Smoke and Survival (Best Wishes Book 2)

by A. J. Macey

  “Nikolai Volkhov,” he sneered. I ground my teeth together to stay in control, dedicating all my focus to keeping my tone steady.

  “Where is she?”

  He laughed, the maniacal sound betraying how crazy he truly was. He did not answer, just continuing to laugh. I gave up and stormed into the house but immediately skidded to a stop. The abrupt movement caused the rest of the guys to run into my back, piling into the small space behind me. Dean Renaud was standing with his back to me. His feet apart, fists down and clenched tightly at his sides. Power, nearly unrestrained, pulsed dangerously around him.

  “She’s not here,” he ground out through clenched teeth, his face turning so I could see his profile over his shoulder. “The garage is empty.” I tiptoed around him feeling my brothers following towards the open door at the other end of the hall.

  “Oh god.” I immediately clamped a hand over my mouth. Cam’s description of what he saw had not seemed to fully form in my head until I was standing in the room. Grigori’s gaze darted around the room taking in the scary as fuck instruments that had sent Logan into a frenzy yesterday. Blood spattered over the cinderblock walls and workshop tools. But what caught Logan’s attention the most as he knelt was the large drying blood spot.

  “What are you doing?” Hudson’s voice was shrill as Logan dipped a single finger into the puddle.

  “It’s not fully dry, not fully cold either,” Logan explained. At his explanation, Grigori’s eyes shifted to look around, his frantic change in perspective making me sick. Bloody Lucie-sized footprints started, but then seemed to disappear.

  “Where are the rest of the footprints?” I pointed toward the dried markings.

  “Did he move her, knowing we were coming?” Landon offered, looking sickly green.

  “Or did he do something more permanent?” Cam whispered the question no one wanted to ask. Dean Renaud must have heard the words because immediately after, he lost control. A wave of pure power knocked us flat on our asses, and the dean roared.

  “She can’t be dead!”

  Dante was the first to recover, his wide eyes betraying his faux calm exterior. He was as bewildered as the rest of us at the dean’s reaction. Collecting himself, Dante did as Dante did best, talking down an overly emotional supe back to relatively normal levels. Hudson was standing off to the side, waiting on standby in case Dante was not able to talk the dean down from his emotionally explosive state. While it would have been faster for Hudson to use his emotion-altering power, it was considered bad form to influence others. If push came to shove, Hudson would do what he needed to so no one would be put at risk.

  Unable to keep looking at the space, I pulled back from Grigori’s eyes, darkness descending until I was no longer seeing. I ignored my familiar smacking the side of my head in irritation, unhappy I was not using him to his full potential. As I stood there though, a strange tingle of magic brushed against my skin. It was not coming from the dean as Dante talked to him but coming from above us. Feeling outside of me, my sensory perception sharpened until it locked on the rope and metal chains that had held Lucie up.

  “Runes,” I whispered, my throat sore from the building acid in my throat. “How did she get out of rune-etched bindings and how did Noah get them in the first place?” I asked no one in particular, no one paying attention to my whispers as I heard the dean straightening his suit jacket and ordering the group of police who had shown up.

  “Spread out, start searching.” The officers hesitated for a moment, reluctant to take orders from someone who was not in law enforcement, but Dr. Tanner confirmed the directive given by Dean Renaud. Finally outside the house, I reconnected with Grigori to see their flashlight beams bouncing through the trees. My brothers and I started toward the woods, but the dean and Dr. Tanner stopped us.

  “If we don’t find her tonight, you can assist in the morning, but tonight you need to sleep,” Dr. Tanner instructed firmly. “Go back to campus. If it will help you sleep, go check in with Knox and Flynn, and they’ll show you where Noah’s being held.” We wanted to argue, but we knew they had pushed a lot of regulations out of the way to allow us on this investigation. Clamping down on the urge, we got back in our cars and headed back to the university. Once we were back on campus, we immediately went straight to talk to the agents. No talking occurred between us, but we moved as a team, all arguments and high tempers from the last few days forgotten and forgiven. Once we were back on campus, we immediately went straight to talk to the agents.

  Agent Jenkins and Agent Garcia were waiting for us, Dr. Tanner having called them when we left. They led us down a hallway and into a room on the left, leaving the door open. It was an observation room, one wall holding a large two-way mirror. The asshole sat handcuffed and shackled to a large metal table that was bolted to the floor. I knew from their conversation the other day that Troy was in the room next door, but he had not talked yet.

  “Can I murder him?” Landon asked, his voice serious as he looked to the FSID agents. They chuckled, their laughs resigned, before shaking their heads.

  “No,” Agent Garcia spoke for the first time since arriving, “unfortunately.” We stood in silence, staring, unbeknownst to Noah, and attempting to process what had happened.

  “Where is he?!” Sadie’s voice radiated around the hallway, her face stormy as she stomped into the room. Her cheeks were pink in anger, her eyes wild behind her purple framed glasses. “I’m going to murder that motherfucker.” She paused like she had an idea. “No, scratch that. I’m going to maim him, then murder him. Slowly.” She nodded manically, her face transforming into one that any daemon would be proud of.

  “Who are you?” Agent Jenkins asked, his dark brows rising at the angry little faerie. She whirled on him, as if finally realizing there were other people in the room. Her hands landed on her hips, her attitude in full swing.

  “I’m Lucie’s roommate and one of her best friends.” She squinted at him suspiciously. “Who are you?” More eyebrow raises from the two agents, and Agent Garcia’s lips twitched.

  “FSID Special Agent Knox Jenkins and one of my teammates, Special Agent Flynn Garcia.”

  Her head tilted back, and she eyed them for a moment longer. When she reached whatever conclusion was going on in her crazy head, she nodded, satisfied with the answer.

  “Now, where the hell is that little piece of douchery?” She turned her attention to me, and I pointed through the two-way mirror. She stormed up to it, her nose pressing against the glass. “Would it be frowned upon if I set him on fire?” Despite the dour mood that had filled the room with Lucie still missing, her question had me smiling, just a little bit.

  “Yes,” Agent Jenkins groaned, “you’re just as bad as these guys are.” Well, I cannot say I blame her, I thought, turning back to the bastard handcuffed to the metal table. Do not worry, asshole, you will get what is coming to you…

  We will make sure of it.

  27

  December 11th

  Tuesday

  Hudson

  Crunching leaves, pines, and branches were constant as we continued our search. The police had gotten far throughout the night, reaching the university’s property line inside the forest. According to the agents, Noah had most likely been camping out at that house since locating Lucie. Four-wheeler tracks were deep within the soil after days of the same ride being taken. A camo painted four-wheeler had been uncovered under a tarp of fake foliage. It explained how he was easily getting on and off campus.

  Since the police and agents had scoured the property around the house, we were now working from the property line toward the campus. Grigori fluttered between the trees flying in a wide s-pattern to give Nik a literal bird’s eye view. I didn’t really recognize where we were, all the trees and bushes had blended together in an hour of endless greenery. We continued to randomly call out Lucie’s name every few minutes, desperately hoping she would hear us.

  Another half hour passed before Grigori let out a squawk and d
ove. We all took off at a sprint, converging on the location in which Grigori had descended. It was a small clearing, a little frozen over pond was surrounded by large worn stones. Grigori perched on one of the rock formations, his eyes focused on what looked to be a patch of fog.

  “We know this place,” the twins announced at the same time as we broke through the trees. Logan, Landon, and Agents Garcia and Jenkins were to my right while Dante, Cam, Nik, and Dean Renaud were on my left. Agent Bronstad and Dr. Tanner followed a few steps behind the group.

  “I do too,” Nik added, his head tilted as he looked at his hawk. “Why did you bring us here?” Grigori squawked, but Nik didn’t seem to understand.

  “How do you know this place?” Dean Renaud asked them, his eyes darting around the space curiously.

  “Lucie brought me out here after our debate, wanted to help me relax. Brought her mom’s hot chocolate recipe to help soothe my throat,” Nik said quietly, his gravelly voice thick with emotion. My heart squeezed at the thoughtfulness Lucie always put into her interactions with us.

  “This is where she hid her locked box with her wish tokens before she brought them to your office,” Landon supplied, looking over at the dean whose brows shot up.

  “She hid them outside?” His tone was disbelieving. Logan nodded, heading for one of the stone formations.

  “She had it wrapped in fabric and tucked into this little alcove with those rocks covering it to make sure it was wedged in,” Logan explained, looking at the small opening in the middle of four rocks. I had to admit, I was impressed. This was a location almost no one would know of, especially considering the grass and dirt were undisturbed. We walked closer into the clearing, curious as to why Grigori had brought us here.

  “I don’t understand,” Agent Jenkins started, spinning in a circle looking around. “I don’t see her, does anyone?” Everyone shook their head except for Agent Garcia who squatted down and pressed a hand into the grass.

  “Do you feel it?” His question was quiet. A round of no’s went up. “This clearing is a ley line nexus.” My jaw dropped, and a few gasps went up. The ley line nexuses were well documented and typically guarded to keep anyone from misusing the power. This one had clearly been missed during the search for the world’s nexuses. “But this one isn’t normal”—his brow furrowed—“this one had enchantments wound around it, stemming from the wards of the campus. It keeps anyone with ill will or negative intentions out while calling to those needing help or asylum.” Agent Garcia stood, dusting his hand on his pants.

  “So, it isn’t a surprise Lucie found this place?” Cam questioned, eyeing the space with new interest. Agent Garcia nodded. I found my eyes drifting around the space. There was something odd, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I took a few steps away from the group, the odd patch of fog catching the light at just the right angle for me to see the pearlescent shift. My heart leapt in my throat.

  “Guys!” I shouted, stepping closer to the cloud of smoke. If I was correct, this was Lucie right here. They started forward, almost going past me into the cloud. “Stop!” I demanded. I was greeted with odd expressions questioning why I was acting strange. “See this?” I pointed.

  “Yeah, it’s a patch of fog. If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of that here,” Agent Bronstad smarted. I glared at him before explaining.

  “That’s not fog. Dean Renaud”—he glanced at me—“you’ve seen Lucie when she’s called upon her wish granting, correct?” He caught where I was going with this, the fire in his icy eyes burning with intensity.

  “Will one of you please explain what’s going on?” Landon demanded, frustrated he didn't understand.

  “You know the myth about the genie and the lamp? When the person rubs the lantern, the genie comes out in a smoky haze?” Dean Renaud started to explain, walking in a very slow circle around the two-foot diameter cluster of pearlescent smoke. “When Lucie’s token is used, she does the same.” Dead silence answered him.

  “Though only her arms, legs, and lower torso turn to smoke while her hair turns black and her eyes get all pearly,” I added. “I don’t know how she did it, but that’s Lucie.” Flynn stepped forward, staring intently at the smoke.

  “She might be able to shift into smoke, she’s still young and coming into her powers.” I felt my heart leap.

  “We don’t know how injured she is though,” Dr. Tanner warned. “If what you explained, and what we saw at that house is any indication, we can’t force her to shift back. Not until we have her in a stabilized area where we can have life-saving precautions on hand.”

  “I can open the Omnilock and have it close around her. We can take her out when we get to the hospital wing.” Dean Renaud worked quickly, and within a few minutes we were sprinting behind the twins back toward campus. Thank fuck we found her. I pushed my worries about her injuries to the back of my mind. Focusing on the positive was the only thing holding me together at the moment.

  December 12th

  Wednesday Afternoon

  Dante

  Lucie’s smoky cloud hung in the air, contained to a quarantined room in case, for some reason, she tried to float away. My griffin pressed and urged in my mind, his pacing and whipping tail made me twitchy and irritable. He wanted to take charge, to demand we force Lucie to shift back, that we go to the rooms where Troy and Noah were being held and get the answers we needed regardless of how we got them, but I couldn’t do that. So, I pushed back, I denied those animalistic instincts to maim the two men who had hurt Lucie, and I paced as I waited for the agents to tell us what the next step was. Submitting to their positions as federal agents went against the very core of what I was, but I had to, for Lucie.

  Finally growing anxious from pacing, I sank down to the ground with my back against the wall. I hadn’t slept despite having been awake for the past 48 hours since before we found her. Staring without seeing, my eyes glazed over as Dr. Tanner, Dean Renaud, and the university’s doctor discussed the best course of action to take to help Lucie since she had yet to shift back on her own. Shuffling footsteps caught my attention, but I didn’t bother to look up at who it was from my seated position on the tiled floor.

  “Dante,” Agent Jenkins’ voice surprised me. I finally looked up, finding his worried eyes focused on me. “Come on.” He jerked his head to the side. I shook my head, opening my mouth to explain that I couldn’t leave. Not yet, not until I knew Lucie was okay. He knelt, no qualms about his crisp black slacks touching the tile floor. “Dante, I know what it’s like to worry about teammates and people you care about being in danger. The wait to make sure everything’s all right is full of ‘what ifs,’ ‘what could have beens,’ and ‘now whats,’ but the truth is that there is nothing you can do right now. You need a distraction, and I know damn well you haven’t slept. Half your face is purple in dark circles. I want you to come watch Noah’s and Troy’s interrogations until the doctors have a plan to share.”

  “Will they let me know when they plan to do something?” He nodded. I sighed, knowing that if I sat here, my dad’s and brothers’ voices would echo through my mind, bringing all my insecurities to light, more than they already did on a regular basis. I stood and followed him to where they were keeping Noah and Troy. The head agent was leaning against the wall when we reached the hallway. I stepped into the empty observation room, Agent Jenkins and Agent Bronstad taking seats opposite Troy.

  He still wore his security uniform, his hair pulled back in his signature ponytail at the back of his head. His olive skin held a sickly tint to it as he eyed the two men. Neither FSID agent spoke for a moment; instead, they stared at him with completely stony faces. The monitor in the corner of the observation room showed a dual screen video, one facing Troy, one facing the agents.

  “So, Troy,” Agent Jenkins started, his tone not quite friendly, yet not cold either. “Why don’t we start with you telling us what happened?” Before he started talking, the door to the observation room opened, Dean Renaud stepping inside w
ith Dr. Tanner.

  “Dante.” The dean nodded his head in greeting, and Dr. Tanner smiled warmly.

  “Have we figured out what to do about Lucie yet?” I couldn’t hold back my anxious question. Dr. Tanner laid a hand on my shoulder to stop the stream of questions that were surely about to come spilling out.

  “We’re not going to force a shift until 48 hours is up. We don’t want to risk any issues with rushing it. We aren’t sure if her body is essentially in a hibernative state or if it’s healing itself. If she doesn’t change back by tomorrow afternoon, we will be forcing it.” He looked me in the eye, his warm brown eyes intense on mine. “I promise, I will personally do everything in my power to make sure she’s all right.” I took a shaky breath, nodding my head before turning my attention back to the interrogation.

  “So, you didn’t know that Noah was previously violent with Lucie?” Agent Jenkins asked, his tone suggesting he doubted him.

  “No, I didn’t,” he pressed. Dr. Tanner scoffed, sending a quick text to Agent Bronstad. His ice blue eyes scanned, nodding ever so slightly in response as he read the message.

  “What was that?” I didn’t understand what had just happened.

  “Oh, I’m a walking lie detector,” Dr. Tanner supplied. “It’s why I’m here, actually. Usually I’m in the interrogation, but Lucie’s health comes first. I am a doctor, after all.” I nodded, really intrigued with that power. It wasn’t common, most people who had truth or deception-based powers would get a vibe or a hint but couldn’t straight out know.

  “Why did you help him?” Agent Bronstad took over questioning, his tattooed forearms on the steel table.

  “I thought her boyfriends were hurting…” Dr. Tanner knocked once on the glass.