Burned by Fire (Blood & Magic Book 3)

by Danielle Annett

  “How long has she been missing?”

  “Seventeen hours.”

  “Do you know who might have taken her?”

  She shook her head. “Marcella was a beloved child with loving parents. Neither parent has any direct enemies, and we’ve had no recent conflicts. There was no reason for Marcella to have become a target for anyone.”

  “Is there anything about her that could paint her as a target?” I asked. Witches had magic. Some people sought power through magic, though the witches had been safe this long. It didn’t make sense for someone to kidnap a child to try and take her magic unless the assailant had seen a random opportunity and decided to take it. A child wouldn’t have as much magic as an adult. Most didn’t grow into their abilities until their teen years, and I couldn’t see anyone being stupid enough to actually plan out the abduction of a witchling.

  “No.”

  She wasn’t giving me much to go on, but I would make do with what I had. “How can I contact you if I find anything or have any questions?”

  She wrote her phone number down on a sticky note from my desk and handed it to me before rising.

  “I’ll do my best,” I told her. “But I can’t make any promises.”

  “Your best will have to do.” Her steps were even as she left my office, her skirt flowing around her body in a swirl of fabric, giving her an ethereal grace.

  I looked down at the photograph of Marcella. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and striking violet eyes. Her features were delicate; a splash of freckles danced across her cheeks. She was an innocent. My gut churned as nightmarish visions flashed through my mind of the last child I’d been tasked to find. I’d been too late, and Daniel had paid the price with his life. I clenched my fists. I wouldn’t be too late this time. We’d find her. The Pack would help.

  My cell phone rang and I retrieved it from my pocket, recognizing the number as belonging to Inarus. I answered on the second ring. “Is everything okay?”

  “I think we should talk.” His voice was ominous. The other night was clearly coming to back to bite me in the ass.

  “Can you port into Sanborn Place?” I asked.

  “Yes, if you’re inside, I can lock on to your face.” I told him I was here and hung up. Within seconds, Inarus stood before me. He was a telekinetic; I didn’t know a lot about psykers despite being one, but what little I did know about telekinetics in particular let me know that his ability to teleport wasn’t something all telekinetics could do.

  Upon arrival, Inarus leaned against the wall beside my desk, three small metal spears hovering above his hand as they slowly spun in a circular pattern. He’d been doing that when we first met. I realized it was a habit of his, a way to use his abilities without forced concentration.

  Dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting blue shirt that he must have recently purchased, judging by its crisp lines, he had a casual edge to his appearance. He’d recently shaved and smelled fresh, like wind and rainstorms. It was a scent I’d come to associate with him.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.”

  “Your wounds—?”

  He smiled. “Sealed. I’m still sore. I will be for a while, but the stitches are holding.”

  I nodded. “Good. What did you want to talk about?” He shifted his weight and took the seat that Olivia had recently vacated. His eyes were drawn to the photograph in my hands, and he gently plucked the image from my fingertips.

  “Who is she?” he asked.

  “A witchling. I’ve been hired to find her.” Inarus stared in concentration. A furrow formed between his brows.

  “She looks familiar.” I looked down at the image in his hands. No hint of recognition. I’d never come across Marcella, but maybe Inarus could help on this case too. Olivia had said she needed as many eyes and ears as possible, and it would be good to at least get the ball rolling while I brought this to Declan and the rest of the Pack. It would also give Inarus something to do with his time besides think about his former friend trying to kill him.

  “How long has she been missing?” he asked.

  “Seventeen hours.”

  He muttered a curse. “That’s a long time for a kid. Do you have a plan yet?”

  “I’m working on it,” I told him. “What is it that you wanted to talk about?”

  “It can wait. This is more important.”

  “Are you offering your services?” He was still staring down at the photograph. I could tell the gears in his head were spinning, trying to pinpoint when and where he knew her from.

  “How can I help?”

  Inarus tried porting to the girl directly, but had been unable to get a lock on her, which according to him wasn’t uncommon. “Witches have their own magic that doesn’t mix well with our own. It’s a coin toss whether I can lock on to them, the same as it would be if I tried to lock onto a specific shifter. I have more success with those of my own kind, and humans.”

  We booted up my MacBook computer. Apple was no longer in business, but my Mac was still going strong. When it finally kicked the bucket, I was going to have a hell of a time finding a replacement. I did a quick Google search for the address Olivia had provided, grateful that the internet and search engines were still a thing, and pulled out a blank map of the surrounding Spokane area, pinning it to the wall with a pair of thumb tacks I dug out of the top drawer of my desk.

  “She was taken from here,” I said, marking her abduction location with a red X. I went ahead and marked the location of the Compound, the Dishman Hills, and the vampire Coven’s home, the Cove. Inarus came to stand beside me. Plucking the red pen from my hand, he made another mark on the map that I realized was the HAC HQ.

  “I don’t think we should assume that one of the factions took her,” I said. “It could be anyone; it could be a regular human who likes little girls, for all we know.” I didn’t think it had been. Something about Marcella was rubbing me the wrong way. I felt like I was missing a key piece of information, but I didn’t know what.

  “Maybe, but one of the factions is still the most likely suspect,” Inarus remarked. “Here, here, and here”—he made three small X’s on the map that were all maybe five miles from where she’d been taken—“these buildings are owned by the HAC, and they’re not above kidnapping if it serves a purpose. You’ve seen that, so I wouldn’t exclude the probability that they or even the vampires could be behind this.” I shivered. He was right. Irina, the vampire coven’s second, had taken a part in the death of a shifter child to push the vampires and the shifters into war. This would be just another way of stirring the pot between the factions in an effort to put the vampires on top. If that were the case, then the HAC was most definitely involved, since they’d been Irina’s backers. Better for them to let the other factions tear one another apart; it made it easier to swoop in and wipe out the survivors that way.

  “I think it’s safe to assume the Pack didn’t take her.” He frowned at that, but allowed me to continue. “The witches wouldn’t have involved me if they suspected the Pack.” He arched a brow. I chose to ignore the gesture.

  “I need to call James and see if the Pack will help.” I pulled out my phone.

  “I get that you and James are close, but why would the Pack get involved in witch affairs? Just because you asked them to?”

  I sighed. I was going to have to tell him sooner or later that I was mated to Declan. I just really didn’t want to have that conversation right now. What would I say? ‘Hey, remember that time I decided to run off with you and check out your side of world? Well, I wasn’t running because I wanted to be with you, I really just wanted to get away from him. But things are okay now and I’ve realized he’s not so bad and maybe I just have commitment issues, but I won’t forget our kiss. Can we still be friends?’

  Yeah, that would go over great. I wasn’t so full of myself as to think that Inarus wanted anything more than friendship from me anyway, but it was still going to be awkward. And we had kissed,
so what if he did have feelings for me? It wasn’t like he’d had the opportunity to really act on them since we’d last seen each other, assuming any feelings did exist. Not that I wanted him to. Things were complicated enough as it was, and I really wasn’t looking to explore my options by any means.

  I shook my head. I was babbling to myself, and the entire time, Inarus had been staring at me as if he were waiting for an answer to some question that I had clearly missed while in my own head.

  “Sorry, what were you saying?” Before he could answer, my phone buzzed in my hands. “Naveed,” I said.

  “We still on for lunch?” James asked when I answered.

  “Hey, I was just about to call you.”

  “You’re not bailing on me, are you?” I cringed inwardly at the accusation.

  “Not technically.” I walked away from Inarus so I could have some semblance of privacy. “I need a favor.” I filled James in on my conversation with Olivia Fields and asked for his take on the missing girl and the Pack getting involved.

  “She was right. Had she called the Compound, her request would have been denied. We don’t get involved in matters that don’t pertain to the Pack,” he said. My heart sank a little bit. Inarus and I would still try and find her, but it would have increased our chance of success if the Pack got involved.

  “Okay, thanks for the insight.” I sighed and was just about to hang up when—

  “I said the request would have been denied. I’m not saying that I’m denying it, Ari. I don’t have that kind of authority, but you do.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Ari, you’re Declan’s mate. You can call an assembly of the Alphas and petition that we get involved. Had she called, the request would have gone to one of the Clan Alphas, where they likely would have said no and it would just be done. On the off chance they said yes, it would go to the next Clan Alpha, and then the next and the next until someone either said no or it got up to Declan for the final decision. It would have taken a week or more, especially if the Clan Alpha wanted time to think about it before making a decision. You have the authority to assemble all of the Clan Alphas and plead your case to them collectively. You can explain why this would benefit the Pack. I agree with you that having the witches as an ally could be a good thing. We need allies. You could go straight to Declan, too, but you’ll be putting him in a tough spot.”

  I nodded my head before realizing that he couldn’t see me.

  “If you go to Declan, he’ll have to backpedal when the Alphas come to him, angry that we’re putting our necks out for the witches. He’ll do it. I think he’d do anything for you. But it would hurt his position in the Pack. If you call an assembly, he’ll throw his support your way anyway, which will have some pull in swaying the others. But it would be better for everyone if you followed protocol. Your position is precarious within the Pack.”

  “You don’t have to sugarcoat it, James. I know most of them hate me,” I said.

  “They don’t hate you. They just don’t know you, and you’re not a shifter. It’s a strike against you. Declan is the first in the Pack to take a non–shifter mate, that’s going to take some getting used to. If you go behind their backs, you’ll give them a legitimate reason to work against you in the future.”

  “Okay, so how do I call an assembly of the Alphas?” I asked.

  “I can do that for you. I’ll make the calls, but it’ll take a few hours at least to get everyone here. Yvonne is in Sandpoint, so she’ll need an hour and a half at least, and Eva and Mathias are in Portland. They’ll have to see if they can catch a flight. The others are here. Declan has already called together an assembly to go over some business regarding the South Atlantic Pack.”

  “He told me about that. Their Alpha wanted to come into the Pacific Northwest for business, right?”

  “When did Declan tell you that?”

  “We went on a date,” I admitted in a whisper. Inarus was doing something on my computer, seemingly engrossed in his research and not listening in on my conversation. I opened the front doors and stepped outside. I heard James make a whooping sound in the background.

  “Bout damn time.”

  “James, can we get back on track here?”

  “You gave the poor man a goodnight kiss at least, right?” he asked.

  “James—” I groaned into the receiver.

  “It was only a matter of time before he won you over. The mate bond is no joke.”

  “Hey. Focus. And nobody is winning anybody right now. It was one date. It’s not like we’re walking down the aisle or anything.”

  “Right, right,” he said, but I could tell his mind was somewhere else now. It was weird how quickly things had changed. I was more of a little sister to him now that Declan and I were bound. Clearly James supported the relationship.

  “Look, you call the assembly and just let me know when to be there. Okay?”

  “I’ll give you a call when it’s time.”

  “Should I call Declan, fill him in?” I asked.

  “Naw, I’ll fill him in. I’m on my way to see him anyway, and I’m almost to his quarters.” I thanked him and hung up the phone, heading back inside Sanborn Place.

  Inarus closed the computer when I walked inside. “Is the Pack going to help?”

  “I’m meeting with the Alphas later, hopefully this evening, to see if they’ll get involved. We should brainstorm in the meantime. I don’t want to overlook anything.”

  Inarus nodded and we got to work.

  We spent the next several hours combing over everything we knew about the Evergreen witches, and making educated guesses about anyone who may have taken one of their daughters. There was a small religious group whose church was only a few blocks away from where Marcella had been taken. The Freeman Followers were a tight-knit group of fundamentalist Christians. They’d always been a little bit out there, beyond what you’d expect of most Christian organizations, but they’d really gone off track when paranormals had come out. They’d led protests in the streets, shouting that we needed to purify the people and ask God to strike out those the devil had sent to taint our world.

  They didn’t have any real power. I’d always just assumed they were a bunch or religious zealots, but all in all, I believed they were pretty harmless. A while back, though, I’d taken on a job to rescue an old woman’s pet barguest. Really, it was just a black dog, but my client had been dumb enough to brag loudly about her dog, claiming it was really a barguest, and someone from the church had been listening in. Barguests were known through Europe as a manifestation of the devil himself. Many believed that the devil could only take the form of a barguest if he wanted to walk the Earth, but if reports were to be believed, a barguest was said to be six feet tall when sitting on its haunches, and the dog I’d rescued was closer to the size of a spaniel. The barguest was also said to be a deranged beast with a vicious appetite. Its purpose was to ferry the dead to hell, and when there were no dead to be found, it urged unsuspecting victims to their fate.

  This dog had been as soft as a marshmallow and licked my face the entire way back to its home.

  The Freeman Followers had taken it and had intended to sacrifice it. I’d caused quite the stir when I had come through their church doors and taken the damn dog back, shaming the congregation for trying to hurt a poor animal. They were weak, and I had told them as much. Only the weak preyed on those who couldn’t rise against them. No one had stopped me, but Will Freeman, who led the congregation, had shouted that I was damned to hell where I would feel God’s wrath for interfering in his holy work. I’d flipped him the bird and said I looked forward to seeing him beside me when I got there. It was one of the more fun jobs I’d taken on recently.

  Kidnapping a girl was a big step away from dognapping, but still…

  Inarus was convinced it was the HAC, though he didn’t have a reason why. I think he’d just decided they were the root of all evil now. Not that I disagreed with him; I just didn’t w
ant to put all of my eggs in one basket.

  It was getting later in the day, and it would take me close to forty minutes to reach the Compound. James had sent me a text letting me know everyone should be there by 3 P.M. It was almost 2 P.M. now.

  “I’m going to head to the Compound,” I told Inarus, trying to sort through the collection of sticky notes I’d accumulated with random tidbits of information.

  “Why don’t I head down to where she was taken, see if maybe something was left behind that could point us in the right direction? I’ll check in on that church you mentioned. It’d worth looking into, at least.”

  I dug through my desk drawer and fished out a pair of keys. “Here,” I said, handing him the keys. “One goes to the car downstairs in the garage. I don’t ever use it because I have my Civic, but it came with the business, so it’s there. You don’t need to port everywhere. You should save your energy in case you run into any issues. The other one,” I said, indicating the bright red key that dangled from the keyring, “will get you into the apartment upstairs. It’s yours if you want it. Aiden shouldn’t think to look for you here, and the building is warded against anyone who comes with ill will to those inside.” After Mike’s death, I’d paid a pretty penny to have the whole place, garage included, magically warded. He hadn’t thought it worth the money when he’d been around, but he’d still have been alive if he’d bothered doing it.

  Hmmm, maybe I should have my apartment warded. I considered the thought. No, I wasn’t there enough and Inarus would be safe here. There wasn’t a real reason to ward the apartment unless I moved back in.

  “Aria, you don’t have—” I put a hand up to stop him.

  “It’s not much. Just a studio apartment with the basics. A bed, a kitchenette, nothing fancy.” I’d stayed in there for a few months when Mike had taken me in. “Besides, I don’t have to worry about you showing up late to work if you live here.”

  “Work?” He arched a single brow. “Are you giving me a job, too?”