by Karen Lynch
“And remember what I told you. Mom and Dad don’t know I’ve been hunting, and we’re not going to tell them until they’re feeling better.”
A low whistle was his reply. Finch didn’t lie, especially to our parents, and I’d had to explain several times why a lie of omission was okay in this case. I hoped he didn’t forget that in his excitement to see them.
The elevator doors opened, and I hurried down the hall to their room where a female agent stood guard this time. I’d seen her a few times before, so she didn’t stop me when I opened the door and entered the room.
I saw my father first, slightly reclined in his bed, his color improved, and looking more alert than he had yesterday. He beamed at me before he turned his head to look at the other bed. I followed his gaze to my mother, who lay on her back with her eyes closed.
I hurried over to her bed. Her feeding tube was gone, and she looked good, despite the gauntness in her face. Dr. Reddy had assured me my parents would regain the weight they’d lost once they were awake and eating solid foods again.
“Mom?” I said softly, not wanting to startle her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and I was surprised when she looked at me without any of the confusion my father had shown the day before. She stared at me for a moment, and then her mouth curved into a small smile as love filled her green eyes.
I smiled back, unable to speak at first because of the golf ball-sized lump in my throat. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, and I was on the verge of bawling my eyes out like a five-year-old.
An impatient whistle came from inside my coat, and my mother’s eyes widened. Grateful for the diversion, I reached for my zipper. “I brought someone to see you.”
I’d barely pulled the zipper all the way down before Finch poked his head out. The second he saw our mother, he made a sound like a wounded animal and scrambled out onto the bed.
“Careful,” I warned him, but he was already hugging her neck with his face buried in her hair.
Mom’s eyes welled, and she lifted a shaky hand to cover his small body. “My…babies,” she croaked, wincing from the effort. Her throat had to be sore from the feeding tube.
“Don’t try to talk.” I laid my hand over hers, drawing strength from her touch, as I answered the question in her eyes. “We’re okay, just really happy to see you.”
She closed her eyes with a sigh and stroked Finch’s back with her thumb. I left them to go to my father, who was watching them with shimmering eyes. I leaned down to hug him, and his arms enveloped me in a tight hug.
“She asked for you the moment she woke up,” he said against my ear. “Your mom is a strong woman.”
“I know.” Smiling, I pulled back to kiss his cheek. “How do you feel today?”
“Pretty good for a goren addict.”
I sat on the side of his bed. “You remember what happened to you?”
“No. The doctor told me about the goren.” He pressed his lips together. “He also said we have to go to a treatment facility, so it’ll be a while before we can come home.”
I squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry about that. Finch and I are holding down the fort. You guys focus on getting better.”
He turned his warm hand over to hold mine. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I have been told I take after you.” He had no idea how true that was, and I wondered what his reaction would be when he learned what I’d really been up to since they disappeared.
“Jesse,” my mother said in a scratchy voice.
I hurried over to her. “Do you need anything?”
She lifted her free hand and clasped mine. “I have everything I need.”
Finch whistled softly, and I looked to where he sat beside her shoulder. He made the sign for dad, so I picked him up and carried him to the other bed. The moment I set him down he flung his little arms around our father’s neck.
“Hey there, Buddy.” Dad cleared his throat as he patted Finch’s back. “I think you’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you.”
Finch sat up, signing, I help Jesse. We’re partners.
Dismay filled me, and I jerked my gaze from him to Dad. I was scrambling for an explanation when the door opened. “Finch,” I whispered urgently, opening my coat. He leaped inside, and I zipped it as a male nurse entered the room.
The nurse smiled and went to my mother’s bed to check her vitals and to ask if she was in pain. Then he came over to do the same with my father before he left, saying he’d be back in two hours.
Dad crooked a smile at me. “Why do I think you two have done this before?”
I unzipped my coat again to let Finch out. “We’ve had to learn to be sneaky. Finch is good at hiding.”
Finch nodded eagerly and signed, I’m sneaky.
That earned a laugh from our father, and the sound was the best thing I’d heard in a long time. Feeling lighter than I had in months, I left him and Finch to visit while I went back to my mother, who wore a contented smile as she watched us.
“You look different,” she said softly.
“Different how?” I sat on the chair between the two beds.
A frown creased her brow. “I’m not sure. More…grown-up.”
I shrugged. “Guess it had to happen sometime. I will be nineteen in a few months.”
She didn’t look completely satisfied with my answer, but she didn’t press it. We talked for a few minutes until I noticed she was struggling to keep her eyes open. The moment I stopped talking, she fell asleep.
Dad and Finch were deep in conversation, and I decided not to interrupt them because Finch needed this time with him more than I did. I took out my phone to check for messages, and then I spent a few minutes searching for information on the ke’tain.
I wasn’t surprised when my search brought back zero results, and I made a note to visit the Library of Congress web portal when I got home. They had a restricted Fae section that was available only to members of law enforcement, including bounty hunters. I’d already spent hours there searching for any mention of goddess stones. I hadn’t had any luck, but if there were any records of Fae religious artifacts, they were sure to be there.
I found it odd that the Agency had given us so little information about the ke’tain. If it was important enough to create a new job level and huge bounty for it, why weren’t they sharing everything they knew with us? It didn’t make sense.
An hour and a half later, Mom and Dad were sleeping peacefully, and I had to swear to Finch that we’d come back tomorrow in order to get him to leave. It had been a long day, and I still had to stop and buy groceries on the way home. On top of that, they were calling for freezing rain tonight. I hated driving in bad weather, and I wanted to be home before the roads got slippery.
A light snow was falling by the time I parked on our street. The temperature had dropped, and I made sure Finch was zipped inside my jacket before I got out. I was already shivering when I opened the cargo door to grab the groceries. Eyeing the shopping bags stuffed into the cage that took up the back of the Jeep, I calculated whether or not I could carry them all without having to make a second trip.
“Jesse.”
My heart lurched, and I spun to face Conlan, who stood a few feet away. His face was illuminated by the streetlight, revealing a shadow of the easy smile he always used to wear.
“What are you doing here?” After Lukas, Conlan’s betrayal hurt the most, and seeing him was a painful reminder of how gullible I’d been to believe he had actually been my friend.
The practical part of my brain told me I should be afraid, even though he didn’t appear threatening. He was a member of the Unseelie royal guard, and the last time I’d been this close to him, he’d looked at me with contempt. But the hurt and anger welling up in me crowded out every other emotion.
“You know what? I don’t care.” I showed him my back as I gathered the grocery bags, cursing silently when I realized I would need to make two trips.
“Let me help you.” He
moved in to take the bags from me.
“No,” I snapped. “It’s a little too late for your help.”
He flinched, and regret filled his eyes. My heart softened for the second it took for me to remember seeing his face through the bars of my cage.
“I’m so sorry, Jesse. We failed you when you needed us the most.”
His admission took me by surprise, and I had to school my expression as I went back to my groceries. “What happened? Did Faolin torture that weasel Rogin until he told the truth?”
“Faris told us.”
I sucked in a breath. “Is he…?”
“He’s recovering slowly, but he’s going to make it.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” I had only known Faris for a few hours, but I’d felt a connection to him in that short time.
“I hear your parents are going to make a full recovery, too. I’m happy for you.”
I stiffened. “How do you know about my parents?”
“Faolin keeps tabs on certain persons of interest and –”
“No!” I pointed a finger at him. “My mother and father are not persons of interest to you. Faolin got his brother back, and I got my parents. You tell him to focus on his own family and leave mine alone.”
My chest was heaving when I finished, and I fought to get my emotions under control. It was something I had struggled with since my ordeal, and I’d thought I was doing better. But the mere mention of Faolin or any other faerie watching my parents was enough to set me off.
Conlan raised his hands. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Faris asked Faolin to check on your parents because he wanted to know how you were doing. He asks about you every day.”
Some of the tension left me. “Well, now you can tell him you saw me, and I’m doing great.”
“Are you?”
“Better than ever.” I turned back to the groceries so he wouldn’t see the truth on my face.
“Faris has been asking to see you.”
“That’s not a good idea.” Not even my concern for Faris would be enough for me to go near that building or its occupants again.
“Why not?”
I huffed. “Do you really need me to spell it out for you?”
He was quiet for a long moment, and I was hoping he’d left when he spoke again. “Lukas won’t be there if that will make you more comfortable.”
I wanted to tell him Lukas’s presence wouldn’t bother me, but I wasn’t that good a liar. “Did he send you, or did you take it upon yourself?”
“I requested to be the one to talk to you. You should know I wasn’t the only one.”
I didn’t ask who else had wanted to come. I was happy Faris was recovering and that I wouldn’t have to worry about Faolin hunting me down to avenge his brother. But I was moving on and putting all of this behind me. I couldn’t do that if I let Conlan and his friends back into my life.
I picked up as many bags as I could carry and closed the cargo door before I faced Conlan again. The disappointment in his eyes told me he knew what my answer would be.
“I’m going to politely decline your invitation and ask that you give Faris my best. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s cold out here, and I need to take care of these groceries.”
He nodded once and stepped aside to let me pass. I half expected him to follow me or call after me as I crossed the street to my building, but he didn’t.
I didn’t look back until I was in the lobby, and I wasn’t sure how to feel when I saw Conlan standing where I’d left him, watching me. I wasn’t scared exactly, but it did make me nervous. Something told me I hadn’t seen the last of him or his friends.
Chapter 4
MY PHONE WOKE me early the next morning. I cracked open my eyes to see it was barely light outside, and then I squinted at the unknown number. A few months ago, I would have let it go to voice mail, but these days, I never knew when someone from the hospital might call about one of my parents.
“Hello?” I rasped.
“Jesse James?” The male voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“Yes.”
“My name is Ben Stewart, and I work for the Agency in the New York branch.”
I sat up. “I know who you are.” Fear clawed at my stomach because there was only one reason he would call me personally. “Did something happen to my parents?”
“Your parents are safe. But there was an incident at the hospital last night, which required us to move them to a new location.”
I got out of bed to pace the room. “What kind of incident? And where are they now?”
“All I can tell you over the phone is that there was a security breach, but your parents were unharmed,” he said in a calm, authoritative voice. “We’d like you to come in today to discuss it further.”
“I’ll be there in an hour,” I said, already pulling clothes from my closet.
I raced to dress and brush my teeth. I had serious bedhead but no time to deal with my hair, so I pulled it back in a single braid to tame it.
Finch whistled to me when I ran into the living room, and all I told him was that I had to go to the Agency. Mom and Dad were safe, so there was no need worrying him if I didn’t have to.
I grabbed my coat and keys, and I was out the door less than five minutes after talking to Ben Stewart. I groaned in frustration at the sight of the ice-covered Jeep and street. After calculating how long it would take to clean the Jeep, and whether or not I wanted to risk driving, I decided against it.
It took longer than usual to walk to the subway station on the icy sidewalks, and running was out of the question. I spent the entire ride to Manhattan worrying about my mother and father and wondering why the head of the Special Crimes division would call me about the incident at the hospital. Shouldn’t his hands be full with the search for the ke’tain?
My stomach was one big knot of anxiety by the time I entered the Agency headquarters and was shown into Ben Stewart’s corner office. Eschewing formalities, I blurted, “Where are my parents? Are they here?”
“Jesse James, I presume.” The agent smiled and came around the desk. “Your parents are at the rehabilitation facility they were supposed to go to in a few days. We simply moved up the schedule. They’re on a secured level with agents watching them around the clock.”
I took the chair he motioned me to, but I was too upset to relax. “What happened at the hospital?”
He returned to his chair behind the desk. “We don’t know much, unfortunately. An agent arrived at midnight to relieve the one on duty, and she found the other agent asleep and the two nurses suffering from memory loss.”
My fingers clenched the arms of my chair. “Glamoured?”
“The nurses were. The agent was wearing his anti-glamour device, so he was knocked out.”
“And my parents?” I asked in a tight voice.
Stewart clasped his hands on the desk. “Your father said a flash of light woke him up. He saw someone in the doorway, but he couldn’t make them out. Your mother slept through it.”
The powerful wave of relief that went through me left me almost giddy. I owed an immense debt of gratitude to whomever had created that ward.
“That brings me to the first question I have for you,” Stewart said. “Who did you hire to ward your parents? Our faerie consultant said it’s the strongest she’s ever seen.”
“I did ask a friend to do it, but he told me they were already warded. I thought the Agency might have done it since you’re guarding them.”
He shifted in his seat. “We warded the room the day your parents were admitted to the hospital, but since then, someone created a new one that overrode ours. Our Fae consultant could not enter the room or get within ten feet of your parents. She informed us the ward is attached to your parents, not the room, which is difficult to do.”
“My friend told me that, too.” I lifted my hands and let them fall. “I honestly have no idea who did it. I wish I did so I could thank them.”
He stared at me
thoughtfully for a moment and nodded.
“You said that was your first question. You have more?” I asked.
“You spent several hours with your parents last night. Did either of them say anything about what happened to them or why they were held prisoner?” He picked up a pen and rolled it between his fingers. His actions were casual, but the gleam of interest in his eyes told me my answer was very important to him.
“I didn’t ask my mother about it because she’d just woken up. My father said he couldn’t remember anything.”
Stewart was slow to hide his disappointment. “That’s too bad.”
“Their doctor told me this is normal with all the drugs in their system, and they might get those memories back eventually.”
“Yes. We were told that as well,” he said.
“May I ask you a question now?”
He nodded. “Certainly.”
I leaned forward. “Why is the Agency so invested in the protection of two bounty hunters? What are you hoping my mother and father will remember?”
He smiled. “That’s two questions.”
I was still too wound up about the breach to play word games with him. “Then how about this? You think my parents’ disappearance is connected to the missing ke’tain, and you’re hoping they will remember something that will help you find it.”
His head jerked back. “Why do you say that? Do you know something you haven’t told us?”
“No, but it’s not that hard to put the pieces together.”
“What pieces?” He furrowed his brow.
“I’ve been wondering why the Agency would guard two bounty hunters around the clock, especially since no one here was too concerned about finding them when they were missing.” There might have been a hint of accusation in my tone. “I was at the Plaza yesterday when you made your announcement about the ke’tain, and then I get a call from you, instead of one of your agents, about the security breach. That doesn’t sound like something the head of Special Crimes would do.”
