I was curious despite myself when Zoe withdrew a laptop from the bag she carried and made her way into my small living room. “I’m a little confused,” I admitted. “What is this?”
“Paris found information,” Zoe replied. “She wants us to call her on the computer.”
“Oh. Information about the vampires?”
“No. Information about what the Children of the Stars are.”
My stomach constricted and I suddenly felt short of breath. “Oh.”
Gunner’s hand automatically went to my shoulder. “Maybe now isn’t the time to focus on that. The vampire is still missing after all.”
“My vampire,” Sami said, morose. “My vampire is missing.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “He’s my vampire, he just happens to hang with you sometimes. We’re going to find him. There’s little we can do until they contact us. That’s why we’re going to focus on something else.”
Honestly, that made sense. Still, I wasn’t certain I was ready to hear what she had to say.
“You could do that tracker spell thing,” Sami pushed. “I’ve seen you do it. You’ve found people before.”
The way Zoe cut her eyes to Aric told me she’d already tried that spell and had been thwarted. Obviously Sami wasn’t aware of that.
Aric, who stood by the table while Gunner removed breakfast items from the bags, cleared his throat. “Sami, we’re doing our best to find Rafael. You can’t fly off the handle right now. We’re going to find him. It’s just going to take a bit of time.”
Sami made a protesting sound. “If you tried, we would already have him back.”
“Sami ...” Zoe licked her lips and stared at the ceiling, obviously trying to collect herself, “we’re going to find him. It’s not going to happen right this second, so we can focus on a second thing while waiting for the first to break right or left. Who knows? Maybe these two things will intersect.”
Sami stomped her foot impatiently. “No. I want Rafael back. You’re just being mean to be mean.”
“Right,” Zoe muttered under her breath darkly. “That sounds just like me.”
“It is like you.” Sami’s voice ratcheted up a notch. “He’s probably crying because he misses me so much. You have to find him.”
If the vampire was crying, I very much doubted it was because he was missing the child. He might be worried about what became of her, but he most likely had more pressing matters to worry about.
“We’re going to focus on something else right now,” Zoe insisted. “When it’s time to focus on Rafael, I’ll let you know.”
Sami jutted out her lower lip. Before she could snap at her mother, Aric slipped his arm around his daughter’s slim back and tugged her to him. He whispered something, perhaps trying to cajole a smile out of her, but she remained anguished.
Zoe watched the scene for a moment and then opened the laptop. She muttered a string of curses but didn’t interact with Sami again. She pulled up a Zoom room. I wasn’t surprised to find the Bohemian witch I’d caught a glimpse of before already waiting, although she didn’t look happy about the delay.
“You’re late!” Paris griped, folding her arms over her chest. She looked to be in a sterile room of some sort, perhaps a basement, although I wasn’t entirely clear what she did for a living.
“Blame your goddaughter,” Zoe said. “She’s melting down.”
Paris snorted. “What else is new?”
“Rafael was taken last night,” Zoe replied in a low voice. “Sami was hurt during the attack, but they didn’t get her because she was protected behind strong wards. We still don’t know where he is.”
Alarm filtered over Paris’ features. “Do you want me to come up there?”
“Yes!” Sami yelled from somewhere behind us. “You’ll save Rafael. You won’t sit around and do nothing to find him.”
Zoe kept her face impassive, but it clearly took monumental effort.
“I take it she’s not dealing well with Rafael’s disappearance,” Paris said dryly. “I’m serious, though. Things are happening here but if you need me ...”
“We’re okay,” Zoe assured her. “We’re going to see you in two weeks anyway if all goes as planned.”
“Yeah, but it’s always good to have a witch around in case you need one.” Paris’ smile was rueful. “I can at least try to help you find him.”
“I have a witch.” Zoe jerked her thumb toward me. “I want to know what you found out about the Children of the Stars. Leave Rafael to me. I’ll find him. For now, we might as well focus on something that we have control over, like this.”
Paris snorted. “I’m not sure what control you have over this, but I get what you’re saying. As for the Children of the Stars, I had trouble tracking down the term until I talked to my boss. She’s a bruja who grew up in New Orleans. She’s heard more of the older terms than me, and she’s the one who pointed me in the right direction.”
“That would be Izzy, right?” Zoe’s forehead wrinkled. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“She’s amazingly strong,” Paris enthused. “I think you’re really going to like her.”
“As long as I’m still the strongest one we’ll all get along fine. What’s the deal with the Children of the Stars?”
“Well, it’s interesting.” Paris turned serious and grabbed a book from the desk in front of her. “As far as I can tell, they’re hybrids. Part fairy, part witch.”
She blurted it out before I could prepare myself and in the seconds after her announcement, I found I was unimpressed. “That’s it? You’re saying I’m part fairy?” That was a little underwhelming.
Zoe’s eyes twinkled. “Would you be happier if you found out you were part monster?”
Would I? “I just expected something else. Fairy?” I glanced at Gunner, who stood silent and thoughtful next to the table. He didn’t meet my gaze.
“They’re a very distinctive breed of fairy-witches,” Paris replied. “I haven’t been able to track down a lot of information, but I’ll keep looking.
