Roni roused shortly after that. I ordered some food for her, but she only picked at it. She was dozing again when Jaime called.
At the sound of voices in the background, I said, "You're with Hope?"
"And Elena. We're going for cocktails. Well, two of us are. One is on a strict diet of mock-tails. Karl's with us, too, but he's promised to follow at twenty paces and sit on the other side of the bar."
"Uh-huh. And I didn't think he could get any more protective."
Overhearing, Hope said, "Neither did I," and Jaime laughed.
"He's setting new records," Jaime said. "We wouldn't be going out at all if Hope hadn't threatened to help Elena tie him to a chair."
I asked her about Leah's escape.
"Yes, we're sure she had help," Jaime said. "Your mom was investigating, but your, um, magical situation has taken precedence."
"The two might not be unconnected." I told her what Schmidt said about Leah being released to woo me for some unknown purpose.
"Damn. Okay. I'll find a dark corner at the bar and see if I can contact your mom."
I asked to speak to Hope and told her about Kimerion's request. I assured her that we weren't pressing her to agree. She did anyway. Which slung a fresh helping of guilt on my plate.
Hope sounded exhausted. Part of that was the pregnancy, but the visions were obviously sapping whatever strength she had left. However tough Hope tries to be, there's a fragility to her even under the best circumstances.
Like most lord demons, Lucifer doesn't sire many offspring. His come with short life spans. The chaos hunger drives them to madness or suicide.
Although Hope was only Adam's age, she was already older than any recorded Expisco. No one's ever told her that, but she suspects it. She's a chaos addict fighting a battle that keeps getting harder as her powers grow. It's a constant reminder to me of how lucky I am to be a spellcaster. The only curse of my powers is the temptation to misuse them.
But however frail Hope was, she'd never refuse any chance to help out. I suppose it helps balance the uglier parts of that chaos hunger. That didn't keep me from feeling like shit, though, and wishing I could retract the request, tell Adam I'd take my lumps with Kimerion for breaking the promise to ask her. I even tried to backtrack, and dissuade her. To no avail. If we could use Kimerion's help, she was damned well going to speak to him.
Now the problem would be telling Karl. I knew he'd tear a strip out of me. With Karl, that might be a literal strip. He's always thought I'm an irresponsible and reckless brat, and deep down, I'm not sure he's wrong. Right now, I was pretty sure he wasn't.
"I wrote that article about Jaime's show," Hope said before passing me back to Jaime. "I'm not sure how much good it'll do now. Might actually cause us some trouble--supernaturals who know I work for the council, thinking we're trying to silence these activists. I called my editor and tried to stop it, but it went to press last night."
When I hung up, I told Adam about the article.
"I'm going to run down to the gift shop and see if they carry True News," I said. "Can I get you anything?"
"I'm good."
"You want to come along? It's just downstairs."
"Someone should watch her."
"She's sleeping. We'll just--"
"I'm awake." Roni rose on her elbows. "What's this about True News? And someone named Hope?"
"I was just saying I hope they carry--"
"Hope Adams?" she said. "Is that who you were talking to on the phone? Oh, my God. Do you know Hope Adams? Seriously? I read all her--I mean, I've read her work. I know it's a tabloid, but her stuff is so good and . . ." She continued on in that vein for a few minutes, alternating between fan girl gushing and trying--less successfully--to play it cool.
"Yes, we know Hope," Adam cut in finally. "Witches like Savannah have to be careful about humans like her, who might latch onto some bit of truth. The best way to control them is to befriend them, so we get a heads-up on any exposure threats."
"Was that who Savannah was talking to, then? I heard something about getting me to a safe place. Am I going to meet Hope Adams? Oh, my God, that is so--" She cleared her throat. "It would be a pleasure."
"No." The edge in Adam's voice warned that she was trying his patience. "Savannah was talking to a friend of ours, who's arranging your stay in a safe house, and it has nothing to do with Hope. She's not a supernatural. That's why we befriended her. Because she's not one of us. She could expose us."
"Oh." She slumped back onto the pillow.
Adam gave me a look that warned we needed to be a lot more careful what we said in front of her, even if we thought she was asleep. I nodded and went downstairs.
Night posed a dilemma. Roni wasn't the strongest soul I'd met. What was to stop her from waking up and saying, "Screw this," then calling her relatives to offer me up in return for immunity?
We took shifts sleeping. When Adam had trouble waking me the second time, he didn't tickle me. Didn't tease and cajole me. Didn't put ice down my back. He just let me sleep and I knew that, like giving me the last slice of pizza, this wasn't Adam being considerate. It was Adam disengaging.
When I finally did get up, it wasn't Adam waking me, but a knock at the door.
"That'd be the babysitter," Adam said, rising from the desk where he'd been working. "Paige said someone would be here by breakfast."
He walked over, checked the peephole, then opened the door.
A woman walked in. She was slender and tall--only a couple of inches shorter than me. Dark blue eyes. Silver blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Jeans, sneakers, T-shirt, and a worn denim jacket completed a look that was the height of fashion . . . in a lumber camp. With her natural good looks, I'm sure she would have been very welcome there, too, until one of the sex-starved lumberjacks tried laying a hand on her and lost it. Literally.
"Elena," I said, scrambling up.
She greeted me with an embrace. Elena is usually not the hugging type. Werewolves are very physically affectionate, but only within the Pack. Having spent summers with them since I was twelve, though, I rated hugs, and when she embraced me, I wanted to hug her back, as tight as I could, then sit down on the bed and spill my guts, tell her everything that happened and how I'd screwed up. I couldn't, though, not with Roni right there. So I just gave her a squeeze then stepped back.
"Are you here to escort Veronica?" I said.
"I am." She turned to the second bed. "I take it that's you."
Roni was staring at Elena. Probably wondering how someone who looked like that could possibly protect her. Hopefully, she'd never find out.
"Roni, this is Elena."
Elena extended her hand. It was a moment before Roni took it.
"You aren't a witch," she said.
"Nope, but I think I can handle bodyguard duty." Elena lifted a spoon from the room service tray and bent it around her finger. "Very handy in a fight, but I'm hoping we don't run into any."
"I'm surprised they can spare you," I said.
"Lucas arranged for Veronica to go to a safe house in Michigan. I'm heading home, so I offered to take her."
So Elena wouldn't be in Miami? Damn. That made sense, I guess, sending her back to Clay and the kids, leaving Jeremy to represent the Pack. Still, I'd hoped she'd be there. Really hoped.
Adam booked a flight for us. It left in three hours, which meant we had time for breakfast. I was thrilled about that--time to spend with Elena before she left--until I realized we had to take Roni along. That made for a very long and awkward meal. Adam's mood didn't help. He was polite enough, but quiet. Elena knew something was wrong, but there was no way of talking about it in front of Roni.
After breakfast, we split up. Elena planned to do some sniffing around before they left. If Roni's cousin was still close by, Elena hoped to convince her that following them further really wasn't a wise idea.
But Elena couldn't "sniff around" with Roni on her heels. Nor could she fully devote herself to a fight while protec
ting her. I managed to keep my mouth shut until Adam and I were in the airport terminal, looking at the departure screens.
"There's a flight to Orlando in a few hours," I said. "We could switch to that, and drive down, so we have more time to help Elena."
Adam's shoulders tightened. He kept his gaze on the screen. "No."
"I'm not stalling. I just don't think we need to rush off and leave Elena saddled with Roni."
"Elena has two four-year-olds. She can handle Roni."
I stepped between him and the screen. "I'm not stalling, Adam. I swear, if you book that Orlando flight, I will get on it. But there's no reason we can't wait another couple of hours if it helps Elena."
A pause, then a slow nod. He took out his phone. "Okay, I'm going to e-mail you the boarding pass. You fly to Miami. I'll switch to the Orlando flight."
"What?"
"You're right. Elena could use help, but we both don't need to stay, especially when you don't have your spells. Not that I need to remind you of that issue, because it's the reason you'll do anything to avoid getting your ass on that plane."
"What the hell does my spell problem have to do with not wanting to go to Miami?"
Adam noticed people were starting to stare. He turned and strode back outside, then kept walking until he was past the line of taxis and drop-offs, never once checking to make sure I was behind him. When he found a quiet spot, he wheeled.
"The only reason I haven't said anything until now is because I know if I do, you'll freak out. You'll deny it and you'll tell me off, and then you'll run."
I set my shoulders. "I'm not running, Adam. I was scared, okay? I'm dealing with it now--"
"Like hell you are. You're still scared. Scared shitless, and I know that because I know how important your magic is to you. So I've been careful. Damned careful. Thinking if I just kept prodding you in the right direction, I could steer you to Miami. But that's not happening. You keep putting it off, doing whatever the hell you want, treating me like a goddamned puppy that'll toddle after you--"
"I've never treated you--"
"I'm not following you anymore, Savannah. I'm not taking care of you anymore."
"Take care of me? No one needs to--"
"I'm going to tell you why you're not going to Miami. And if you get pissed off and leave, I'm not coming after you."
"I never asked you to come after--"
"You don't want to tell Paige and Lucas that you've lost your spells because you're afraid things will change if you're not a spellcaster. You're afraid they'll treat you differently. You're afraid everyone will, but most of all, you're afraid they will. You lost your mother and your father, and you found another family, and you're terrified of losing them."
"Losing my family? I'm not twelve anymore, Adam."
"When it comes to them, you are. You didn't go to college because you were afraid to leave. Afraid when you came back things would be different. Maybe they wouldn't even expect you to come back. You aren't their kid, after all. Once they got you off to college, their duty was done."
"Paige and Lucas would never--"
"Oh, you know they'd still be your friends. But your relationship with them might change. That's why you didn't go to college and it's why you won't move out. You're afraid of losing your family and becoming just a friend and employee. Now you're scared of losing that, too. If you aren't a supernatural, can you still work for the agency? Still hang out with the council? Still help Paige with her witch students? Maybe you'll become just another human friend, cut out of the center of their lives."
"Wow," I said. "You are so right. Isn't it amazing what deep insights you can get from a single credit in psychology. Or did you even pass that course?"
He went very still. His eyes didn't blaze fire, though. They hardened, and he started to retreat behind them. Closing off. Pushing me out.
A voice in my head screamed that I'd gone too far, that I needed to back up now. Apologize. Tell him he was right, even if he wasn't. Fix this before it was too late.
I couldn't do it, though. Drowning out that voice was an overwhelming need to shove back. Close down before he closed down. Push him out before he pushed me.
We glared at each other, then I turned on my heels and walked away. He didn't follow.
Rage and denial came first. What the hell was he talking about? Is that really what he thought of me? Some weak little girl scared of losing Mommy and Daddy again? I thought he knew me better than anyone and obviously he didn't know me at all.
Then hurt and self-pity. Why was he so angry with me? I was only trying to solve a case and help a young woman in trouble. Didn't he see that?
Fear and doubt came next. I was angry because he was treating me like a child, but wasn't that exactly how I was acting?
And then, finally, like a pile drive to the jaw: clarity.
Adam was right. I wasn't ready to leave home because I liked my life exactly the way it was. And, yes, I was avoiding telling everyone about my spell problem for the same reason. I was stalling in hopes that I'd find a solution or wake up and find my spells miraculously reinstated.
I knew Paige and Lucas wouldn't abandon me if I had no magical powers. They wouldn't fire me either. But my place in their life would change. And my place in Adam's life would change.
So why was I letting that happen already? Watching him drift away in anger and doing nothing about it?
I checked my cell phone. Adam had e-mailed me my boarding pass a few minutes ago. That meant he hadn't given up on me yet. Now I needed to get on that plane. Go to Miami.
I made it as far as the baggage counter when my cell phone rang. "People Are Strange."
"Hello?" I said.
"Savannah." It was Roni, breathy with panic. "Thank God. I thought I remembered your number, but I got it wrong the first time and--"
"Where are you?"
"We--we got ambushed. They rammed the taxi. The driver ordered us out. Your friend wouldn't go--she argued with the driver--so I took off--"
"What? Where's Elena? Is she okay?"
"They chased me. I twisted my ankle. I--" A deep pained breath. "I lost them, but now it hurts so bad and I can barely walk and they're still looking for me. I know they're still looking for me."
"Where's Elena?" I said. "Is she hurt?"
"I-I don't know. There were three of them. My cousin Chrissy, another woman, and a man. Chrissy and the woman chased me. The man stayed behind. I saw him pulling your friend from the car. He had a gun."
Shit. No. Please tell me I hadn't screwed up that badly.
"Where did you leave her?" I said.
"I'm at--"
"No, Elena. She could be hurt. Where did you leave her?"
"I-I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. I-I'm sorry."
"Fine, where are you?" That would get me close enough to find Elena.
When she gave me a street address, I told her I'd be right there. Then I called Elena's number. No one answered. I texted Adam. He called as I raced to a cab outside the terminal.
"Get back inside, Savannah."
"I can still catch my flight and I will, but Elena--"
"She's fine. There's no way she'd let some guy with a gun--"
"She's not answering her phone. Something happened. I texted you Roni's location. Meet me there."
I hung up before he could reply.
seventeen
Roni was holed up in a fast-food joint. It was lunchtime, and the place was packed. I found her in a corner, sipping a soda, shoulders hunched against the glares of families circling past her table as they looked for seats.
When she saw me, her eyes filled with tears. She started to rise, then stopped, looking behind me, eyes wide. She raced over and grabbed my hand--the bandaged one--and I let out a yelp.
"Sorry. D-don't turn around. J-just--" She stepped in front of me, using me as a shield. "I don't think they saw me."
"Is it--?"
"Chrissy. She's with that man I don't recognize."
"Okay, listen. We're in a very busy public place. Just calm down and tell me how you got here. That will help us backtrack and find Elena. I need to call Adam--"
"They saw me!"
"Calm down. They'll scope the place out first, and cover the exits. The worst thing you can do is--"
She yanked free of my grasp and bolted.
"--run."
I went after her.
I caught up with Roni at the back door, which was locked. As she whaled on it, I pulled her back.
"So now you've trapped us in a dead end," I hissed. "Wonderful."
"It's only locked," she said. "You've got a spell for that, don't you?"
"Normally, yes, but I was poisoned recently, which explains why you haven't seen me cast anything."
I reached for the door. A prick in the back of my arm made me jump. Roni fell back, clutching a needle.
"You little bitch!" I said.
"It'll be okay, Savannah. I'd never hurt you. And they'd never let me. You're too important."
I swung at her. She tried to duck, but my fist connected and she went down. I spun toward the exit. Even when I stopped moving, though, the hall kept going, around and around. My fingers clasped the handle. It turned. It hadn't been locked after all. I flung it open, staggering out, the stench of garbage making my stomach churn. I stumbled against a trash can. It took everything I had to stay upright.
"Hello, Savannah."
I lifted my head to see a man and a woman standing there. I twisted. Two men blocked the other way. I tried to turn back, but my feet slid on the gravel. Someone behind caught me, and the last thing I heard was Roni saying, "Her friends are coming. The half-demon and the werewolf. We need to go."
I woke tied to a chair. Everything was dark, but when I moved my head, I couldn't feel a blindfold.
I tried to twist and feel how I was bound, but my hands were tied back-to-back and I couldn't stretch my fingers enough to touch anything.
I closed my eyes and worked on inhaling and exhaling, struggling to slow my galloping heart.
Kidnapped.
If anyone else was here, I'd joke about how this made me a legitimate challenger to Jaime's record. Kidnapped again. Ha-ha.
Only it wasn't funny at all. When I saw that blackness and felt my bound wrists, panic surged, tugging behind it the memories of kidnappings past.
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