The little glider groaned, but strengthened her hold on Quayk’s shirt, accepting her master’s instructions as the best course of action.
With one last look around the forest, Quayk ducked into the portal, which closed quickly behind and transformed into a thick vine-encased traveling compartment, magically lit with a soft blue glow. She removed her pack and set it next to her as she sat on the floor, the smooth marble-like surface cooling her legs as she stretched out and leaned back against the wall. Mango skittered off Quayk’s shoulder to curl up in her lap as she wormed her way under Quayk’s hand.
So far, it seemed the vines would actually transport her somewhere this time. On her previous three tries, the vines had immediately spit her back out of the traveling compartment right where she had entered.
“Maybe they have finally realized I need to get out of SpellMaker.”
Mango lifted her head and clicked in agreement.
Normally on longer trips inside the vine highway, Quayk would sleep or do a crossword puzzle to pass the time. This time, she would probably sleep, as the stress of running away had kept her awake all last night.
But she was reluctant to fall asleep just yet. Quayk still didn’t trust the vines wouldn’t dump her somewhere around SpellMaker. So she opted to stay awake for a bit—until enough time had passed to make her comfortable they were beyond the ranch and on their way to Arizona.
The slight vibration and the hum of the vines loosened the muscles in Quayk’s back, and her eyelids grew heavy, as Mango snored in her lap. It had been fifteen minutes. They should be well beyond the ranch by now. Maybe the vines were finally cooperating.
As she shifted and rolled onto her side, the travel pod conformed to the shape of her body and cradled her. She slipped one arm under her head, tucked the sugar glider against her stomach, and pulled her knees up to curl her legs protectively around the creature.
As she drifted off to sleep, Quayk wondered what awaited her in Texas. There was a huge coven of witches there, but she had chosen that place to hide because the city was equally as large, and she could get lost in it. As a SpellMaker Witch, she would need to remain hidden from other witches or they would quickly figure out who she was—especially as word of her escape got out. What better place to hide than in a big city?
She would have to find a place to live and find a way to blend in, maybe get a job. The thought made her wonder what on earth she was qualified to do.
Quayk smiled as sleep overtook her. She wasn’t really following the designated career path for a SpellMaker Witch—especially that of a royal bearer.
CHAPTER TWO
When Grant SpellMaker opened the door from the garage and stepped into his home, the warm, spicy scents of Mexican food made his stomach rumble. He set his briefcase on the table in the entry foyer and made his way to the kitchen where Serena, the maid, had cooked up a storm.
He smiled at all the containers that lined the counter and the pots on the stove. “Serena, you do know there are only five SpellMakers in residence tonight, don’t you? Are we having a party?”
The maid turned and scowled at him. “No, no party. I like to feed my family well.” She raised her brows and rolled her gaze toward the ceiling. “And you know how you always eat more than you admit to.”
Grant laughed. “Ah you know me so well.”
Serena nodded. “And I know when Mrs. SpellMaker is away, she likes me to make a Mexican feast for you.”
Grant crossed the kitchen and opened a cupboard to take down a glass. “Well, thank you, Serena. It does look and smell wonderful. I’ve looked forward to Mexican food all day.”
His wife, Paytn, was in Dallas for a few days, at a charity event. So it was just Grant and the kids here at the ranch.
Serena normally did the housework while his wife did most of the cooking. But Paytn wasn’t fond of Mexican food. So when she traveled, she encouraged Serena to put together a large Mexican food feast the first day so the family could enjoy it for several days. It had become such a tradition with the family that they often teased Paytn it was time for her to go on vacation again because they were craving Mexican food.
Grant filled his cup with ice and carried it to the bar on the far side of the family room, which was an extension of the large kitchen. He poured himself three fingers of Gentleman Jack, swirled the amber liquid in his glass to chill it, and took a sip. “Mmm…perfect,” he mumbled and settled in his recliner.
Serena chuckled as she peered across the counter. “Mr. Grant, why do you always take the clunky kids glasses with the Disney designs on them from the kitchen? Why not use those new monogrammed glasses Mrs. Paytn bought for your bar last year?”
He smiled. “Serena, don’t ever tell my wife, but I hate those fancy glasses. They are light and thin, and feel like they are gonna break in my hand. I much prefer the solid weight of these glasses. Besides, I like Goofy and Mickey Mouse.”
Serena shook her head as she chopped lettuce and tossed it in a bowl.
Grant looked around the room, “So where are my children?”
“Quyll and Quypp went riding this afternoon. Quayk took Mango to the groomers, and said she planned to do some shopping afterward. And Quyrk is around here somewhere—probably down in the basement playing World of Warcraft.”
Grant nodded and took a sip of his drink as he set it on a coaster on the table next to his chair. “Excellent. Sounds like a great opportunity for a quick power nap.” He reclined his chair and closed his eyes, eager to take advantage of a moment of quiet before his children blew through the family room like a tornado on their way to the dinner table.
After dinner, Grant leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. “Serena, I believe this was the best Mexican feast yet. I am stuffed like a tick on a hound.”
Serena reached to remove his dirty dishes. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I’m just sorry Quayk wasn’t here.” He scanned the faces of his children seated around the table and asked, “No one has any idea where she is or why she’s late for dinner?”
The three children all shook their heads in unison.
Grant checked his watch.
After eight o’clock.
It wasn’t like Quayk to miss dinner and not call. He was concerned she may have broken down somewhere. Right before dinner, he had stepped into her room and confirmed her cell phone was still on her night stand. So if she had broken down somewhere between town and the ranch, she wouldn’t have any way to call. But she would have sent Mango home to get help.
He scanned the faces of his children. “Anyone know if she took the tunnels or the highway to town?”
All of the ranches belonging to the major witch families were connected to the town of SpellMaker by underground tunnels, built by their ancestors back in the 1600’s. The town had two levels where they sold mainstream witchy goods to tourists above ground, and carried on true witch business in a small city belowground, that could only be entered by witches.
Quipp nodded. “She took her truck because she was going to stop by the feed store and pick up some sweet feed for her horse.”
That settled it for Grant. The distance wasn’t so great that she couldn’t easily make it home in under an hour, but there were a lot of woods around the ranch, and there were more and more crazies in the world today. A beautiful young woman alone in the woods after dark was never a good idea.
He scooted his chair back from the table and stood. “I think I’ll drive the road to town and make sure she isn’t broken down somewhere.”
Quyrk narrowed his eyes as he asked, “Don’t you think she would have sent Mango for help?”
Grant nodded. “Yes, I do. Which is why I’m concerned. It’s not like her to not let me know she’s going to be late. Could you kids get your familiars to search for her?”
Quypp adjusted the flowy sleeve on her turquoise print blouse. “Daddy, do you want us to call the aunts and get them to do some scrying?”
He shook his head
as he snatched his car keys and cell phone from the table near the garage door. “No.”
Piyne and Piypr, his wife’s sisters, were master scryers, as was his wife. They all were very skilled with crystal balls, but Paytn actually preferred using tea leaves, and Piyne preferred reading bones, while Piypr flat refused to use anything in her scrying but a crystal the size of a bowling ball. The three sisters were very close, and it was impossible for any one of them to keep a secret from the other two. For now, he would rather not worry Paytn until he knew more.
He met the gazes of each of his children. “Not a word to anyone else, and make sure the familiars know to keep it a secret.”
The three kids nodded and rose from the table together.
For a moment, panic welled in his gut. The girls were all in their twenties, and Quyrk was pushing eighteen, so they were closer to adults than children. But they would forever be kids in his mind. Now one of them was missing, and his gut told him something was wrong, that big change was coming.
He opened the garage door and stepped through. “I think I might call Tim Thompson too and see if he knows what time she left his shop. They’ve probably been closed for hours, but it won’t hurt to ask.”
He dialed the groomer’s home number and hit the button to open the garage door. The groomer answered as Grant backed into the driveway and hit the remote to close the garage door.
“Hey, Tim, it’s Grant SpellMaker.”
“Well, Hello, Grant. What can I do for you?”
Tim was a minor witch, and his familiar was a Saint Bernard, whom Grant could hear panting in the background.
His face must be inches away from the phone.
Grant shook his head at the mental image of the enormous dog laying across Tim’s lap, drooling on the receiver. “Quayk brought her sugar flyer in for grooming today, but she’s not home yet. I’m a bit concerned. Do you, by any chance, know what time she left your shop?”
Tim hesitated a moment. “Uh, no. I didn’t see her in the shop today.”
“Really?” Icy dread shot through Grant’s stomach as he pulled the car out of the drive onto the road to town, accelerating as he scanned the side of the road. “Could she maybe have popped in and out without being seen?”
“Well, I suppose she could have. Jamie’s on vacation, so I was the only one back in the salon. Let me give Hazel a call and see if she talked to Quayk.”
“Okay. Call me right back, please.” Grant consciously lifted his hands off the steering wheel and stretched his fingers to ease the tension from his death grip on the wheel.
“I will.” Tim disconnected.
Grant drew a heavy breath as he sped down the highway. He scanned both shoulders and prayed he found Quayk’s truck soon or came upon her walking home. Although the chances she took the main road home were slim. The most direct route would be through the forest.
He reached the outskirts of town when Tim finally called, and he picked up the phone and hit the button. “Hello.”
Tim’s voice was laced with concern. “Grant, I’m sorry, but Hazel says Quayk didn’t come in today. I had her check the appointment book, and there was nothing on the books for Mango. She’s not scheduled to come in for another two weeks.”
A few moments of silence passed before Tim continued, “I even called over to Doug Patton’s house to see if maybe she stopped in at his place. Sometimes she likes to get an ice cream cone when she leaves my shop, but he didn’t see her today either.”
Grant ground his teeth. As the oldest, Quayk had always been his pet. She was independent and headstrong, and not afraid to stand toe-to-toe with him on any issue. But she had always been very dependable. Something was wrong. He could sense it.
“Okay. Thanks, Tim. I appreciate you checking for me.”
“Sure, Grant. You call me back and let me know when you find her, okay? Or let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”
“I will. Thanks.” Grant clicked off the phone and set it on the seat next to him. He decided to cruise around town a little bit to see if he could spot her truck and, if not, then he would take the river road back just to make sure she hadn’t taken the long way home.
Within fifteen minutes, he’d cruised every road in the small town of SpellMaker, and was on his way back by way of the river road. His concern ratcheted higher with every minute that passed, and he called the ranch twice to see if she’d returned. She hadn’t.
The kids said their familiars thought Quayk and Mango were okay, that they could sense their energy on the wind. They were still close, but their location seemed to be shielded. Unfortunately, the familiars couldn’t sense them strongly enough to track them.
Serena had insisted she would remain at the ranch until Quayk was found, and promised to call Grant the moment she heard anything at all.
He was almost back to the ranch entrance when he picked up his phone and dialed the number to his security expert.
Jerry Shockman had worked for him for over ten years, handling ranch and corporate security, as well as event and family bodyguard services. He currently headed up the security detail that accompanied Paytn on her trip to Dallas.
Jerry answered on the first ring. “Hey boss, what’s up?”
“We have a problem. Quayk is missing.”
“What? How long?”
Grant cleared his throat to dislodge the lump that had formed with the admission. “No one knows. She left this morning to take Mango to the groomers, but Tim Thompson says she wasn’t there and didn’t have an appointment. I can’t find anyone who has seen her since this morning, and she isn’t home yet.
“Hold on a sec.”
Grant could hear Jerry issue instructions to one of his guys before he came back on the line.
“Okay, sorry. I left Howard with the missus and came outside to talk. No need to get her all spun up until we know more.”
Grant nodded. “Good thinking.” He pulled into the ranch drive and hit the remote for the garage door. “I just drove to town, cruised around, and took the ranch road back. Her truck wasn’t anywhere in sight. Any other ideas?”
Jerry was quiet for a moment before he responded. “Okay, this is out of character for Quayk and it’s too soon for the cops to do anything. So I think we need to get aggressive.”
Grant heard him draw a heavy breath. Jerry was almost family, and he loved the children too. So he would do whatever it took to find Quayk.
“Boss, I think you need to put in a call over to the McCall ranch and get Alex over to the house right now. He’s a master tracker with enough staff to cover ground quickly. He’s also a gargoyle, with strong ties to the shifter community, which gives us an even larger resource pool, as well as more eyes on the ground. If anyone can find her, it’s his team. Tell him I said you need him there NOW. Make sure all the kids and familiars are there at the house, and their maid, Emma, too. He’ll want to talk to them himself to see what they might know.”
Grant exited his car and hit the remote to close the garage door as he entered the house. “Okay. Do you think you need to come back?”
“No. If Quayk’s been kidnapped, you’ll want us here with your wife. I can do whatever I need to do from here. McCall can find the girl and protect the family until we return day after tomorrow. I’ll go online now and activate the tracking unit on her truck. Tell McCall I’ll send the login information to his encrypted email server so he can track the vehicle from there.”
Selena and the kids were gathered in the family room, along with Emma, who sat in a chair sobbing. Grant drew a deep breath as he looked away and spoke into the phone. “All right. Do you think we need to call in the aunts?”
Jerry was very familiar with the skills of Paytn and her sisters, and had used them more than once to locate someone. “No, not yet. What one knows, they all know. McCall has a master scryer on his team. That’ll be one of the first things he does. You just let him take the lead.”
Grant nodded at Jerry’s confirmation not to involve th
e aunts. But he was frustrated at not being able to magically search for Quayk himself. As the King of SpellMaker, he was a very powerful witch, but his powers dealt more with business innovation, manipulating technology, and magical communication—sort of a cross between the Midas Touch and the Pied Piper. Nothing that would directly help find his daughter right now.
Grant returned his attention to the phone conversation. “Anything else?”
Jerry huffed out an audible breath. “No. Just stay calm.” He softened his tone as he continued. “Grant, she’s headstrong, and we both know she’s not really happy about the idea of her upcoming marriage to Hollister Firedrake. There is a good chance she’s hiding somewhere to scare you into changing your mind, and she’ll be back in time for breakfast.”
Grant stopped and closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. They both knew bluffing wasn’t Quayk’s style. She was independent and fearless, and more likely to run away for real than to pull a bluff. He took a deep breath to collect himself. No need to scare the other kids. “Okay. Thanks, Jerry. Keep me posted and I’ll do the same.”
Jerry clicked off without response.
Grant looked at the kids who watched him expectantly. “I couldn’t find her truck anywhere. We’ll call in Alex McCall to help in the search.” He pointed at each of his kids in turn. “No one goes anywhere for now. I’ll ask McCall to come over now and he’s gonna want to know everything you know about where she might have gone. So make no plans without checking with me first. Emma, take it easy. I’m certain we’ll find her.”
The maid sniffed and nodded as she dabbed at her pale blue eyes with a handkerchief, but said nothing. Emma was almost seventy, and had taken care of Quayk and her siblings from birth. She loved Quayk as if she were her own child, and was clearly devastated by the disappearance. Unfortunately, her mind wasn’t the sharpest, so Grant didn’t hold out much hope she would remember anything Quayk might have said to her, but maybe McCall could get something from her.
BodyGuard (Butterscotch Martini Shots Book 2) Page 28