I wasn’t sure if Tara would be read for us yet, it was only two-thirty, but it was worth a shot…
Tara was finished, and we made our way over to the shop. I’d hardly even noticed this time when Sierra grabbed my hand and held it for the walk over. Her hand still felt good in mind, I was just used to it being there now. Tara however, most definitely noticed when we walked into her store. I won’t even pretend to understand, but Tara and Sierra seemed to take some measure of each other before we even exchanged greetings.
Tara waved and said invitingly, “Come in the back.”
Sierra let my hand go, and we followed Tara to the back. Tara walked over to her counter and held up a bone, it had very intricate symbols carved into it, and was about eight inches long and maybe a half inch thick. It was immediately apparent why she’d needed so much time.
Tara put it in a box and held it out to Sierra, who took it carefully.
“Give this to Selene, and then you’ll want one of the victim’s bodies. She can then use the same ritual spell that she used earlier,” she turned her head to me, “Once that’s done, you should be able to figure out where they are.”
I nodded, “Why does it have to be done through a victim?”
Tara replied, “The connection. They have a connection with their victims, the one you followed back to read their past, even if you couldn’t see their present. The spell on the bone is precariously balanced but it should work. There is air magic to find that connection, fire magic to trace the air connection, and earth magic to follow the fire, since it can’t interact with air. It will follow the same connection your magic did, and more importantly, carry Selene’s magic with it, which will break the spell.”
Tara shook her head and smiled, her voice was a mix of dubiousness and pride, “I had to be creative, since we don’t have anything with a connection to the pack except the victims’ bodies… but it should work,” she stressed the word should, “but it would be much more sure if we had hair, or some personal item to focus on. Still, murder leaves a lot of energy behind, so… it will work.”
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to talk us into it, or herself, but it was a better chance than no chance at all.
“Thanks Tara, anything else we need to know?”
She shook her head, “Your welcome. Nothing else to explain, it will just work, she just needs to hold it while casting her own spell and it will do all the effort to move her spell to the target automatically. Good luck.”
She cleared her throat, “There is one more thing, if it does work go after them right away, don’t wait. Their mystic could have them blocked again in a matter of an hour, or two at most.”
“Alright, we should go, thanks again.”
She just nodded and gave me a parting smile as Sierra and I turned to go. We walked over to my apartment where I was pleased to find the door closed and locked, though I had no idea how my magic had managed that when we travelled this morning, except I’d been thinking it. It seemed like a good place to leave from.
“We should get Selene and go back to the morgue.”
My phone dinged before Sierra could reply and I pulled it out, and my stomach sank. I’d flagged news stories on my phone using a news app, and there was a new one with the headline, coincidence or psychic intervention?
There was a video of me walking out of the CTA station and making a phone call, luckily they were zoomed in all the way and Sierra was not in it. Then the video jumped ahead and showed the police walking out Daniel Burns, and there was a little article with a timeline about how the police got a tip at the exact time I’d made the call after coming out of the underground station, and then the fugitive was caught and brought out of the same entry a short time later.
It was purely speculative and most definitely not proof, especially with the question mark on the article name, but that wouldn’t matter. Of course, the report was done by Kira Downs. Was she following me, or did they just have a camera at the entrance to the CTA so they’d break the story fast when Burns was found? I reached out for the information and felt relieved that it was the latter, but I still wasn’t happy about it. The whole point of sneaking out of there was to avoid this very situation.
Sierra looked concerned, “We should go, but what’s wrong?”
I handed her the phone in answer.
She snorted when she finished and handed it back, “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The press is too fickle to spend too much time on a human interest story, something will happen and it will be yesterday’s news soon enough.”
I nodded, hoping she was right, and put the phone in my pocket, “You ready?”
In answer she stepped up against me and I wrapped my arms around her. Her body felt really good against mine and seemed to fit there perfectly.
She said softly, “No point in taking any chances,” with a notes of both teasing amusement and contentment in her musical voice.
I used my ability and aimed for the backyard, near the fence, keeping in mind to take care of all doors and anything else in the way, and willed the magic to move us there. I closed my eyes after a couple of seconds, it took longer than crossing just a small part of the city, but not that much longer. Maybe ten seconds later the sense of movement stopped. Not bad for thirty plus miles.
I heard a banging behind me and long run of curse words.
Derik growled, “Next time call ahead.”
Sierra buried her face in my shoulder and started to laugh, which set me off too…
Chapter 15
Friday, May 20th, 2016, 03:21 PM
Sierra, Selene, and I once again found ourselves at the morgue where Debbie’s body was. It seemed like I was hitting all the same places I did yesterday for a second time today, hopefully that wouldn’t include a visit from Kira Downs. The article was still bothering me, but even my power seemed to side with Sierra on this one. It would pass, the question was how much damage would be done in the meantime though.
We walked into the building and the same guard was there. Selene requested to see her daughter again, but when he brought up the file he frowned, “I’m sorry, the remains are no longer here.”
Selene glowered, “What do you mean they aren’t here?”
The guard sat back in his chair, intimidated by the slight woman with no idea why. I supposed humans could pick up a werewolf’s predatory nature, he looked confused as if not quite sure why his hind brain was sending him fight or flight signals.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Williams, but the FBI took over the case. They had all the victim’s bodies moved to their own morgue in the city. There’s nothing I can do about it ma’am. The agent in charge has classified the remains not to be released and under lock and key, so even if you go there…” he trailed off.
I frowned, I should have checked with my abilities I suppose, but I never thought…
The phone rang, and the guard picked it up. After a moment he looked right at me.
“Are you Ben Edwards?”
I nodded, confused as he handed me the phone and put it up to my ear, “Hello?”
Agent Kilmer growled, “Edwards, you stay away from my case, or I’ll take you in for obstruction and bury you in a hole so deep you’ll never see the sun again, am I clear?”
It really wasn’t clear at all, I was confused, “How did you…”
Agent Kilmer said, “I knew you were in there yesterday from the logs, I set up a flag if anyone came back to view the body I’d be notified. Don’t screw with me Ben, you’ll regret it,” and he hung up the phone quite firmly.
Well that was just great, what were we going to do now? When we left and got on the road I started explaining.
“Agent Kilmer and I have history, he… really hates me. I proved one of his agents were dirty, he seemed okay with it first, but apparently it ruined his chances for a promotion. He’ll need to add a lot of pluses to the column before he has a chance at advancement again. Anyway, I’m not sure what we can do now, even with mesmerizing ability I don
’t think it’d be smart to invade the FBI building.”
Selene shook her head angrily, “There has to be something we can do, we can’t wait until another one of us gets killed because agent Kilmer is a,” she dropped a few words not polite for company.
I sighed, “I agree, but I don’t know what. I don’t suppose Derik kept anything of Karl’s? Something with a personal connection? Tara thought the spell would work even better if we had something like that.”
She blew out a breath and tried to calm down, “I doubt it, but my mate doesn’t tell me everything, so we’ll ask when we get back.”
At least I understood why my power didn’t object to making plans to go to Mike’s tonight. I wondered if I needed to use my power more, but did I want to live like that? Planning every move and questioning every decision? I could see myself quickly becoming paranoid, setbacks happen, it’s not the end of the world.
We got back to the house and went into the backyard. Clint and his mate Katie were sitting out with Derik. I didn’t know where the rest were, and didn’t go looking either. I didn’t want to turn into a total control freak, if there was danger I’d feel it, the rest could come as it would. We took a few minutes to update the three of them, and ask about any personal objects.
Derik shook his head, “No, nothing like that at all. When he was banished he took a few things with him, and what he left behind went in the trash. As for what we do now, what we’re already doing. We stick together, don’t go anywhere alone, and hopefully next time they attack we’ll get one of them instead.”
I didn’t really like that idea, but I also didn’t have anything better, so I kept my mouth shut. We talked for at least an hour, but mostly went in circles with it, not sure what to do next.
When it got close to five thirty Sierra squeezed my hand and headed into the house while the four of us continued to talked ourselves in circles. Katie eventually turned the conversation to a new direction.
Katie said, “We could set a trap?”
Derik frowned, “How?”
Katie shrugged, “I’m sure I’d make good bait, I was part of the original pack and I’m sure he hates me. Just let me go through my day alone, with Clint and one or two others following from a distance, maybe a half mile or so. I could carry a panic button and tracker.”
Clint growled, “Not a chance.”
Katie shook her head stubbornly, “It makes sense, I’ll be safe enough, and if they attack with overwhelming numbers I’ll run, I have enough control over my wolf to do that now.”
Clint rebutted, “If it’s so safe, why not me?”
Katie laughed, “Because Karl respected and feared you and Derik, he always looked down on me and thought a female enforcer was a bad joke. Women have no standing in his eyes or his pack, and he’ll want to put me down just to put me in my proper place from his point of view.”
Derik shook his head, “I’ll think about it, but I want a full plan drawn up of the steps we’ll take and contingency planning for every step. I don’t like it, but at least that gives us some control, as opposed to waiting around for him to attack who knows who next.”
Katie nodded and looked very determined.
I’d wondered where Sierra had gone off to, and found out when she walked back outside. It was to get that shower she’d wanted before dinner tonight, but she’d also changed into a black strapless sundress with red starburst flower designs on it that hugged the curves of her upper body, and then flared out below her hips. The hem barely made it past her mid-thigh and it showed off her shapely firm legs. She was also wearing open toe sandals with three inch heels. She looked stunningly beautiful, and I was struck speechless. Luckily no one seemed to notice.
Katie teased, “Hot date tonight?”
Sierra winked playfully, sat down next to me, and claimed my hand.
“You look amazing,” I said after finally finding my voice.
She smiled at me mysteriously and said thank you.
Katie gave us both a considering look, but didn’t say anything else about it, and after a moment we all moved on.
We dove back into the conversation, trying to think of anything that might make using Katie as bait safer. I pulled in some magic and tried to pull knowledge of a way to keep an eye on Katie, and protect her. Knowledge rushed into me. I could of course, put a shield of air around her, but I’d have to be close by to maintain it, there was really no way to protect her from a distance.
I could however create a ward of sorts. More like an alarm than actual protection. It would make me aware of her health and state of mind in a general way. It wouldn’t protect her directly, but I could get to her location quickly if she was attacked.
Clint seemed happy with the idea when I suggested it, so we added it to the list.
It was around six-thirty when we broke up the planning session, and I set the ward on Katie before Sierra and I left to go back to my apartment.
Sierra had an overnight bag with her, I assumed so she’d have a change of clothes tomorrow.
I figured out quickly the connection to Katie was more variable than I had expected, and the strength was dependent on my thoughts. I could ignore it, so it was barely a presence in the back of my mind, and I would only notice if she got angry or upset. I could also concentrate on the connection, and not only catch her feelings, but her surface thoughts as well.
I backed off of that immediately since I wouldn’t violate Katie, or anyone else in that way, but it gave me other ideas. I was sure I could use it to communicate mind to mind, although it wouldn’t be like Aitheria and I, all the communication would occur in the mind I was connected to. I’d have to be careful how I used it, I knew air sorcerers could invade the mind of another, but I’d never tried to do so before. I honestly didn’t want to, but this new connection I’d figured out could be a boon in certain circumstances.
It could also be used to do horrible things. I needed to keep that firmly in mind and not betray my own morality.
I only had a half an hour to get my own shower and shave and for the two of us to get over to Mike and Jenna’s place, so I moved as quickly as I could without using magic...
Chapter 16
Friday, May 20th, 2016, 06:59 PM
We actually made it with a minute to spare as I walked into Mike’s house with Sierra at my side. Predictably, even without my powers, Jenna barely acknowledged me and gushed over Sierra and pulled her into the kitchen. Mike earned a glare from me when he started laughing. I felt like I brought Sierra to meet my family, and in a way I had. Of course, that made me think of my aunt, who I hadn’t called back yet from her text yesterday. I’d have to take Sierra there too… assuming it worked out.
Mike said, “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” with humor in his voice.
I nodded and chuckled, realizing I was worried little Jenna would eat my werewolf alive. I shrugged and left the women talk to the women, not much point in worrying about it, or even trying to figure it out. I was connected to the air as usual, and the kitchen was well within my range, so pulled the information about Jenna and what was wrong, to find out why she couldn’t have a child.
Mike asked, “Drink?”
I snickered, “Sure, if you want to brave the kitchen go for it.”
He shook his head and moved off as I reviewed what I knew. She had scarring on her uterus from when she was younger, nothing evil had happened to her, just an incompetent doctor. The scarring was preventing the zygote from bonding because the endometrial lining wasn’t forming correctly. I pulled the knowledge of what to do to fix it. I could essentially remove the scarring with both fire and air, and then promote it to heal perfectly.
It wouldn’t even be hard now that I was truly using my abilities as a sorcerer of air, but how could I do it without revealing the truth of what I was doing, surely she’d notice… The other surprise was there was a viable zygote currently in residence so to speak, and I was pretty sure I could protect it, and even rebuild the lining enough to bond it correc
tly.
Mike came out and tossed me the beer. I looked at him suspiciously and tapped on the top of the can a bunch of times before I opened it. I heard Sierra and Jenna both start laughing from the kitchen, and immediately felt better about things.
“So what’s the big news?”
Mike shrugged and looked at me a little too intently, “You’ll have to wait. But tell me, I saw another article on you, did you have something to do with locating Burns? The strangest thing was he was knocked out and tied up when we got there.”
I frowned, “Are you giving me the cop stare Mike?”
He shrugged, “I know you’re a good guy Ben, one of the best I’ve ever known actually, and your tips always turn out to be golden. More than that, you’re like family. But for the last six months or so you’ve been hiding something from me. This isn’t exactly an interrogation, keep your secrets if you want, but don’t think I’m stupid either. I don’t know how, but I feel it in my gut, you were there and left that piece of crap giftwrapped for us.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, I couldn’t tell him the whole truth and I was afraid it would drive a wedge between us. I also thought he deserved the same trust and leeway I’d given Aiya. But it was different with her, because she’d found out on her own, all I really did was swear her to secrecy and only filled in the blanks as it pertained to me. Actually telling someone about it when they knew nothing wasn’t the same at all, but I made a decision for better or worse.
“I was there today, but after Kira Downs ambushed me yesterday, and considering how high a profile the collar was, I thought it best I wasn’t anywhere near it. The woman connected the dots anyway, but it’s all circumstantial. I never actually meant to hide that from you at all.
“As for the rest of it, what I am hiding? It’s kind of big Mike, and it’s mostly not my secret to tell. Sure, I know that sounds lame but it’s true. I’ll tell you what, I can tell you what I discovered about myself if you want, but that means you can’t tell anyone else, or even look down other avenues. I’ll let you decide if you want to open the box or not, think about it before you decide.”
Sorcerer: Trouble with Werewolves: Power of Air Book 2 Page 9