by Roxie Ray
All the blood in my body rushed to my head. I was sure I was going to hit the ground. But then, Maddox’s arms were around me, holding me up. The world stopped shaking and my mother’s voice came into focus again.
“Mom?” I didn’t push Maddox away. I was able to focus on my mother’s voice, but only Maddox’s arms were keeping me upright. “What happened?”
Maddox guided me to a bench near the house. I’d been meaning to pressure wash it and spray paint it to make a seating area back here but hadn’t gotten around to it.
“We were at the park. Walter Bearth appeared out of nowhere. He had a gun! He looked drunk and screamed at me that he has rights to his granddaughter and how we weren’t going to keep her from them.”
It was a good thing I was already sitting down because I would’ve lost my footing hearing about the gun. “He took her?”
“Yes! He threatened to shoot me if I tried to stop him, then he had his gun on Tiffany when I still tried to stop him anyway. He said he’d kill her before letting her come back with us.” She sobbed while Maddox held me close. His chest rumbled with a near-constant growl. I knew it was Artemis reacting to Tiffany being taken.
“I need you to trust me.” Maddox pulled back a little. “I’m going to get our girl back.”
My chest pounded and ached. It became harder and harder to suck in a full breath. Maddox put his hand on the back of my neck and shoved me down until my head was stuck between my knees. Sobs wracked through my body. If I’d been with her, I could’ve prevented this. If I’d answered the calls from Kyle’s parents, even just one of them, Walter wouldn’t have felt the need to go to such extreme measures.
Oh, God, Tiffany had to have been terrified. She didn’t know Walter or Mary. I never, ever brought her around people without me unless she knew them and was comfortable with them. I wouldn’t have even considered leaving her with Ava yet.
“This isn’t your fault.” Maddox rubbed my back. “Breathe.”
How did he know I was feeling extreme guilt?
“Bethany,” Maddox said in a serious voice. “They’ve been spiraling. This isn’t on you.”
I nodded and sat up. He was right. The blame rested solely on Walter and Mary’s shoulders. The fear settled in my gut, but I had to focus and keep it together. I couldn’t help Maddox find Tiffany if I was completely in meltdown mode.
“You went the legal route. You did all you could.” He continued to rub my back, but it occurred to me that while we sat here with me losing my damn mind, Tiffany was with drunk Walter.
“He could’ve already driven off the road,” I whispered.
“What?” Maddox looked at me in concern.
“Mom said Walter appeared drunk.” I jumped up and ran to the side of the house. It must’ve been Maddox’s sirens I heard.
He scrambled to follow. “What are you doing?” he called. Within seconds, he’d caught up to me at the passenger side of the police cruiser.
I yanked on the handle, but the door was locked. “Let’s go!” I exclaimed. Images of Tiffany thrown from a car because she wasn’t in a seatbelt ran through my mind. I saw her being dragged away, kicking and screaming, as Walter waved a gun. “Come on, Maddox, now.”
“Okay, I got it.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket and stuck the key in the lock. “Get in. I was going to get Abby to come over and sit with you while I went to the station to figure out the next moves. I know what I’d like to do, as a member of the Kingston clan, but we have to go the legal route.”
I slid into the car and sucked in deep breaths while Maddox walked around. The fear coursing through me threatened to overwhelm me again, but I slammed my fists down on my knees a couple of times.
“Hey, whoa,” Maddox said. He put his hand on my left fist. “Talk to me.”
He backed quickly out of my driveway and headed down the road.
“I don’t know what to talk about,” I whispered.
“Tell me about Tiffany,” Maddox said. He turned on the sirens. They were louder than I expected.
“Uh, she’s smarter than I expected a child her age to be,” I called. “I keep checking online and looking for milestones and what a normal three-year-old should be able to do.”
Maddox turned onto Main Street and nodded. “She’s advanced?”
“I think so. I was going to bring it up to her pediatrician at her four-year physical.”
We didn’t encounter any other vehicles until we got onto Main, and luckily it darted into a parking lot, so we were able to hurry down and pull in behind it.
Maddox rushed around the car to meet me at the front and took my hand. “Come on.”
“Why are we here?” I asked as we ran into the station. “Shouldn’t we be searching for Walter?”
“We’ve got deputies doing just that,” Maddox said. “Don’t worry.”
As soon as we walked into the station, I stopped short after hearing a shrill cry. My mom slammed into me. Maddox had to brace me again as I staggered backward from the force of my mother’s embrace.
“Bethany, I’m so sorry! I should’ve protected her. How could I have let her get across the playground from me, knowing Walter was after her?”
Part of me wanted to yell at her that she should’ve been closer. She could’ve protected Tiffany. But I knew that was unfair. I didn’t stand right on top of Tiffany when she played. Not even after she almost fell off the monkey bars. “Mom, it wasn’t your fault. You know I don’t like helicopter parenting. I wouldn’t have been right on top of her myself if I’d been the one there.”
Maverick pulled Maddox aside and they conferred very quietly. I continued consoling my mother. At first, I considered that she should’ve been the one comforting me, but seeing her granddaughter kidnapped had to have been traumatizing for her.
After a few moments, Maddox walked away from his father and touched my arm. “Can I speak to you for a second?”
I nodded and Maverick put his hand on Mom’s arm. “Let me get you a cup of coffee.”
She nodded absently. “Sure, yeah.”
There was nobody else at the station. I assumed they were all out searching for Tiffany. “What is it? Do you have a lead?”
“I know you’re very uncomfortable with what you found out about me,” he said. “But it can help us.”
“What, can you track while shifted?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
My jaw dropped. “No shit?”
“No shit. And better than that, Jury is a sort of specialized tracker. He has a gift. He’s already out looking, but he hasn’t shifted. But for us to do this, we have to be discreet. In our town especially, we can’t have anyone discovering our secret.”
I nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
“Call your father. He’s with Carlos, one of our deputies. He insisted on riding along. Convince him your mother needs him. He’s the main reason we haven’t shifted already.”
I yanked my phone from my pocket. “Of course.”
Dialing Daddy’s number, I shifted from foot to foot as it rang. He picked up just as I was about to give up and call again. “Pumpkin? Is there news?”
“No, Daddy, but Mom’s nearly hysterical. You’ve gotta let them bring you here to calm her down. Let the police do their job and find Tiffany. We don’t have any business out there with them.”
“I can help, Bethany.”
“Daddy.” I didn’t leave any room for argument. “Come to the station. Now.”
He paused, then sighed. “Okay. I’ll come.”
I nodded at Maddox, who gave his father a significant look.
“Okay, Daddy, hurry. Mom needs you.”
He relayed the info to Carlos, who took the phone. “Tell Maverick I’m bringing Mr. Leeds to the station right now, and there will be no civilians on the case.” He gave me coordinates, which I rattled off to Maddox. He nodded.
After I hung up, Maddox pulled me into his arms. “Trust me,” he whispered. “We’ll find her.”
<
br /> “I don’t care how. Get my baby back.” I trusted that he would. It was funny, I’d been so terrified of them before. Now I trusted he could do exactly what I needed him to do.
As he and Maverick ran from the station, I knew it was to turn into flying dragons and find my daughter. And I knew she’d be beyond delighted to see her pet dinosaur.
It would be okay. It had to be.
22
Maddox
When Bethany’s mom had come running from the park, bursting into the station with other witnesses, I’d been ready to rage. But I kept my head while Dad got all the witness statements. I’d wanted to shift immediately and track down the fucker who’d taken my little girl.
But we had to follow human laws. This was a human problem. For all anyone could ever know, we had to find her the proper way. Of course, we’d be using our preternatural senses to track him down, but all the reports, everything on paper had to say we lucked out and got a lead. We’d figure out later what that lead was.
Jury was driving around. I’d called him on the way to pick up Bethany. He couldn’t shift and search that way, but his nose was still a step above the rest even when human. He was trying to pick up Walter’s trail even in his vehicle.
As soon as I walked outside, my Dad looked at me. “Be smart. Be stealthy. You cannot be caught, so you absolutely must keep a level head.”
I gave him a somber look. “I will. I know the importance.”
He squeezed my shoulder, then took off toward the park to coordinate with Grandpa, Uncle Axel, and Carlos and his wolves. They were all on foot, searching for information or scents. “Hey, meet me at the manor. We can shift and stay in the woods. Try to pick up the trail.”
“You got it. I just started over at the park. I keep losing the scent because of Walter’s car. It’s got an oil leak and the smell is overpowering. If I can shift, I can discern the scents.”
“I’m at the station,” I said. “Pick me up.”
He was close. He pulled into the station parking lot about two minutes later and I hopped into his truck. “Did Bethany give the okay?” he asked. “To call off her old man?”
I nodded. “Yeah, they’re on their way back to the station so we can get out there into the woods and shift.”
He drove fast down Main Street. He wasn’t in a cruiser, so we had to wait for a couple of cars to get out of the way, but as soon as we hit the woods on the family driveway, he pulled over. We ran into the woods on the park side of the driveway and stripped. stuffing our clothes into my neck bag. “Take the lead,” I said. “Focus on Tiffany. I’ll focus on keeping us hidden.”
Jury nodded and we both shifted quickly. Artemis and Nyx roared quietly at each other before Nyx took off through the trees. We moved with a combination of running, jumping, and propelling ourselves forward with our wings. We were far too bulky to be able to properly fly inside the tree line. Having to hide like this slowed us down, but it was still faster than trying to do it as humans.
Even though I was supposed to be watching for any stray humans in our forest this close to the main roads, I caught a whiff of Tiffany. I nudged Artemis, who spoke to Jury through his dragon. Jury had the scent in seconds and took off. We had to stay in the woods, but we followed the road until it branched off onto a side parking lot.
I was beyond thankful the trail didn’t lead back toward town or into the next county, where I was pretty sure Kyle’s parents lived. We were still in Black Claw, and technically still on Kingston land, though it stopped at the road.
We had to cross the street. I stuck my head out and checked up and down the street. When I was sure it was clear, we launched ourselves across the road and into the woods there. We were officially off of Kingston land and toward the area I used to like to hike before Bethany almost caught me.
When the scent was so strong that I was afraid I’d run right into them shifted, I stopped and changed back, quickly pulling clothes out of the bag. Jury shifted too and dressed. “We’re very close.”
A woman’s shrill voice caused both of us to step forward as quietly as we could.
“Damn you, Walter!” Mary Bearth cried.
I spotted Tiffany’s grandfather on the other side of a SUV and pulled my phone out of my bag. First, I made sure it was on silent, then texted my father exactly where we were. He’d know the place, but he’d be lucky if he got here before I killed the old man.
Tiffany was in the driver’s seat, clearly crying. Artemis and I reacted viscerally. I let out a growl I didn’t even mean to. Walter whirled around to look into the woods.
“Walter!” Mary yelled. She must not have heard me growl like he did. “This is not what Kyle would’ve wanted. I can’t believe you did this. You told me you were just going to try to talk to Bethany’s mother, get her on our side. You never said anything about grabbing Tiffany! You’ve made me a kidnapper.”
“Kyle can’t say what he wants, can he? He can’t decide how his daughter should be raised. He’s gone!” Walter still had the gun in his waistband. “You give me back the keys. Now!”
So Mary had gotten the keys from him. That was good. Otherwise, there was no telling how far away they could’ve gotten by now.
Tiffany sobbed harder, and I wanted nothing more than to take Walter’s head off. Slowly.
Sirens in the distance made Walter and Mary panic. They were about to jump back in the car. Mary threw Walter the keys. “We have to take her back!” she screamed.
“I won’t!”
Mary grabbed Tiffany out of the front seat. I growled again, dangerously close to shifting as Artemis took control of our throat and let out a true dragon roar. They both froze, then Mary practically threw Tiffany into the back seat. Walter tripped over his own feet in his haste to get in the driver’s seat. They obviously had no idea what sort of predator was in the woods, but they wanted no part of it. Not to mention the sirens. Unfortunately, I couldn’t let them leave.
As I was about to dart out of the woods and try to arrest them without my gun, I heard a car on the gravel lane that led to the highway. Then my father’s cruiser came into view, blocking off the road. But he had to be careful. He knew Walter was armed.
Sure enough, when Walter realized he couldn’t go out to the main road, he jumped out of the SUV with his gun pointed toward the cruiser.
Looking at Jury, I nodded my head into the woods. “We can go around and surprise him from behind.”
He tapped his nose in acknowledgment and we tiptoed through the woods, keeping our eyes on Walter. At some point, we passed the point that he could see us as my father tried to negotiate with him. In the meantime, more police cars pulled up with my grandfather and Uncle Axel, plus Carlos. When we were sure we wouldn’t be detected by Walter, we exited the woods and ran on light feet toward his back. I pointed to the left. Jury nodded and pointed to the right. We split, each of us taking one of Walter’s arms. Mine was the left, the one that held his gun. Without giving him any warning, I sprang on him and thrust his arm upward, using my superior strength to take the gun out of his hand.
Jury took his right hand around and behind his back. “I got him,” he exclaimed.
I unloaded the revolver and flung the bullets as hard as I could, then pressed the switch to remove the barrel from the gun as if for cleaning. Now if Walter got his hands on it again, he couldn’t have used it even if he did have more bullets on him somewhere.
Mary walked around the car holding Tiffany. “I didn’t want him to,” she sobbed.
When Tiffany spotted me, she squealed. I rushed toward her with my heart beating out of my chest. “It’s okay,” I whispered. Mary gave her up without a fight.
Tiffany stopped crying the moment I had her in my arms. “Maddoth,” she whispered. “Did you bring my dinosaur?”
I chuckled and buried my face in her neck. Artemis and I inhaled her scent, both of us beyond relieved she was safe.
“Okay, it’s safe!” Dad yelled once he had Walter cuffed.
M
ary agreed to handcuffs as well, but Axel put hers in front of her. I watched Bethany and her mother and father spring from one of the police cars toward the back of the line.
Bethany sprinted forward. “Tiffany!”
I set Tiff down and let her run to her mother, following slowly. When I reached them, I let Bethany question Tiffany over and over, but the sweet girl was unharmed. She’d been scared of the strangers, and if they’d wrecked, this would’ve been a far different outcome. But thank goodness, they hadn’t.
“Thank you,” Bethany sobbed. “Thank you so much.” She reached one arm around and yanked me toward them.
I pulled both my girls into my arms. Artemis purred with happiness to have them both with us again. She stared up at him and I remembered the night at my parents’ house. She may have been grateful, but she didn’t trust me or accept me. Artemis didn’t fight me, either. We remembered her reaction to us vividly.
I kissed Tiff’s head. “Be a good girl for your mommy.” Artemis was hurting and he needed to shift again. We waited until everyone was in their cars before slinking back into the woods to shift. I had to clear my mind and allow the pain I’d been keeping at bay to be released.
23
Bethany
Being alone made me panicky. I couldn’t stand to be away from Tiffany, not for a minute. My mom figured I had some sort of post-traumatic stress. After the first night trying to stay in my house alone, I called my mom and asked her if we could come to stay with her.
Of course, she’d said yes. They’d changed my bedroom into a guest room long ago, but it was nice. My mother had long ago given Tiffany her own room at their house. The little stinker was thrilled with us staying with my parents. She thought it was like a sleepover or camping.
After the drama of the kidnapping, I’d been holding Tiff closer and spending more time with my parents. They seemed to have been more than happy having us around, so I didn’t see any real reason to go home. I still went there when I absolutely had to, but only to the office. And if I knew I’d have to be alone at my house, I made sure Mom planned to stay with Dad and Tiffany, and I called Kara or Abby to meet me at the office.
