by WB McKay
"Damn it! Why couldn't he have just been a cheating slut?"
CHAPTER THREE
Owen was missing. Taken. I tried telling myself I was overreacting. I knew if I called FAB, that was what they would tell me. He hadn't been gone long. I was just the girlfriend. But I knew. I wasn't overreacting. I had to call it in. So I grabbed my phone, and I dialed someone they'd have to listen to.
"Mrs. Kinney?" I heaved a sigh. "This is Sophie Morrigan."
I explained the situation as quickly as I could, starting with Owen's indication that he was going home for a book and then returning to work. She listened silently until I got to the part where multiple books were gone.
"Stay where you are. We'll be right there."
The line went dead before I could respond.
My certainty that something was seriously wrong grew with every trip across his bedroom floor. Owen was strong. He was strong for a dragon. What could have taken him if he didn't want to go? He'd been ensnared by an enchanted necklace once, but he'd been unhappy and wanted to go. He wasn't unhappy anymore, was he? He'd given me permission to ask rude questions. Why hadn't I asked about that? Because I didn't want to hear the answer.
Coward.
And now I'd likely gotten him killed.
No. No. No. I couldn't think like that. I'd fix this. We'd fix this. That was why I'd called in the big guns.
When I couldn't stand being in Owen's room any longer, I went out to wait by the door to the apartment. Lana and David Kinney stormed in like they were out for blood. David rushed past me to search the other rooms, a cell phone stuck to his ear. Lana focused on me. "Where's the Fleece?" she demanded. "Give it to me!"
I'd fought tooth and nail to keep that bit of dangerous magic out of the hands of a council member. It surprised me when I immediately said, "Yes, of course," and the thing appeared ready in my hand.
There was the initial rush I typically felt when I touched the crown. I longed to put it on my head and embrace the feeling, let the knowledge flow through me. Instead, I thrust it at Lana and she swiped at it, but it clattered to the hardwood floor with a metallic clang. She looked down at it until her gaze slowly moved over me. When she met my eyes, it was with a disgusted shudder. I didn't think it was possible, with how knotted my gut was with fear for Owen, but a fresh wave of terror slid through me. I didn't have the time or a clear enough head to sort out the reason for her expression.
Lana Kinney bent over and picked up the Fleece. I waited for something to happen. Thunder to boom? Lightning to zap through the room? Owen to appear in front of me smirking?
Nothing. Nothing happened.
Then Lana let out a roar. She turned in a circle, her hands clenched in fists, and flung fire at Owen's favorite sofa. She immediately quenched the flames, but they left a mark. Irrationally, I wanted to attack her for that. Owen loved that sofa. A lot of his apartment had been furnished when he moved in. He took pride in the ugly-but-comfortable-as-sin sofa he'd chosen for himself.
I gritted my teeth and said the only words that mattered. "Find him."
"We will," she growled.
That shook me. Lana didn't strike me as a person who said "we" anything. I'd definitely never have guessed she would include me when she did.
Lana closed her eyes. Her brow furrowed into a scowl. When her eyes opened, she hit me with that disgusted glare again. "The Fleece has chosen you. It won't work for me."
"I don't give a gnome's ass about the Fleece! Use your connections! You lead the damn fae council! Find your son!"
She shoved the Fleece back into my hands. "I intend to do everything in my power to find him, but with you in possession of the Fleece, I am forced to admit that my efforts would be best served in aiding you."
I tossed the Fleece onto the couch. "I don't want that damned thing. All it's going to do is cloud my judgment."
"Whether you want it or not, it's yours. How many times have you tried to turn it into MOD? A dozen? Two dozen?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You need to call Ava."
My jaw dropped to my chest. "What?" Lana and David Kinney hadn't talked to their daughter in over a decade and I was willing to bet they hadn't been on good terms for several decades before that.
"Call Ava," she repeated, making it more an order than a request.
I didn't take orders from her, but I pulled out my phone. I should have called Ava first. My cheeks burned with shame. I'd done the same thing that everyone else had done to her for her whole life. I'd asked the most powerful fae I could think of for help and I'd skipped right past Ava. Maybe I was as elitist as the rest of them. "But why?" I asked, already dialing Ava's number.
I wasn't asking why I should call Ava—she was Owen's sister, and more importantly at the moment, she could talk to ghosts. Ghosts told her everything. They were horrible gossips and made the best spies. Ghosts could find Owen. No, I was asking Lana why she wanted me to call Ava when she'd never respected her daughter or her abilities. I didn't know much about the rift between Ava and her parents, but that much was crystal clear.
"She'll find him," said Lana.
"Oh, that's a bucket of hypocritical bullshit right there," I told her, the phone still ringing. "You're calling in your neglected daughter to find your cherished son."
I was doing it, but not for her.
I expected Lana Kinney to argue with me. Lana Kinney, the big dangerous dragon, said nothing.
Ava's line picked up. I didn't bother with a long explanation. "Owen's missing. He was supposed to go home from MOD to get a book and then come right back. I'm at his apartment now. I need your help."
"I'll be right there." The line clicked off. That was Ava. She did what needed doing.
I leveled my own glare at Lana Kinney. "You need to leave."
Lana squared her shoulders and stared me down. "I will not."
"You wanted Ava brought in. That means you are out. She doesn't need to deal with you on top of everything else."
There was a moment of hesitation where Lana looked at the Fleece, but she shook her head. "No. Owen is my son. I will be here to hear what Ava can find with her… connections." It was hard to miss the contempt in her voice.
"You mean ghosts," I corrected. "Ava talks to ghosts." I may have unintentionally overlooked Ava when I'd called Lana, but I was not ashamed of what it was Ava could do. "And you know that she can help better and faster than any of your other connections can, or you wouldn't have had me call her. So you should probably learn some respect for her magic."
Lana ignored my tirade and took a seat in a leather chair that wasn't nearly as comfortable as the charred couch.
"Shit," I grumbled to myself. She wasn't leaving and Ava was on her way.
I sent Ava a quick text message. No response. She was probably already in the car. I called and got her voicemail. Hopefully she would check them before she came up.
David's chatter quieted and he appeared back in the living room.
"Anything?" asked Lana.
"No." He slumped into the chair across from Lana.
"You should call down to the doorman and make sure he's going to let Ava in," I said. Apparently, he'd had no problem letting Lana and David in. They probably owned the building.
Lana made a quick phone call, and a few agonizing minutes of silence later, Ava stepped into the apartment. Neither of her parents stood to greet her.
Ava pointedly looked away from the chairs where they sat. "They took him to Faerie," she said without preamble.
"How is it that you didn't already know before now?" asked Lana, her voice as sharp as a blade.
While she answered Lana's question, she spoke directly to me. "I was giving him space. Also, it wasn't anyone I knew who witnessed it. My friends had to ask around. It's not as if I know every ghost on the streets of Volarus."
"You don't need to explain." I shot a glare over my shoulder at Lana. "Who took him? And why?"
Ava pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure who took him or why. My f
riends were only able to find out how and where it happened. He was walking down the street on the way here from his lab. Witnesses saw him fall to the ground without explanation. A big vehicle pulled up and three men scooped him up and put him inside. They drove off. The next time he was seen they dragged him, still unconscious, from the vehicle and carried him into Smoke and Mirrors."
"Damn it," I growled. "I asked everyone there and they said they hadn't seen him. There's no way they couldn't have seen their boss being dragged through the club. Especially Tim. His whole job is to literally watch who comes in the door." I thought about it for a while. "There's only one thing that makes sense."
"What?" asked Lana and David almost in unison.
Ava nodded in agreement with my unspoken statement. "Ghosts aren't bothered by magic. They covered their tracks."
"Yeah, and it would take quite a lot of magic to make everyone at the club forget seeing them, as well as hide all of their scents." I waved a hand at the apartment. "They were definitely in here. That's why they went to Smoke and Mirrors. They stole some of his books. But I can't sense even a hint of anyone else's magic." But I didn't need any clues to know what had happened. I found Lana Kinney's eyes and I knew she knew it, too. "This was Erik Bresnan."
"Of course it was."
My eyebrows jumped up my forehead. I knew she'd known it, but I still hadn't expected her to admit it. I thought she'd play games and make me jump through hoops. That was her MO. It was a relief to not have to waste time on that shit right then. "What does he want Owen for?"
"There are too many possibilities," she said.
I saw that, too. It could have been because of me. Erik Bresnan was a fae council member. I usually called him Supervillain. I'd been researching his bastardly ways for months. He was the reason I'd wound up stuck with the Fleece; I'd gone through an obstacle course to keep his hired pirates from getting it. That had really pissed the jerk off. Of course, before that, he'd stolen the Scepter of Sight right out from under me and used it to expose werewolves to the human population, so he'd definitely had it coming.
If Owen's connection to me wasn't Supervillain's motive, it could have been his connection to Lana Kinney. Erik hung around her like a shadow. I still wasn't sure what their relationship was. Were they working together? Owen had thought it a strong possibility.
Or maybe Erik wanted Owen because Erik simply wanted powerful things, and Owen was both powerful in his own right, and had now proven himself at MOD as being capable of uncovering the nature of all sorts of powerful, dangerous magical objects.
Or maybe there was a motive I couldn't fathom yet. Erik Bresnan was a complicated supervillain.
Ava took me by the arm, her expression pinched with worry. This was all so very bad. "When do we leave?"
I paused for a half a second, trying to decide if there was anything gained by waiting around. "Now." I headed for the door.
"We're coming too," said David, rising and taking a couple steps forward.
Lana stayed seated. "No, we have to stay here and manage the search from this end. Also, I have to deal with the council. This will have them in an uproar."
Who the fuck cared about the council when Owen was missing? I found a pen and blank paper on the mess that was Owen's desk. "I'm making you a list of everyone I know Erik Bresnan has hired before."
"He rarely hires the same criminal twice," said Lana.
"That is true, but they might know who else he would work with. If you're trying to find Owen from Volarus, finding who Erik hired could be valuable." I shoved the list in her hand without looking at her. My mind was already out the door, on its way to Faerie.
"We'll send Tavius with you."
I shook my head, trying to make sense of what she was saying. "What exactly does Tavius offer me?"
"Excuse me?" replied Lana.
"What exactly does this Tavius offer in the way of skills that will help me locate and rescue Owen?"
"Tavius is a powerful fighter and extremely loyal. He'll be an asset to the cause." When I didn't immediately accept her assertion, Lana continued. "Besides, he will be in direct communication with our efforts to locate Owen. He will be able to provide you with the latest information."
I shook my head. "No. That's not happening. You're not sending along some dud who is there just to give me orders from you and get in my way. I have my own team."
"There is no reason to turn down help," argued Lana. "We're all working to locate Owen."
I could have stayed there all day arguing with Lana, but I didn't have the time or the patience for it. Having her lackey dogging my heels and wanting to run every decision I made by Lana for approval wasn't going to help Owen. If I just left, she'd have her dud follow us. I needed her to back off.
With that thought, a familiar weight settled over my brow, and a rush of clarity washed over me. The Fleece had returned. In that moment I knew I didn't have to argue for hours. "No," was all I said, and I heard in my voice the power of absolute confidence. I knew that Lana would respect my judgment on the matter. I didn't wait for her to reply. Ava and I walked out of the room without a backward glance.
CHAPTER FOUR
Because I'd used the portal, Bliss was still sitting outside of Smoke and Mirrors. I didn't want to give away my use of the portal to Lana, so Ava and I took her car back to my house.
There was nothing I wanted more than to get into Faerie and start hunting for Owen, but I had to be smart. I needed every tool I had at my disposal. Part of me wondered if I had become less impatient on my own, or if the feather crown on my head was doing it for me.
The thought was almost enough to make me take it off, but like it or not, the Fleece put me at the top of my game. I'd worn it when fighting the pirates and had tossed five death lights in the space of a couple heartbeats and managed to only incapacitate the targets instead of killing them. After taking off the Fleece, I felt like I had been out of control, that I'd been reckless to the point of insanity. With the crown back on my head, I once again felt like I could see my magic clearly and find the best way to apply it. No, I was not about to take it off when I was sure to be in for the fight of my life.
Ava screeched to a halt in the loading area of The Arbor and we piled out of the car. I shifted without so much as a moment's hesitation.
It wasn't until my human feet touched down lightly in front of my apartment door that I realized something was different. I looked down at my body and found silky black feathers positioned over my bikini region, down one leg, and in a couple of other small areas. It looked like I was wearing a runway outfit made of feathers. Huge black wings settled comfortably at my back.
I'd done a partial shift. I was in that strange and intriguing form The Morrigan had used and I'd never managed to duplicate. My swords were still in their places at my back and hip, the strap ran comfortably between my wings. At first I was impressed the enchantment FAB had given me so I could bring my swords through my shifts worked just as well on my new form, but a quick scan of the ground showed no sign of discarded clothing, so I must have shifted it away. The enchantment could still be responsible for my swords, but I'd never managed to shift with my clothes. This shocked me even more than the new form, and yet, I knew with certainty that it was true. I'd carried my clothes through a shift. I had a new form.
Ava stormed out of the elevator and, as per usual, her expression was impossible to read. I got the sense she was both in awe and annoyed, but that might have been my own expectations. She walked toward me at a swift pace. "You've shifted to a new form, used it to get ahead of me, and then spent that time standing outside of your door gawking instead of getting ready to leave."
I was right about the annoyed part. "Sorry, that was the first time I've done that. It took some time to process." I touched the crown on my head. "I'll try to roll with things a little better from now on. Let's go save Owen."
We stepped through the door to find Phoebe sprawled on the couch watching reruns of Medical Heroes. She
sat up and shut off the show as soon as she heard us. "What the hell?" she asked, looking me up and down. "Was he cheating? Did you go all Valkyrie on his ass?"
"No, Owen wasn't cheating. He was kidnapped and taken to Faerie."
The light went out of Phoebe's eyes and her mouth shaped into a tiny "o". Then she squared her shoulders and her features formed into an angry mask that I hadn't seen since the day I'd moved into the apartment and she'd attacked me with vines. "When do we leave?"
The question took me completely off guard. Her and Owen had become friendly over the last couple of months, exchanging banter when he came by for dinner, or picked me up for a date. I didn't think they'd become close enough for her to go on a trip to Faerie though. Dryads could leave their trees, I knew that much. For how long and what distance was safe, I had no idea. I wanted to ask her a dozen questions, but she was a scary badass in a fight, and Owen needed the help, so I wasn't about to talk her out of it.
"When can you be ready?" I asked.
"Give me five minutes," she replied, walking toward her computer.
"Sounds good. I've got some provisioning to do, then we're off."
Ava followed me into my bedroom.
My box of supplies was in my closet. Inside were a collection of charms and a few small weapons. I typically only relied on my swords because of their enchantment that allowed them to come with me during my shifts to crow form. Now that didn't seem to be a problem, so a couple of knives might come in handy. I dug out my disguise charm and the Pez dispenser that I'd bought a while back on a whim, not knowing what it did. As it turned out, it made an exact copy of the user, mirroring their movements. A distraction like that could be quite handy in a battle for your life. The final item I stuffed in my bag was a small cloth pouch that could contain enchantments. It was last used to store the dragon lure necklaces that had ensnared Owen and several other dragons. I had to return it to Siobhan. I hadn't been back to Faerie since the incident and that was months ago. I was hoping she wouldn't be upset that it had taken so long to get it back.