Damn, I hadn’t even thought about trying to magic my way out of this other than to boss the officer around. Mostly because I didn’t understand my magic or how to use it. “What’s happening? Corb said you’d tell me.”
“You know your trial is set for tomorrow?” She grimaced. “I mean, trial isn’t really the appropriate word since it’s an absolute farce and they just plan on killing you ASAP.” She drew her finger across her neck for good measure
I nodded. “I know.”
Fancy Pants came to stand at my shoulder. “Um. Are you talking to a bug?”
I turned so my back was to her and found myself staring down at the woman who still lay on the floor. She was staring up at me. “That bug talks. She’s pretty.”
Well, shit, apparently drugs could heighten the ability to see through the glamor disguising the shadow world. Not that I’m suggesting you try it. Don’t do drugs, kids, bad idea that.
Kinkly fluttered her wings, hovering over my hand. “I have a way to get you out of here.”
She shot upward, dodged an amazingly fast swinging fist from Fancy Pants, and slid back through the window. The window was a good two feet above my head so I couldn’t see what was going on outside. I did, however, hear a low growl that could have been Sarge in his werewolf form. My hopes surged again.
Maybe this was a breakout?
As soon as the words passed through my mind, I knew that was the case. This was a damn breakout! Giddiness flowed over me, washing away the fatigue as I danced on the spot with the sudden urge to pee. I locked my knees tight together and focused on my Kegels for a second to get control of my bladder.
“Kinkly!” I whisper-yelled her name, and she peeked back through the bars and down at me.
“What?”
“I’m going to need my bag and all the stuff they’ve got in the evidence room,” I said.
She bobbed her head. “We have someone on it! We got you, Bree.”
Warmth fluttered through my belly and spread outward. My friends were amazing. How in the world had I ever made it through life without them?
Then she dragged a container through the bars that I recognized on sight. “Boy butter? Do you think I’m going to smear it on me and squeeze through the bars on the window? They are way too close together!”
Fancy Pants groaned and stumbled away to the far side of the room. “I’m going over here to lie down because I did not just see a big ass bug drag expensive lube through that window.”
“I do not have a big ass,” grumped Kinkly. “I have a pert, tiny ass.”
I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to be distracted. “Seriously, how are we making this happen?” Had they emptied out the lube and replaced it with a magic potion that would make me smaller, maybe even Kinkly’s size? I could slide through the bars, and we’d be gone before anyone noticed. That’s what I would have tried, anyway.
Apparently my ragtag crew of friends weren’t so much into subtlety.
Kinkly unscrewed the lid of the Boy Butter jar, slid on the tiniest pair of gloves, then reached in and scooped out the thick paste, smearing it up and down the bars in a move that would make a stripper envious of her skills. Of course, she had to throw in a few body rolls up and down, just to add to the image.
I grabbed the edge of the window and with a jump and a serious strain on my shoulder and back muscles, pulled myself up for a better look, thinking I was missing something. Okay, so I ended up barely getting my nose above the edge, but it was enough. “Kink, what are you doing? Even with lube I won’t squeeze through.”
Alan stepped up to the window and shot me a look. “She’s right. Even though she lost some weight, she’s still no skinny mini. Kind of thick in the middle if you know what I mean.”
My hand snaked out and I grabbed his ear, something I seemed to have a knack for with the ghosts. “I may not have a bag to stuff you in, but I’m sure I could cram you into my boot.”
He swatted at me ineffectively, but I let him go.
Kinkly kept on smearing the bars. “Don’t worry. Corb and Sarge came up with this idea. They think it’s the best chance we’ve got, and I agree with them.”
I squinted my eyes. “What about Suzy and Eric? Did they think it was a good idea?”
“Oh, no.” Kinkly grinned at me. “Corb said he ran it by them, and they thought it was a terrible plan. So Corb told them to get lost, and they did. You know the bigfoot though. He’s not terribly brave, even if he is loyal and smart.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed with her assessment, but then I suspected that Kinkly might have finally realized that Eric had been more than a little interested in her. She’d shot him down, thinking it was a joke, and . . .well, he had moved on with Suzy. Kinkly had the whole “I don’t really want him, but I don’t want you to have him” vibe going on.
I sighed. Later. I could help them with their love lives later, but only if I was still alive and free of this cell. Gawd help me, I’d tackle any weird love life right then if it meant I was getting out.
Kinkly pulled off her gloves and laid them at the base of one of the bars. “You’re going to want to step back for this next part.”
I didn’t move. Maybe my brain didn’t quite process what she’d said, or maybe I just couldn’t imagine that Corb would pull off a stunt so big. A breakout so epic in style there was no way I’d not be missed.
A faint sizzle curled through the air and then came the sulfur smell of a freshly lit match.
“Oh, you better get down,” Edna said in my ear. She pushed me, which was impressive, her being a ghost and all, more so that it was hard enough to knock me to the ground a split second before the world exploded in a shower of stone, mortar, and bits of steel bars.
The roar that ripped through the air made my ears ring and my chest feel like it had been kicked by a donkey. Hot flecks of something or other from the explosion landed on my back, and I yelped and rolled to either side to fling it off, only I wasn’t sure if I made a sound or not since my ears were dead. I started to get to my hands and knees, dust and smoke filling the air, obscuring the world.
Maybe I could have stood on my own—it’s hard to say—but I didn’t get a chance to try. A mouth full of teeth appeared out of the smoke and clamped down on the chain connecting my handcuffs. The werewolf attached to those teeth took off running, dragging me over the lip of the destroyed outer wall with a quick jump and then bouncing me along the rubble of what was left of it.
I looked back to see Fancy Pants and the other gals escaping, taking advantage of the situation as they scrambled over the debris and out to the freedom of the back lawn of the police station. Edna saluted me. “Get that piece of fae ass. Trust me, you won’t regret it!”
I couldn’t respond, mostly because the air was being repeatedly knocked out of me with each bump of my butt or hip hitting the ground. Expulsions of air escaped my mouth as if I were the one running.
“Dying. Slow. Stop. Please!” I yelped, even though I knew he was rescuing me.
Sarge bounded along, and all I could think was that I was going to covered in bruises by the end of this little jaunt, but better that than dead. A minute or two later he slowed to a stop next to a black van that looked suspiciously like one of the council vans I’d seen Corb and Davin use in the past.
The side door was open, and two men in black hooded robes pulled me in. Sarge followed with a leap and proceeded to swipe his long, pink and panting tongue up the side of my face. The hooded figures started shutting the door, and Kinkly shot in through the rapidly shrinking opening. A third figure in the driver’s seat got us moving with a lurch that threw me against Sarge’s black-furred body.
“Dog breath,” I said and then gave Sarge a hug around the neck. “Thanks. I think. I’m going to need a hot bath to work out the bruises.”
He gave a woof and winked a big golden eye at me, then lay down in the back of the van at my feet. I turned to the two robed figures in the back.
“Who do I have to thank for s
aving me, besides Kinkly and Sarge?” I lifted a hand, and Kinkly high-fived me.
“That went better than I thought it would,” she said.
Corb threw back his hood first. “In case the police saw us, we needed to make sure we couldn’t be identified.” He reached over and pulled me into a tight hug, and I just breathed in his cologne and the ocean scent flowing beneath it, his magic a distant tingle that soothed away some of my fear. “You okay?”
“Considering I was basically put on death row for no reason? Peachy,” I mumbled against his chest, clinging to him. I’d known Corb longer than anyone else in my new life, and the familiarity of his arms was comforting.
The other figure cleared his throat.
I turned, still in a half hug with Corb, to see Roderick throw his hood back. “The council does not know I’m helping you. And it has to remain that way. Understood?”
“So why are you here?” The question popped out before I could catch it. Roderick was a bit of a mystery, and I still wasn’t sure about his loyalties. He seemed intrigued by me—not in a romantic sense, more like a scientist trying to identify a new bug and wondering just what it was capable of.
And if he could make use of it.
“Because I do believe that Celia—your gran, that is—was on to something. She was killed for what she knew, and that means it was important. You are our best shot of finding out what that was, despite what the remainder of the council believes. You have ties to your gran that only come with blood.” He frowned and smoothed out his cravat. “A shift is happening in the shadow world. Change does not come easily for those of us who have lived a long time. We must be ready to deal with it.”
I stared at him. “How many are on my side in the council?”
“One short of the number you need to make this all go away,” Roderick said.
Well, hell. That was . . . good and bad. “Any chance I could convince them to come around?”
He shook his head. “There are political undercurrents in the council. People vying for more power. It’s a bad time to be on their radar.”
Awesome, just my luck.
The van careened around a few corners and then slid to a screeching stop. The door was yanked open, and the person who stood waiting beyond it was completely unexpected. I stared up into his gold-flecked blue eyes, one arm still around Corb’s waist. “Crash? I thought you were going to go all lawful to get me out of there. You know, play the lawyer card and find me a loophole.”
He stood there with my hip bag in hand, still dressed in his suit from earlier. “You need to get out of town for a while. Go with Corb and get somewhere you can hide out until Roderick and I figure out how deep this goes.” He took my hand and smoothed his fingers over the handcuffs, the metal dripping off my skin as if it were hot, but there was no pain. The cuffs were just gone.
Blacksmith indeed. Fae he might have been, but he had a knack for manipulating iron. I’d just had no idea it included melting it with his bare hands.
He slid the strap over my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug, which coincidently pulled me out of Corb’s arms. “Robert is in there, I made sure,” he said. “Keep him close.”
I hugged him back. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Nothing is as it seems, and even the fae are in on it, keeping me busy,” he mumbled into my hair. Then he tipped my face up and kissed me in front of everyone. I probably should have felt some embarrassment over the PDA (public display of affection, for those of you who aren’t up on the current lingo), but all I could feel was his touch.
The kiss wasn’t over the top, but I could feel the passion behind it—the promise that there would be another time, another kiss, that was less restrained. He pulled back just a little. “I’m sorry for earlier. We’ll talk when this is done. When you’re safe and we have a moment to breathe.”
I gave him what I thought was a wry twist of my lips and eyebrows but by the twinkle in his eyes I wasn’t doing a good job of it. Probably just looked like I was trying not to fart.
Again.
And that thought led me back to the memories of our shower together. The way his hands had glided over my soaped-up skin, the tremble that had started low in my belly and . . .
“We have to go.” Corb took my hand, snapping me out of the haze that Crash had put me into. Not that I’d gone there unwillingly—I’d gladly take a Crash-induced haze any day.
“Time is not on our side,” Corb pressed. His fingers tightened, pulling me away from Crash.
I let him drag me for a moment and then got my legs moving toward his Mustang. “Very inconspicuous if you ask me, not possessive at all.” I lifted both brows at him.
Kinkly burst out of the car’s open window and grinned. “Come on, the air conditioning is heaven! I love it!”
“Not with the window down!” Corb barked. “Fairies, they just don’t get the real world.”
Wow, that hadn’t been a shot at Crash, at all.
I let it slide for now. I could use some air conditioning after being stuck in that stifling hot jail cell. Oh, and surviving an explosion, kissing Crash, dealing with the reality that we were about to go on the run from the very human police who wanted my head on a pike, and the adrenaline load from all of the above. Sweat rolled down the sides of my face, between my boobs and, lucky me, into my ass crack.
I sighed and slid into the front passenger seat and shut the door, looking out the window. Roderick and Crash stood talking, Roderick shaking his head and Crash looking exasperated.
One word drifted to me, and I instantly wished it hadn’t. Roderick had said “undead.” I’d hoped the whole let’s-make-vampires plan had died with Davin, but I supposed I couldn’t be so lucky.
Kinkly flew down to sit on my knee, taking my attention from the two men. “How was it in the slammer? Did you get to be somebody’s bitch? I bet they loved those leathers!” She patted my knee for good measure, slapping it enough to make a good noise.
Turning my head back to watch Roderick and Crash, I caught them shaking hands and parting ways. I just smiled and shook my head. “Kinkly, I think you’ve been watching too much TV.”
The other door of the Mustang opened, letting in a wash of warm, muggy, Savannah air. Sarge hopped into the back seat, still in his wolf form, and lay down with a heavy sigh. Corb slid behind the wheel, and a woman who bore a resemblance to a fish got in directly behind him.
Feish smiled at me and I grinned back.
“Boss says I should come with you for now. Keep you safe.”
I leaned over the seat and hugged her, pulling her tightly to me. The lump in my chest and throat came as a surprise. When had this river nymph become a friend that could bring me to tears just by being here?
At first, she didn’t react, but then she hugged me back. “You missed me.”
“I think I was afraid I would never see any of you again.” I whispered the fear. “That I was going to die alone.”
She patted my back and gave a burble from her gills. “Bah, that’s ridiculous. Too many people like you now. You’ll die with a bunch of us.”
I laughed and let her go, but I found myself hanging on to her webbed hand. She might be one of the most unusual friends I had, but in my heart, I knew she was the truest next to Robert.
Corb started the engine. “There is a cabin about four hours from here, not tied to any of us. Roderick gave me a key and said we could go there. It’s hidden from human eyes with several layers of spells cast on it.”
Making myself let go of Feish, I put my seat belt on as I studied him. “Seriously, you’d trust him?” I’d seen Crash shake hands with the council member, but even so. Shaking hands with the guy was one thing, and putting our lives in his hand was another.
“He’s one of those on your side, Bree,” Corb shifted into fourth gear as he powered up the muscle car, taking corners fast enough that a cop would pull him over.
I reached forward and put my hand on his resting on the stick shift. “Slow down
.”
A shudder slid out of him, and he eased off. “Sorry, this is . . . This whole situation has me tense. I don’t like how fast they found you at Alan’s, how fast they were stringing you up.”
“Tell me about it,” Alan growled from the back seat. “And stop holding her hand.”
I looked down to see that Corb had indeed flipped his hand to lock his fingers with mine. I pulled away not because of Alan, but because . . . because I didn’t really know what I wanted with the two men in my life, and right then it was my last concern. I could figure out my love life once I was certain I was going to have a life. That had to be my top priority. Corb’s words sunk in, and I shook my head when I looked at the scenario he’d laid out.
“Go to the Hollows first. I think we need to see what Eammon knows.”
“Eammon isn’t aware of any of this.” Corb shot me a look. “You know the Hollows isn’t a well-respected group. I was in it as a cover to make sure they weren’t stronger than they were letting on. You know, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
I did know that, but Eammon had mostly been upfront and honest with me, maybe more so than anyone else in the shadow world, and he’d been around the block a time or two. My gut was saying to go to the Hollows.
“Please, it won’t take long,” I said.
Corb sighed. “Okay, okay. I doubt that whoever is after you would think you’d go to Eammon anyway. It’s not like he’s actually going to be able to help. It’s a waste of time.”
I shook my head. “It’s not. Please, Corb. I think he can help.”
With a heavy sigh, he did as I asked, though he didn’t say another word along the way.
5
It didn’t take long with Corb driving, about twenty minutes to get to the Hollows, and only a little bit of muttering that he thought it was a waste of time. He pulled into the cemetery that hosted the training grounds, and I slid out of the car and strode toward the angel tomb that hid the entrance to their training room. The larger than life statue had a broken wing, not because the statue was broken but because it had been carved that way.
Midlife Ghost Hunter: A Paranormal Women's Fiction (The Forty Proof Series Book 4) Page 4
