The first thing Adam realized was that he needed to go to the toilet. His bladder was about to burst, and his ass felt a nice pressure, too. He opened his eyes and noticed a cannula around his neck. He yanked it off, sat up, and somehow staggered to the toilet.
It was a tremendous relief to empty himself, and he tried to think about what the fuck had happened. Slowly, the effects of the drugs in his mind receded, and he remembered Mimi and how Damon was stalking her. He remembered their passionate sex and then also how Mimi fell asleep on top of him.
Now he woke up with his head messed up from the drugs, cannulated up, so the most logical thought was that Damon had then taken Mimi. But where, how, and how the fuck would he find it? Because the last time he hadn't been there, so he didn't know how Mimi had been found.
When Adam had cleared his mind, he went to the shower, got dressed, and looked at his phone. Fuck, four days had passed since he'd been with Mimi. Oh fuck, fucking Salvatore, Adam cursed in his mind. He had good vocabulary from several languages as he used it.
He went to eat, then he called Magnum and reported the matter, making Magnum curse profusely. But Dresden would be ready. It would now just be a matter of finding Mimi. Magnum announced he was going to drive to Adam's house, and together, they would then see what clues they could find where Mimi was and where Damon had taken her.
Adam called Bran, who gave him a map of where each cabin was. There were thousands of cabins, and it would take time to go through them all. They were even in Canada. Adam tried looking at traffic cameras, but to no avail. He had access nowhere near all of them, and he had found no hits on Damon's car.
What puzzled him was Bran's attitude. He'd only said that what if Damon and Mimi had worked it out, and was it any of Adam's business to interfere between them at all? Adam had been pretty fucking hard-pressed at that point to control himself and hope that he could at least find Mimi somewhere okay, and quickly.
Charles and Samuel were celebrating, as was Bran, and Adam still didn't want to get involved. Either way, Bran would not look kindly on anyone interfering with his boys. Adam also contacted his army buddies, but there was no use going through official channels because there was no evidence.
As it was supernatural persons, it was a bit of a case of the police and the authorities in general not really getting involved, and even then, if they did, there had to be proper evidence. The case had to be bombproof, and then maybe something could have been done.
Adam also reported it to Mimi's network, and they saw what they could do. Although Mimi's network was extensive, there were gaps, and maybe the expertise wasn't at the level in some areas that they could have been of that much use.
Adam sighed and looked at his watch. Magnum would be here in a couple of hours, and this damn anxiety squeezing his chest would be over. But only when Mimi was found, Adam knew, only then would it partially ease, and he didn't even want to think about the fucking condition Mimi would be in.
Magnum arrived with a firm look on his face, and Adam briefly explained what he had been trying to do and find. He was matter-of-factly, trying to keep his mind on the matter.
Magnum said: "We need to keep looking at the traffic cameras, but with a few roads around here that don't have camera surveillance, it's possible Salvatore could have gone that way if he's trying to stop himself from being found. Let's see what the fleas can do, and I've got a few contacts and Higgins looking into things, if we're lucky enough to find something."
Adam grunted, the sound of a drill coming from somewhere.
Adam said: "I brought my team here. We're going to make this very safe now, and then we'll see where we go. Next, I'm going to fix up someone else's house, and that way, Mimi will have a safe place if this happens again. But then, Damon, being a member of the pack, should have access to these houses as well, so it's a bit of a tricky job to get this sorted out, but we'll get something done. I'll try to build a safe room or something. But when we're up against a thousand-year-old, experienced, stubborn, strong telepath vampire, we've got our work cut out for us."
Magnum nodded. A tricky place to get a house so that everyone could come and go, but then, if it were a tight spot, it would have to be made secure so that Damon couldn't get in.
Adam said: "Salvatore had been holed up mostly in the attic. There was a sleeping bag and black roses, all the knick-knacks, and this house has a god-awful big attic."
Magnum nodded. Oh fuck, if only he'd had the sense to look in the attic first, maybe this would have been avoided. Hindsight is no fun, not at all.
They continued their search. A little over a week went by, and nothing. Mimi had been missing for two weeks now, and Adam was getting pretty fucking nervous. They just had to sit and wait.
There was no sign of Damon's car, and Magnum's contacts, Higgins or even Reddington, had found nothing. It was as if Mimi had disappeared completely, as had Damon. Day after day passed, and Adam had had enough. He was now ready to take a risk. Magnum was driving, and Adam was silent. It was a bit of a risk. Despite that, it had to be done.
They arrived at Minnesota's house, and the yard was full of cars. Adam got out of the car and walked inside in Magnum's wake. Everywhere smelled of old booze, sex, and even vomit, and Adam was glad this was one of Bran's houses, not his. House would require deep cleaning and Adam knew that was not Bran's way.
He dodged several puddles of vomit. Everywhere there was fucking or passed out, Bran himself had passed out on top of some woman, pants down, and apparently, the woman was also unconscious, as she wasn't moving at all.
Adam heard Magnum swearing and wondering what was going on. Charles was sitting on the couch, whisky bottle in hand, and drinking. The woman next to him was passed out, and Charles was groping her breasts.
Adam went in front of Charles, gave him a tube of Nick's blood, and told him to drink. Charles was so drunk he drank it. When Damon's compulsion evaporated, Charles cursed, got up, and went to the kitchen to make coffee with Magnum in his wake.
Adam found Samuel almost passed out and did the same to him. Samuel cursed just as fiercely, and the men went into the kitchen. Magnum had already given the gloomy Charles the lowdown, and Adam brought Samuel up to speed as well.
The men's faces were full of self-loathing as they realized their weakness against Damon. Charles muttered something to himself about doing a talisman against Damon, and Adam had actually surprised Charles with his pretty fucking fierce protective instinct towards Mimi. But then again, Charles had saved Mimi pretty damn many times already, right from the start.
Adam and Magnum had been looking for Mimi for over two weeks. Charles went off to investigate once again on his computer, and Samuel cursed himself for being so fucking weak. But it didn't matter.
After five days of searching, they discovered again that Damon had taken Mimi somewhere in Missouri. And then there were six Bran's cabins, and all of them were possibilities, but they were determined to go cabin by cabin to track down the right one so they could catch Damon. And save Mimi. This would take some time and precision.
Magnum armed himself with a rifle with strong arrows and a tranquilizer gun in case he had to be close. They packed into Charles' van, and Samuel had taken some gear for Mimi with him, including his medical bag bandages and anything else he might need. He took a decent selection of drugs, so he could get her down fast enough. Painless too.
The van drove slowly, and they always had a designated spot where they would leave the van. Charles and Adam were wolves, while Magnum and Samuel were humans, following behind or waiting to see if they could find the scent.
Samuel sighed. This was the third cottage, and they had always made sure that the cottage had been empty even though there had been no smell. It was so fucking frustrating, and Samuel's good nerves were really being tested as he tried to sit in the car and wait to see if he could hear the howling.
Charles and Adam went off to scout. Adam got the scent of fear first this time, brought by the wind, which he went to follow. He howled. This was the right cabin. In the woods again, they found piles of dirty bedding and Bran's cabin.
Charles had asked Bran if he had told Damon about his cottage, and Bran had said he hadn't. The men now drove more carefully to their destination as the wolves approached the cottage the other way. But then again, had Bran any hope against Damon if he compelled him to forget it?
Adam got close and saw the light on in the cottage, Damon walking around the table and talking all the time to Mimi. There was some kind of satanic vest around Mimi, and her chest seemed to be crushed. Adam saw how it was still rippling as the vest squeezed it.
Mimi coughed, and blood flew in droplets with the fit of coughing. Damon's voice was genuinely pleasurable as he looked at his blood-coughing wife. Adam controlled himself and turned back into a human as Magnum and Samuel came closer.
Magnum went pale, and Samuels's eyes lit up with a glow. Adam grunted. He had just regained his form.
He was edgy then and said quietly to Samuel, "Control yourself; we will act soon, and Mimi won't have to see you upset. She is in a too-fragile state."
Then they attacked. Charles jumped out the window on Damon again, and Magnum fired three shots into the vervain. Damon collapsed. Charles turned human and came to open the door after making sure Salvatore was properly out of the game.
Magnum and Charles went to get Damon some treatment while Adam and Samuel went to check on Mimi. Adam stroked Mimi and tried to calm her down a little. Mimi was as confused, in pain, scared as ever again. Adam removed most of the cannulas as they even looked infected. There was pus in a few of them. It was clear that Salvatore had not cared so much about cleanliness in here.
Samuel pulled the plug out of the wall socket and gently removed the infernal belt from around Mimi's body. He didn't understand what the hell kind of torture device this had even been, crushing Mimi's ribcage almost completely. Mimi's chest was misshapen, badly crushed, almost as thin as her waist. Her spine had gotten some damage, too.
Mimi complained weakly. But she was unaware of anything. She was somewhere in a nightmare and restless as Adam wrenched open the shackles and fetched clean blankets and quilts from the car. They had to be extremely careful, as she could be very unpredictable even if she seemed fragile.
Together they moved Mimi with extreme care into the blankets. Adam collected all the dental stuff again, and Samuel opened his medicine bag and drew the medicine into the syringe, ready for use.
He took a very strong painkiller and gave Mimi a good dose. A synthetic substance for large animals. Then he injected her with pentobarbital. It still worked. He took a large dose and gave it slowly into one of the cannulae, which didn't seem to be that badly infected, but he removed the cannula once he had the medicine. Mimi relaxed completely and was deeply anesthetized by the time Adam was done. Now she was safe to transport.
Samuel slipped a hard plywood sheet under Mimi, and they carried her into the car with it. The men were quiet, and Mimi was put in the back of the car. Magnum and Charles had again taken Damon's car, in which they were taking him to Dresden for treatment. It would take a little time to get her fixed.