We took the card and information before returning to drive by the houses closer to the golf course where the blood smell had been coming from. The house backed up to a long driveway like all these McMansions seemed to have, but the silence nearby deafened me. We paused to look at the home, the magic around tainted with blood, causing even Caleb to recoil from it.
“Blood magic.”
“Yeah, I thought you guys hunted people like this down.”
“We do, but this has been here for a while. The wards are violent and strong. I am not sure just us can handle this.”
“We need him out of his stronghold; we cannot go into that nightmare hell hole.”
“I know, but he has lost several of his people and been discovered.”
“He might go into hiding or try to get you killed.” I paused, that would be helpful. “I have an idea. If he is trying to kill you, he will hit my world for an outsider. I have some calls I can make.”
“Once we get out of here.” I nodded as the car left the house that would have to be taken care of, it was dark, evil; something lurked within that house that my kanima wanted to hunt and kill. We left the area, and thankfully, Caleb agreed to find food at a taco joint on the side of the road. We ate several tacos with refreshing beers as I made the first call to Papa Cat. He picked up quickly.
“Papa Gato,” I began switching to Spanish with ease. “I need your help.”
“Hola, Chica. What’s up?”
“I need to see if your contacts have been hired to handle a mage and a cat.”
“Have you gotten into trouble?”
“Maybe, but will you see if there is gossip?”
“Of course. Now, are you in danger?”
“Always, Papa. But nothing I can’t handle.”
“Nikki says you are on a date. What kind of date needs to look into hits t? Did someone do something? We will rip his fucking heart out and serve it to you!” I heard his growl, his leopard far too close to the surface. He was our elder, but also overprotective of us younger cats. I smiled; I couldn’t help it. Even as badass we are, our Papa Cat would wipe the floor with anyone that messed with us.
“First, not a date really; second, I am involved in a situation that might have people hunting for a mage friend and me,” I began as he made a low chuff noise.
“Is this the guy, the Seattle mage you are dealing with?”
“Yes, and they are hunting mages here, trapping them, and using them for God knows what. We are in the middle of trying to stop it before the big guns come into our turf. So, you will help?”
“Of course, just keep your head, and if he hurts you, remind him that there is a group of us that have no problem hunting him down and breaking every bone in his body.” We hang up after his statement and I look up at Caleb.
“They are looking into it, in case they are hiring for someone.” He nods with the hand wave of what I was leaving out. “And if you hurt me, my friends are going to break every bone in your body before they serve you up on a platter.”
“That is violent.”
“So, your mages kill people for messing with their kind. It is not like you guys would ignore it either.”
“True, but we usually are a little less graphically violent about it.” I shrugged, one of those vast differences between our two worlds. Mine was closer to the primal, animalistic, and he was the civilized nature of man.
Chapter Eighty-Four
It took only a few hours, time enough to change into hunting clothing and get rid of the fakeness of the makeup and jewelry I didn’t want to lose since I wasn’t going to fuck up Nikki’s hot dress. I could be regular again, with my leather pants and fitted crop top of mesh and leather mixed with my thick coat and knives. I waited as Caleb changed back into jeans and a tee-shirt that fit better with instruments of his kind, stones and powders. He sat with me, both of us making small talk about nothing of consequence as we waited. Neither wanted to dive into the issues or be unsettled with emotions. We just wanted to find who and what we wer looking for. I took the call, with the information Papa Cat knew about someone wanting to capture a mage, sounded like they wished to take Caleb alive and well. He sent the hire off on a blind alley and gave me the contact information to take the job, capture the mage, and see if we could get the boss. They would have to send a mage to put the collar back on Caleb to control him.
I set up the job to bring Caleb to them to handle. I disliked the odds, but it would get us at least some information on the boss if he didn’t come himself. Caleb armed himself, magically and with guns, but still managed to look helpless. The lack of sleep and all the running around we’d done helped him look like he had been on the run since he got loose. I tossed my hair up into a long tail to cover with a helmet. I found the ties for Caleb
