“No, a guy owned a bookstore a block down. You know him?”
“Maybe I do, who’s asking?”
“We’re friends of Ivy. I held out a card with my number on it. If you know Fahim, Aaron, or Dimitri, could you pass my number along?”
Before I knew it, he pinned my arm to my back and slammed my face against the wall. “You guys smell kinda nice. Maybe you got some money.”
I blasted him with a jolt of electricity that sent him flying to the opposite wall. Spinning to face him, I focused on the blood vessels in his head, popping them one by one.
He hissed and held his temples between his palms. “Damn witches.”
His partner charged, and I lifted my arm, sending a blast of air his way. It propelled him to the ceiling, and he fell like a lead bullet.
“Like I said, if you know Fahim or his friends, please pass along my number. It’s very important.” I walked to the stairs.
Grady huffed after me. “I’m not turning my back on these guys.”
“Fine.” My adrenaline had gotten the best of me, and my ears were ringing. Right then, if another being approached me, I doubted they would escape with their lives.
“What happened? Did you find someone who knew them?” Tyler asked as we exited the house.
“Don’t know.” I slipped the bracelets onto my wrists again and hurried to the end of the alley.
With the extra energy coursing through my body, I could’ve walked the five miles back to the safe house. Instead I raised my hand in the air. It wasn’t two minutes before a cab stopped in front of us.
“So, what do you think?” Tyler asked again once we were inside the vehicle.
“Not now.”
Back at the house, I shed my hat and jacket and stomped to the bedroom. Changing clothes, I made my way to the workout room.
“That was some pretty strong magic.” Grady appeared on the treadmill beside me my fourth mile in.
I smashed the stop button on the treadmill and turned to face him. “I told you I could hold my own.”
“Is it under control?”
“As long as you’re on my good side.” I blotted my face with a towel. My phone buzzed, and I retrieved it from the shelf. “Hello?”
“We have Ivy.”
“You’re kidding?” I rolled my eyes thinking the guy had a death wish.
“No. We can get her back to you for a price.”
“You’re an idiot. What, you didn’t get enough roughing up today? You need more?”
“You can’t find me.” The line went dead.
“Ahhh!” I punched the air. Taking deep breaths, I faced Grady. “We’re at a dead end. We need to do something different. I’m going to shower. Let’s meet in the living room to brainstorm in fifteen minutes.”
“There’s got to be someone else in here.” I slammed Camille’s document onto the coffee table. “What about Anne. How can we find her?”
“Who’s Anne again?” Tyler’s brow furrowed.
I fought lashing out at him. “Alena’s mother.”
“Do we have more information about her? She would be local, right?” Pop asked.
“The vampires called her Queen and referred to Alena as Princess. She has enough resources to hide Alena and Hunter away in a day’s notice. She lived in a penthouse with a ton of guards,” I supplied.
“Did she stay with Alena and Hunter?” Grady asked.
Before I could answer, Pop fired another question. “Do we have a last name?”
“No, she didn’t stay with them. She couldn’t because of her position. Her last name is Scott.”
“Could it be?” Nan asked, looking to Pop.
“I think it is.” He turned to face me. “Anne Scott is the Vampire Chancellor. Her human name is the same. She keeps an investment company as cover.” Pop picked up the laptop. “Here.” He swung it to face me. “This is where she lives.”
“Can we just go there and ask to see her?” Tyler asked.
“I can’t believe we wasted two days.” I got up and paced to the wall.
Grady joined me. “We need to figure out how to prove we are who we say we are.”
Picking up my laptop, I tapped on the screen, bringing up the pictures from the Iceland trip in the account synced to my phone. “I have these.” I spun the screen to show the group.
“There’s Camille.” Janine’s eyes filled with tears. “Do you mind if I look through them?”
“No.” I handed her the device.
Tyler and Grady looked over her shoulder as she scrolled through the pictures.
“You sure do have a lot of pictures of my sister.”
My face flushed, and I looked to the floor. When Janine handed the tablet back, the picture on the screen was the one we’d taken from the summit before I’d showed her my magic. Before she’d made me cut myself to prove I wasn’t a vampire.
“Do Alena and Hunter know what Camille looks like now?” Tyler asked.
“No, but we have this.” I leaned over and picked up Camille’s document.
“What time are we leaving for the vampire chick’s place?” Tyler asked as he poured a cup of coffee and sat down for breakfast.
“As soon as everyone has eaten. No need to waste time.” I grabbed my plate and took it to the sink.
“You better check your attitude.” Grady pointed at Tyler. “It needs to be all respect today, got it?”
“I still can’t believe we’re talking about vampires like they’re real.”
“They are. Very real.” Grady lifted his coffee mug to his mouth.
“You should wash with that soap again.” Pop swung the dishrag he’d been using over his shoulder.
“How do we smell to vampires?” Tyler asked.
“I was told by a vampire friend once that we smell of honey,” Grady said.
It was an interesting statement, and I thought about how Camille smelled of flowers even when she sweated. I shook my head to clear my mind of the thought.
“You guys are making me more nervous.” Janine crossed to the sink and rinsed her plate.
Grady followed her. “This isn’t any different than what we’ve been doing for the last two days. Probably safer because Anne couldn’t have three dead witches and a civilian in her foyer. Those heathens yesterday probably wouldn’t have thought twice about ending us if we’d been weaker.”
“You mean if I hadn’t roughed them up.” I pointed at Grady.
“What heathens? You didn’t tell me about any incidences.” She turned to face Grady.
“I didn’t want to worry you. You don’t have to come. Maybe you shouldn’t.”
“Are you kidding? Who is the best person to convince a woman to help? A mother. Anne’s a mother. I’m a mother. I’m going.” Janine loaded her plate in the dishwasher and strode out of the room.
Grady looked at Tyler. “Well, I guess your mother is definitely going.”
“She’s tough. She can handle it.” Tyler stuffed a bit of bread in his mouth.
Tyler, Grady, and I dressed in the jackets and ball caps, pulling them low over our foreheads. We decided Tyler and I would travel in one car and Grady and Janine in another. Grady and Janine left a few minutes before us, planning to walk a few blocks to get a cab. Our two groups would be dropped off at separate addresses not far from Anne’s building. I guessed I should start to think of her as Ms. Scott at least, as it may have been a better way to address the Vampire Chancellor.
“This bracelet drives me nuts.” Tyler spun the rocks on his wrist as I hailed a cab.
“Small price to pay for not getting picked off. Thanatos has a residence in LA.”
“Who is Thanatos again?”
“High Priest of the witches. He heads the coven holding Camille. A locator spell with Camille’s blood would find you and Grady in two seconds.”
“That’s reassuring.” Tyler rolled his eyes and looked out the window.
“Let’s keep our heads down and get this over with.” I opened the door for hi
m when the vehicle stopped in front of us.
Tyler’s leg bounced on the ride, and I fought telling him to calm down. When the cab stopped, I paid the driver with cash. Stepping onto the sidewalk, I looked to the sky, grateful for the sunlight. It felt like a bittersweet emotion as I wondered how Camille was doing, and I refocused on our task.
We met Camille’s parents in front of Anne Scott’s building.
“I think you should ask for Ms. Scott, Janine,” Grady said.
“You’re kidding?”
“No.”
“Okay, here we go.” Sliding my bracelets off, I motioned for Grady to do the same.
The lobby seemed like a normal place and the attendant smelled like a human. He stood and greeted us as we approached the desk.
“Good morning, how can I help you?” the man asked.
“We’d like to see Ms. Scott,” Janine told him.
“Do you have an appointment?” He tapped the keyboard in front of him. “Ms. Scott didn’t indicate she expected guests this morning.” His eyes darted between the four of us.
“We’re friends from out of town. It was kind of a spur-of-the-minute trip. Could we use the phone to call up? Our cell phone battery died,” Janine told him.
“All of your phones died?”
“We lost our chargers,” Grady indicated.
“I will call up. Who should I say is here?”
“Ivy’s family,” I told him.
“Ivy’s family?” He looked between the four of us again. “Okay.” He lifted the phone from the cradle and pushed a couple of numbers. “Ivy’s family is here to see Ms. Scott,” he said into the receiver.
Lines grew on his face as he listened to the other party. I looked behind us to see two of the elevator’s lights indicating the cars were headed down.
Two elevators headed our way, I transferred the thought to Grady. He nodded his head slightly.
“Okay, thank you.” The attendant put the receiver back in its place. He looked up to us. “Ms. Scott’s assistant will be with you shortly.” He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands. His eyes cut to the elevators to our left.
I turned to see two elevator doors open and four tall, broad-shouldered men step out of each. Their smell hit me, and the hairs on my arm stood on end. I replaced the word men with vampires in my mind. Stepping towards the one in the lead, I held out my hand.
“Hi, I’m a friend of Ivy’s. This is her family. We were hoping to see Ms. Scott.”
The vampire stopped in front of me, ignoring my outstretched palm. “Come this way.” He cocked his head to the elevator, and the other seven vampires fanned out, surrounding our group.
“Have a nice day.” The attendant called from the desk as we followed the lead guard into the elevator. Inside, three additional guards joined us. We stood shoulder to shoulder as the car ascended.
The elevator stopped one short of the top floor. Not the penthouse. I spoke telepathically to Grady who blinked, I guessed in confirmation.
We exited the elevator to an empty hall. “This way.” The head guard led us down the corridor with the other seven guards trailing us. A couple of doors from the end, he stopped, put the key in the lock, and motioned for us to enter. Inside, a narrow hallway was lined with doors. He passed us, unlocking one of the doors, turning on the lights and ushering us inside.
The room was empty, save a mirror on the wall, which I assumed to be a one-way glass. Video cameras mounted near the ceiling in each corner.
“So,” the lead guard spun to face us, “you wish to see Ms. Scott about someone named Ivy?”
“Yes,” I answered. “This is her mother, father, and brother.”
“And Ivy is?”
“A friend of Ms. Scott’s daughter.”
“Ms. Scott’s daughter?”
“Violet. Or Alena, I guess.”
Janine stepped to my side. “Please, they have my daughter.”
“Who has your daughter?” the guard inquired.
“A coven of witches in Italy.”
“Witches? In Italy? Assuming witches to be real, why would Miss Scott have any concern for witch business?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes, assuming witches to be real, we believe Miss Scott can help us rescue Ivy from this coven’s compound.”
“And you know where this compound is?”
“Yes, I escaped from there a week ago.”
“And you are?”
“A friend, as I said.”
“I’m Ivy’s father, this is her mother and brother.” Grady spoke for the first time.
“I’m assuming you have proof of your relationships with Ivy?”
I held up my wrist, where the brand had been. “I escaped Michael’s coven and had the brand removed.” Slipping my phone from my pocket, I scrolled through pictures of Camille and me in Iceland. “This is Ivy. Her real name is Camille.”
“Camille Thornton,” Grady put in. “I am Grady, this is my son, Tyler, and wife, Janine.”
“You are Ivy’s, or Camille’s, mother?” The guard pointed to Janine.
Janine clutched her hands in front of her. “Yes.”
The guard spun to look up at one of the cameras and then put his hand to a device, tucked in his ear. “One moment. We’ll be back.”
The guards filed out of the room.
“Is this good or bad?” Tyler asked.
“I have no clue.” Grady paced from one side of the room to the other. “You all have your passports, right?”
We nodded in succession as he looked to each of us.
“I’m surprised they didn’t frisk us,” Tyler said.
“They’re vampires. They’re so fast they can subdue you in a second.” Grady walked to the mirror.
“You know I’m strong enough to take out a vampire.” I peered into the mirror, wondering if someone was on the other side.
“Eight of them?”
“Good point.” I tapped on the glass.
An hour later we were still waiting.
“What are they waiting for?” Tyler paced the room.
Grady slid to the floor. “A seer maybe?”
“Probably,” I supplied, looking up into the camera opposite me.
“What’s a seer?” Tyler asked.
“Someone who can read minds,” Grady supplied.
I turned to face the mirror. “I have information about Ivy. I’m her herald. My birthday is March twenty-first. I met Camille, or Ivy, at a camp in Iceland. She was lured there by a member of Michael’s coven, Dr. Miguel Antos. We discovered we were witches and went with him to Sardinia. He trained us and was going to initiate us into the coven.” I held my wrist up. “This is Michael’s brand. I had it removed in Italy by a witch named Helene after I escaped. I belong to my family’s coven now. I was in the compound on the winter solstice when they were performing some type of ritual with the sword. That is where I last saw Camille.”
“How did you get out?” a male voice asked.
Hating retelling the story, I took a deep breath. “Camille wanted to watch the ritual. I went to free her father.” I pointed to Grady. “When I returned, she was gone. All the guards were running towards the center of the compound, and we snuck out using a cloaking spell.”
There was silence for a few minutes. “If you are a herald, why would you leave Camille behind?”
“I wouldn’t have done her any good locked up.”
“We will be in touch,” the voice indicated.
Again, we waited over an hour more.
There was a click at the door, and the lead guard entered with three additional guards and an older woman.
“She is a seer. Give her your hand.” He pointed to me.
I held out my arm, and she took my hand. Her skin was soft and thin like Helene’s, and I wondered how old she was.
“He is telling the truth.” She nodded and stepped in front of Grady.
One by one, she took their hands and confirmed that we had no covert motives.
“W
e’ll be back.” The guard escorted the seer out.
“When?” Tyler hit his leg and paced across the room.
“They’re trying to figure out what to do,” Grady said.
“Could you have been followed?” came a male’s voice from the speaker.
“No.” I slipped my bracelet from my pocket. “We wore these bracelets. They block magic. We arrived in LA two days ago. We stayed at my grandparent’s safe house and came here by cab this morning. We spent the last two days looking for Fahim’s bookstore. We believe we found it empty.” I slid Camille’s document from my jacket pocket. “This is Camille’s account of her visions of Alena and Hunter.” I pressed it to the mirror.
Over another hour passed. Along with the shuffling of heavy feet, I heard heels click along the hall outside. We stood as the guards entered with a petite, dark-haired lady.
She moved to the front of their group and held out her hand to me. “I’m Anne Scott. It’s nice to meet you…”
“Jude,” I supplied.
She smiled and nodded. “Jude.” She shook Janine’s, Tyler’s, and Grady’s hands, and they introduced themselves. “Thank you for coming,” Anne continued. “We would like to help you rescue Camille.” Reaching out, she squeezed Janine’s arm. “I’m sorry for the wait. We were trying to arrange your transportation. I assume you have your passports with you?”
“Where are we going?” Tyler insisted.
“That is a good question. We would like to move you to our secure compound where you can help plan Camille’s rescue.”
“Where is that?” Janine asked.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t disclose that information.”
“I’m assuming we don’t have a choice at this point,” Grady said to her.
She smiled and folded her arms across her waist. “You came to me for help.” Spinning on her heels, she walked from the room, leaving us with the four guards.
“I need to use the ladies’ room,” Janine told the guards.
“There are facilities on the plane.” The head guard approached us. “I need all electronics and weapons.”
“Weapons? We don’t have any weapons?” Grady asserted.
The guard pointed at me. “He has a blade attached to his leg.”
The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set Page 56
