Chapter 16
Although Bayu had been focused on Harlow cloning his phone, he did notice the fae slip out the back door. “He went outside.” Bayu gestured in the direction Nekoma went.
“He’s gone. I heard the whoosh of a portal.” Carleigh turned the laptop around. “And I’d lay odds he’s going to the compound. I need to text Barrett and let him know to be on the lookout.”
“What if that’s not really Gemi?” Harlow asked.
“How would that be possible?” Bayu asked.
“Magic. Elle and Nekoma can alter their appearance, so why couldn’t the mages?” Harlow said.
“Me go fwim now?” Juni asked.
Kat stood from the table. “If it’s okay with Bayu, Juniper and I will take you.”
Bayu had been so engrossed in everything else that he’d not been paying attention to the little one. “Is it warm enough outside?”
“The pool is heated, so he’ll be fine,” Carleigh assured him.
Bayu crossed to where Juni was seated. “Did you eat all your breakfast?”
“Uh huh. Yummy.” Juni patted his stomach, grinning.
Bayu brushed his hand over Juni’s hair while telling Katherine, “If you and Juniper do not mind, that would be helpful.”
Kat helped Juni down from his booster seat. “Don’t mind at all.” To Juni, she said, “Let’s go upstairs and get your swimsuit on.”
“’Kay!” Juni took off running, and Kat hurried after him. Juniper began clearing the table, so Bayu jumped in to help her. It was the least he could do.
Julian followed behind to top off his coffee. “I’ll help June with the dishes if you want to watch the monitor with the girls. You’re more familiar with your aunt, and you might recognize whether it’s really her or not.”
Bayu inclined his head. “Thank you.” He returned to the center island, and Carleigh reached for his hand.
“I think we should take this to the office where we can watch on the big screen.”
“You do that, and I’ll wait on Bayu’s phone to—” A beep sounded, and Harlow reached for the device.
“Never mind. It’s finished.” She unplugged it and handed it to him.
Then she tapped the cloned one and read the message aloud.
“I’m at the address you gave me, but no one is here. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“What if she really did show up? Are Dominic and his friends still at the safehouse?” Bayu asked.
“No, but we can check the cameras.” Carleigh led Bayu to the office with Harlow right behind, and she pulled up the camera feed and rewound it.
“I don’t see anyone. That was probably the Black Lotus trying to get you to respond.
” She then split the screen where it showed both the safehouse and the thermal drone footage at the compound.
Bayu kept most of his focus on the safehouse if by some miracle Gemi was there.
Carleigh’s phone rang, and she put it on speaker. “Go ahead, Barrett.”
“Nekoma and Warren just portaled to the compound. Nekoma is going to cause a distraction, and if the woman comes outside, he’s going to take her to the safehouse. Please call Major and have him on standby in case we need him to voice her. Also, I’m sending the drone up so you can watch.”
“Got it. Thank you.” Carleigh disconnected, and it wasn’t long until they witnessed the distraction Nekoma instigated.
A multitude of black birds flew around the house.
Soon the door opened, and the Black Lotus members ran outside.
The woman who looked like Gemi followed, and when several birds swooped down on her, she fled down the steps.
Bayu wouldn’t have believed what happened next if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.
The woman was lifted off her feet, a swirling vortex opened behind her, and she disappeared.
One of the Black Lotus men thrust his arms in the direction of the portal just as it snapped shut.
Carleigh tapped the keyboard, and the view outside the safehouse filled the screen.
Nekoma, Warren, and the woman had been knocked to the ground.
The males got to their feet, and Warren helped the woman to stand.
Nekoma pulled a bottle from his satchel, removed the stopper, and poured the contents onto his hand.
He then blew it in the woman’s face. They couldn’t hear the conversation as only the cameras inside the house had audio.
Whatever the woman said caused Nekoma’s eyes to widen.
Warren, with one hand holding onto the woman, pulled his phone out of his back pocket with the other.
A few seconds later, Carleigh’s phone rang.
“Hey, Warren. Is that Gemi?”
“She says she is, and she also said she knows how to remove the curse. How should we proceed?”
Bayu was staring at the monitor. “How can that be Gemi when she sent a text stating she was already there?”
Carleigh told Warren about the text, then said, “It’s possible the text came from a Black Lotus member pretending to be her.”
“Warren, ask her where the journal is.” If she was his Gemi, she would know what he was talking about.
“Gemi, where is the journal?”
Bayu watched the woman’s face as she responded. “It was in the bag I gave the woman.”
Carleigh gripped Bayu’s hand. “That’s the truth, but she could have gotten that information from the real Gemi. Warren, ask her about the Black Lotus. Ask her what they want with Bayu.”
“What does the Black Lotus want with Bayu?”
“They want his power.”
Carleigh shook her head. “Too easy, even though she is speaking freely. Ask her how to remove the curse.”
Warren relayed the question, and that’s when she faltered a bit. “It’s a spell. I copied it from a book I found at the house. It requires Bayu’s blood. I would need to go back for the paper, though.”
Warren didn’t need prodding for the next question. “You think they’d let you waltz back in to get it after we rescued you?”
“Yes. They need me to get to Bayu.”
Nekoma, who was pacing, opened a portal and disappeared. Carleigh cocked her head to the side. “Nekoma’s out front. Warren, hang on to her please.” Before the three of them could get down the hall, Julian had opened the front door for the fae.
“I do not trust her,” Nekoma said with no preamble. “I have an idea, but it will require Elledan’s assistance.”
“What are you thinking?” Harlow asked.
“That she and I glamour ourselves. Her to look like Gemi, and I will appear to be Bayu. We can portal back to the compound and hide in the shadows to look for this paper she spoke of.”
Harlow shook her head. “I don’t think Tony’s going to let you take his mate into a cult’s compound. Not without him going as backup.”
Bayu didn’t want the fae and his sister risking themselves in such a way. “Before we go that far, let me speak with her. I want to see her for myself.”
“I’m going with you,” Carleigh insisted.
“Do you want me there too?” Julian asked.
“No. I’d prefer you watch over Juni. Silas will be with us.”
Harlow placed her hands on her hips. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
“No. You are a badass, but if the Black Lotus were to find my house, that would be one against however many of them. Two is better than one.”
Bayu wondered why they weren’t including Juniper in the equation. Was she not also a Gargoyle? “And your sister?”
“Juniper is a half-blood like me. She won’t transition until she meets her mate. She is a skilled fighter, but she isn’t as strong as someone who can shift.”
Did that mean Carleigh had only recently come into her beast? He would ask her later. For now… “Then it’s settled. Nekoma will take you and me so I can see this female for myself.”
Harlow grabbed Carleigh by the shoulders. “Be careful. If this woman isn’t Gemi, we don’t know what she’s capable of.”
Julian went outside, and a few seconds later, Silas entered the house.
Nekoma opened a portal in the living room, and he, Carleigh, and Silas stepped through with no hesitation.
Bayu blew out a breath and followed. It was an odd feeling, traveling such a long distance in seconds.
Warren still had the woman in his grasp, and when she saw Bayu, her eyes widened briefly before she smiled.
“Bayu, I was so worried.” She tried to step toward him, but Warren kept her where she was. The woman frowned at the Gargoyle. “I will not harm my nephew.”
“No, you won’t because I won’t allow it,” Warren growled.
“Bayu, please. Like I told them, I found a way to reverse the curse.”
She looked like his auntie, but her voice was wrong. Bayu’s heart sank, but he still played the game. “Yes, and you wrote it down. What do you remember of the instructions?”
“Not much. I was in a hurry to get it all transferred to the paper before I was caught. I do know we have to use some of your blood, then we recite the words.”
“So, it was a counter curse?” Carleigh asked.
“Yes. Yes, it was.”
“How can you be sure? Do you know much about curses? Or was it labeled as the Bayu Tan counter curse?”
The woman scowled at Carleigh. “I overheard the head mage talking to one of his underlings. He told her to hide the book so I wouldn’t find it.”
Carleigh wiggled her bracelets before crossing her arms over her chest. “Yet you found it anyway? How did you manage that if you were their prisoner?”
“They do not think I can understand their language. I have not spoken to them in English since being captured.”
“Where is this paper you wrote the counter curse on?” Carleigh asked.
“In the room where they are keeping me.”
“And is that room in the main house or one of the smaller ones?” Nekoma asked.
“The smallest one. It’s the farthest from the main house. Bayu, please believe me.”
He didn’t, and that hurt his heart. “Where were you when they captured you?”
“Here. It is the address you gave me.”