He didn't mention the disconnect we'd all felt, he didn't need to. A lonely ache filled my body that I no longer had that bond with Julian. It was like someone had come up and severed a nerve in my body and half of me was numb and useless. The emotional pain of separation was so great, I felt an actual pain in my silent chest.
My hands were immediately on Teren's face, tears falling in the space between us. "He's alive, Teren."
He peeled his eyes from the door to stare at me; I could see that same painful hope I'd felt earlier blazing in them. "What?"
I twisted his face around to our daughter, silently crying on Ashley's shoulder. "She feels him...he's alive."
Teren's jaw dropped open as he looked up at the only connection to our son. "Baby, is Julian okay?" he whispered, his voice warbling.
Fat tears sliding down her cheeks, she shrugged. "He's scared, Daddy...really scared."
Teren closed his eyes, moisture squeezing out between his lashes. Lifting those wet lashes, he narrowed his eyes at Nika. "Is he...hurt? Does he feel pain right now?"
Nika raised her head, tilting it. Slowly, she started shaking it. "No...just scared."
Teren exhaled, crumbling over as he dropped his face into his hands. "Oh, thank god," he muttered. Glancing up at me, his voice wavered, "I thought, I thought he'd..."
Nodding, I threw my arms around his waist. I'd thought that too. We clung to each other as I felt his family draw even nearer. Nika crying amid the sniffles of everyone else in the home drew our attention and we separated, blurring up to her. Feeling calmer now that I knew that he was still breathing, that he wasn't in pain, I pulled Nika from my sister. Her arms wrapped around my neck as she attached to me. Teren's arms encircled us both. Just as my mother and sister joined our group hug, the front door burst open; it cracked the wall it hit it so hard. Both Mom and Ash jumped, but Teren, Nika and I only looked down. We'd felt her approaching.
Blood red tear tracks down her pale white skin, Halina flew into the entryway. Her eyes were on us immediately. "Teren?" was all she got out before her voice closed up.
Releasing us, Teren shook his head. "He's alive. Nika feels him."
"He's scared," I whispered, tears dripping off my chin.
Halina staggered, her hands coming to her face as she swayed for a second. Then her head snapped up. "Where is he? Why can't we feel him?"
Teren looked back at our daughter. "I don't know," he whispered. Nika looked over to him and held her hands out. Teren scooped her up, walking her downstairs. As our entryway again filled back up with people, he stroked her back. She wrinkled her nose at the smell emanating from him, but didn't stop clutching him. Meeting eyes with his great-grandmother, he set his lips in a hard line. I could feel a tension in the air as I stepped beside him.
Imogen and Alanna flew into the house, both still dressed in pajamas like they'd been aroused in the middle of the night from a deep sleep. I suppose they had; Halina was the only Adams that stayed up all night long. Their questions filled the air as Teren stared at Halina.
"He's alive, just vanished," I quickly told Alanna, my arms enfolding her in a quick hug. She asked more questions, but her eyes were on her son having a stare down with the pureblood vampire.
When Imogen and Alanna's questions were answered to the best of my ability, which was mainly that we didn't know anything, we all turned to stare at Teren. His jaw was clenched as he unwaveringly stared at the teenage vixen. She unflinchingly stared back.
My mom ran her arms around Ashley, asking her what was going on, but no one answered her. In the quiet that followed, Teren asked in an oddly calm voice, "Did Gabriel do this?"
Halina blinked, pulling her head back. She eyed Teren up and down. "No," she said confidently.
Teren tilted his head. "Before he turned back, Julian was headed down south...to Gabriel."
Halina shook her head. "He did not do this."
Teren narrowed his eyes. "Who else could shut the bond off?"
Halina looked up at Nika, then back to Teren. "He wouldn't," she whispered.
As I held my breath, debating whether or not Teren was right, he leaned into Halina. "He's always wanted to test them, to test their bond. What better way than to take one?"
Halina looked around at all of us watching her. "No, he wouldn't...he couldn't." She added in a whisper. Her head snapped back to Teren. "He was busy with the raid, Teren."
Nika raised her head, staring down at Teren. "Monster Daddy, not Grandpa."
Teren looked up at her, shushing her and stroking her hair. Not looking convinced, he kissed her head as he twisted back to Halina. "Gabriel knows a lot of people. I wouldn't put it past him to 'ask' someone else to do it. Especially when we all assumed he was 'busy' with the raid. What better alibi could he have?"
Halina bristled, her back straightening. "He is not responsible for taking Julian, and we are wasting precious time."
Teren sniffed, then kissed Nika's head again. "I will end him if we find out differently." He raised an eyebrow at Halina pointedly.
Twisting her lip, she crossed her arms over her chest. "If he is involved, you won't get the chance." She raised her eyebrow right back at him, her intent clear. If Gabriel's hand was in any way involved with our son's disappearance, in love with him or not, she'd destroy him.
Just then the front door slowly opened. Every vampire in the house turned to the silently swinging door with a growl in their chest. Teren handed Nika to my mom and blurred to the door, his hand going to the throat of the person walking through it. Halina joined him, reaching out to pull the body in.
A scream was stifled as Teren's hand clenched around windpipes, then his entire body was shoved back a step. Her hands on her throat, a stunned Starla gazed at Teren wide-eyed. Standing in front of her, crouched down in a low, defensive position, Jacen growling a warning at Teren and Halina.
The tension in the air silenced as Starla blinked at everyone staring at her and rubbed her neck. Twisting her lips, she stepped up and popped a bubble in Teren's face. "That hurt, vamp boy."
His eyes narrowing, he lifted his chin. "What are you doing back here?"
Jacen stepped in front of the debutant, his blonde hair disheveled like they'd also just woken up, although they hadn't rushed over quite like the others. "We heard the commotion when everyone left the house." He paused, his sky blue eyes sheepish. "We're your protection...so...you know, we're here to...protect."
Halina scoffed and rolled her eyes, slamming the door shut so hard Nika flinched. My mother rubbed her back as Ashley cooed in her ear. Crossing her arms over her chest, Halina muttered, "You're doing a great job."
Jacen glared at her, his arm circling around Starla's trim waist. "We came as soon as we could."
Starla looked down. "We were...busy." Halina scoffed again, flicking a spritzed point of Starla's bedhead do.
Teren ran a hand down his face as he looked around the assemblage. Focusing on Ashley, he pointed at the phone in the vicinity of the kitchen. "Call Ben," he twisted back to Alanna, "and call Dad." His pale eyes focused on every other set of pale eyes, then lingered on mine. "Tell them to get over here. We need everyone."
Running a hand through his hair, he darted towards the stairs as Ashley and Alanna moved to make phone calls. I watched him blurring up the stairs, and took a step to follow him. Halina grabbed my arm. "How could this happen? How could Julian leave your home undetected?"
I shook my head, guilt and remorse flooding me so fast I felt like I was drowning in it. "We were asleep, we didn't feel him leaving."
Her grip on my arm tightened. "Why didn't you hear it? He was right down the hall from you."
Tears splashed on my cheeks as I shook my head. Not able to hold her gaze, I closed my eyes. "We closed the door...I forgot to reopen it."
I dropped my head in my hands, a sob breaking out of me. Muttering encouragement to my sniffling daughter, Mom took Nika away, walking into the living room with her to turn on a movie. Over my sobs, I could hear Teren tossing things around in our bedroom and Alanna and Ashley on the phone. Starla and Jacen stood there forlornly, hands in their pockets and guilt on their faces. The guilt was in mine too. I'd done this. I'd sent everyone away because I'd wanted an "empty" house for one night. It hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time, now it seemed monumental.
Imogen's arms were around me nearly instantly. "Don't blame yourself, Emma. Accidents happen."
Surprisingly, Halina's grip on my arm turned comforting. "You couldn't have known..." Her voice drifted off as she sighed.
Halina let go of me and tilted her head upstairs. "If Nika was telling the truth, and he didn't wander off...there should be some clues upstairs. Some scent of who took him."
My head shot up as I stared at her wide-eyed. I hadn't really believed that a monster had swiped him. It seemed more rational that he'd wandered off. But if someone had, Halina was right; our advanced senses should pick up...something.
I blurred up the stairs past her.
Teren met us in the twins' room. The jungle play land theme seemed ominous in the dark. Our glows highlighted shapes and animals that were warm and cheery in the daylight; the tiger crouching behind a tree screamed predator to me now.
Wearing a fresh shirt and sturdy shoes, Teren inhaled deeply as he looked around. I smelled the foreignness in the room instantly. It seemed familiar, I just couldn't place why. We looked for anything out of place once Teren flipped a light on, but everything was exactly how we'd left it when we'd put them to bed. Everything except the beds. Their covers were both pulled back, both children gone from them.
And Spike. He was different too. Having slept in the room with the children, since our bedroom door was closed off to him, he was huddled under the bed, his tail the only part of him visible. He crawled out when he smelled us in the room, his curvy tail slowly swishing back and forth. Walking up to me, he buried his head in my leg, almost like he felt guilty too for not doing a better job. I petted the collie sympathetically.
Teren's brow furrowed as Halina sniffed a stuffed animal on Julian's bed. Imogen smelled the curtains as I bit back the frustrated bile. Scents didn't exactly come with a driver's license. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a regular, unenhanced, helpless human being. I could only sense that someone had been here, but I didn't know who that person was. Teren's theory that Gabriel had "encouraged" someone to drop by was sounding more and more reasonable to me. Anger knotted my stomach as I considered plunging a stake into the ancient vampire myself.
From downstairs, I heard Jacen beating himself up for neglecting his responsibility and leaving. Starla encouragingly told him that there was no way he could have anticipated something like this, and Jacen told her that it wasn't an excuse. Sighing, he added, "I should let Gabriel know I failed."
Teren's head shifted from staring at Julian's bed to staring downstairs. A low growl came from his chest as Jacen punched numbers into his cell phone. Halina narrowed her eyes at Teren and seemed about to protest her boyfriend's innocence again, but Teren blurred out of the room, one of Julian's favorite army men falling from his hand and clattering to the floor as he did.