The problem was, I didn’t know what trees to shake or where to shout. I had nothing. Melody had been missing at least twelve hours now. The clock was ticking and the longer this took, the shittier our chances of finding her.
I drank my coffee and stared at the clock. Sitting here wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I should’ve headed back to the Compound except … I scrubbed a hand over my face.
Except Inarus was there and I was avoiding him.
I was a horrible person. There, I’d admitted it. I was a horrible person and a shitty friend and I really needed to get over myself, but I couldn’t.
The longer I sat there, the more it dawned on me that Inarus didn’t just like me. I was pretty sure he loved me, and not in the sort of way you loved a friend or relative.
And that same thing he’d been afraid of was settling in deep in my stomach. He was my friend and colleague. He was one of the best guys I’d had the pleasure of working with at Sanborn Place. He was smart, efficient, and I could trust him to have my back.
But his feelings for me were like a storm cloud hanging over my head. I didn’t want to lose him. But I was with Declan. Was it possible to keep him in my life knowing —
My cell phone buzzed for the umpteenth time. I checked the caller I.D.
Dia.
I didn’t want to answer the call but I’d been avoiding her all afternoon. I released a breath. Time to face the music.
“Hello.”
“It’s about time you answered.”
I sighed. “It’s been a busy afternoon. What do you need?” I was pretty sure I already knew.
“I need you to be here. You just up and left. My brother almost died because of you and as soon as he wakes up, you take off. What the hell is wrong with you?”
My stomach clenched. Yep, I definitely won the shitty friend of the year award. Not that I’d admit that to her.
“Look, my friend Melody is missing. I’ve been at Sanborn Place almost all day. I know I should be there, but Inarus is fine. He has you.” I took another drink of coffee. It was cold but better than nothing at this point.
“He does have me, but he needs you.”
I stared up at the ceiling, wishing the sky would appear and answers would fall down into my lap. I wasn’t that lucky.
“Tell him I’m sorry. I need to find Melody. I can’t do that sitting around in the Compound.”
She was talking to someone, but I couldn’t make out her words, and then suddenly she was back on the line.
“Fine,” she ground out. “Inarus said to call the witches. They might help. He also said to remind you he’s not dead so be careful. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.”
I swore. The witches had a chronokinetic—Marcella Fields, barely twelve and shy as hell. She was a psyker able to manipulate time and space. A super rare ability even among psykers.
Her mother, Olivia Fields, was high up in the witch hierarchy, but even she hadn’t been able to keep Marcella safe which is how our paths had crossed.
I’d been hired to find her and bring her home safely when she was abducted earlier this year. As thanks, Marcella filled me in on a bit of my future. Personally, I would have preferred she didn’t but there was nothing I could do about that now.
Marcella had a vision or prophecy or something like that, and in it, she’d seen a battle and blood, with lots of death and destruction. Her vision had been linked to my recently acquired telekinetic abilities. Long story short, I needed to get a handle on my powers or I’d destroy the city.
So, I practiced and I trained. I meditated daily. I kept my stress levels low—well, as low as could be expected in my line of work.
I’d thought things would get better, and for a while they did. Then all of a sudden Marcella’s mother called to deliver a message. The Telekinetic has to die. Ominous am I right?
She couldn’t tell me who or why or when. Only that someone had to die in order for me to live.
With everything going on, I’d forgotten about that message.
Inarus was a TK, and he’d almost died at the hands of the H.A.C.
Dia was also a TK and she and I had had one hell of a fight before she came over to our side. At the time I was pretty sure only one of us would be walking away from that fight but here we were. Both alive and well.
The only other TK I knew was Jason. Last I checked, he was doing just fine and still enjoyed kicking my ass during training sessions on the regular.
So, no telekinetics had died. And I didn’t intend to let any of them go off into the light either.
I wasn’t willing to sacrifice any of my friends for my own safety. My life was of no more value than any of theirs.
Maybe I’d get lucky. Maybe I could call the witches for help finding Melody, and Marcella would tell me my future was bright and clear. Nothing but sunshine and rainbows for here on out.
I snorted. Right, and maybe pigs would fly.
“Thank him for the suggestion. I’ll give the witches a call.” I hung up and stared at my phone for a
