The Better Part of Darkness

the weight of her worry and fear swept through the circuit. Is Daddy okay?

My heart stopped. She’d witnessed the fight between Will and the jinn. He was dying when she’d last seen him. My concentration wavered.

I’m right here, Emma. Will’s voice came strong and sure. Everything’s going to be okay.

My eyes flew open, and I was met with Rex’s glassy, sad stare. He shrugged as though he didn’t feel a thing, but I could tell he did. I dipped my head in a gesture that seemed far too lame for the circumstances. Her relief swept through me so quickly that I knew she’d been holding in tears and a mountain of stress and worry. She sighed audibly. All they’re feeding me is stupid soup. I hate soup.

I know you do. All I wanted was to hold her, to stroke her hair and give her comfort. But you need to eat it, all of it, you hear? It’ll help you stay strong.

The circuit faded and then came back. Keeping this up was taking its toll on everyone at the table, even the strongest of us.

Emma?

Yeah?

I am coming for you, okay? I will get you out of there.

I know.

She said it so matter-of-factly. She believed one hundred and ten percent in me. She wasn’t scared, she was just waiting. Waiting for me to come. I didn’t want this to end, but thankfully I didn’t have to say the hard goodbye that was looming.

Just hurry, Momma. I have to go, it’s soup time again. Joy.

I chuckled. I love you, Emma. You hear me? I love you. I will see you very soon.

’K. Bye.

And the link to her was broken. The circuit seemed bereft and dull, the songs not as intriguing as before. Just a blank empty hole. Nothing.

Bryn pulled at my hand. “Charlie, you can let go now.”

My stiff fingers uncurled painfully. When I glanced around the table, it was to watery eyes and grim faces. I knew, truly knew, then that I was not alone. If I failed. If Bryn failed. They would continue on to save my daughter. Even Rex; as much as he seemed to deny any responsibility or care in the world.

For a long moment no one spoke. Rex got up and walked into the living room, plopping down into the love seat with a loud exhale. Bryn wiped at the corners of her eyes. Aaron and Carreg exchanged determined looks, the anger coming off them making the air thick. I scrubbed my hands down my wet cheeks and chin and then went to use the guest bathroom, where I splashed cold water on my face.

I looked like shit. Eyes red, face puffy, cheeks mottled. I splashed again until the heat left my skin, then I redid my hair, twisting it into a knot with Bryn’s rubber band. The woman looking back at me appeared lost and confused. Everything I shouldn’t be.

I drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, letting out the fear and uncertainty along with it. My shoulders straightened. A few copper sparks glinted in my irises. What was it Carreg had said about me? I was one of the most powerful humans in the world. Well, I’d have to be in order to save my child. I cocked an eyebrow at my pale reflection, seeing parts of the old Charlie emerge. The tough detective who didn’t take an ounce of crap from anyone, and a royally pissed off, all-powerful mother who was about to kick some serious Abaddon ass.

On my way out of the bathroom, I came face-to-face with Carreg. “Thank you,” I forced out, “for …” I didn’t know how to say it, so I nodded toward the kitchen table and what had just transpired there.

He regarded me for a long second. “It was a good way to see how far Mynogan went to guard her.” Then he walked out of the apartment.

Bryn came up beside me and put her arm around my shoulders. “He’s going back to CPP headquarters to try and contact Mynogan. You okay?”

I let my head fall against hers. “Actually, all things considered, I’m hanging in there. I’m getting Em back. There’s no question.” The words were enforced by a sweeping sense of positive belief.

Bryn stared hard at the door. “We won’t stop until we do.”

“She’s definitely being held wherever the Bleeding Souls are grown. Underground. The humidity, the heat, the smell … It all fits.”

“Prime growing conditions,” Bryn said thoughtfully. “I still can’t believe it exists. You know why it’s called a Bleeding Soul? It’s part of the Charbydon creation myth. It was used in the Great War when the nobles first appeared in Charbydon and fought with the jinn for control. The nobles used it as a weapon, the biological warfare of their time. It forced the soul to separate from the body. Myth says that’s where the Revenants and Wraiths came from, that they’re really the souls of jinn warriors who have wandered so long that they’ve forgotten who and what they once were.”

I glanced over at Rex.

“Yeah, I know.” Bryn said, an octave lower. “Makes you wonder, if the flower exists, what else is true.”

CHAPTER 16

Hank and Zara arrived a few minutes later to give us the list of real estate holdings they’d stolen from Veritas’s files. Once again, we gathered around the kitchen table. Mynogan had holdings in everything from downtown condos and office buildings to single-family rental homes and country clubs. We concentrated our efforts in the area Bryn and Rex had zoned in on during the scrying, and found a matching address. Mynogan owned a small, but very exclusive, bath house and spa sandwiched between Morningside and Ansley Park, two large neighborhoods north-northeast of downtown. It bordered part of Oglethorpe Park. Pricey area.

“The guy’s gotta be loaded,” Rex muttered, scanning the list.

Over the map, I studied Hank. He’d yet to look at me. His face had healed somewhat, but there were still a lot of bruises and cuts. He must’ve fought like a maniac. And he would have died if Carreg hadn’t kept his word. Despite the fact that I didn’t regret going after my family and leaving him there, the guilt lay heavy in my gut. He must have felt my gaze, because he pushed away from the table and left.

Great.

He came back with a black ITF duffel bag, plopping it onto the table and unzipping. “I got everything I could fit in the bag. Hefties, Nitro-guns, human firearms. A few tear gas grenades and additional ammo.”

“And they just let you walk out of the weapons depot?” I asked.

“No,” he answered, his voice tight. “Zara helped.”

Oh, way to go, Charlie. Why don’t you just make him admit to everyone that he needed help from a girl? I couldn’t win.

Zara fiddled with her voice modifier. Anyone who had potentially come into their path, she’d taken care of with her voice. “No one will even remember we were there,” she said.

“Impressive.” She’d broken the law to help my kid, and she deserved way more than what I’d given her, but my heart was still smarting over Hank. And as much as I wanted to like Zara, I wanted my friend back more. I hated that he’d turned to her instead of me.

“So, what now?” Bryn asked, her expression eager to begin, to win back one of our own.

I hesitated. Proud as I was, I couldn’t lose another sibling. She was all I had left. But I was also turning over a new leaf. Bryn was capable and talented. She loved Emma and had every right to fight for her, too.

“First we need to scope the location, identify how many are guarding the place. Priority number one is finding Em and getting her to safety. Then, we destroy the Bleeding Souls.” I should be having this conversation with a team of ITF agents and full agency support, not friends, strangers, and family.

“Take out those damn flowers and we cut off the ash supply,” Hank said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Bryn said. “So who’s going to scout the location?”

Aaron draped an arm over the back of the chair, meeting my gaze. “I believe I can help with that.”

I nodded in agreement. He was the only one among us who could blink in and out. They’d never even know