point, he didn’t care. He had to find them.
Only a cool breeze wafted through the empty cottage. Jade and Lily were not there. The drumming of his heart increased as he raced into the shop.
“Have you seen Jade and Lily?” he demanded.
Cassie looked up from where she was assisting a customer and frowned at him. “Not since this morning. Has something happened?”
“I do not know. They were waiting for me in the marketplace and when I returned, they were no longer there.”
“She probably just wandered off,” Cassie muttered. “Probably never even occurred to her that you’d be worried.”
“Jade is neither selfish nor foolish. This has to stop, Cassie. She is my mate and she is part of my life and that is never going to change. If you cannot accept that, then perhaps it would be best if we moved out.”
Cassie’s face paled and she put an apologetic hand on his arm. “Please don’t do that. You’re my family.”
“I am,” he agreed as he patted her hand. “But that family is larger now and I need you to understand that.”
“I’ll try. Honestly.” Cassie frowned as she looked over his shoulder towards the cottage. “You didn’t see them anywhere else in the marketplace?”
“I did not but the crowds were beginning to increase. Perhaps I missed them.”
Cassie suddenly clutched the countertop. “You don’t think the Vedeckians came looking for her, do you?”
The nightmarish scenario flashed through his brain, and if he had not been a Cire warrior, his knees would have buckled. He forced himself to think logically and shook his head.
“The port is on the watch for their ships. They would have alerted Hrebec if one requested a landing. And I saw no sign of them.”
Cassie’s customer, an older Trevelorian female with a carefully coiffed crest of red and silver feathers, interrupted.
“These people you are looking for—are they human?”
“Yes,” he said eagerly. “Have you seen them?”
“I’ve been here in the shop with dear Cassie for the past hour. But my husband—he’s the Market Master, you know—said something to me this morning about human females and someone searching for them.” She ran a finger along her beak-like nose. “Now what was it he said? It was after he complained about the lack of grazen marmalade and I was explaining to him that it was difficult to import. Really, you know, you would think that the Confederated Planets would do a better job of restoring trade. It’s been twenty years since the Red Death disappeared and it’s still difficult to get certain items. Why, if it weren’t for Cassie, I don’t know how I would ever find anything appropriate to wear. Thank goodness she can outfit me—”
“Yes, she is very talented,” he hastily agreed. “But what did your husband say about human females and someone looking for them?”
The matron tapped her nose again and he had the sudden urge to wring her thin neck, but he clenched his fists and waited for her to continue.
“Oh, yes, that was it. He said that there was a Ruijin in town asking about one.” She shuddered. “Nasty, hairy creatures. If one can’t have feathers, then I much prefer the simplicity of scales.”
A Ruijin? Could she be talking about the courier?
“Why was he asking? Did your husband tell you?”
“I’m not exactly sure because I was trying to explain to our maid—a dear girl, but not the best at social etiquette—how to properly serve a cup of tea while he was talking… Oh yes, that was it. He heard the Ruijin had lost one and was determined to recover her.”
He stared at her in appalled horror.
“What is it, Inzen?” Cassie asked.
“I spoke to one in the marketplace today. He came from Driguera. That is where the Vedeckians tried to sell Jade.”
“Did you tell him about her?”
“No, thank Granthar. He thought I had a Cire mate. I do not see how he could have gotten to her before I did, but what if he had an accomplice?” This time, he clutched the countertop as the world spun around him. He could not stand to lose his mate and his daughter a second time.
“Inzen! Inzen, dammit. Listen to me.” Cassie tugged urgently on his arm. “The transmitter. The one you have in Bobo. Does Lily have him with her?”
He tried to gather his thoughts into some semblance of order. Had Lily been carrying the stuffed toy in the stroller? Yes, he was sure of it. He fumbled in his pocket for the tracking device, praising the gods that he still