by Ayer, T. G.
He didn't exactly instill a great deal of trust in me, and I was pretty sure he'd end up rubbing the kids the wrong way too.
I had a plan but there was one person I had to call first.
Chloe Murdoch our mage with the magic touch.
I shifted on the stump and faced Jess. "Do you think you could call Chloe for me?"
Jess inclined her head. "Chloe would be perfect."
I cleared my throat. "Can we be certain Chloe takes the kids somewhere safe?"
"You mean other than Storm's care?" Something in her features tightened.
I shrugged. I didn't want her to think I'd begun to suspect Storm. Not yet. "I think they're a bit young for Storm."
I knew they weren't. Hadn't Mel told me she'd been placed with him at a young age? But, no. She'd been around twelve or thirteen.
Jess, however, didn't challenge me. "Where else could you send them?"
I swallowed, wondering if this would get me in trouble. "Tukats." I cleared my throat. The walker town where my father lived would be the safest place for them. "Chloe can take them there for their safety and from what Alina said they seem to be fairly comfortable with walkers so the situation wouldn't be too strange for them."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about anything. Anyone under my father's care is under the care of the entire colony."
"Even now?" asked Jess, an eyebrow curving gently.
"Even now," I responded, feeling a painful twinge deep inside me. Dad hadn't spoken about it and I wondered now how much support he had within the colony after the High Council's decree. I made a mental note to ask him.
"Very well. If you are certain they will be safe then Chloe can take them there." Jess disappeared.
I watched the children and listened to the birds calling in the trees, resisting the urge to transform and run free for the briefest time. Being caught buck naked by the infamous Paulson-with-no-first-name, wasn't a comforting prospect.
Jess reappeared soon with Chloe in tow, the mage shaking her head and blinking hard. "I don't think I can ever get used to those jumps."
I got to my feet and leaned in for a hug. First reason was to greet Chloe because she was just that kind of loving person. The second reason was so she could take away some of my nerves and fear too.
She held me tight. "My dear girl. Why do you hold so much inside?" She leaned away, but still didn't let go of my hands. The warmth from her fingertips swirled through mine, searching and wending its way up my hands.
I'd never known what drugs had felt like until Logan had used some super powerful concoction to knock me out once, but this throbbing, searching feeling very much resembled a drug. Quite the addictive buzz.
I tried to tug away but Chloe proved stronger than I expected. "Oh no, you don't. You need a little more, Kai. I can't believe you aren't taking care of yourself. A nervous breakdown on the job isn't going to be good for you, or for your charges."
I glanced down at the kids, for a moment terrified that she expected me to take care of them."
Chloe clicked her tongue. "I didn't mean them, silly. All the people you help along the way. You owe it to each one of them to bring your A game."
I nodded. "I know. I just don't have the time. Too much going on."
"Too much going on is not a good enough excuse." Chloe narrowed her eyes on my face. "What else is going on that I don't know about?"
"Anjelo and Lily are missing," I whispered.
"Oh?" A frown creasing her brow. "But I saw them not too long ago. They were on a mission for Storm."
Ice washed over me, a cold dread that sank into my bones. "Oh? Where did you see them and when? I was with Storm a few hours ago and he said he hadn't seen them."
"That's strange." The lines in Chloe's forehead deepened. "I just saw them. They got back from the scene of the murders."
I frowned.
"Storm said they were out doing something for me." I swallowed hard, and my head felt hot. I glanced up at Chloe. Now I was more than just frowning. My heart was thudding a mile a minute. "He said they were on a mission for me. Not him. And he said he hadn't heard from Lily and Anjelo for a while because they didn't tell him where they were going. He seemed to think I would know where they went."
"That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard. What is going on with Storm?" asked Chloe almost to herself. With Chloe occupied with her confusion, I pulled my hand free and stepped away.
I didn't like the thoughts that I was having. Could I trust Chloe? She worked so closely with Storm, what if he'd influenced her?
I cleared my throat. "Chloe could you take these two to my father's place?"
"You don't want me to take them back to Storm's?"
I shook my head. "I'm just a little worried about where peoples' loyalties lie. I'm not questioning your loyalty either. I just want to be one hundred percent sure that these kids are safe."
"Did they see anything? Did they see the killers?'
I hesitated, then glanced at the kids. They were stirring, with Alina blinking wide eyes against the bright sunshine.
"No. They didn't see anything." Alina blinked again and watched me. She'd heard what I'd said. "And it's probably for the best that they didn't. They're safer."
That was enough of a message to the child, and I could tell from the darkness in her eyes that she understood.
"They'll be safe with my father. He'll make sure they're taken care of until we can figure out where they can stay. They might have family who will claim them."
Chloe shook her head. "But that may not happen until we can find out who is killing the paranormals. Everyone will probably go to ground now." Then she sighed. "You are right, though. It's likely the safest option for them."
She seemed troubled and I wondered what she'd do now. Would she confront Storm or play the waiting game?
At least now I knew Anjelo and Lily were back. I needed to track them down to find out what the hell was going on. But first, the kids.
I went with Chloe to sit beside Alina and Alix--who was now also awake. He was sitting up, pouting, and rubbing his eyes. He was going to be a handful but his behavior earlier was probably just because he'd been tired and stressed. Or at least I hoped so.
"Alina, Alix. This is my friend Chloe and she's going to take you to my dad's house. It's very safe there and I'll come to see you as soon as I can. Okay?"
I asked the question giving the children the impression that they had some say on where they went. They didn't, but it didn't hurt to let them think they did.
The twins exchanged a glance and then Alina nodded. "We'll go. As long as we go straight to Kailin's dad's house." She gave a firm nod, as if that finalized everything.
Chloe grinned. "Absolutely. You can even keep my phone with you. Kai is on speed-dial so if you need her just press the button and she'll be on the other end of the line."
Chloe glanced at me and I gave her a grateful smile.
Jess moved in and said, "Right. We need to go. I'm afraid Saleem has been sent on an errand for Omega so I will take the children to Tukats. I will be right back to take you there too, Chloe, so you can check them out and make sure they are both well."
Chloe nodded, and Jess held out her hands. The twins each took a hand without a word and the three of them disappeared from the clearing.
"Thank you for doing that," I said, feeling really bad that I had to hang a question-mark beside her name. I crossed my fingers and hoped she'd prove innocent. I really hoped, if Storm had gone bad, he'd had the sense to keep Chloe out of it.
"It's my job, Kai. You know that. And don't for one minute think I don't know what you're up to."
I raised my eyebrows in innocent question. "What do you mean?"
She sighed. "I can see where the suspicions are heading. And if Storm is up to something, whatever it is he has his reasons and I am positive he's not endangering any of our kids."
Then why did he have to lie to me?
I wanted to ask the question aloud, but
she was not the person to pose it to. Neither was she the person to answer it.
"I hope so, Chloe. I really, really hope so. I don't think I can handle another betrayal by someone I care about," I whispered.
Chloe nodded and would have answered had Jess not chosen that moment to arrive. The mage gave me a short wave and disappeared with Jess.
I grabbed my phone from my pocket and sent off two short texts--one to Anjelo, one to Lily--both amounting to little more than 'where in Ailuros' name are you?'.
The brush behind me crackled and Logan walked toward me. He looked drained, and haggard.
"How's things going?" I asked, worried now at the toll it was taking on him
He rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm supposed to be used to this type of thing."
"It's always harder when it's kids." My voice was emotionless only because if I allowed to myself to feel right now, I'd be in his arms, a bawling mess.
"You're right. And it's for them that we need to resolve the situation as soon as possible."
I nodded.
"What did Alina say about the killers?" I met his gaze and gave a short shake of my head.
"Agent Blake, huh?" Logan grunted. He wasn't happy.
"You do know who he is, don't you?" He'd mentioned someone from his past the last time he spoke about him, but nothing since then.
Logan looked at me, his struggle clear in his expression. When he shook his head and said, "I'm pretty sure he's not the man I remembered," I wondered why he thought he could hide his feelings from me. "And if he is, then . . . "
"Then what?"
"Then I'll have to do something about it."
CHAPTER 35
I LEFT THE ALASKAN BUSH angry.
But I held it in, more so because I wasn't willing to expose my stupid mood to the people around me.
Because it was stupid.
There were a number of good reasons why Logan wouldn't tell me something important, not least being he could get himself in serious trouble if he spilled sensitive information.
If he was going to tell me anything, he'd do so in his own time. No amount of pushing would speed up that process.
Logan sent me off with Saleem, who had the grace to look chagrined before he transported me to my apartment.
When we materialized inside, Saleem paused to study my face.
"What?" I asked, defensively.
"Something's wrong."
"Right," I snapped.
"I understand." His smile was rueful. "He gets like that sometimes when he thinks he's at fault about something."
"What the devil could be his fault in a situation like this?" I asked, then paused watching Saleem's blank expression. "Does it have something to do with the ever-elusive Blake?"
Saleem blinked. "Perhaps."
I wasn't in the mood for teasing. "Don't perhaps me, Djinn. I'm worried. What are we going to do about him?"
Saleem sighed. "You have a one track mind."
"You bet your ass." I said sharply. "Logan's hiding something from me and I want to know what that is."
"What if you don't need to know?"
I'd strangle the next person who said those words to me. "As long as it has something to do with this case then I need to know."
"Point taken."
"I'm meant to kill this bastard," I said. My blood promise was ever present in my mind.
"Have you considered," Saleem said carefully, "that the blood promise could be Logan's problem?"
I frowned. "I hadn't thought of that."
Logan could be keeping certain information to himself either to protect me or to protect the perpetrator. "If that's the case, then he'd better be doing it to protect me, because if he's protecting the killer then I'm not sure how I'll handle it."
"Whatever he does he will have his reasons."
Sage advice from the djinn. "He can have his reasons. I don't mind them--as long as his reasons don't stop me from keeping my blood promise. I know he's not happy that I agreed to it."
Saleem's eyes filled with compassion. "Do you really think Logan would put you in danger by thwarting your attempts to honor your promise?"
I stopped. Thought about it. "I guess not." I sighed. "Please tell me why this is so goddamned hard."
"Because we care," he said immediately. "If we don't care then we're not as emotionally invested as we'd like to think."
"More wise words, djinn?"
He shrugged, then grinned. "I have my moments."
I grinned back at him. He could always diffuse a situation with one of his well-timed grins.
"So, how are you by the way. You look pretty cheery for a guy who looked like he was at Death's Door just a day ago."
Saleem glared at me. "Hey, I do get to recover as fast of as the walker don't I?"
I laughed. "But seriously, you good?"
"I'm good," he assured "But I won't be if I don't get back. We have debrief."
"They won't want me there, will they?" Please say no.
"I don't think so. Nobody has indicated they want your side of the story. If they do, they'll come for you."
"That's guaranteed I'll sleep easy," I said with a snort.
He lifted an enquiring brow. "Why would you worry about such a thing? Omega wants you on board. Even with all the mess that's going on, they've been at Logan to bring you in."
"Have they now?" I asked, folding my arms. "Funny. Logan hasn't mentioned it once."
Saleem shook his head, his dark hair shifting against his shoulders. "Of course, he wouldn't. He doesn't want you to feel pressure. And there are other reasons."
"I know," was all I said.
We both knew Omega's respectability in my eyes was in serious question. There were also my current issues with the walker high council and my alpha status--although Omega wasn't interested in my alpha status.
When my phone beeped and I reached for it Saleem took the opportunity to escape. Coward.
The message was from Anjelo. I called him immediately.
"Where are you?"
The damn it in my tone must have been obvious. "I'm sorry," he said. "Look, some weird shit is happening. We need to talk."
"Where?"
"The usual place."
Which meant O'Hagan's. And also meant I needed to be more than worried if Anjelo was going all 'secret codeword' on me.
"See you there in half an hour," I said.
He responded with a grunt and ended the call leaving me staring at my phone.
My ringing phone.
This time it was Dad's face on the video calling app.
"Hey Dad," I said taking in the strained and tired look on his face. I hoped it was just a bad camera phone.
"I have your two little packages here." He smiled when he said it, which was a good sign.
Yeah, I'd take anything I could get right now.
"How are they doing?"
"They're both fine, and the reason for this call. You have one very strong-minded girl there."
I felt a glow of pride, as if Alina were my own child. Which was weird because I wasn't a maternal kind of person.
Alina's face appeared on the screen, with Alix showing in the top right-hand corner, peering at the screen with his forehead scrunched. He still looked angry, but markedly less so. It was more than I could have asked for.
Alina waved at me. "Hey, Kai."
"Hi, kiddo. How you doing?"
She nodded. "You daddy is nice. I like him."
I grinned. "I like him too."
She giggled.
"How's Alix?" I asked, pretending I couldn't see him.
Alina stabbed a thumb in his direction. "He's here. He's fine. He ate a lot."
"That's a good thing right?" I asked.
Alina's face fell. "Mom doesn't like it when Alix eats too much. She'll be mad." She hung her head.
"Alina, listen to me." The little goblin girl looked up at me. "I know for a fact that your Mom wouldn't mind at all. She will totally understand."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"How do you know?"
I paused considering a white lie. Decided against it. "Because I know how people feel when they pass on to the afterworld."
"How do you know that?" Her eyes widened, a little suspicious, like a child on the verge of assuming the adult was lying to her.
I sighed. "Because when I spoke to my sister after she passed into the Graylands, she told me that all a person's anger and negativity just fades away."
"Oh." The child paused, thinking. "You sister died too?"
"Yes, honey." I gave a twist of a smile. "Not too long ago."
"I'm so sorry." She said it softly, then looked up, probably at Dad sitting beside her. "I'm sorry," she said to him, her face uplifted, her eyes moist. It was the sweetest, most saddest thing I'd seen in a long, long time.
More surprising was Dad's reaction. He bent and kissed the little girl on her forehead. "I'm sorry too, Alina. Maybe we can help each other through this terrible time?"
The girl smiled and in the background, Alix watched, anger gone, eyes wide at the revelation that they shared a deep loss with their new guardian.
It was a good start. We ended the call with promises from me that I'd come by and check up on them.
Then I headed out to see Anjelo.
As I hurried down the stairs, my panther senses picked up odd sounds from the floor below. My panther wasn't always switched on, but she did remain in the background, always accessible if something strange happened.
The surreptitious scrape of a heel drew me up short. From where I stood I had a good view over the railing and along the Birdcage to the floor below. They edged around the elevator well, descending all the way to the basement level. From my position I caught shadows where there shouldn't be any. Someone was creeping up the stairs.
Nobody I knew would creep up my stairs that way. Nobody I trusted at any rate. I stilled, considering what I should do next.
I drew on my panther senses and a whiff of the air confirmed three men, the smell of metal said they were armed.
I didn't stand a chance.
That meant the roof, because I'd prefer to not have my apartment ripped apart. This guy looked like he was here to make life difficult for me.
I tip-toed back up the stairs, past my door to my floor, and up the next flight. At the top of the landing, a single door led to the rooftop. Outside would be concrete floors dotted with air-conditioning vents and fans. A dilapidated old birdcoop roosted in the center of the rooftop, the result of a long dead resident's hobby.
