“Give me information on the areas that are being targeted. The Blackmans and I will coordinate efforts to retrieve them.”
Lovejoy narrowed her eyes in question.
“Door magick.”
The director shook her head, still not fully caught up.
“We can go pretty much anywhere.”
Lovejoy paused and turned toward Paige, fully facing her. “Do you think…” She tipped her head to the side, her gaze unfocused. A light dawned as she straightened. “That’s how they’re doing it.”
“Doing what?” Paige had no idea what was going on behind the director’s skull.
“DoDO has doors, too.”
Huh?
“It makes total sense now. We’ve had reports of their agents being in one location and then appearing on the other side of the world within an hour. And it would make sense as to how they were able to slip through your wards undetected.”
Well, that and the fact that DoDO had to have heard how to maneuver around the wards somehow. A person? A spell? A device? They’d known how to retrieve Dexx without tripping the failsafe.
Shit. She needed to figure out a way to get these wards—plus a few failsafes of their own—up around the other paranormal communities. Like Nederland. Shit.
She needed to call Billie Black again. She needed a small army of wood witches in order to pull this off.
Lovejoy handed Paige a flip phone—probably a burner—and headed toward the door again. “I’ll send word.”
“I’ll keep you in my loop.”
The flight to Troutdale was then filled with a whole other kind of worry. The world was watching her. If she fucked up, she could make things worse for paranormals everywhere.
But Lovejoy hadn’t mention that the stunt at the White House had made things worse, so maybe… maybe it hadn’t.
Yet. All she needed was to give people time to spin it, and they would.
Paige landed at the airport, prepared to use another door to get home, but was met yet again by another motorcade. This time, it was DoDO. Mario greeted her with a smile and offered to help her get the kids into the SUV.
“I was really okay with Leslie coming to pick us up.” Paige wanted to go for the man’s throat. He had Dexx and he knew it, and she had to dance around him?
“Orders from the president,” he said in his slight English accent. “She wanted to make sure you got home.”
“Are we actually going home? Or are you shipping us off to some hidden cell?” Like Dexx? And should she tip her hand to the knowledge that they had him or keep that to herself? Could she get information from Mario?
Probably not.
So, she’d keep that knowledge to herself. For the moment.
Mario gave her a tight smile and opened the back door. “I assure you we’re only going home.”
Had he offered the same assurance to Dexx? She got the kids buckled in with Leah’s help—who didn’t like this situation—and got in the front seat.
Mario pulled away from the airport and got them into Portland traffic.
Leah and Ember were asleep within moments, before they’d even hit the highway. But little Rai was bright-eyed and bushytailed. That girl hadn’t fallen asleep the entire way here.
“Your flight was delayed.”
That was an obvious question. Fine. She’d answer. “Mechanical issues? I don’t know. We weren’t down long.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it back safely.” Mario looked over at her and gave her a genuine smile. “I almost wanted to see the look on the president’s face as she was watching the news, though. You’re still trending.”
Okay. Now Paige was just confused. “You don’t like the president?”
“She’s a rather simpleminded woman. She lumps people into few buckets.”
“And you are simply not to be lumped in with the lot of us,” Paige said in her best English accent interpretation.
He chuckled. “To be blunt, no. We’re in a special bucket.”
Since she had him trapped in the same car as her, she wanted information. “So, do you feel you’re so much better than the rest of us? You royal witch blood or something?”
Mario frowned at her, taken a bit by surprise. “You really don’t know?”
Paige really didn’t want to admit that out loud. But she would. If there was one thing that could be said about Paige Whiskey, it was that she didn’t have an overinflated ego. “No, I don’t. Enlighten me.”
Mario blinked and merged onto the highway that would take them east and home. “Well, suffice it to say that there are various types of magick users and they’re not all witches. Honestly, witches are probably the least powerful of all.”
Paige had a really hard time believing that just looking at her family. “Well, you and your people weren’t a big help against Sven.”
“Indeed.” He grimaced and tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel. “You, though. You are an exception, to be sure. That causes some I know considerable stress.”
That was neat and it actually made her feel a little bit better about herself, but it wasn’t answering her questions. “So, what are you? You disdain witches. So, I’m guessing you’re not?”
“No. I am not.”
Silence filled the car as he refused to continue.
Paige wasn’t going to let that happen, though. She had him. She pushed a little with her alpha will. “What are you?”
He smiled and flicked his eyebrows at her. But then he did something that surprised her.
He pushed back.
Okay. So, did that mean that he had an alpha spirit too? Was he a shifter witch? If so, then why hadn’t he shifted to fight her and Leslie back in Alaska? Why did he allow them to win?
He let her think about that for quite some time but then he finally answered, “Mage.”
Paige had heard the term many times. In fiction. She just didn’t know what it meant. “So, what is it that you do?”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “You know of ley lines?”
Of course she did. Every witch did. Some felt the rivers of magic, some resonated with them, but none of them really connected with them. “Sure.”
“Well, we use them. We tap into the network, and that’s the energy we use in our spells.”
That would explain why their magick was different and sometimes more powerful in limited ways.
The exits leading into town were blocked. He drove past the roadblocks, waving to the highway patrols.
It was time to bait him. “The wards have been released to allow you and your people in.” But she was going to figure out a way to disrupt their surveillance. Somehow.
“I heard.”
“So, that means the blockade can come down.”
“No. We need full, unfettered access.”
She smiled at his acknowledgement that he knew of the traps. “Paint a picture for me. What’s it going to look like if I do? What’s your plan? Collar us? Collect us? Take us to restricted locations that aren’t even on the map?”
He pulled to the side of the road and put the SUV in park. He took off his seatbelt so he could twist around to face her. “We are going to register every single paranormal in that town. Man, woman, child. No matter how young. We are going to document what each person is capable of doing. And then you are going to be chipped.”
Oh, hell no. “Are you chipped?”
“Of course not. The nature of our magic would simply fry the device. If you will notice, there’s nothing electronic inside this car. The reason for that is because we simply ruin all things electrical.”
Oh, how very Harry Dresden of him.
“Also, most of us aren’t citizens of the United States of America, and therefore, we do not have to abide by its most stringent laws.”
“Except this isn’t a law.”
Leslie’s car pulled up on the other side of road. She put the car in park and got out.
Someone must have told her they were on the way.
&n
bsp; “Not yet. But soon.” He gave her a smug look. “Very soon.”
She wanted to wipe it off his face with the pavement. “And then? Are you going to enforce this around the world?”
He chuckled. “There are very few places like the United States. So very few people who are contagiously fearful the way you lot are. So, no. It is highly unlikely anyone else will follow in your lead. Well, a few places, I’m sure. But not the first world countries.”
Which meant that if she could find someone in some other country, someone with political pull, she might be able to… she didn’t even know what. But maybe she could get some help or some guidance or some political pull or push or the political fist. Anything. Something. “It’s a good thing you’ve got doors.”
He went still and glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
She smiled at him, not really interested in playing cat and mouse. “I know you have Dexx, and I know you used a door to breach the wards.”
He narrowed his bright blue eyes. “I had wondered how long this would take. Can I expect retaliation, then?”
Paige chuckled. “You’d be silly not to.”
“Oh, Ms. Whiskey,” Mario said, turning his gaze to the ceiling. “This won’t en—”
“But not from me.”
He stopped, listening.
“I don’t know what you’ve done to Dexx—” But she really wanted to punch him in his smug-ass fucking face for it. The fear and worry pounded at her chest, willing her to do something. Anything. “—but he’s going to tear you up from the inside. And I’m—well, frankly, I’m just really pleased you took him and brought him in.” Anger raged inside her, and she fought to keep it in check. “Because now my man’s inside.” Her lips turned up at one corner. “By invitation.”
Mario made an uncomfortable sound while smiling. “He will never break through.”
Paige chuckled, keeping it calm and cold. Oh, he’d break through. And if he didn’t, then, yes, Mario could expect retaliation from her. “Okey-dokey.”
Mario got out and opened the passenger door, pulling Ember out of his car seat. He tucked the baby close to his chest.
Paige collected Rai, watching him, confused. This man gave her so many different mixed signals. It was kind of infuriating a little bit.
Leslie walked up to them and took Rai from her. “You good?”
Paige nodded and shook Leah awake. She came to, but her eyes were droopy, and her personality wasn’t fully charged.
Paige then went to the back and grabbed all of their bags, allowing Leah to just stumble her way to the other car like a zombie.
Leslie put Rai in the car seat, but before Rai could get buckled in, she shifted into a bird and flew to the top of the car.
Paige got a sense that she was antsy and needed to burn off excess energy. Paige could understand that. “Rai and I will fly home.”
Leslie nodded, her eyes only on Mario, who had safely installed Ember in his car seat.
Paige put the bags in the trunk and then closed it. “See you at home?”
Leslie nodded and then disappeared into the car.
Paige stared at Mario for a long moment. She wanted to punch him, to demand he release Dexx, release the town, and pull his head out of his ass.
But she knew that she and her children and the people of this town weren’t going to be chipped. If she allowed that…
Then what would she be inviting to the rest of the nation?
Without another thought, she shifted into an owl and took off.
Rai took to the air as Leslie pulled back into the street. Rai wasn’t nearly as fast. She was a baby bird. But she was doing pretty well for being a little over two weeks old.
As they got further away from Mario, Paige’s nerves unknotted a little. She hated so much about Mario and everything he stood for. She wanted to take him down and kick him out of her country.
As she expected, Rai tired about halfway. She did pretty well and better than expected, really. They landed and then Paige shifted into a gorilla. Rai followed suit and climbed up on her back, holding tight to Paige’s long fur as they traveled along the roads and through the wooded areas and farmland.
This was what Paige needed—to be home with her kids, to show them the world was safe.
And it was, for that small moment.
However, when she and Rai got home, Paige’s phone buzzed almost as soon as she’d shifted. Michelle had texted her a message.
Dexx took Tarik and Frey.
The moment was gone.
14
Paige was, to put it lightly, done.
But she was in a bit of a tough place. From what she’d gathered from Mario, Dexx hadn’t broken free of whatever they’d done to him. Also, with the fact that Dexx’d just taken three of his team members…
Was this Dexx trying to get his team back? Or was DoDO seriously in control? Mario had seemed a little too confident for it to be anything other than a DoDO plan. She needed to get her partner back.
It wasn’t like she could just walk into a DoDO facility and demand her not-quite-husband, though. Mostly because she had no idea where they were headquartered.
No. Damn it. He was her partner for a reason. He was her equal in so many ways. She had to bet on the fact that Dexx could figure this out.
But she really needed him, needed his arms and the hard time he always gave her and… she needed him to do the damned laundry even if he couldn’t match socks right.
She sat on the edge of the bed with a matched set of socks in her hand and cried, hating the fact that both socks were white and frustrated that her man wasn’t there for her to be mad at his face for it.
Was he still angry with her?
What if he’d gone willingly because he felt like his voice wasn’t being heard? He was a strong man who refused to bend to the wills of women, to the extent that he sincerely thought she’d be changing her last name to Colt once they were married. He wouldn’t even think about changing his last name or of her keeping her own.
What if she’d missed something? What if she’d been so busy being her that she’d overlooked the fact that he was unhappy, that he needed to be more of a man in a house of women? Had she overrun him?
On this one matter, sure. Yes. She’d known that. She’d known it as she was doing it and he’d told her no and she hadn’t listened and she’d taken the kids—his kids, including Leah—and—
She curled in a ball, hugging his pillow tight to her, and wept into it.
Eventually, though, she had to drag her tired ass out of bed. She didn’t have time to be upset about her mate when there were hundreds of thousands of other people out there looking to her to fix something else.
She needed to test the wards, to see if they truly did work. If they didn’t, she and Merry and Eldora needed to fix them. So, over the next day, she set everyone to attack the wards or to do bad things in town. Eldora moved the door’s exit location to a holding area in Utah and had a Blackman witch on the other side so that, when the wards kicked their people through the door, they could be retrieved easily.
The wards worked pretty well. At first, they didn’t quite know how to understand what was a threat unless the wards themselves were being attacked. But as they were introduced to more and more scenarios, they became quite adept.
It was a little like teaching an AI, she thought.
During that time, Paige got together with Willow and a few of the other witches—not Leslie who was busy, thank you—to add everyone to the tree who wished it.
The wards were strong and ready to be distributed to other communities.
She also needed to figure out how to get rid of the surveillance devices or whatever was installed around the town.
So, she put Michelle and Ethel—the only two remaining members of the Red Star team—on lockdown and then deployed her rather large team of local witches to locating all the surveillance apparatuses around the town while she was testing and working on the wards.
She hadn’t even realized just how powerful an asset that really was—an army of witches. She’d spent the past two years virtually ignoring them, only working with her own family—who wasn’t even a coven. Not really. They were a group of solitary witches. Kinda. They didn’t perform magick together very often. She sometimes forgot how powerful coven witches were.
In her defense, the Whiskeys did have other things to deal with.
Also, she had access to the greatest library anywhere. She couldn’t even say it was anywhere in this world because it was in the spirit animal dimension.
Together with the librarian and the witches, she figured they’d located most—if not all—the devices around the town.
And there were a lot.
They were a mix of electrical devices and magical ones. After what she discovered about the mages, she was a little surprised.
Merry reminded her that she shouldn’t be. It was the best way to evade detection. So, they did one more sweep and discovered a completely different set of devices that had been installed around the town. This set was old school, almost mechanical in nature, with touches of magick applied to them.
After the second set of surveillance devices was rounded up, Paige contacted Danny Miller. She needed to know if there was a way to shield their recording devices against electrical surges.
She had an idea to invite the media in and didn’t want Mario to short circuit the equipment—she was a huge fan of Harry Dresden books and fully understood the whole electricity versus electronics thing—thereby cutting them off. She worked to ensure that what was about to happen would actually get out to the people.
Paige called for a press conference through Danny’s contacts. It was time to get in front of the media again. She’d talked to everyone on the paranormal committee who was still in the area.
The elves had left, as had two of the elementals. The rest had agreed it was time for the news to get an in-depth view of what they were doing in Troutdale. She’d set up for outside news crews to be there for a week if anyone wanted to take them up on the offer.
Whiskey Storm (Whiskey Witches Midnight Rising Book 1) Page 13
