The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 49

[Victor]

Echo had been missing for two nights. When I woke the third night, I was warm and, for a moment, I thought maybe someone had found her while I slept. But then I smelled wolf. Grayson had been in my room. I

I hadn't thought to lock my door when I went to sleep. I was grateful that he hadn't decided to do something to me. We'd been bonding more while we were out searching.

His attitude made more sense when I found out he was the youngest child for much of his life. He'd been spoiled a little more than the elder children and given what he wanted when he wanted it. When Echo didn't fall in love with him immediately, he started to obsess.

We'd been talking and I was teaching him how to be patient with Echo. I kept explaining to him the things she didn't understand and how to be gentle with her. She needed a lot more caring than he realized. After I dressed, I went down to the kitchen. Bellamy was plating a meal for everyone. She turned and smiled at me.

I was surprised at the way she glided into life here like she'd been here forever. She acted like this was her house and her kitchen. It was easy to talk to her and understand her. Bellamy didn't play games.

She had set aside her political duties to make sure everyone was focusing on the search and had even called in a team of rogues to work on tracking. Tonight, we were actually trying something based on her suggestion. We'd called in a dark water witch to help with the search. All the woman wanted was a few ingredients for spells that were hard to come by willingly.

"Victor. Sit at the table, I made food for you and Talia. I used my own blood so that you would both have the added power. This will be a trying night. Did you sleep okay?" Bellamy asked.

"I sleep the same no matter what. Thank you for asking and for the food. I really appreciate everything that you're doing for us." I smiled tightly.

"Stop with the sad smile. We'll find her. Echo is going to be safe. We're going to train her, and everything will be fine." Bellamy assured me. "Don't make me have to kick your ass. Now, get that indifferent asshole look on, Gray is nearby. Don't want him to know you actually feel, do you?"

I chuckled. She saw right through me from the first time she met me. Talia was proud of her little friend. I would often see her looking on like a doting parent.

Sitting at the table, I was soon joined by Talia and Grayson. Bellamy put plates and bowls down in front of us, before returning with plates for her and Grayson. "Where are your friends?" I asked.

"They went out for dinner before they start the search tonight. I'm in contact with them, if we find anything out I can reach them." She assured me.

"I don't know how you can act so calmly about this. I barely slept I just keep thinking of what could be happening to her. Of how scared she must be. Of how I could have stopped this." He said with a small growl.

I rolled my eyes. "Were you prepared to fight at least three rogue wolves? Could any of us have known someone would take her? I killed everyone who knew who she was, Grayson. The only ones who knew were me, Rosalynn, Marius, the leaders of your pack, Talia, and you. Her siblings only found out the full truth recently. No one could have told anyone."

"What about her parents? They knew something." Grayson insisted.

That thought hadn't crossed my mind. They were so terrified that I didn't think they would try anything. What if they had told someone else in hopes of some sort of vengeance? My taking Echo had lost them their other children.

I looked to Bellamy. She didn't seem to have considered it either.

"What's their address? I can send my rogues over to collect them for questioning." She said urgently.

Quickly, I told her and she got that distant look in her eyes that told me she was in a mind link. She nodded to me when she was done. I worked on eating the food she'd prepared, but my stomach was not happy. I knew it wasn't that the food wasn't good and prepared with enough blood. Talia was eating just fine. It was that I wanted to be the one to find them. If they did this, I would end them.

Grayson helped Bellamy clean up while Talia and I went to my office to pull together the things the water witch would need. A water witch found Echo once before. I knew that this had to work.

Suddenly, there was a twisting feeling in my stomach. I knew I wasn't used to blood foods, but they shouldn't have caused that reaction. Talia was by my side immediately, guiding me to sit in a chair. 'Please, Victor, please come save me again. I'll be better this time. Please find me!

I could hear Echo as if she were in the room whispering to me. The fear and pain in her voice made my heart drop. Wherever she was, she wasn't safe. She needed me and I couldn't find her. "What happened, Victor?" Talia asked.

"I heard her. I heard Echo. She's begging me to come save her again."

"Can you reply?"

"No. I tried last time I heard her and she couldn't hear me, or, at least, she never told me if she did. I'm sure she would have said something." I replied.

"Did you ever tell her that you heard her?" Talia pressed.

"No. I was waiting for her to get healthier. I haven't marked her as my servant. Marius, Rosy, and I think she has the ability to communicate with people without that connection." I told her.

Talia rubbed circles on my back while I tried to pull myself back together. Every night I didn't know where she was or what was happening to her, I felt myself falling apart more and more. I looked up at Talia, knowing I wasn't wearing my usual mask to hide my emotions.

She traced a finger around the line of my hair and over my cheeks. A sire could soothe their children, though many preferred to control their people through fear. Talia was frightening, but mostly to her enemies. "You're not doing well, my Victor. This is far worse than you should be."

"I love her, Talia. I miss seeing her every day. If a vampire has her, he could be doing terrible things to her. It feels like my heart is torn out each morning when I go to sleep without her here and each evening when I wake up knowing that she isn't going to be here. I only made her my daytime servant so there would be something to occupy her while she figured out what to do with her life. I offered to make her my human servant so she wouldn't feel pressured to find something fast." I explained.

"When you said you thought she was your Solus Amor, I wondered it could just be the pheromone of the female dhampyr. This isn't normal. Every male I've seen affected by that has gone back to normal within one sleep of the female leaving. I don't know what this is. You're acting like a werewolf with a mate. I love my Solus Amor, but I only see her every century. I don't ache and pine for her like this. You remind me of Gray out there." She murmured.

I scoffed. "Grayson thinks that Echo belongs to him because she's his mate. I'm nothing like him. He's childish and selfish."

"Whenever you aren't watching yourself because Marius is here, you call her your Echo. You hissed at Grayson when he tried to go in her room yesterday. He was just trying to help with chores. You two fight like cats and dogs, until you both remember that Echo isn't with you, then you get sad together and start acting like friends. Or friendly rivals, at least. You are the vampire version of that pup. You may seem cool on the outside, but you're just as broken and emotional as he is." Talia scolded.

I tried to look away, but she grabbed my chin and made me look into her eyes. I didn't try to pull away. That would only make her angry.

"Victor. Set your emotions aside or you won't be able to focus on Echo. If you love her, you need to put yourself into the mindset you had while hunting Paul. We need to find the bastards who took her and make them pay for the disrespect they showed in taking your servant. You may have lost your reputation as 'Victor Nightshade of the council', but you are known to all vampires as 'The Hunter'. All children behave more respectfully in case their sire takes a page out of your book. How fearsome do you think you are sitting here all teary eyed?"

That shocked me. I thought I had lost my reputation, but I had gained another. She was right. This was an insult to me. They had to know she was my servant. They took her in the middle of the day. If hunters had found out where I lived, who's to say that rogue wolves couldn't?

"I'll find them and destroy them." I growled.

"There's the man I know. Focus on that anger, not on the loss. The witch will be here soon. Let's finish gathering the things she'll need and get out to the kitchen." Talia said, stepping back.

We got everything together and left for the kitchen. Bellamy was sitting at the table with Grayson. He looked upset and she had a pitying expression on her face.

Of course she would feel badly for him. They were both wolves and understood each other. When she saw us, Bellamy got a concerned look. She rushed over to us.

"The parents are gone. The neighbors haven't seen them for a couple days. Their cars are still there and there aren't any signs of a struggle in the house. It looks like they were packing to run. Whoever has Echo might have them too. Or, they could have gone willingly. Either way, they're high on my suspect list." Bellamy said quietly. "Are your rogues trying to track them?" I asked.

"Yes. There is more of a scent. Rogues. Probably the ones who took Echo. My people are on it. This could be the break we need."

"Victor heard Echo." Talia said.

Grayson jumped up and hurried over. "You talked to her? Is she alright? No, stupid question. Does she know where she is or who took her?"

"I can't talk back to her. I can only hear her. The positive is, we know that she's alive. She sounded hurt and scared. I don't know why I can only now hear her. Maybe they kept her drugged or she was sleeping at night." I offered.

"Damn it. I wish I could hear her. I didn't feel the pain of losing her, like I would have if she had died. Our bond was getting stronger. I definitely would have felt it. That was one of the things keeping me going. What did she say?" He asked.

I looked at him. He had a hopeful expression. I understood. This was actually a positive. Maybe she would get strong enough that we could communicate.

"She wants to be saved. That was all. She can't save herself. We're going to work even harder to find her and grant that wish."