouble, that was all he needed.
He loosened his human arms and tentacles, reminding himself that Declan needed space to breathe and that he could damage him if he wasn’t careful. But Declan just clung closer, wrapping his slender arms and legs more tightly around him.
Good. That was where he should be. Geir readjusted, wrapping one tentacle around Declan’s legs and using the other to pin Declan’s hands where they were clasped behind his neck. Then he looked around, daring any of the shifters to say anything about either Declan or his exposed tentacles.
No one spoke for a moment, but there was still a crowd of anxious shifters around his hummingbird. “Slowly,” he told Declan. “Tell me what happened.”
“You disappeared yesterday. And I didn’t know where you were. At first I thought it was OK, so I planted the seedlings. And then you didn’t come back. Ro and May came over today and we made brownies, but then, I don’t know what happened. I swear I would never tell anyone. And I didn’t. I haven’t seen anyone but you for a month. And my phone doesn’t even work, so I couldn’t have told anyone. I just got out your phone today, and there’s no internet here, so...”
He touched Declan’s lips again. Declan shut them tightly, then rested his head on Geir’s shoulder. His whole body was shaking.
Geir looked over at the man who he was fairly certain was the Chief. He looked agitated, but he spoke clearly. “Rohahen and May are missing. Along with two other children. He was the last one who saw them, and you weren’t here.”
“Declan’s mine,” he snarled.
“How well do you know him?” Tier countered.
Fuck. Until he saw him flirting with Rohahen earlier, he would have said he knew him very well. But maybe he didn’t know anything. But when he’d called him Daddy...
Could Declan have done this somehow? Arranged a kidnapping? Everything about that first moment in the lake had come so easily to him, like he hadn’t been surprised at all. He couldn’t have slipped past Geir’s defenses faster if he planned it, and now he had to wonder if that was exactly what had happened.
On the other hand, Declan had been terrified at the grocery store, even when he put on a brave face. He wouldn’t even walk along the highway anymore because he thought that someone was going to drive by and accost him. Was it possible that he was actually scared because he knew these people?
He pulled Declan far enough back that he could look into his eyes. “Do you know where May is?”
Declan looked horrified, tears tangled in his lashes. “No! I didn’t even know any of this was real until I met you. Ro and May are my best friends. And they’re missing. What if they’re hurt?”
Geir looked him over. He sounded honest, but he was panicked, too. Geir just needed to figure everything out. The last thing he remembered was Declan inviting someone else to touch his body, and now that man was missing. He needed a moment to catch up. “What were you talking with Rohahen about earlier?”
Declan looked around in confusion. “Earlier? Um… we talked about a lot of things. We made brownies. And peanut butter cookies? And we… some of the things we talked about are private.”
The Chief growled and took a step closer.
“What were you talking about when Rohahen was carrying that box,” Geir prompted.
“Oh. You mean yesterday. He brought seedlings! We were…” Declan buried his head against Geir’s chest. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell.”
Tier loomed closer, a low growl in his throat. Geir felt like he was being attacked on all sides, though the thought of Declan’s potential betrayal hurt far worse than anything the shifter could do.
He freed one tentacle, holding it ready to whip out in case Tier came closer. With the other one, he squeezed Declan even tighter. Declan cried out, and he knew he must be hurting him, but he didn’t care.
Geir tried to keep his voice even. “Now would be a very good time to tell us what you discussed.”
“It’s really not relevant…” Declan started.
Tier’s growl grew louder.
Declan turned his head, as much as he could from his position, to look at the Chief.
“We were just chatting. He has a crush on… someone. And I told him I wouldn’t tell. Alright? I thought we could be friends and talk about our, um, men. That’s it.”
“Who?” the Chief growled.
“Seriously?” Declan looked the Chief dead in the eye, his voice filled with meaning.
Tier took a step back, suddenly looking a lot less menacing, though just as anxious. Not that Geir gave a damn about who Rohahen was interested in as long as it wasn’t Declan.
He was worried about May, but he still wanted to understand what had happened. He’d been so sure about what he saw. And if he couldn’t trust Declan in their relationship, he couldn’t trust him anywhere else.
“Why were you lifting up your shirt?” He kept his tone low, but he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the others in the clearing could hear him. Depending on their animals, they might have enhanced hearing, vision, or smell. The growling started up again, but he ignored it.