Good thing he’d insisted on the fastest car on the rental lot, and thought to grab his portable light and siren. He’d cut that hour and a half down to a good forty-five minutes. And now he was staring at what could easily be termed a no-horse town.
At least the greenhouse was easy to spot. It was the biggest building in the town. Hell, other than a gas station and quickie mart it was the only business in town that he could spot.
He braced himself for the unexpected, and marched toward the office.
CHAPTER FIVE
A deep voice interrupted Michaela’s careful work in the back. The boys had been a huge help all day, and they only asked where Sam was a few times. She’d hated disappointing them, hated adding to their stress and fear. Everyone froze as the voice called out again.
“Hello, anyone here? The sign said you’re open.”
Two pairs of wide green eyes met hers, then locked onto the doorway leading to the front office. Jack sat stolidly in his chair, calmly waiting despite the fear in his gaze. Eli though, trembled like a leaf in the wind. Shit, how could she protect the boys properly if they were this scared of a potential customer.
“Be right there, one moment.” Michaela took a second to brush the black soil off her hands. The part of her that was inexplicably drawn to that voice insisted she jump in the shower and get squeaky clean from head to toe. Not like that was an option, but she agreed that her latest customer had the sexiest voice she’d ever heard. “Keep on planting until all the trays are full. I won’t be long, alright?”
Twin nods of agreement, and a wistful smile from Jack set her heart racing. She had to find Sam fast. Before Mark and his ‘help’ became a liability. First, see to the customer, then another call to the Agency to get someone out here to figure this crap out before someone got seriously hurt.
Michaela strode quickly through the doorway into the front office, only to stop short when she caught sight of the man waiting at the counter. Holy hell, he was hot. And big. And was he growling at her? What the—
“Agent Quinn at your service, miss.” Yep, he’d definitely been growling, his words were more rasp than anything. And his brown eyes were over-bright as he looked her up and down with a slight grin on his face.
“Oh. Michaela Steele,” she held out her hand primly and continued. “Owner of Steele Flowers and Fancies, and Sam’s sister.”
Agent Quinn stared at her out-stretched hand for a long moment before enclosing it with his own large hand. Sparks raced from where their palms met, up her arm and set her stomach to fluttering. What the hell? She’d never reacted to anyone like this.
“Good to meet you Miss Steele,” the agent’s low reply filled the store. “Now, about the missing person?”
“Sam. She… well, she left. Unexpectedly.” Michaela stammered to a stop under that too-sharp gaze.
“You mentioned children? And a warlock?” That too-sexy voice and shifted to ‘purely business’ but Agent Quinn’s eyes were still too bright. Heat roared through her in response to that gaze. No wonder she hadn’t realized who was in the store, his ‘customer’ voice was light-years sexier than his investigator voice.
“The boys—my nephews are in the back.” Michaela gestured toward the door behind her. “Helping. They don’t know she ran,” she whispered the last sentence and ignored the way the agent’s dark eyebrows rose and his eyes widened. A small part of her cowered in fear as the air around her became unbearably heavy. Stifling. “Do you want to meet them? I hope you don’t scare them or tell them—”
“Won’t scare them, miss. But they need to know the truth.” That growly tone was back, but this time it felt dangerous instead of sexy. Or maybe dangerous and sexy? Michaela was hard put to decide, every moment she spent in this man’s company had her senses spinning ever faster. “They might have information vital to the case.”
The way he referred to Sam as a case and not a person set Michaela’s teeth on edge. She damn near shoved his over-sized, over-muscled butt right back out the front door. Then reason asserted itself and she put on her ‘polite professional’ smile. “Would you like to come back and meet them? They are kind of busy; the distraction of work seemed to help.”
“There are child labor laws, Miss Steele,” he rumbled. “And they apply to shifter children just as much as human ones.” His last sentence was so soft it was barely a whisper. Yet the boys had to have heard him because both of them glared at him with dark frowns and bright anger in their gazes.
“That’s sort of—” Michaela hesitated. “I’ll explain. Later.” She couldn’t bear to hurt her nephews, shifter, half shifter or whatever. They already had enough on their plate, and Agent Quinn was bound to add even more with his questions. She shifted uncomfortably under the agent’s darkly curious gaze. “Ask your questions, please. Just…”
He nodded in answer to her unspoken plea to be gentle, and approached the nervous duo slowly. All work on planting seeds had stopped, but that didn’t matter now. Agent Quinn knelt down slowly by Jack’s chair and squeezed his shoulder gently. His slow movements were offset by his intense focus and attention to detail. Michaela could sense him taking in every fleeting emotion, every slight bit of tension the boys exhibited. Then somehow he turned that tension and fear into a connection with two scared little boys.
“You’ve done great work here,” Agent Quinn waved toward the freshly planted seed trays. “But now it’s time for me to help you. Thing is, in order to help I’ll have to ask a lot of questions. Hard, uncomfortable questions.”
Chills pebbled Michaela’s arms at the gentle tone the agent used with her nephews. Part of her wanted him to use that tone with her, in a very different, much more private setting. Down, girl, she chided herself. Focus on finding Sam and Mark. The sultry glance Agent Quinn sent her way had Michaela fidgeting and hiding her gaze. Heat flared in her cheeks and much, much lower. Damn, was he a mind reader, too? Almost had to be to play her emotions so easily.
Luckily the boys were laser focused on the man promising to help them. They were so cute, almost like little puppies in their eagerness to find answers. “Ask us anything. We just want our mommy back,” Eli choked out through tears. Jack nodded agreement.
“Do you know where your mom might have gone?”
“To find daddy.” Jack’s tone was steady despite his tears.
“Or to find the warlock daddy talked about all the time.” Eli shrugged. “Daddy said he’d fix Jack forever. Make him whole.”
That son of a flea bitten whore! Michaela couldn’t believe Mark had spoken so carelessly about his oldest son. But Eli’s half-slouched posture and calm, direct gaze told her the boys took that behavior for granted. Cramps sent pain blazing up her arms, refocused her attention. It took a few minutes to unclench her fists. And even longer for the
blood to flow normally and the white in her knuckles to fade.
“Did you ever hear the warlock’s name?”
Both boys shook their heads, eyes wide. Agent Quinn’s question had been quite a bit harsher than the previous ones. Despite the lack of concrete information, Agent Quinn seemed undeterred.
Michaela cleared her throat and raised her chin. At the agent’s nod, she spoke. “I wonder if Mark mentioned how this warlock was going to help Jack?”
Jack’s reply was a breathy whisper. “He was going to make me change forms now.”
Agent Quinn’s whole attitude changed in a heartbeat. He went from relaxed, friendly small-town cop to proper, stand at attention important agent. The boys didn’t miss that change. They shrank back from him just a bit, and sent obvious ‘save us, please’ looks toward Michaela. Her heart twisted at the fear on their faces, but Quinn needed answers. Even she knew that shifters didn’t grow into their animal forms until they were fully adult humans. No way resetting that time-line was safe for anyone. Assuming it was even possible, which she highly doubted.
Quinn’s whispered curse barely reached her ears before he pulled out a sleek, top of the line smart ph
one and dialed. “Agent Quinn reporting.”
Michaela tiptoed closer, straining to hear the voice on the other end of the line. No luck. Quinn continued in a rapid-fire, just the facts tone. “One rogue warlock claiming capability to restore health to disabled half shifter pre-teen. Parents MIA. Know any locks who run that kind of scam regularly and were last seen near Maple Lake?”
Silence descended as everyone waited for the answer. Not that Michaela could hear it, but she sure as shit could see the tension knotting Quinn’s shoulders ever tighter. She didn’t miss the way the boys leaned forward, eyes locked on Quinn as he started to pace. When he froze mid-step, Michaela knew the answer he’d gotten was bad. The way both boys went white as ghosts told her that they could hear what she couldn’t. And what they’d heard scared them spit-less.
She took a moment to consider just how much of that keen hearing could be attributed to being much closer to Agent Quinn, how much to being young, and how much to their half shifter genetics. Perhaps they both had enough of their daddy in em that they’d eventually be able to change forms of their own free will. Course that was years off yet, and it made Jack’s reliance on a wheel-chair even more of a mystery. Michaela had never heard of a disabled shifter, half human or not.
“We need to leave. Now. Get the boys somewhere safe.” Agent Quinn’s terse tone brooked no arguments. Not that Michaela wanted to argue with him. She’d love to relieve some of the tension knotting his muscles, but the boys came first. He was right. The greenhouse wasn’t exactly the kind of place you’d want to be hiding from an angry warlock. Or an angry wolf shifter for that matter.
“Could go back to my cabin. Unless you have someplace else in mind, Agent Quinn?”
Agent Quinn shrugged. “Call me Devlin, Miss Steele. We’re going to be spending quite a bit of time together until I catch this guy.”
Michaela flushed at the thought of spending more time with Agent Quinn—no, Devlin. “As you wish, Devlin.”
It was hard not to giggle at the way Devlin cleared his throat and really looked at her. Maybe mom was right and names really did have power. Not that such a thing would ever work right for clumsy, chubby Michaela. “Your cabin will work for a day or two. If this takes longer, we’ll have to find somewhere else. Some place safer.” Devlin turned and held out a hand to Eli and Jack in turn. Michaela was surprised the boys shook hands solemnly. She couldn’t figure out precisely why he’d done that, but it obviously held some meaning to the boys.
“You could look for clues in mom’s room,” Jack mentioned as he wheeled toward the exit. Eli darted ahead of him and held the door open so Jack could wheel through it without stopping.
Michaela took a moment to lock everything up and then jogged to catch up with the trio. She didn’t miss the skeptical glance Devlin gave her truck. The cool appraisal in his eyes seemed disappointed, dissatisfied.
“All three of you traveled in that?”
“Yes, why? Do you have a problem with older trucks?”
“No. I have a problem with not-bullet proof trucks. We’ll take my sedan.” Michaela tried to protest, but that same cold appraising look had her stuttering meaninglessly. “No, Miss Steele, you may not drive my car. Nor may you,” he mock glared at each boy in turn. “Mess with the siren or the lights.”
“So, we’re keeping a low profile then?” Michaela couldn’t see how that would help. Devlin’s car would stand out as something that didn’t belong to any of the regulars. Hell, her truck sitting in the parking lot after hours would do the same. “Because if that’s the case, I should definitely drive the truck home. Folks will worry if I leave it here.”
“Fine. But I’ll be tailgating you the entire way to your cabin. And the boys will ride in my nice, safe, armored car.”
“Fair enough.” Michaela slid into the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. She flushed when the engine sputtered and died. It took several tries to get the old engine to start.
It was the longest couple miles Michaela had ever traveled. She could almost feel Devlin’s tension, his need for controlling the variables he could radiating through her in the same way his blue headlights lit up the road ahead. At least she’d see any deer or coons before she pancaked them. A small part of her relished the thought of having him in her home, but a bigger part was simply terrified. He was worried. She’d felt it, that concern. Seen it in every tense scan of the world around them as they raced for the vehicles. Agents dealt with the worst criminals in the supernatural world, so if Devlin was worried it stood to reason there was real danger heading right for her nephews.
Sam, I hope you’re alright. Michaela sighed as the porch light of the cabin came into view. Home. Safety. She parked in her normal spot and watched the lights of Devlin’s sedan grow even brighter before slipping between her truck and the cabin. As she started to exit the vehicle, Devlin shook his head and held his hand up in an unmistakable command to stop.
Confused, she waited. And watched as the agent eased out of his sedan, shut the door, and then did a quick search of her property from fence line to tree line and back. Ages passed in the time it took him to give the all clear. Michaela’s nerves wound so tight her hand was shaking on the door handle. She plastered what she hoped was a look of confidence on her face and made a beeline to help the boys out of Devlin’s car.
She reached for Jack’s chair, but Eli beat her to the punch. Before she could think to protest, he’d steadied the thing while Jack transferred himself from the car to the chair, and then they moved. Eli sprinted for the cabin, Jack wide eyed and white knuckled in the chair as Eli played motor. Michaela stayed right behind them, still unnerved by the tense, wary vibe surrounding Devlin.
It felt distinctly odd to be herded to her own house, and yet she felt safe despite the odd sense of danger. Still, she sighed with relief when Devlin closed and locked the front door behind them.
Not that the prickling sensation of approaching danger faded. But it helped to have a solid oak door barring the way.
CHAPTER SIX
Devlin sighed as he turned to face the trio in the living room. His bear was still rumbling about danger outside, but they’d come up empty on their search. “Could I see the room your sister stayed in? And their rooms too?” He waved the boys toward the couch with a soft smile. The fear was fading slowly from their wide-eyed gazes, but their worry was a thousand-pound weight on his shoulders.
“Sure. Sam’s room is right through there,” Michaela snuck past the boys, her feet making no sound on the hardwood floor of the cabin and opened a bright teal door. She waved him through with a small frown.
His bear leapt to attention, demanding that they ease her worries now, damn it. That, or take her into the bedroom and claim her now. Devlin took a long, deep breath as he entered the room. That was a mistake. His beast got one hell of a dose of Michaela’s unique intoxicating scent. He didn’t know if it was a perfume, the result of spending so much time around plants, or just her, but he couldn’t resist. He leaned closer and sniffed. Yep, vanilla with hints of fresh air after spring rain.
“Did you just sniff me?”
“Yes. You smell divine, and the beast insisted. Sorry.” Down, bear. Devlin sighed as the beast trudged into the shadows of his mind. He didn’t dare admit that sorry was a lie. He’d die if he could pull her tight to his chest and bury his nose in her hair and just be for a few moments. That wasn’t an option. Not ever, not even if the beast kept insisting she was his mate. Witches and shifters simply didn’t mix well. The current situation was proof, to his human half anyway. “You did ward all the entrances, right?”
A bright flush crept up Michaela’s neck and she looked down, fast. Her shoulders sunk, and her whole demeanor dimmed, like a light had just gone out. “I… can’t.”
“Can’t ward the cabin? Why?” The bear rumbled in the back of his mind when Michaela’s presence dimmed further.
“I’m a shitty witch. If it’s not plants or potions, it backfires on me. Every. Time.” She
sniffled, then raised tear filled eyes to glare right at him. “Sam’s the true witch. Potions, wards, trinkets, amulets, charms she can do it all.”
“And yet she’s out chasing after a warlock to do what she can’t do. That says a whole lot about the two of you. And it’s all good in your column,” Devlin’s last word was more growl than language, but he’d gotten something right. Courtesy of one obscenely irate bear. His heart stuttered as Michaela stood straighter after his comment. Her face was still pink, but she looked confident again. Good. He could work with that.
“Thanks, I think.”
“You can use charms and the like, right? It’s not like they blow up in the palm of your hand or anything?”
Michaela’s laughter brightened the whole room. Not that it was dreary to begin with. That teal door had barely hinted at the bright color palette behind it. But the energy felt different, lighter. Like that thousand pound weight settled on his shoulders had lifted a bit. “Of course I can use them. I just… I can’t make them, or refuel their spells.”
“Good. Take these, and hang one on every door that exits the cabin.” Devlin held out a handful of ward crystals, careful not to tangle them. Michaela’s palm brushed his hand as she collected the trinkets with a nod. Heat flared in his groin, and his dick damn near jumped up and saluted. “You don’t mind if I look around here while you do that?” He’d still search the room if she said no, but yes would make it so much easier. He wouldn’t have to rely so much on his beast’s senses.
“Of course not. Anything to find Sam.” Michaela smiled and headed out of the room. She paused in the doorway for a moment, a question in her eyes. “If you’re not going to need my help I could start supper…”
“That would be great.” Devlin’s stomach rumbled at the thought of home cooked food. He’d been living on restaurant fare for the past couple months, and not the high end kind. He watched as Michaela sauntered out of the room and across the living area. Every step was a siren call to his beast to follow her. She had curves in all the right places, and he wanted nothing more than to solve the case and take a very long, private vacation with his witch.
Bear My Soul: (Arcane Affairs Agency) Page 3
