Chapter: 10. LAY LOW.

DORIAN'S POV

Caelen didn't look up when we walked in. He was at his desk the way he always was, coat on despite being indoors, a document open in front of him that he wasn't reading anymore. He had that partying stillness which signalled that he had been waiting but decided not to let it show.

We filed in without being told where to stand and that was when he finally looked up, paying us attention. I admired the fact that he had remained so calm all these months while knowing that his sons' means of living was cut off. He moved his gaze across each of us once, studying us like we were some sort of sculptures. Anyone would have felt terribly scared.

But Caelan was far from being scary unless it was necessary.

He cleared his throat, "How close are we?" I could sense the impatience oozing off his words.

"Five days," I replied. "We will fly out tomorrow night. It's better that we settle down before the game starts." I replied.

He nodded slowly. "And you're certain he'll be there."

"He is on the roster so yes."

Caelen was quiet for a moment. His eyes moved to Lucian briefly, then back to me." I am not asking about the game, Dorian."

I held his gaze, assuring him with mine. "I get it, sire."

"Do you." It wasn't really a question. He leaned back in his chair and looked at all four of us with the expression he used when he wanted an answer from the room and not just one person. "I need him back, not rattled or even cornered. Not running in a new direction with a new plan. Bring him back." He let that sit for a second before adding. "Tell me you understand the difference...all of you."

"We do," Caius said while Riven nodded once.

Lucian said nothing which Caelen noticed but neither of them addressed that directly.

Caelen then sighed, "And how are you boys faring? Any strange feelings in your body?" He asked us.

"Nothing yet has..."

Riven beat me to it.

"Signs are beginning to show for me and I fear that the more we let this delay, the more dangerous it will become for us. I am not feeling too good either." He confessed.

"Hmm. Regardless, take your medications. Bear with it for just five days. You will be back to normal." Then Caelen rose from his chair. "That is why it's important you don't fail on this. He is not a loose end or a resource...that isn't necessarily why we're chasing after him...he is a part of the family and we can't just allow a part of the family to remain missing. I owe his mother one."

His gaze finally settled on me. "Keep a watchful eye on your brothers."

"Yes, Father." I replied.

He picked up his document again and we were dismissed.

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The flight was four hours and nobody talked much. Riven slept, or did a convincing impression of it. Caius had his notebook open and was cross-referencing something I didn't ask about. Lucien sat across from him with his jaw set and his eyes on the window.

He was good at performing so I let him be. Voss City came up grey and flat beneath us as we descended, exactly as Lucien had described it. Too ordinary for my liking. It was the kind of city that didn't ask about the nature of the people moving through it.

Smart, Ezra.

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The penthouse was on the fourteenth floor of a building that had the advantage of being close to nothing in particular. There was no landmarks or any reason for anyone to look at it twice. Caius had chosen it correctly.

We dropped our bags and I gave them ten minutes before I gathered them in the main room.

They arranged themselves without being directed. Riven stood by the window. Caius at the table and Lucien...I didn't care.

I looked at each of them.

"We are here for one reason," I said. "The game puts us in the same building as him. That's all we're using it for. We play, let it run, and we do not do anything before, during, or after that might give him reason to bolt." I paused. "We are not here to surround him. We're not here to corner him. We are here to remind him that we exist and we just need him back. We can settle things amicably. We are adults."

"That is a very long way of saying we're hoping he comes to us," Lucien said.

"Right. I got bored halfway through him speaking. I thought I was listening to a sermon." Riven yawned and rubbed his face.

I gritted my teeth slightly. Bastard.

"I said what I said."

Lucien opened his mouth again.

"I am not finished," I raised a finger to stop him midway. "Nobody should try to play smart by claiming to want to confirm anything before the game or make any contact at the boards. Do not see him behind my fucking back! Do not stall him. Do not show yourself to him." I turned to Lucien, "Especially you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Especially me? Are you being serious right now?"

"Yes. You went ahead without telling anyone. You found him, watched him play a full game. I know how you get when you're in the same room as something you've been looking for. So I am telling you specifically, okay?"

Lucien stared at me.

"Do you want to tell me something?" I poked.

"I want to tell you a lot of things, sucker." He shot back.

"Save them."

His jaw shifted. "I just think it's interesting," he said, his voice dropping low, "that you're standing there giving the rest of us instructions about keeping our feelings off our faces." He tilted his head slightly. "You might want to try that one on yourself first, Dorian. See how it fits."

The room went very quiet. Caius suddenly found his notebook interesting to stare at while Riven looked out the window, clearly not interested in the incoming war of thrones.

I held Lucien's gaze fiercely and he didn't back down either. There was a whole conversation happening in the space between us that neither of us was going to have out loud. I felt my ego bruised a little by his words. We were bonded a bit after all so my emotional secrets weren't entirely safe.

He wasn't wrong and we both knew that and that was why I wasn't going to respond to it.

"Get some rest. We still have some more training to do." I said to the room.

Caius stood feeling a bit relieved. It was all over his face and Riven on the other hand quickly found his way out. Lucien smirked before he turned, leaving for his room.

'I swear, I can't wait until I have your mouth torn wide open!' I said in my head, knowing that it wouldn't work..

My room was at the end of the hall, facing the street. I sat on the edge of the bed, refusing to turn the lights on. I wondered what Ezra could be doing right now. Sleeping or not sleeping? Practicing for the game or not practicing? Was on a date or not...

My face scrunched up in total disgust when I realized where my thoughts had suddenly gone. The thought of Ezra dating or being in a relationship had never crossed my mind because he never had friends or went out much.

But then, he considered himself to be free here so what if...

My fists tightened and I had to shut my eyes, exhaling softly. I was just worried about him...as a brother.

Yeah. As a brother.

Then I thought about what Lucien had said.

'You might want to try that one on yourself first.' I put my elbows on my knees and looked at the floor.

The issue wasn't that I had feelings I was failing to manage. It was just that I had spent a very long time being precise about what I allowed myself and what I didn't and that system extremely worked well. I had no interest in examining why it had started to work less well in the last five months. Maybe due to the shortage of my extraordinary meal.

I straightened up. Tomorrow was another day for practice. Deep within me, a part of my system was desperately eager to meet him face to face. I had seen his pictures but a sudden hunger to see him physically was burning badly in my soul.

I had one job and I intended to execute it perfectly.

I wondered what his reaction would be after seeing us.