Who to call next?
“Kerry. It’s Calli. Something’s come up with my kiddos.” And I can’t explain it to you right now. Maybe not ever. “Forget about taking those soil samples to Dr. Rowan’s clinic. I need you to keep the office open. I’ll send over someone else to pick up the kit.”
I was desperate to know if the soil samples could be tested using magical means. If they could?
I called Rose, knowing I was making a big ask to someone I barely knew. “Rose. It’s Calliope. The Fae have my sons. And I need a favor. Do you know if L’Runa or any other Magical on the island has the ability to test soil samples for blood and DNA and memories?”
Oh my Goddess, what I was asking for was impossible. I wanted to know if dirt could hold memories.
“Of course she can,” Rose said, in her implacable way. “As can I. Although separating memories takes about as long as unpacking the DNA. Where are the samples, and when do you need the results?”
“They’re in a canvas bag at my office in Ganges. My assistant is there now. Her name is Kerry Pippin, and she works until four. I need the results yesterday, but what I really need to know is what’s in the sample on top.”
“I will go myself and call you as soon as I have any information.”
“Thank you, Rose.”
“Did you say Kerry Pippin was your assistant?”
“Yes,” I answered, that familiar sensation of waiting at the edge of cliff rocking bringing me onto my toes. “Why?”
“Could be nothing. I’ll speak more about the Pippins, depending on what I find when I meet this Kerry.”
Fuck. What if Kerry was like Jack, able to hide her Magical status behind a wall of scent?
I was adding a mumbled “Thank you” as Rose disconnected our call.
“Rowan says as far as she knows, the Brooks family is human, though unseen Magicals could be working the farm, much like the hidden folk work with the orchards. She also emphasized Lolly was a new patient and all Ro did was help deliver her baby.” Wes opened the passenger’s side door, withdrew his backpack, and held out my gauntlets and wand. “I grabbed these before I left,” he said. “Christoph should be here any minute.”
“He’s up there in broad daylight?” I was two steps behind following Wes’s report and trying to recall if Kerry smelled like anything memorable, “Wes, I…”
I took my wand and gauntlets and made no move to pocket the one or don the other. Wes then offered me an energy snack ball, the ones made from seeds and dates and I didn’t know what else.
But I didn’t eat raw snacks. They gave me a stomach ache. “No, thanks. Not hungry.”
“Calli, it’s not edible. This is a pelote, made from soil taken from the base of your crabapple tree. We made extra. I texted our coordinates to Christoph, and he’s using one to get to me—us.”
Sure. I believed a little ball studded with seeds could transport a one-hundred-seventy pound man, one-eighty-five with wings. Until the suction of the insta-portal pressed my work-day uniform of short-sleeved shirt and cargo pants to my body. Wes’s clothes were doing the same.
Christoph blinked into being next to Wes, bumping his knee on the car door.
“Ouch.” He bent to rub his leg and stared at me. “Short of hitchhiking, I had no other way to get to you.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” I said, stroking the ruffled feathers poking out in odd directions from one wing. Having Christoph with us meant there was no one at the house. I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea.
“Calliope, I didn’t have a chance to explain how your father’s rings work.” He showed me his hands and the steel-colored rings on his thumbs. His rings were the serious model, broader, thicker, and inset with stones. “Come here. Let me show you. This will allow you to fly with me or any other Aviator also wearing their rings.”
“We don’t have time for flying lessons,” I said, anger flaring. “Doug has Harper and Thatcher, and we need everybody’s help to find my boys.”
Christoph caught my hands in his. “Look at me, Calli-lass.”
I did. I hung on to the calm command in my grandfather’s eyes as they went from warm brown to onyx, circled with that thin band of yellow-gold. When Christoph touched his rings to mine, it was like he plugged me in, buckled a seat belt around my tenuous grip on sanity, and fed me all his strength and confidence.
“We can only do this at night. Do you understand?” he asked.
I nodded. “If you ever take me flying, please don’t drop me.”
“I’ve never dropped anyone who didn’t need a good shaking up,” he said. “I’m going to release the connection now, okay?”
“Okay,” I said. He let go, his eyes lightened, and I returned to verging on freaking out. My phone dinged with a text message. I pocketed my wand and tucked the gauntlets under my arm. “It’s from Rowan. I have to read this.”
“I contacted Shamaha + gave her your number. She’s on standby. I’m at work until 6,” it read. Another text came in as I scrolled. “You are strong. You have good people around you. Go get your boys.”
I glanced up to see Wes and Christoph staring at me.
“Did something happen?” I asked, wiping my eyes.
“We need a strategy.” Wes inclined his head toward the front of the bakery. Hungry tourists had started to arrive for lunch. “If the Fae are behind Doug’s actions, we get one chance to find your sons and grab them.”
“You’re scaring her, Wessel,” Christoph said.
“She should be scared,” Wes said, hands gripping his hips. “We should all be scared. Let your fear keep you sharp. Don’t let it paralyze you.” He turned toward the bakery. “C’mon. Let’s go talk to the kid in there, see if he remembers anything else.”
“Order a sandwich for me,” I said, “and give me couple minutes. I won’t do anything stupid. I
