Abducted by Faerie (Stolen Magic Book 5)

by WB McKay

  I hadn't even noticed the vehicle stop. We were in the same garage where I parked to go to work. This time though, we were near a special elevator that was used to escort detainees directly to holding. I'd only used that a couple times in my career. I always thought it would have felt different to ride in it as the detained. Maybe it would have if I felt the situation was anything other than ridiculous and a waste of time. Of course, a lot of people I'd brought in had felt the same way.

  Phoebe and Ava looked askance at me, and I nodded. "This is normal. They'll ask you a bunch of questions. Answer them directly. Put all blame on me. I'll get a reprimand at worst, if they can come up with anything I've actually done wrong." Of course, that was my boss's speciality.

  "Quiet," barked Blondie.

  They really should have transported us separately, including the elevator ride. That way we couldn't talk and get our stories straight. Of course, maybe they would have done that if this was anything other than a formality. One that was keeping me away from Owen for no good reason.

  The men around me fidgeted nervously.

  "Sophie," Ava whispered, sharply.

  I jolted and reigned in my fear magic. I'd been letting it out inadvertently. "Sorry about that." They hadn't even bothered to use the magic restraining cuffs. That was incredibly stupid.

  "Not a problem," said Blondie, adjusting his collar. "Just don't let it happen again."

  "I wasn't talking to you," I replied.

  The elevator opened and we were escorted to separate questioning rooms. At least they'd gotten that part right. Now that we were back at FAB, everything would likely follow procedure.

  I slumped into the plain metal chair I was provided and Blondie removed my zip tie long enough to move my hands to the shackles on the table. There was a bit of chain on them, so at least I had some freedom of movement. I rolled my shoulders to stretch the aching muscles. I would have killed for a cheeseburger about then. Hell, I deserved two.

  Blondie tromped out of the room and closed the door. A couple of minutes later, the door opened again and I had to restrain the growl that rose in my throat. The giant that had been assigned to question me was carrying a roast beef sandwich. It wasn't a burger, but it was close enough.

  "Your capture interrupted my lunch," said the giant. He was tall and lanky--you know, for a giant. He looked like he could use a few good sandwiches. "I hope you don't mind if I eat while we talk." He hadn't even glanced at me yet. He slumped into his chair and took a bite before looking up to meet my eyes. "Holy shit." He swallowed hard. "Sophie Morrigan."

  "Holy shit," I agreed. I didn't know him, so I read his name on his ID badge. "I assume this won't take long, Agent Thompson."

  He opened a green folder I hadn't noticed because I'd been too focused on the sandwich, and scanned it quickly. "No, this won't take long at all."

  I wasn't sure if it was because there was no case against me, or because Agent Thompson was afraid to be on the other side of the interview table from me, but he only asked a few perfunctory questions. He hastily scribbled the answers in the file. He even gave me half of his sandwich without me asking.

  "Someone will be along shortly to cut you loose," he assured me, and backed out of the room.

  True to his word, someone arrived, delivered my swords, and led me back out to a waiting room. Ava and Phoebe weren't there. Time to put my charm to work.

  I walked up to the desk encased in glass and banged on it with my fist. The agent there nearly jumped out of his skin. "My friends haven't been released yet. They were only there because of me, and you cut me loose. Let them out, now."

  Agent Denk, by his ID badge, leaned forward once his breathing was under control, and spoke through the hole in the glass. "I can't rush the process," he said.

  "I would bet money that if that's true, you know someone who can." I pressed my forehead against the glass and glared at him. My patience had long since left the building. I punctuated my statement with a growl. "Right?"

  He practically ran from his little desk. My fear magic might have been slipping my control again. There's also the possibility it hadn't slipped so much as it was pushed. Whatever. I wasn't about to let them hold Ava and Phoebe for hours of questioning for no good reason. They'd both saved my ass numerable times and deserved to get to their homes.

  "I have someone working on it," said Denk, returning to his glassed in desk. "It should only be a few minutes."

  I reigned in my magic and sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs down the hall. I pulled out my cell to call Owen. It was dead. I must have forgotten to turn it off when I was in Faerie. Brilliant.

  Ava and Phoebe were ushered out of the interrogation area moments later anyway. Denk must have lit a fire underneath somebody. "Are you guys all right?" I asked.

  "Fine," said Phoebe, shrugging off a paper robe they gave her. Probably trying to keep themselves from being distracted while they interrogated her. "It was getting pretty intense until a minute ago. Then somebody popped in the door, whispered in the guy's ear, and they called the whole thing off." She gave me a beaming smile. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

  "Me?" I said, returning her smile.

  The smile faded almost instantly. I needed to see Owen. I turned to check on Ava and found her in the middle of talking to one of the agents. "Is this what you dreamed of doing with your life? Yes? No? You should be able to answer that faster than this, Agent. You know you do Lana Kinney's bidding, Agent? An obedient dog can be trained for tasks much like what you're spending your life doing. Facts like these can be so enlightening. Oh, Agent, your great grandmother says 'hi'. She also suggests you stop waxing your neck, she says it was better hairy than red and prickly. Now, ma'am, that is word for word what you said, I can't help if it sounds insensitive. That's your problem, now, isn't it?"

  Between the ghosts and whatever point she was trying to make to the agent, I suspected she had a while to go yet.

  "You should go to him now," said Phoebe. "I'll tell Ava. I'm sure she'll be glad you're with him."

  I sighed with relief. I gave her a hug and ran to the elevator. I'd made it through FAB's red tape in record time, but it had still taken an hour. Would Owen be at his parents' house? As much as I wanted to punch the garage button and leave the building as soon as possible, I needed to know where to go. My office phone it was.

  I breezed by all my coworkers, ignoring their stares. I was sure I was a complete mess, not to mention I'd been mostly MIA. Hammond just gaped at me as I passed his office. Good, I didn't have time to deal with his shit.

  Owen picked up his cell on the second ring. I hadn't expected that. I figured I'd have to call his mother. He'd been kidnapped and he managed to keep his phone charged? Sheesh.

  "Hello," he said. I thought I could hear relief in his voice.

  "It's me," I said. "You still at their house?"

  "Not a chance. I let them see I was alive and bolted out of there as fast as I could." I almost heard a smile in his voice. "I'm on my way to FAB right now."

  I shook my head even though he couldn't see it. "Don't. If I don't leave here quickly, I'm liable to be arrested for real this time. Meet you at your place?"

  "Sounds good. I'll call ahead and let Leo know to let you in."

  "See you there," I replied. "Bye."

  I was out of the FAB office faster than you could blink. Owen's apartment was a couple blocks away, so I walked. Leo, the doorman, beamed at me when I walked up to the door of the Olendra Suites.

  "You did it!" he crowed. "You rescued Mr. Kinney."

  My cheeks warmed. "You bet your ass I did. Sorry I didn't call you first. My phone was dead."

  "Mr. Kinney already told me all of that. Don't you worry." He took me gently by the arm and ushered me inside the building. "Mr. Kinney called ahead and gave permission to let you in. And never fret about being let in again. I'll make sure the others know, too. The only thing that could ever change that is Mr. Kinney himself."


  "I appreciate that." We stepped into the building and he waved to another man to cover the door. We stepped onto the elevator. "Leo? Does he really make you call him Mr. Kinney?"

  Leo chuckled. "He hates it, but can you imagine if Mrs. Kinney were to hear I called him anything different?"

  "Ah, so you've met Lana."

  "There's an unstoppable force if I ever met one," he said. "You two have that in common." My face must have betrayed me because he chuckled again. "Well, perhaps you'll get along someday."

  "Not likely," I said.

  "You'd be surprised, young one."

  "I'd have to be."

  He chuckled again. "Here we are," he said. "Mr. Kinney also said to have a key made for you. I'll have that ready when I see you next."

  "I appreciate that," I said. "I'll probably be around more."

  "Glad to hear it. Heroes are always welcome here."

  My face was burning. I wanted to deny it, but I knew I'd only end up staying there longer. I stepped off the elevator and gave Leo a wave as it closed.

  I plugged my phone in as soon as I walked through the door, so it had enough charge to turn on after I made a stop in the bathroom. I dug through my pockets and found the numbers I'd gathered during my investigation into Owen's disappearance. Seeing Leo had reminded me that I should let others know that Owen was home and alive. I dialed the number for Smoke and Mirrors. Danielle, the hostess at the restaurant, answered the phone.

  "Hey, Danielle, it's Sophie," I said.

  "Is he all right?" she asked, her voice tense. Obviously, news of his abduction had spread through Owen's bar.

  "Yes, that's why I'm calling. I wanted to let you know that he's safe."

  There was a gusty sigh of relief. "We've all been worried. He's more like family than a boss. I'm so glad he's okay. Is there anything we can do for him?"

  "The best thing you guys can do for Owen right now is to take care of Smoke and Mirrors the best you can while he's adjusting to being back."

  "Tell Owen not to worry about a thing. We've got his back."

  "I'm relieved to hear that," I said. "I'll be sure to pass that along to him."

  She paused, but there was weight to it, so I waited. "Did you get the bastards who did this to him?"

  "I got the bastards who took him. The person responsible is next."

  "Good," she said, simply. "Is the number on the caller ID the best to reach you in case anything comes up?"

  "Yep." It surprised me that she was willing to call me instead of Owen if something came up, but that sounded like a brilliant idea. I wasn't sure until that moment what I could do for Owen, but my mission was suddenly clear: minimize stress, and be there. I felt better already having a plan. "I'll talk to you later, Danielle."

  "Bye."

  I hung up and stripped my clothes on the way to the bathroom, leaving a breadcrumb trail behind me. The front door opened and closed just before I turned the water on. I was sure I was supposed to go out there and ask him about seeing his parents or something else supportive, but it was the first quiet moment since he'd gone missing, and the first time we'd been alone. Luckily, he found me. His arms wrapped around my middle, and his mouth found the back of my neck.

  The world, and its many problems, disappeared for a while after that.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Of course, the real world eventually crept back in, but I felt more like someone who could handle things when it did. We were in bed, staring at the ceiling, holding hands and waiting to see which of us would be the first to break the silence.

  "I need you to help me call a therapist," he said.

  My whole body immediately went from relaxed to alert. I did not want to say the wrong thing. I slowly took a shallow breath, as if breathing too much air would alert him to my nerves, and said, "I can do that." I nodded slightly, assuring myself that had been the right thing to say. "I will call the one I talked to after Leandra and ask for recommendations."

  "Thank you." I felt the magic of those words pass over me. It felt different from the other thank yous I'd collected at that point.

  My mind raced with things I could say. I could congratulate him for being strong enough to ask for help. I could go on about the merits of therapy. I could talk about how facing your shit and dealing with it in such a focused space would help him learn to be stronger and more resilient. I could joke about how he'd need that, dating me. Instead, I squeezed his hand and cuddled closer. He kissed the top of my head.

  The moment felt like a milestone. One for Owen, certainly. And one for me as well. I'd said the right things. I was coming to decide that keeping my mouth shut wasn't something I needed to do around the people I loved, most of the time. I could say silly thoughts. I could say rude things. They would forgive it. But keeping my mouth shut when the moment wasn't about me? When someone I loved needed to know I accepted them, too, and saying anything else would only confuse that very important point? That was what I'd been missing. My chest filled for one perfect moment with the beauty of the lesson. I could only hope I'd remember it in the future, and that they'd forgive me if I forgot.

  The silence felt comfortable to me, but he broke it again. "My parents will hate it."

  "Bonus."

  His chest rumbled with laughter. I guess the moment wouldn't have been us without a little laughter.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  "What happened with you while I was losing my mind?"

  I chewed on my lip. Where to start? "Well, I owe The Morrigan a favor."

  "What?"

  "Eh, don't worry about it." Yeah, nonchalance likely wasn't going to work on that one. I owed The Morrigan a favor. I couldn't imagine how that was going to go down.

  "I think you should start from the beginning."

  "Well, to begin with, I called your mother."

  "A once in a lifetime event."

  "It better be," I said. "Actually, I guess, to begin with, you didn't answer your phone."

  "Sorry."

  "Well, you had your excuses. Anyway, you didn't answer your phone…" I went on from there, in excruciating detail. I skipped the part where Phoebe thought he wasn't answering his phone because he was cheating on me. That seemed like the kind of thing that would only unnecessarily hurt him. He laughed when I told him I still had the hair I'd cut off his head ages ago and used it to break into his apartment.

  "There's no keeping you out," he mumbled.

  "Damn straight," I said.

  He wasn't amused any more when I told him I knew something was wrong when his books were gone.

  "What books?" He sat right up.

  "Um, like, a dozen or more. Most of the empty spots were on the shelf with On Unseelie Fae and Life of the Phantom Queen."

  "No," he breathed the word and then jumped up out of bed.

  "I thought you knew," I said. "I thought they brought you here with them when they grabbed you off the street."

  "They probably did," he called back to me. I could hear his fingers skimming over the spines of the books, doing inventory. "I wasn't seeing the real world at that point."

  Of course, that made sense. That was how they'd managed to kidnap Owen. They made him see things that weren't there right from the beginning, made him agreeable. I wasn't sure if I wasn't asking for details on that because I was sparing him having to tell it, or sparing me having to hear it.

  I heaved myself out of bed and put a steadying hand on his back. "You can track them." Dragons could track their troves. It was how he'd found me when I'd stolen his books. "We'll get them back."

  "They're at Bresnan's house."

  "You can tell that exactly?"

  "I know where he lives." He looked up at me. "We both know he ordered I be taken. I know you figured that out as well as I did. Here's more proof."

  I hadn't focused too much on the missing books before, but this was just… "Insult to injury, that's what this is."

  "You're telling me." He didn't look pissed off like I felt, though. He looked
pale and shaky.

  "Hey, I'll get them back," I said. "I'll cut off his head like Phoebe's been saying, and then I'll get those books. Don't you worry."

  He looked at me straight on, and I got the distinct impression he was trying not to vomit.

  "What is it?"

  "He chose all the worst ones," he said. "Powerful, dangerous, books." I nodded, and he shook his head. "You don't understand. There are fae who would kill you for having just one of those books."

  He'd said stuff like that before, but I'd blown it off as an arrogant dragon's opinion about his trove. "We'll get security for the house," I told him. "You're going to be safe, I promise."

  "It's not that." He looked disgusted. Guess I'd said the wrong thing. Damn. "Erik Bresnan has information worth killing for," he explained. "Erik. Bresnan. What do you think he wants that for?" He raked his fingers through his hair. "This was worth kidnapping me for. If he had me, I couldn't track the books."

  "That couldn't be his only motive though," I said, before thinking better of it.

  "Why is that?"

  I cleared my throat. "Well, because he didn't kill you."

  Owen's eyes went wide. "I'd wondered why I was alive when I was out there, but I'd decided it was because they needed information from me."

  I sealed my lips before I let slip that I thought that may still be the case. That meant they could still want him back. Hiring an army to protect Owen didn't feel like enough. I doubted an army following him around was going to please him, either.

  "Listen," I said. "I'm going to get your books back. This is what I do. Whatever information he's gotten from them, I'll deal with that, too. Trust me."

  "I do," he said. He took a deep breath. "I want to come with you to get them."

  "We'll talk about that later," I said. "Let's have a little bit more time hiding in this apartment first, yeah?"

  "Okay." He stood up and took my hands, leading me back to the bed. Once we'd resumed our previous snuggling position, he gave a firm nod, as if to mark that we were now officially back in our happy bubble. He rubbed circles on my back. "Let's get back to what happened while I was gone. I still need to hear how it is The Morrigan comes into this."