head back to my Coven and gather information, including from the wolf who you say is tracking her. Regardless of what we find, we move in two hours. I’m not leaving my niece in the hands of the Baldies any longer than necessary.”
Nick stepped forward, composed as always. “Ms. Talbot, I’m sure there’s a way we can find neutral ground—somewhere we can all gather that’s not within your direct boundary or ours.” I could always count on Nick to stay levelheaded. Tally’s home base would be a giant disadvantage if we had a disagreement about how things should run. I smiled at Nick to show my appreciation. I’d missed his brown curls, golden eyes, and sweet smile. There wasn’t a nicer guy on earth.
Tally shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. The sorcerers will pick up our trail as soon as they arrive. Our signatures are all over this parking lot. We can’t linger at any unwarded location or we’ll be vulnerable to attack, and I don’t have time to put up the necessary spells to keep us safe somewhere else. We head to my Coven, where I have full protection in place. No compromises.”
Rourke took a single step forward. “You guarantee our safety first, or nobody goes with you, witch.”
“Of course,” Tally snipped. “What do you think I’m going to do—harvest your body parts for my bubbling cauldron? You’ll be safe as long as the priority remains to get my niece back.”
Tally had a point.
Because the sorcerers knew we’d arrived, protection was the most logical option. But the best thing for my team would be to keep some people on the outside in case things went wrong in the Coven. “Fine, the three of us will go with you.” I motioned between Rourke, Nick, and me. “Tyler and Danny will head to the Safe House.” I nodded to them both. “Find out anything you can on James’s whereabouts. I want a phone call in less than two hours, whether you find something or not. Contact Dad,” I told Tyler, “and let him know what’s going on. After that, we rendezvous at an agreed-upon spot outside the Coven and head out.”
“Jess—” Tyler started.
I cut him off in my mind.
Tally’s original plan was to ransom me to the sorcerers, which was still a viable option if we couldn’t track them. I’d trade myself for Marcy in a heartbeat, but not without a solid plan. Tyler didn’t have to know that, and in order to move forward, we needed to pick Tally’s brain about the sorcerers anyway.
He grumbled but looked resigned.
“Give me the keys,” I asked him out loud. Tyler reluctantly reached into his pocket and pulled them out. The Safe House was only a few miles away. They could make it on foot in a few minutes.
She glared back, her arms still crossed.
“Before we leave, I want you to swear an oath, witch,” Rourke said. “Or the deal is off. Covens are notorious for holding prisoners, and breaking layered wards by multiple witches is next to impossible.”
“I swear not to hold you against your will,” Tally stated evenly. “But I want a vow in return that you will do whatever we deem necessary to get my niece back, including a ransom if your wolf has failed to track her.” She narrowed her eyes. “Without doing so, you risk a war with us.”
Before Rourke could protest, I said, “I swear we will do everything we can to find your niece. Whatever it takes.”
Tally nodded once, accepting me at my word.
“Keep your wits about you, then, Jessica,” Danny quipped as he gently prodded an unhappy Tyler backward. “We’ll plan on seeing you shortly.” He winked as they took off into the night.
As they ran, their combined uncertainty jumped through my blood. Being an Alpha, even for this short time, wasn’t an easy job. The responsibility for their well-being pressed down on me. We needed to find my father soon so he could take back their Troths and fix this.
I directed my attention to Tally. “I’ll drive, because there’s no way we’re fitting in your car.”
She didn’t argue. Her silver two-door Camaro was still parked at a haphazard angle by the back door where she’d clearly spun it to a stop. The car had missed the mayhem of the Orb, but just barely. It had to have been warded against damage, because there wasn’t a scratch on it.
I walked around to the driver’s side of the Humvee with Nick following closely.
“I haven’t had a chance to tell you,” he said, reaching out to give me a quick hug, “but I’m incredibly glad to see you back so soon. It’s been quiet around here with you gone. And as much as I knew you’d make it home, seeing you
“It’s really good to see you too,” I told him honestly, hugging him back. Nick had been my best—and only— friend growing up on the Compound, where physical strength had meant status, and we’d both had none. During our childhood we’d forged a solid, unbreakable bond and I was extremely happy to see him. “I’ll fill you in on all the details as soon as I can, but Selene is going to be gone for a very long time, in a place where she can’t touch us.”
In the Underworld, specifically.
“I knew you’d beat her.” Nick chuckled as he opened the back passenger door. “I never doubted you for a second.” He cocked his head slightly as he got in. “Well, maybe I had a few errant thoughts, but they passed quickly enough.”
I grinned as I climbed into the driver’s seat. “The battle was intense and it wasn’t very pretty.” Rourke growled his agreement as he settled in next to Nick. Selene had eviscerated him, intent on doing the greatest possible damage to us both. Images started to invade my psyche and my wolf huffed. Time to change the scenery. “Nick, after we find Marcy, the next priority will be to prepare for New Orleans.” We were due at the Vampire Queen’s to provide guard duty services in three weeks and we couldn’t go in unprepared. “I refuse to let Eudoxia gain the upper hand.”
Tally slid into the front seat and slammed the door. She raised her eyebrow at me but stayed silent. Our business wasn’t hers, and with a small nod, she acknowledged it.
The Vamp Queen’s request for us to guard her was ridiculous at best, but I had sworn a binding oath, meaning that if I didn’t deliver, bad things would happen. There was no doubt she had ulterior motives for wanting me on her home turf, so we had to prepare. I needed to know everything about vampires and how they worked. Having Naomi on my team was my ace in the hole, and between her and Nick, I hoped we could gather enough information to stay at least one step ahead.
I’d been a wolf for only a short time, but my on-the-job training had brought my skill level up exponentially in the last few weeks. I was fairly confident I could get Marcy back
If not, life was about to become extremely interesting.
I turned the diesel engine over and the beast roared to life.
“By the way, where’s Ray?” Nick asked, leaning forward. Raymond Hart, the detective who’d been the bane of my existence for a very long time, had accompanied us on the journey to find Rourke. As I’d fought Selene, he’d been brutally attacked by a vampire and, right this minute, I had no idea if he was dead or alive.
“Ray is in … transition,” I said, settling on an ambiguous word. I glanced sideways at Tally. “It requires some explaining.”
I’d left Ray in the capable hands of Naomi, our vamp guide, who through an unexpected blood exchange, had not only become bonded to me, but also had become my friend and ally. Ray’s wounds may have been too severe for any kind of transformation, but I’d given her the okay to try. I’d felt I owed Ray that much. In my opinion he had the right to choose his own death. Eamon, Naomi’s brother, had ravaged him cruelly and it had been an awful way to die.
Nick nodded once without question. He knew me well enough to catch on; whether he liked the idea or not was hard to tell. He sat back in his seat, his face pensive. Ray was a tough human being, not necessarily someone
