by Lola Gabriel
Jagger checked his watch. Raven should have definitely been here by now. She must have had to stay late to finish something up. It didn’t feel right, though. Any time Raven had been delayed before, she had always called Jagger and warned him that she was running late.
He tried to call her, but her cell phone just rang and rang, eventually throwing him through to her voicemail. He didn’t bother leaving a message. She would see the missed call and call him back anyway and all he would say if he left a voicemail was for her to call him back.
He thought for a moment and then he opened up his Google app on his cell phone and Googled the company Raven worked for. He found the number for her office building and called through.
“Mason and Lockhart. Carole speaking, how may I help you?” a woman’s voice said when the call was answered.
“Umm, hi,” Jagger said. “Can I speak to Raven Zayne please?”
“Please hold,” the voice said.
Jagger waited while music played in his ear and then the music stopped.
“Raven?” Jagger said.
“I’m sorry,” the receptionist said. “Ms. Zayne appears to have left for the day. Would you like to leave a message and I’ll have her call you first thing tomorrow?”
“No, thank you,” Jagger said. He thought for a moment. “Can you tell me what time she left? This is Jagger, her partner. She was supposed to come here to my place straight from work and she hasn’t arrived and I’m a little worried about her.”
“Hang on one second. I don’t know off the top of my head what time she left, but I might be able to find out for you,” the woman said.
Jagger waited anxiously as the music played again. The woman came back on the line a couple of minutes later.
“She left at the normal time, sir. Around five,” she said. “Maybe a couple of minutes after.”
“Okay. Thank you,” Jagger said.
He ended the call and thought for a moment. Even if she was walking to his place, she should have been there by now.
He thought he was maybe overreacting a little bit, but his instincts had kicked into overdrive and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that something bad had to have happened to Raven. His senses wouldn’t be playing up like this if everything was fine and Raven was just running a bit late.
He thought for a moment longer, knowing he needed to act but not sure what to do. He finally made his decision and, grabbing his keys and his cell phone, he ran from the apartment down to his car. He would go to his parents’ place and see if he could persuade his father to do a locator spell on Raven. Only the high warlock and the high witch were powerful enough to do locator spells from what he had been told and Jagger could see no reason why they wouldn’t help him.
As he got into his car, his cell phone vibrated and he snatched it from his pocket. It was a text message from Raven. He opened it and read it quickly.
“I’m sorry to do this over a text message, but I’ve decided that you and I aren’t going to work long-term. You should find your one true mate and take over the tribe like you are destined to do. Our child isn’t safe here, Jagger. People talk. I am leaving the country and making sure I go someplace where no one knows me so that our baby and I will be safe. Please don’t attempt to find me or you will be putting our child in further danger. -Raven”
Jagger read the text message through again and then he put his car into gear and pulled away, the tires squealing on the road surface as he sped toward his parents’ house. He knew for sure he had been right about something bad happening to Raven now. Someone had taken her. He didn’t know who or why, but he knew someone had. Someone who wanted to make sure he didn’t come looking for her.
He knew Raven hadn’t sent that text message. She always laughed at him when he texted her and signed off with his initial or his name, telling him that his name was in her contacts list and a sign-off was unnecessary. There was no way she would have changed that now. Jagger had to find Raven before it was too late. Whoever had her must want to harm her or they wouldn’t be going to such lengths to keep him from looking for her.
Jagger arrived at his parents’ place, pulled up outside the front door, and jumped from his car, not stopping to shut the car door behind him, let alone lock it. He ran into the house and found his parents eating dinner together in the dining room. Silver was with them and all three of them looked up at him in surprise when he came bursting into the room.
“Mom. Dad. I need one of you to do a locator spell. Please. Raven is missing and I have a feeling something bad has happened to her,” Jagger said.
“Honey, you know we can’t do that,” Jagger’s mom said.
“Of course you can. You’re the high witch of the United States,” Jagger said desperately. “Please, I need your help. Raven is in danger.”
“Jagger, you don’t understand. I’m not saying we won’t help you. I’m saying we can’t help you. Locator spells only work between true soulmates,” Jagger’s mom said.
Jagger moved to the table and sat down heavily in a chair before his knees gave way.
“Okay,” he said, thinking out loud. “Then I need someone who can trace the location of a cell phone.”
“Jagger, breathe,” his father said. “Clearly you’re worried about Raven. Why?”
Jagger explained about her being late coming over to his place from work and then about him making the call to her office, and finally, about the text message to him from Raven’s cell phone.
“I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I know that message wasn’t her. And I can sense that something is wrong,” Jagger said.
His father nodded.
“That’s what I figured you’d say. That it was instinct. Jagger, you don’t need to trace that cell phone and you don’t need your mom or me to do that locator spell for you. I don’t care if Raven is a vampire, not a witch. She’s your one true mate, Jagger. The fact that you can sense when she’s in danger proves it. Try the locator spell,” he said.
“But…” Jagger started.
“It’ll take minutes to try it. And if it doesn’t work, we’ll find you someone who can trace the cell phone,” Jagger’s mom said. “I think your dad is onto something here.”
“Fine,” Jagger said, figuring it would be quicker to just do it and show them that it wouldn’t work than it would be to argue the matter with them. “What do I do?”
“Close your eyes and picture Raven in your mind,” Jagger’s mom said. He did as she said. “Now, really focus on only Raven. Let the background around her fade away and look deep into her eyes.”
Jagger followed the instruction again. He focused only on Raven’s gorgeous eyes, hoping and praying that he got to see them again.
“Right,” Jagger’s mom said. “Now let your vision pan back out and you will see Raven’s location in the background behind her image.”
Jagger did as she said and his jaw dropped when he got her location. He didn’t know if he was more surprised that the spell had worked and it was really possible that Raven was his one true mate, or that he recognized the location the spell had revealed.
“I don’t think it worked,” Jagger said, shaking his head in defeat as he realized why the location was so crazy. The spell hadn’t worked. “It’s trying to tell me that Raven is at Baker and Gerri’s place. Why would she be there?”
“She might be,” Silver said, speaking for the first time since Jagger had come into the room. “Gerri and Baker are out of the state somewhere and Lee, one of their sons, is meant to be looking after the place for them.”
“I know who Lee is,” Jagger said. “And why he might be at Gerri and Baker’s place. But why would he have Raven there?”
“Because he’s afraid, Jagger,” Silver sighed. “I’ve heard talk within the tribe about people being worried about the idea of a hybrid baby. I figured the baby might be in danger once it was born, but I didn’t consider this happening. At least not until you mentioned where the locator spell was show
ing you. My guess is that Lee, one of the more vocal tribe members, has decided to take matters into his own hands. And clearly he, too, has worked out that once the baby is born, you’ll have it well guarded. My guess is that he’s taken Raven and he’s going to kill the baby once it’s born.”
“Fuck,” Jagger said, jumping up. “I suppose in a weird way, that makes sense. Lee always was a bit of a loose cannon and if he got a bee in his bonnet about something, he always had to go jumping in with both feet without stopping to consider any of the facts.”
Jagger started for the dining room door.
“Wait. Where are you going?” his mom said.
“Where do you think I’m going, Mom? I’m going out to Baker and Gerri’s place and getting Raven back,” he said.
“Not alone, you’re not. Let me assemble some guards for you. Lee won’t be there without security,” she said.
“There’s no time for that, Mom. I won’t leave Raven alone with him for even a moment longer than I have to,” Jagger said.
“But if what Silver said is true, we have months,” Jagger’s mom said. “I don’t think an hour or two will hurt.”
“And what if Silver’s theory is wrong?” Jagger countered. “Besides, I won’t leave Raven there even if she is technically safe for now.”
“I’ll go with him,” Silver said, getting up and crossing the room to join Jagger at the half-open dining room door. “We should be okay between us, but feel free to send guards after us if you want to.”
Jagger didn’t hang around to wait and see if his parents were going to agree to this or not. He felt like he had wasted enough time trying to convince his parents that he should leave now. He ran for his car with Silver on his heels. They got into the car and Jagger pulled away, his tires squealing once more. He headed into the traffic and started heading out to the mansion.
“So, some of the tribe are worried about what my child might be able to do, huh?” Jagger said as he drove.
Silver nodded his head and made a grunting sound that Jagger took to be agreement.
“I kind of got the impression you maybe agreed with them,” Jagger went on. He said it like a question, not an accusation. He wanted to be sure that he had heard Silver’s tone right, even though it hurt him to think that his brother might think so badly of his child.
“I understand their fear, I suppose,” Silver sighed. “But don’t for a moment think I agree with what Lee is doing.”
Jagger looked at Silver, a quick glance, and then his focus was back on the road in front of him. Even that quick glance was enough to see that Silver looked uncomfortable, though, and Jagger knew his brother well enough to know that he was hiding something. Something big.
“What aren’t you telling me, Silver? I know you’re hiding something and if it concerns Raven or my baby, I need to know what it is,” Jagger said, keeping his tone calm, his voice at a normal volume, even though he could feel anger and panic swirling inside of himself.
Silver sighed loudly and ran his hands over his face.
“Okay,” he said after a moment. “Here it is. Like I said, I understand why the tribe is fearful and I wanted to keep the peace within the tribe. I went to see Raven and tried to convince her to either end the pregnancy or take the baby and leave the country.”
“You did what?” Jagger shouted, any pretense at calm gone now.
“I’m sorry, Jagger. Let’s just be honest here, none of us have any real idea what the baby is going to be or what it’s going to be capable of. I know Mom thinks it’ll be fine, but what if she’s wrong? And what will the tribe think?” Silver said.
“Who cares what other people think. This is my baby you’re talking about. You think my baby is going to be a monster?” Jagger said quietly.
“I didn’t say that,” Silver said quickly. “I am worried it’s going to have powers we don’t understand. And if we don’t understand them, then how can we help the baby to master them? How can we teach it to control its powers if we don’t fully understand what they are?”
“I don’t know,” Jagger admitted. “But I’d like to think that teaching the baby right from wrong would be enough. And if it does turn out that it has powers beyond our comprehension that it can’t control, there are always potions we can use to restrict or completely block someone’s powers. You know that.”
“I know,” Silver said. “I guess I didn’t stop to think it all through. I’m sorry, Jagger. I overreacted. Luckily, Raven is very strong-willed. Oh, she made all of the right noises, promising to think it over, but I could see the determination in her eyes. The maternal instinct, I suppose it was.”
Jagger shook his head, trying to make sense of all of this. He was extremely angry with Silver, but he needed him on his side right now. If they went into this in fight mode with each other, they were a lot more likely to screw up. Jagger had a feeling that Silver had considered this himself and that was why he had chosen now to confess to him, a time when he knew Jagger would be more likely to let it go.
“Let’s just forget about it for now. I’m more worried about getting Raven safely home than anything else at the moment,” Jagger said.
Silver nodded, throwing him a grateful smile, and they fell silent for a time as Jagger pushed the car onwards. It felt like it took him hours to get to the mansion, but he could see it looming up ahead of him now.
Jagger parked the car outside of the brick wall surrounding the mansion’s grounds. He didn’t want to drive right up to the door and alert Lee and any guards he had of their presence. He wasn’t afraid of Lee. He half wanted to face him and make him pay for taking Raven, but he knew that if they could slip in and out unnoticed, it would mean there was less risk to Raven and that mattered more to Jagger than the idea of revenge. He could come back later and deal with Lee once he knew Raven was safe.
Jagger and Silver got out of the car and made their way inside the grounds of the mansion, trying to stay hidden behind the shrubbery until they worked out the best place to try and get inside.
“There,” Silver said.
Jagger looked where Silver was pointing and smiled at what he saw. An open window. He nodded his head.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Stay low.”
Jagger led the way, Silver behind him, as they ran across the lawn bent almost double. They reached the mansion without anyone calling for them to stop and they stood for a moment beside the open window with their backs pressed to the wall. Jagger took a moment to compose himself, and then he leaned forward and peered into the window. The room looked like a lounge. A lounge empty of people. Jagger took a long moment to study the room until he was certain no one was hidden anywhere in it.
He nodded to Silver and then he climbed in through the lounge window. Silver followed him in, and they moved to the door of the room.
“What now?” Silver hissed.
“Now we search every room in the place until we find Raven,” Jagger whispered back.
Silver nodded his head. Jagger pulled the lounge door open and saw a long hallway. He stuck his head out cautiously and looked left and then right. Everything looked clear and he beckoned to Silver to follow him out of the room.
“I’ll take the doors on the right-hand side, you take the ones on the left-hand side,” Silver whispered.
Jagger nodded and the brothers began to make their way along the hallway, each slamming open doors on their side of the hallway and checking each room. Jagger was starting to feel like they had started in the wrong place, that they should have looked for an attic or a cellar first, after they had searched over half of the rooms leading off the hallway and found nothing.
“Jagger. Look,” Silver hissed, nudging Jagger after a few more minutes had passed.
Jagger tensed up, looking around, waiting for an attack. He and Silver were still alone and Jagger saw that Silver was pointing at a door. He looked at the door and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that a bolt was thrown across it. He was almost sure they had found Raven. Why else
would this door be locked from the outside? He quickly opened the bolt and tried the door. It didn’t budge and Jagger realized it was locked as well as bolted.
“Stand back,” Jagger said.
He waited for Silver to move and then he raised his foot and kicked the door hard.
10
Raven jumped up from the chair she was sitting in when she heard footsteps outside in the hallway. She hadn’t seen or heard anyone since Lee had brought her here and locked her in, and she was curious as to who was here now. She figured it was likely Lee with something for her to eat. He had promised to take good care of her. She just hoped he knew that meant she would need blood and not just normal food.
She was tempted to refuse to eat anything he brought her, but that would only spite herself. She would be the one who starved and worse, her baby would suffer. She had to hold on, had to keep herself in good health so that if she was presented with an opportunity to escape, she would be able to take it.
Raven heard the bolt on her door being pulled back and then the door rattled slightly in the frame. She held her breath, waiting for it to open, wondering if she could possibly take Lee by surprise and tear his throat out before he could use his magic on her. She moved closer to the door, but then a loud bang scared her and she jumped back again. Her fear turned to excitement. Someone was kicking the door in.
Lee wouldn’t need to kick in the door; he had the key. It meant she was being rescued. Had Jagger found out about this and come to help her? It didn’t seem likely to Raven, but she couldn’t think of any other explanation for her rescue.
She jumped back again as the door rattled in its frame and then slammed open. Raven felt relief flooding her when she saw that she had been right. Jagger was here. He was rescuing her.
“Raven,” he said, running to her and quickly embracing her. “Are you or the baby hurt?”
“No,” Raven said, clinging to Jagger for a second and then standing back. “We have to get out of here. Lee, my captor, this is his parents’ house. They’re away and he’s going to kill the baby, and…never mind that now. You obviously know that or you wouldn’t be here. How did you work it out?”