Crux (The Aurora Lockette Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

insisted . I’d told Aurora’s mom she was missing and cringed while she screamed in agony, her emotions echoing mine. I’d listened while she cried, blamed me, then apologized. I’d bought her a ticket to fly out first thing this morning. I hadn’t bothered to try to tell her not to come, to stay home and stay safe. I knew better than to waste my breath arguing with her.
    Strained voices carried down the hall. Konstantin and Carmen must be up . I needed to get up, too, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to face them. I didn’t want to do anything at all without her.
    Her. Aurora, with her gray eyes and soft hair. Aurora that made my heart sing with a music it had never heard before. Aurora that made me burn with desire every time the shape of her body crossed my path. The same Aurora who would kill to save those she loved.
    My eyes prickled and my chest threatened to explode.
    “Gavyn?” Carmen’s voice came through the wooden door, followed by two steady knocks.
    “ Yeah?” I answered. My voice cracked, but she already knew I was ripped apart on the inside. No point in trying to hide it.
    The door swung open, revealing her face framed by curly red hair. Something in her eyes brought me to my feet.
    “What is it? Is there news?” My heart and breath froze in my chest while I waited for her to respond.
    “ Somebody else is missing.”
    “ Oh.” My heart started again. Not good news, but not the worst news either. Anything but that.
    “ Keith was taken, too.” She pushed her lips together, and it reminded me that she was sad, too. She loved Aurora, and she was close to Keith. I remembered Keith. He was one of the Gifteds from Houston. Nice, though he’d hit on Aurora while we were apart.
    “ Where was he taken?”
    She jerked her head towards the kitchen. “Come on out. Dennis is here and will fill you in.”
    I nodded, slowly rose, and followed her to the kitchen. I glanced down at my rumpled clothes that I’d been wearing for the last twenty-four hours. But I didn’t care. The only the thing I cared about was finding her.
    Konstantin and Carmen were leaning against the bar that divided the kitchen from the living room. Dennis’s handler sat against a wall in the corner. Dennis presided over the table, hands folded in front of him, coffee precisely on the upper right side of his placemat as it always was. He acted like a bloody robot sometimes. My anger churned at his calmness.
    He looked up when I walked in. “How are you holding up?”
    “ Not well. Is there news of my missing fiancé? You know, the one that I wanted to stay in L.A. and only came here on your orders?”
    Carmen flinched at my tone. “Please don’t do this right now. We need to stay focused.”
    My eyes shifted back to Dennis. He was motionless, hand resting on his coffee cup, pale as a sheet. Good. Glad to know he cared.
    Konstantin crossed the kitchen, walked around the bar, and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Son, she’s right. Now is not the time.” He squeezed my shoulder, then dropped his hand. Out of respect for him, I swallowed my anger.
    Dennis finally spoke , “He’s right, though. She was here on my orders. It was a mistake that I take responsibility for. I’m sorry.”
    I was surprised that he admitted it so freely. I dipped my head, afraid to speak as my being threatened to rip apart at the realization that she was gone . I was wasting time.
    He took a sip of his coffee, then cleared his throat. “Your fiancé is a trained fighter, not some helpless princess.” His eyes met mine. “We will get her back, or she will get herself back.”
    I sank into one of the chairs as a fatigue and tiredness beyond my years pushed me down.
    “We have news, if you are ready,” Dennis said.
    “ Please,” I said in the polite tone my mother had taught me to use, even when I didn’t want to.
    “ Keith was taken from his home in Houston, along with his hander. His handler was sharp. He managed to activate an emergency