This had all been orchestrated and she’d fallen right in to the trap. But, in her defense, she was better practiced with angels and demons. “And then Rachel showed up. Said she got a call saying that Leah had been admitted into the ER.”
“What?”
This had to be the work of Merry Eastwood. Right? It made sense. The maneuvering? The calculation? That meant she had to know about the treaty being broken. “Yeah.”
“No.”
The anger in Paige drained away as her mind connected pieces of the puzzle. Chill-blinding terror replaced it. The war was here. “Yeah.”
“Rachel’s involved? No way.” Dexx splayed his hands. “She just came to town, like a couple of days ago.”
Paige headed down the hall. True, and while Rachel was Paige’s biggest villain, she wasn’t the witch Paige was concerned with this time. “She might not have anything to do with it.”
“Well, no, wait,” King said, holding up her hands. “Parris did come up with some information.”
Paige stopped. She’d forgotten about her two investigators. “What?”
“They go to the same church.”
“Who?”
“Rachel Whiskey and the Galsborys. Yeah. Tracking cell phones? People and their Facebook? But whatever. Anyway, he tracked them all to the same church.”
Church. Church was supposed to be a safe place.
Who the hell was she kidding? People from church had been persecuting her kind for centuries.
She needed to fucking stop thinking that shit. She knew people who went to church who were honest to God, decent human beings.
It only took one bad apple, though.
“So, are we dealing with humans?” Wrick asked.
Probably not. The shifters weren’t shifting. Magick was involved somehow.
“Probably,” Dexx said. He turned to Paige. “This is why you guys have to get out of Texas.”
“That’s great,” Paige said, her hands clenched, “but not helpful. What do we know about the Galsborys? Where would they go? Where would they take hostages? How many do they have now?”
King held up her hands. “Your family plus eight more. But that’s assuming they were taken by the same person.”
Most people were content to complain on Facebook. It took effort to take action. It seemed more than plausible that only the Galsborys were involved. Well, them and someone with magick. “When can we confirm?”
“When he calls you again.”
Not quick enough. “Can you get anything off of the last phone call he made?” She hadn’t had much luck with that in the past. It sounded great on Hollywood and the military might have those capabilities, but she hadn’t when she’d been in Denver.
“No,” King said. “He wasn’t on the line long enough and the phone’s GPS is turned off.”
“But isn’t there a way to track Leslie’s phone some other way?”
“No, ma’am. Though, we are still trying.”
There was no way Paige was just going to sit there and do nothing. She headed for the workroom again. “Dexx, protect Bobby. Where’s Tru?”
“Upstairs protecting his sons,” Tru’s voice said from the floor above.
“Great,” Paige called. She didn’t know what else to tell him. Prepare for what? What could Tru do?
Hide. With the two boys no one was interested in taking, maiming, or killing.
She cleared the door to the workroom and put both hands palms down on the table. What could she do? Tracking spell?
Might work. She had enough stuff of Leslie’s that—shit.
Had anyone told Tru?
She hadn’t.
Balls.
She didn’t want to be the one to tell Tru that his wife and the mother of his children had been kidnapped, and she definitely didn’t want to tell him that his oldest child had also been kidnapped.
Possibly because of her.
Maybe not.
“Tru,” she called. “I need something of Leslie’s and something of Mandy’s.” She braced for the conversation she was about to have and gathered the other things she would need.
A bowl of water. A blue candle.
There was an herb she would need, but she couldn’t remember which one it was.
Fuck.
It didn’t matter. The ingredients were just a way to ground her mind and will to the moment. That was all.
She’d never done one of these before, though. Alma had always performed the kitchen witch stuff, the spells and other things. What if she did it wrong? What if she couldn’t find them at all? What was she going to do?
Leah was her daughter. She’d find a way to locate her.
“Boss,” King said, interrupting her. “We’ve got five possible locations on where they might be.”
Paige blinked. Map. She needed a map. She pulled open one of Alma’s drawers and pulled out a map of Texas. There were a few scorch marks and other dried ingredients. “Point them out here.”
King cringed, her phone to her ear. “Yeah. Maybe you could just text me the Google Map so I can get closer. No. You don’t understand. Okay. Fine.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and took a picture of the map. “Okay. Now do you see what I’m getting at?”
Tru entered the room, something in his hand. “What happened?”
Paige took them from him and set them beside the map. Better to just rip the Band-Aid off. “Leslie and Mandy were kidnapped.”
“What? When?”
“Just now. At the hospital.”
“I just talked to Leslie.”
“It just happened.” Paige let out a breath. “We’re going to get them back.”
Tru gestured behind him, his mouth open.
She was a good interpreter of body language. She had to be as a detective, but she wasn’t necessarily a good Tru interpreter. She thought he was talking about the boys. Maybe? “I know. Now, go back to them. Keep them safe.”
“Is this something to do with one of your cases?”
“I don’t think so. At least, I hope not.”
He frowned, his lips clamped shut.
Her phone rang to Gummy Bear.
Paige snapped her fingers at King. “It’s him. It’s him. I need this tracked.”
King nodded and said something into the phone.
Paige took in a deep breath to settle herself and picked up. “Hello, Dan.”
“Ah,” he chuckled. “So, you know who I am.”
“Yes.” A thread of confidence rose in her. She wasn’t ten steps behind, per normal. “You were sloppy.”
“I’m not hiding,” he said, indignation ringing through his tone. “The will of God strengthens my hand and my will.”
“God has nothing to do with this.” It really, really didn’t.
“God has everything to do with this. Do you honestly believe that Jesus would suffer witches?”
“I think Jesus was a much cooler dude than you give him credit for.”
“A witch schooling me on my faith.” His tone dripped with sarcasm. “How cute. I have some demands.”
“Why are you doing this, Dan?” She needed to buy more time to trace the call.
“To clean up my city, Ms. Whiskey.” He snarled. “To get rid of the evil infecting my town like a plague. These people who shift shapes into vermin.”
“They’re not vermin.”
“Have you seen these things?”
“I have. And they’re people, Dan.”
“They’re not people. They’re things.”
“Something you tell yourself to help you sleep at night, to make it easier to kill them. But you’re wrong.”
“No, Ms. Whiskey. You are.”
King gestured to her to keep the conversation moving.
Something didn’t seem right. It made a little sense on how he knew about the Whiskeys being witches. Alma had never hid that part of their lives from others. But the shifters? “How did you find out?”
“About what?”
“About u
s. About the shifters.”
He was quiet a long moment. Paige almost thought he was going to hang up. “Beth was sweet on Tru. They were dating. Did you know that? When your witch sister came in and cast a spell on him?”
She hadn’t known that. “Leslie didn’t cast on Tru.”
“She put a spell on him.”
Obviously, Dan didn’t understand the real meaning behind the word “cast,” which encompassed a lot more than just releasing a spell into the world. Whatever. “She didn’t do that either.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because magick doesn’t work that way.”
“I assure you, it does.”
It continually amazed Paige how someone with no working knowledge of magick was more of an expert than she was. How did that mentality start? How was it fed? And how did you defeat it? With knowledge? Doubtful. You could only teach those that wanted to be taught, and he, obviously, already knew more than she did on the matter.
“That still doesn’t explain how you found out about the shifters.”
“I—” He stopped. “I was bitten by one of them.”
So, he was a shifter?
Cawli remained silent.
Paige heard what sounded like a girl cry out in the background. Her heart hammered. “Is my family safe?”
“For now. Yes.”
“You won’t hurt them.”
“Oh, no. By the will of God, I will.”
“Stop using God,” Paige yelled completely frustrated. “You’re being a useless douche all on your own. God has nothing to do with this.”
“Mmm, does that help you sleep at night?”
“No.” Paige subdued the rage. What could she say? What could she do? She probably shouldn’t anger him, but it was keeping him on the line.
“They’re on the move,” King whispered. “They’re close, though. Keep him talking.”
Paige nodded.
“But stop pissing him off,” she cautioned. “He has your daughter. Remember that.”
It was hard to forget. “Put my sister on the line.”
“You don’t want to talk to your daughter instead?”
Of course she did. “Is she safe?”
“For now. Why don’t you check for yourself?”
Silence filled the other side of the line then Mandy’s voice broke the silence. “Mom?”
Paige frowned in confusion. What were they playing at? “Lee,” she said, going along. “How are you?”
“Fine.”
“And you’re still captive?”
“They have something, Mom.” Mandy’s voice was high pitched though in mock fear or real fear, Paige didn’t know. “We can’t do anything.”
Magick. “Have you seen it?”
“It’s a cross or something.”
“That’s enough of that,” Dan said, his voice filling the speaker. “That is more than enough. Are you ready to take my demands?”
“Where are the shifters?”
“I was actually just going to tell you that.”
“What do you mean?” Was he going to trade one set of hostages for another? Had he given up on trying to get the shifters out of town already?
“I know about your treaty.”
She stopped, still. How did he know?
“You’re going to kill them for me.”
Merry Eastwood. It had to be. “I’m gonna what?”
“If you want to see your daughter alive, your sister, your niece, you’re going to kill those shifters.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Dan’s tone grew smug. “You’re going to start a war for me. I’ll text you the address. You’ll have one hour after the text or I pick one of these fine young ladies and I kill her. Slowly.”
Paige wanted to kill someone. But she’d gone off half-cocked too often.
Dan knew about witches because Leslie had stolen his sister’s boyfriend.
Dan knew about shifters because he’d been bitten and rejected.
Bad blood.
It was highly possible that he had gone out on his own to figure out how to battle the Whiskeys and the shifters magickally.
Was that the real reason Merry fucking Eastwood was in Texas?
Made too much damned sense.
People were talking, but too much emotion rattled around inside her chest for her to comprehend their words.
Warm, strong hands wrapped around her shoulders, gentle claws piercing her skin.
Paige breathed, the darkness of her mind evaporating, the physical contents of the room filling her reality.
King fingering the candle, the corners of her lips pulled down. She said something, but Paige couldn’t make out the words. She could hear them. Just not make sense of them.
Wrick standing by the window, his hands shoved in his pockets.
Tyler filling the door with his slight frame.
Tru standing just behind him. His lips moved, his eyes on Paige.
There was probably a question in there. Like, “What are we supposed to do?”
Good question. What were they going to do? Wait for the text? The text that included the location of Chuck’s shifters that she was supposed to kill?
Supposed to kill.
Stop. Everyone was looking to her to lead. So…she needed to pull her head from her butt and do that.
Okay. Think, stupid. Think. The Galsborys were supposed to know if Paige killed the shifters. What did that mean for her? How could she use that?
One of them was staking out the location.
Did that help her?
No. Not really.
They could have a camera in place, watching.
Paige pulled out her phone.
Dexx took it from her. “What are you doing?”
His voice, his words were the only things penetrating the thick fog of emotions. She took her phone back. “Calling Ethel.”
He smiled, his eyebrows raised. “Great. Why?”
“She could help trace the camera feed.”
“Whoa,” King said, her words crisp as she slowed them down and over enunciated. She latched onto Paige’s gaze and held it fiercely. “You made a few leaps there. What camera? What feed?”
Paige didn’t have time to get them all caught up. “Dan is going to want confirmation of the kill. More than just my word. Cameras. Watching the entire time.”
“Sounds plausible.” King shrugged, her lips twisted. “But are you overlooking all the dots?”
Paige wasn’t. He knew about the Whiskeys being witches. He knew about the shifters after having been bitten, surviving, and not being accepted. He knew about the treaty.
And she wasn’t overlooking Rachel. She’d been called to the hospital by someone. Or that Ruby had been taken to the same hospital as Alma. Or that her team had been there to investigate Ruby’s attack.
Or that between Ruby and Rachel, Paige had been distracted enough to allow her family to be kidnapped out from under her nose.
Wrick nodded once. “I’ll call Ethel and see what she can do. I speak that language, so I’ll be more helpful.”
Yeah. Great idea. “Thanks.”
“Who is this guy and who does he know?” Dexx asked.
“After I get my family back,” Paige growled, “you can be damned certain that I’m finding out.”
“That’s great.” King tapped the table. “But we’re on a time clock. That text comes, we’d better have everything in place, or the shifters are fucked and your family’s dead.”
Paige blinked, the reality of those words settling into the pores of her skin.
“Not to be a dick or anything.”
“You’d have to have one first,” Wrick said quietly.
The room filled with silence.
Wrick sighed. “I have the worst sense of humor ever.”
“No, dude,” Dexx said, giving Paige’s shoulders another squeeze. “Normally, that would’ve been epic.”
“My niece is twelve, Wrick.” Paige took in a shuddering bre
ath. “My daughter is twelve. And my sister has a baby that’s not even a week old yet.”
Dexx tipped his head at her. “He didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I’m—” Wrick held up his phone. “—gonna call Ethel.”
Paige needed a plan. Something brilliant. She was the fucking director, for crying out loud. She should have this. She should be able to come up with something. Otherwise, what the hell was she filling the seat for?
“Detach yourself,” Dexx said quietly.
King nodded. “Pretend it’s not your daughter.”
Right. “But it is.”
“Yeah.” King gave her a look that said, “is that helping at all?”
They were right. If this was anyone else, she’d be able to come up with a plan. It was only when it was personal that she handled things badly.
When her mother had taken her daughter, she’d raised a demon to kill Rachel.
When Dexx lay dying in the hospital, she’d given Hell’s key to the demon who’d murdered almost a dozen people.
When some psychotic asshole kidnapped her family and had her grandmother stabbed, she couldn’t focus. What was she going to do? Run around without a clue? Kill the shifters?
Stop. Back that up.
“What if I did kill the shifters?”
Someone knocked at the front door.
Tru turned to answer it.
“You can’t be serious,” Dexx said.
“No. Not really kill them.” Paige narrowed her eyes. Dan would be texting her an address any minute now. She needed a real plan. A good one.
“We have the five possible locations,” Wrick offered. “And Ethel is working with Parris to narrow that down. You could still try the locator spell you mentioned.”
Had she actually mentioned that? Out loud? She couldn’t remember.
Chuck stepped into the entryway, watching what was going on with a frown.
Would the locator spell work faster? Paige bit the inside of her lip and stared at the objects in her hand. She’d completely forgotten about that because that wasn’t something she did. She didn’t do magick. She summoned shit. She manifested the elements. Sure. But a spell? “I don’t know if I can.”
Tru walked into the room and slammed his fist against the table. “You better.”
Paige’s eyes widened. This was the first time she’d ever seen Tru pissed. She’d thought nothing could get under his skin.
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