Mate's come first - 2. Present Day

Present Day

Mica sighed as he exited the shop; this was another dead end. How a teenager managed to disappear so completely just went to prove Owen Kerby was more powerful than any of them knew or was just very smart. According to his parents, they noticed he was missing when they were getting ready to attend his graduation ceremony and they couldn't find him. When Mica had questioned the staff, it seemed they hadn't seen him since the day he turned eighteen. That had been a week after the school exams had finished. The graduation ceremony had been delayed due to an illness in the family of Coven leader, Oliver Grayson, and so the lad had been missing for two months, and no one had noticed or if they had, they hadn't told anyone. He could be anywhere by now.

Rolling his shoulders, he pushed open the door to the next shop. The sign proclaimed magical spells of all kind could be requested and placed into an object for later use. The shops were very rare but where there was one, it was popular with the less powerful members of the magical community because it meant they could have common spells, such as healing and cleaning ones on hand when they were needed.

There was a man at the counter talking to the assistant, so Mica took a look around at the shelves. There were shelves of colourful stones with healing spells of varying strength, some cabinets with restricted spell stones--such as transport spells, and a display that included such things as automatic writing pens, and paper that would correct your spelling as you wrote. What made Mica laugh was a shelf of trick spells; trip-ups, slips, skin rashes, and more. He could see letting one of those loose in the office and seeing the office manager Cravin blowing his head trying to find the source.

The man being served exited the store, and Mica headed for the counter.

He waited as the assistant put something away on the back shelf and had a smile ready when the person turned. Mica froze. Not only was this man the one they'd all been searching for, but the brat was his mate. Did fate hate him or something?

Owen smiled. "Can I help you, sir? What spell are you looking for?"

Mica gritted his teeth. "I am not looking for a spell. I was looking for a spoiled brat who ran away from home and worried a lot of people. Looks like I found him. I have orders from Leader Grayson to take you back to the coven to answer for the trouble you've caused."

Owen's smile had gone, and in its place was an expression of pure fear that Mica didn't come close to understanding. Leader Grayson wasn't an unfair or abusive leader. The most the boy would get was a lecture, and maybe he would be made to work off the money and time the coven had spent trying to find him.

Owen's next statement made no sense to Mica. "I am never going to back to that place. I applied for and received sanctuary status here in Teonards. You can't remove me without bringing the council down on you."

Mica frowned. "Why would you be granted sanctuary status? That is reserved for victims of abuse or who have been unfairly forced out of their homes."

"Yes."

Mica waited, but Owen didn't expand on his answer.

Suddenly an elderly man came out the back and halted when he saw Mica.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Owen, do you need—"

The man stopped once he was in front of Owen. "What has happened? Owen, look at me." Owen closed his eyes, and Mica was shocked to see a lone tear roll down his cheek. The man spun to face Mica. "I don't know who you are, sir, but you will leave this shop and never return."

Mica was at a loss, so he said the first thing that came into his head. "I have orders to return Owen to his coven to face punishment for running away and wasting coven resources trying to find him."

That was the wrong thing to say. "Owen is never returning to that place." A glowing ball appeared above the old man's hands as he spoke. "You can take those orders you have and shove them up your ass. Then you can return to your precious coven and tell them they do not deserve a powerful mage like Owen."

Owen laid a hand on Mr. Mosely's arm. "Mr. Mosely, you need to calm down. He can't hurt me; he would get into too much trouble with the council if he did with you here as a witness."

Hurt him? Mica had never hurt a coven member. What was going on? he wondered.

Mr. Mosely huffed and the glow dissipated. "Do you know what he looked like when I found him? He had a glamour on, but it was no trouble for me to see through it." An image shimmered in the air over the counter, and suddenly Mica was looking at a revolving image of Owen's head. He gasped at the black bruises around both Owen's eyes. His cheek was sunken in—it could have been broken. The image panned down, and Mica saw Owen's arm was at a wrong angle and one of his fingers was so swollen Mica doubted Owen would have been able to use it.

"Mr. Mosely, stop, please." Owen's voice was soft. "Mica is the second of my former leader." Mica did not like the addition of 'former'. "You know he can't take me back unwillingly; you helped me with the sanctuary application. You even got it fast-tracked. Now just let the man go. He can tell the coven that I am well, but that he was unable to get me to return. He won't come back here, will you?" The last was directed right at Mica.

Mica thought carefully before he answered. "I will agree if I can speak to you in private to make sure you are not being forced to stay here."

Mr. Mosely obviously didn't like this idea, but Owen nodded. "There is a small cafe two blocks down the street to the left when you walk out of here. I will meet you there in half an hour."

Mica stared hard at Owen, could he trust him? He didn't really have a choice, so he nodded.

"If you hurt him, I'll make your life a living hell." The threat should have been funny coming from such a frail old man; however, Mica had seen some of the restricted spells in the cabinet, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of any of them.

"You have my word, sir, no harm will come to him." He didn't add that Owen was his mate. If Owen hadn't mentioned it there had to be a good reason, and he wanted to talk to Owen first.

He waited for Mr. Mosely to nod his acceptance, then headed out of the shop. The argument started before he'd even shut the door.

"You can't seriously be thinking of talking to him. He is no better than the brutes who beat you."

"Mr. Mosely, I have never heard anything but good things about Leader Grayson and his second. I have to give him—"

Mica didn't listen to any more. It was enough to know Owen had heard good things about him and Gray.

Pulling out his phone, he hit the first speed dial. He may not have wanted to go against Owen with telling Mr. Mosely, but when it came to his best friend and leader all bets were off.

"Mica, what's up?" Gray's voice was distracted; he was probably working on the paperwork that seemed to pile up more and more each day.

"I found him." Mica didn't say who; there was only one person they'd all been searching for.

"Where? Is he all right? When are you bringing him home?" Trust Gray to worry first about Owen's health and not the why.

"I am in Teonards. I had to pick up some supplies and thought I'd ask around on the off chance. He is all right as far as I can see. There's a bit of a problem with bringing him home. He has sanctuary status here. I can't legally remove him against his will." He rushed on before Gray could answer. "Another snag is he is my mate."

"What!" Gray's yell had Mica pulling the phone away from his ear. "If the boy is your mate, then surely he should want to return with you."

Mica thought back to the image Mr. Mosely had shared. How had Owen gotten hurt? Who had beaten him? Why was he granted a fast-tracked sanctuary status? These were all questions Mica needed to have answered before the question of their matehood was even brought up. To Gray he said, "Can we please refrain from calling him a boy? It makes me feel like a dirty old man. As for him returning, there are few questions that need to be answered first." He proceeded to fill Gray in on what he knew as he walked to the cafe. When he arrived, he ended his call and ordered a large coffee. He was going to need to be patient and calm. He could do that...he hoped.