I brought my phone to my ear as he skimmed over a cluster of stone fruit trees and disappeared.
“Jack?” I said, the second my call was answered. “I need your help.”
Chapter 20
“What’s up, Calli?”
Jack’s take-charge baritone, the one I pictured him affecting in emergencies and around hysterical people, had an immediate and calming effect. I was ready to tell him everything.
Almost everything.
“Doug took my sons,” I said. “The boys were on their way to work this morning at Brooks Farm. They stopped at that bakery, the second one on the main road out of Ganges, and the kid behind the counter says he saw them go with Doug.”
Jack’s desk chair squeaked and groaned. “Harper and Thatcher going with Doug is not the same as them being taken by Doug.”
“Harper’s Jeep was abandoned, along with their backpacks and cell phones.” I pressed the tips of my thumb and forefinger into the tight spot between my eyebrows and pressed hard. “Do you know a single teenager who would agree to be separated from their cell phone?”
“Okay. Tell me more.”
“I’d rather show you,” I said. “That way, it’ll make a lot more sense than me telling you about the chick that turns into an apple tree and how my grandfather is flying around an orchard right now.”
“What’s he piloting?” Jack asked.
“Jack, he’s under his own wing power. He’s a gyrfalcon, remember?”
A low whistle. “Sorry, I forgot. Where are you now?”
“The Pearmain orchards. Cliff and Abi are technically still missing, but we know where they are. Their grandsons were kidnapped, but we got them back the night of my party and they’re here too. And last night, a necromancer and I took a portal to Doug’s mother’s estate and rescued two sisters. They’re Fae, and Alabastair—he’s the necromancer—brought the sisters here. It’s a shit show and a circus,” I added, in case Jack hadn’t already figured that out.
This time the groan in the background came from Jack. “I pulled desk duty today. As soon as I can bring in a replacement, I’ll be there.” He sighed. His head probably hurt worse than mine. “What’re we talking here? A family dispute that I’m going to need to mitigate? Oh, make that two families, because if you’re harboring Fae sisters and they’re underage or promised to others by their family, some Magical shit is going to hit the Magical fan. I need to know what weapons to pack. Please, fill me in.”
“Okay. Doug and his family are Fae. They use glamour and have this wicked-looking weaponry that shoots out of their hands and fingers. Blades. Sharp, silvery blades. My guess is Doug’s mother, Meribah, is the brains behind whatever they’re trying to do, and ‘they’ includes the Flechette Realty and Land Development Group.”
“What do you think the Flechettes are maneuvering to do?”
“Acquire land, especially orchards.” I didn’t want to tell Jack about the Apples of Immortality, but there was some information I could share. “We know the Pearmains’ orchards have portals. And that two of Meribah’s cohorts killed hidden folk who’ve been caring for the special trees.”
“Hmm. The Fae could be planning to take over access to portals. Controlling Magicals’ ability to come and go puts a lot of power into only a few hands.”
“There’s more,” I said, “but it’s all connected. I have friends here right now, those river otters you scented, and I’m expecting—well, hoping—a couple of witches I know will be here too, as soon as they can.”
“Rose de Benauge one of those witches?”
“Yes. You know her?”
“Everyone knows Rose.” Jack muted his phone, maybe against his chest, and spoke to someone at the station. Voices floated up from the far side of the farmhouse, opposite from where Christoph had flown. “Calli, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Call me if something happens.” I started to thank him, when he said, “One more thing. I told you I’m a wolf.”
“You did.”
“Have you ever seen a wolf shift? Or any other kind of shifter?”
I grimaced at the memory of the werecougar I’d dated. Jack did not need to know the particulars of my intimate life. “A friend of mine, a druid, can take wolf form. And those river otters, they’re druids too. I sort of saw them shift the night of my party, but I don’t really remember the transition.”
“I’m going to need meat,” he said. “Lots of it. The Pearmains probably have a separate freezer for the cows and pigs that get processed at the abattoir. Pull out a few steaks and get them thawing for me. Please. Just in case.”
Jack ended the call. I shuddered at the thought of opening the freezer in the Pearmains’ pantry. Then I remembered Maritza had joined the heads I discovered to their missing bodies and thanks to her and others, the two dead hidden folk were well-buried. My sense of relief barely registered.
I mounted the steps to the front porch and followed the voices as they got closer.
“Hey, anybody?” I yelled, continuing down the hall and into the kitchen. I made myself go directly to the freezer in the pantry, search for packets labeled beef, and remove an armful. I put them in the sink, wiped my hands, and stepped out the back door and onto the wide porch.
The two fairies Bas and I had freed from the fountains at the Flechette estate were walking hand in hand with Peasgood and Hyslop. Belle and Kaz were behind the foursome, similarly hand in hand, with Wes bringing up the rear. Even in the midst of rolling crises, romance blossomed. I took that to heart and waved.
“Calliope-ee!” Belle didn’t talk so much as trill and coo. Memories of her warm, genuine embraces lowered my stress meter five notches. I trotted down the steps and opened my arms. “We have a problem,” she whispered
