Heart of Their Jewel

Chapter 23

Jace took a deep breath before he said, "Hey, Corey. It's Jace."

There was a moment of stilled silence before he heard Corey say in a dark voice, "You have five minutes to explain what the fuck you were thinking before I call the team. That includes the Blackbournes. Four minutes and 43 seconds and counting."

"I thought I was doing the right thing," Jace said quickly as he started pacing.

"How the fuck is kidnapping our mate doing the right thing?" Corey seethed out as he quickly typed away on his laptop to start narrowing down his location.

"As I told you, she was found again by that foster care boy so the reason I was in New York was to set up a place for us to hide out. I didn't expect for Jewels to be attacked and you all to find out you're soulmates. I already had a plan in motion on how we were going to disappear to throw the culprit's trail off. So I had to quickly think of a plan and to show that you all wouldn't have an idea if he trailed you lot," Jace smoothly lied as it rolled off his tongue.

"You know we could have had a meeting to go over a better fucking plan than you drugging all of us and stealing our mate in the cover of the night! Leaving both your cell phones behind and no fucking note," Corey seethed out.

"I didn't want to risk it if he was watching somehow," Jace tried to explain. "I was just thinking of getting my sister somewhere safe and sound. I'm sorry, Corey."

"What happened for you to contact me? I'm assuming something didn't go to plan so what the hell is going on, Jace?" Corey questioned in a grumbly voice. What Jace explained sounded something like a concerned overprotective brother would do in the Academy but it still didn't make sense. There were more options than what he chose to do.

Jace sighed, "It's Jewels, Core," he groaned, "she's...she's...well she's..."

"Just fucking say it, Jace," Corey demanded. "What's going on with Jewel?" At this point, Corey could hear his brothers moving around the apartment more than likely to see what had him raising his voice. He watched the four men enter his room and Raven scanned the room for intruders before looking at his lover. "Answer me, Jace," he growled ignoring the raised eyebrows as he switched the phone to speaker, "What the fuck is going on with Jewel?"

"We were watching Courage the Cowardly Dog and it was the episode with a diamond," he blurted out. "She panicked and started hyperventilating. She managed to get out that the diamond matched the one on the attacker's neck and then she said it was Hale that touched her. It sent her spiraling and well now..."

"Now what?" Corey yelled. "What Jace?"

"She slipped to the point she dissociated," Jace rushed out. "She's...it's like her brain has checked out. She's not responding to anything and Corey," Jace sighed and sniffled, "it's been a week, Core, she's just slipping away and nothing I do is working. I need help saving my sister, Corey." Jace sniffled as he wiped at a tear, "Please."

"Fuck!" the men growled out.

Corey growled and slammed his fist down on his table, "Give me your address right fucking now, Jace!"

"4291 Bulberry Road, Armonk, New York 10504," Jace mumbled.

Corey looked to the men and sighed, "I'll talk to the guys Jace but whatever happens you're just going to have to accept. I'm calling the Blackbourne group now. We're on our way."

"I will accept full responsibility," Jace sighed, "I just want my sister okay and safe from Hale. I'm sorry, please tell them that."

Meanwhile, over at the Blackbourne mansion, the men had just finished their work for the day and were decompressing in the living room as a family with Jewel on their minds.

Victor was playing on the piano when his phone started ringing. Frowning, he pulled it out of his pocket and put it on speaker, "Hello?"

"Link with Corey's phone now!" Axel demanded, "He's on the phone with Jace!"

Victor nearly fell off his piano bench as he hurried to his laptop and woke it from sleep mode. "I'm on now," he rushed out as he began opening multiple apps. "What is Jace saying?"

By now the whole team was surrounding Victor as they stared at the phone on the table with mixed emotions. Axel told them what Corey had said and what they overheard.

"We just got the address," he growled. "Sending it now."

"I'll grab everything," Sean said as he rushed to his office while his mind spiraled with various scenarios of what kind of state she could be in. It already sounded bad from what little Axel had told them.

"I'll start fucking packing bags," Gabe growled out as he stormed off. Luke and Kota stormed off right behind him to help.

"Mr. B, what are we going to do about Jace?" Nathan asked as North, Victor, and Silas remained in the living room. North and Silas were curious and waited for the answer before going about their task of prepping vehicles.

"We will detain him and he will be subjected to an interrogation by all of us. Until then he will remain under our watch. If necessary, he can take a trip to Raven's lair. Our main focus is retrieving our mate and helping her recover," Owen said as he wiped his glasses before placing them back on his face. "Now, I need both of you to ensure our vehicles are fully ready for this long trip. Victor, please map out the fastest route along with possible diversions if needed. Nathan, assist Sean in loading up any equipment he might need in the Toyota Sequoia. We will be taking that, the BMW and North's Jeep. We should be up and ready in the next two hours by the time the Tomas arrives here," Owen commanded before taking off to his office to reschedule everyone's jobs and missions.

Everyone worked diligently to the point they were ready a half hour early. The Tomas' even arrived as Gabe shut the last trunk. The Tomas stepped out and greeted the group. "Ready get Tiny Treasure. Nyet kill Jace. He talk lots," Raven growled out as he cracked his neck. After finding out what Jace said to his Sunshine and the state his Tiny Treasure was in, he'd been pissed ever since. "Father jet here, we get Tiny Treasure faster."

"What are we fucking still doing standing the fuck here then? Let's go get our goddamn mate back and beat the living shit out of her brother! Once he's singing like a goddamn canary then we'll see what the ass will do to remedy the relationship with us he's fucking damaged," Gabe exclaimed before marching to the SUV and getting in.

The men around couldn't agree more and followed his lead. It was time to get back their mate and figure out what the hell triggered everything to cascade in these recent events. One thing was certain, they were going to do everything in their power to serve justice on everyone who has caused pain to their mate.