Chapter Thirty-three

 

Stern woke up with a smile. The intimate moments with Cyra and then Trish after would be something he’d always remember. Not just because of the acts, but because of the emotions involved during those moments.

 

Love— deeper than any he’d felt before— had swallowed him whole. Even the lust that’d spiked during those moments was pale compared to their love. He could feel the echo of that love on either side of him now.

 

She’d been so worried, but so determined, Stern thought, looking at Cyra’s head nestled on his right arm. But she did it, and her fear vanished. I can still feel the memory of the moment when she felt free and loved...

 

He turned his head to see Trish snoring lightly on his left. And you, Trish... helping her through her fear, then helping both of us accept the moment before joining in… Stern smiled as he let his thoughts continue. And when she was sated and done, you had to have your turn, and Cyra encouraged you the entire time. I was so afraid I’d fail you in that moment, but both of you helped coax me to climax again.

 

A deep well of love filled him as he gazed from one of his lovers to the next. I love both of you so much... Do I dare take the next step? Not yet. Maybe after the next tier? We’d be seeing my parents after those dungeons. That would be a good time, right? I’ll need to see about getting the items if I want to do that.

 

A soft murmur had him looking at Cyra as she woke up. “Good morning, Cyra.”

 

A languid smile crossed her face as she opened her eyes. “My prince.”

 

“Princess,” Stern murmured, bending his head to kiss her lightly.

 

He felt her love grow, but also a small hint of worry.

 

“I hope you enjoyed last night,” Stern whispered. “I was drowning in love the entire time.”

 

Cyra’s worry faded as she stared into his eyes. “Yes. You felt my love?”

 

“All of yours, and Trish’s.”

 

“Good,” Trish murmured, kissing his chest as she woke up.

 

“I felt your worry fade, and then only love and lust… the lust was pale, so very pale, in comparison,” Stern explained.

 

Cyra went crimson. “Oh? I thought you’d only feel my lust. I was…” She trailed off and began stroking one of her ears.

 

“I was, too,” Trish said to help ease Cyra’s embarrassment. “I’m not surprised our love drowned out our lust.”

 

“Neither am I, when I think about it. I do love you, both of you,” Cyra said.

 

“I know,” Stern said, inhaling deeply. “I can feel it, and I love you both, too.”

 

“Think we got too loud?” Trish snickered.

 

Cyra’s embarrassment had been fading, but now, it flared again. “Cammie will understand.”

 

“She went to bed when we did,” Stern said. “She shouldn’t have heard anything.”

 

“What about Vulk when he came home?” Trish snickered again.

 

“Now you’re just being mean,” Cyra said, lightly slapping Trish’s arm.

 

“A bit. I never heard him come home, though.”

 

“Me, neither,” Cyra said.

 

“Maybe he stayed out?” Stern suggested.

 

“I didn’t think Emma would be that forward,” Trish mused, “but maybe Vulk swept her off her feet.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“We should go see if he’s home or not and get breakfast,” Cyra said.

 

“Yeah,” Stern exhaled. “One of you needs to get up first, though. I’m pinned.”

 

Trish rolled out of bed. “I’m up. Come on, you two.”

 

Cyra kissed Stern’s chest, then got out of bed, too. “Gear after lunch today?”

 

“That’s what we agreed on,” Stern said as he leveraged himself up.

 

It only took a few minutes for them to get dressed. When they stepped into the front room, they found Cammie there, petting Pawly.

 

“Good morning,” Stern greeted their friend.

 

“Good morning to you three,” Cammie said.

 

“What time did he come back?” Trish asked with a smirk.

 

“No idea,” Cammie said. “I was waiting to wake him. Thought he might like a little bit of sleep, at least.”

 

“You can get him up and I’ll go get breakfast,” Stern said.

 

“We did say we’d give him until around midday,” Cyra said.

 

“That’s a good point,” Stern nodded. “I’ll go get breakfast for the four of us.”

 

“See you shortly,” Trish said.

 

~*~*~

 

Stern was back with breakfast in short order, and they all ate their fill— except for Pawly, though she still had plenty. After putting the dishes into the hallway, Trish looked back at the others. “Should we start on our gear and see if he’ll show up while we work?”

 

“It’s still early, so might as well,” Cammie said. “We can go shopping after lunch while he works on his things.”

 

By the time they finished, it was nearing midday, and Vulk still hadn’t made an appearance.

 

Cammie grumbled as she knocked on Vulk’s door, then threw it open. “Get out of be…!” She trailed off, staring at the empty room. “What?”

 

“Damn. He stayed the night with her?” Trish asked appreciatively.

 

“We enjoyed the food at the tavern,” Stern said. “Maybe we should swing by there?”

 

Cammie exhaled, melancholy filling her for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“Let’s go,” Stern said.

 

They left the inn behind, walking a little quicker than normal. They had to match Cammie’s pace, as she was the one in the lead. When they entered the tavern, Cammie looked around, but only saw the bartender.

 

“Afternoon,” Ruddy greeted them. “Wine and dark ale?”

 

“And food, please,” Stern said.

 

“Be right out.”

 

They took the seats at the table they’d used before.

 

A minute later, Emma came out of the back. Seeing them, she smiled, but her smile dipped when she didn’t see Vulk. Collecting the drinks, she came over to their table. “Welcome back. Where’s Vulk?”

 

“We kind of had that same question,” Stern said, taking his glass. “He wasn’t in his room this morning.”

 

Emma looked puzzled. “He didn’t go back?”

 

“What happened?” Cammie asked a little tightly.

 

“What?” Emma blinked. “We had a good date, and then he said he needed to get back.”

 

“Okay,” Trish said slowly before Cammie could interject again. “We’d like to hear everything. It might help us find him.”

 

“Emma, food is ready,” a female voice called from the kitchen.

 

“Yes, Mother,” Emma said before rushing back to the kitchen.

 

“She’s worried...” Stern said as Emma left. “She’s worried for your brother.”

 

Cammie exhaled slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat. “So am I.”

 

Emma came hurrying back to them with a tray of food. She didn’t bother to unload it— she just set the tray on the table and sat in the empty chair. “Okay... umm… let me see. He came to get me in the early evening. He was smiling and told me about how you pulled another soul from a dungeon.”

 

Stern snagged a pretzel, but paused for a moment, thinking about how much Vulk liked them. The others reached for the food, too, as they knew it would be a little while before they had enough information to work with.

 

“We went to a small place run by some friends for dinner,” Emma said, her cheeks dusting pink. “We stayed for a bit, talking about ourselves. He’s such a sweet man.”

 

Cammie watched Emma intently.

 

“After dinner, we took a walk…” Emma’s blush deepened. “We... umm... stopped by my place. I let him sample Father’s newest batch of dark ale.” Her face was heating more as she pressed on. “We kissed. He’s so shy and reserved, timid. Not like so many others.”

 

“Emma, what happened after the kiss?” Trish asked softly.

 

“We came back here,” Emma said. “We sat at this table, and just snacked, drank, and talked more.” She looked up at Cammie. “Vulk is special, Cammie.”

 

Cammie met her eyes, and softened slightly. “I’m glad you see him that way, but we don’t know where he is.”

 

Emma’s brow furrowed. Her eyes closed as she obviously tried to recall anything she could. “He left when we closed for the night, a couple of hours after midnight. Said he had to be awake before midday. Promised to come see me again today… kissed me good night… in front of my father.”

 

“Bet that wasn’t well received,” Stern said softly.

 

“Father stays out of my love life. We’ve settled the argument about me being an adult. If anything, he was happy to see Vulk being so respectful with me.”

 

“Was he drunk when he left?” Trish asked.

 

“No. He drank very slowly,” Emma smiled. “Said his sister was worried about his drinking and he was trying to be better about it.”

 

Cammie swallowed. “Yes. I have been.”

 

“He left, and that was it?” Stern asked.

 

“I headed home with Father and Mother beside me, and Vulk went toward the Walkers’ area,” Emma nodded.

 

Everyone fell silent for a moment, and then Stern looked at Pawly. “Pawly, go home, please. I need Zasha.”

 

Pawly chuffed and faded from his lap.

 

“Zasha?” Cammie asked.

 

“Hunting,” Stern said. “I’ll need some of his clothing, anything with his scent on it. We’ll see if Zasha can track him.”

 

“Emma,” Trish said softly, “can you think of anything unusual that happened or that you saw?”

 

Emma started to shake her head, but she slowed, a frown appearing as she thought about it. “There was a new customer last night. He sat at the bar, always looking around.”

 

Stern got up and went to Ruddy. “Sir, Emma said you had a new customer last night. Was always looking around. Can you tell me about him?”

 

Ruddy frowned— he hadn’t heard much of what’d been said at the table, but he saw that his daughter was upset and Vulk was not there. “This have to do with your friend?”

 

“He never came home last night.”

 

Ruddy’s lips pursed. “Emma’s upset. Let me see... short hair, strong hands, had some scarring on them. Acted like he was used to wearing armor, even though he was in clothes.”

 

“None of that is likely to help,” Stern murmured. “No facial scars?”

 

“None. He wasn’t talkative much, either. Just sipped at his few ales slowly. I tried to get him talking once about things and he brushed me off.”

 

“Fuck,” Stern exhaled. “Okay.”

 

“Wait…” Ruddy said. “He did let drop that he came from Bloodstone. Seemed upset when he said it, like he hadn’t meant to.”

 

Stern’s blood went cold. “Bloodstone?”

 

“Yes. Does that mean something to you?”

 

Stern thought about Bloodstone, Skippy, the old mayor, and finally, the guards. “Maybe.”

 

“You think that man had something to do with it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That man left when I announced last call.”

 

Stern exhaled slowly. “Thank you, Ruddy.”

 

“I hope it isn’t what you think it might be.”

 

“Me, too, because Vulk had nothing to do with that.”

 

Stern went back to the table, looking at Cyra. “Ruddy said the man at the bar was from Bloodstone.”

 

Cyra’s face went pale, and her hands went to her mouth. “Oh, no. Not…”

 

“Bloodcoin,” Stern said. “I think the old mayor is still upset, after all.”

 

Trish’s lips thinned. “He went after Vulk?”

 

“Maybe. We’ll have to see what we can find.”

 

Stern summoned Zasha to him, kneeling down. “Zasha, my friend is missing. I want you to track him. Can you?”

 

Zasha barked and snuffled Stern.

 

“We have to grab his scent,” Stern said, petting the puppy.

 

Trish got to her feet. “We should get our gear.”

 

“Shit, you’re right...” Stern said.

 

“Will you… tell me?” Emma asked, her voice breaking.

 

“We will,” Cammie said softly as she touched her shoulder.

 

“Thank you,” Emma whispered, her shoulders hunching as she began to cry softly.