29. Twenty-Nine
TWENTY-NINE
S cout was smart enough not to leave marks when she tortured Greg. He was green with nausea and sweating like a pig in a sauna when it came time to cast the memory spell.
“Landon is only a few minutes away,” Gunner said as Scout and I sat cross-legged on the ground in front of Greg. “I tried to get him to give us a few more minutes, but if he doesn’t see Bay with his own eyes, he’s going to have a fit.”
“It’s nice to be loved, huh?” Scout teased.
I nodded. It was indeed nice. “Does he have Steve and Spencer with him?” I asked.
Gunner lifted one shoulder. “There was no keeping them out of it.”
“Then we need to do this.” I gave Scout a significant look. “You know what to do?”
“He killed his workers because he has insurance policies on them—thanks for putting that information front and center in your brain, Gumdrop—and he tried to make it look like a paranormal creature because he’s an idiot.”
That was a bit simplistic for what I had planned, but I nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell.”
“What about Steve?” Evan asked. “He knows about the naiad. He knows there’s a warlock, too.”
“He’ll have to deal,” I replied. “The only way this partnership is going to work is if he understands, occasionally, that justice doesn’t necessarily mean telling the truth.”
“I can’t wait for you to explain that to him,” Evan said on a grin.
Weirdly, I was looking forward to it. “Let’s do it,” I said to Scout. “We’re out of time.”
“We’re coming for you, little piggy.” She poked Greg’s stomach, which was visible from beneath his shirt. He’d tried to escape when we were binding his powers and he looked as if he’d been through a tornado. “I hope you like jail. If you’re a good little boy, I’ll visit you from time to time.”
“I’m going to kill you,” Greg spat.
“Yeah, won’t that be a fun little trick?”
FIVE MINUTES LATER I WAS DRAINED. The memory spell had taken a lot out of me, but it was contained and precise.
I heard the incoming vehicles before I saw them, and I felt Landon before he barked my name. I was on the ground, my back against a fallen tree, and I was smiling when he landed in front of me.
“You scared the crap out of me.” He yanked me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. “Bay, geez.” He was crying, the relief that I really was okay not attainable until he could physically touch me. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
I ran my hands over his back. “I’m sorry. She caught me off guard.”
“Where is she?” Aunt Tillie stalked to the center of the clearing. Briefly, her gaze landed on Greg. He wasn’t a threat, so she went back to searching for Millie. “Where is the fiend?”
Fiend? Did she always have to make things so dramatic?
“Gone.” I patted Landon’s shoulder to get him to back up. He was swallowing all of my oxygen. “She won’t be a problem any longer.”
Aunt Tillie worked her jaw back and forth, debating whether or not she approved of that decision. Ultimately, she gave a stiff nod. “I guess that’s for the best.”
“What’s for the best?” Steve demanded as he strode into the group. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on here?”
Nobody answered.
“That wasn’t a rhetorical question,” he growled.
I straightened, even though the only thing I wanted at this point was to lie down and sleep.
“I guess it’s up to me to explain.” I touched my tongue to my top lip, then pushed forward.
“This is Greg. I guess his real name is Gregor, which makes me feel better for some reason because a warlock named Greg is just weird.”
Steve looked at Greg with fresh eyes. “He’s a warlock?” He took a step back.
“Not any longer.” I waved my hand in Greg’s face. He was still dazed. “I bound his powers.”
“I’m not following,” Steve said. “I need to know everything that happened here. I also need to know what the plan is to deal with the naiad.”
“She’s already been dealt with.” Now wasn’t the time to pussyfoot around. “She killed those men. She wanted to kill Greg. I made a deal with her.”
“A deal?” There wasn’t a hint of acceptance on Steve’s face. This was going to be a hard sell.
“Greg used his magic to rile the construction workers into a mob. He was here looking for a plane door.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“For all intents and purposes, it’s a door between worlds. Some paranormals exist on other planes—places humans can’t visit—and they only visit this plane when they need something or are curious. Others lived here at one time and chose to leave.”
“Who created these planes?”
“That’s a very good question. I don’t know the answer. I believe the other planes have always existed. It’s like when you ask who created the Goddess. There is no answer. Some things just are.”
Steve remained rooted to his spot. He wasn’t going anywhere until I finished my story.
“The harder a plane door is to access, the better the world … at least usually,” I continued.
“Greg used his magic to climb the construction ladder in this area. He discovered the plane door—whether by accident or through rumors I can’t say—and became obsessed with accessing it. He didn’t have the power.
“He kept coming out here, and winning the bid for the resort construction played into that. He wanted a reason to be here without being questioned or amassing suspicion. Then he ran into the naiads. They were also looking for the plane door.
“Due to the nature of his magic, he was able to start weaving a web,” I explained. “He wasn’t strong enough to take on the naiads without help. He turned the men into killers, and he expected them to kill both of the naiads. They made a mistake when they didn’t finish off the second naiad.”
“What did the naiads want?” Steve demanded.
“An escape from this world. They wanted to go through the door too. They knew better than to allow Greg to use it. Once the first naiad was killed, her sister wanted revenge. She didn’t understand the men had been coerced into what they did. She went after them.”
“She killed them,” Steve clarified.
“She avenged her sister.” The look I shot him promised that I wasn’t going to back down on this. “If it had been your sister, you would’ve done the same.”
Steve opened his mouth, then shut it. When he nodded, I knew he would agree to whatever I put forth.
“He convinced Millie to help him because she didn’t think she had any other options,” I said. “She distracted me. He dosed me with chloroform. Then they transported me here.”
“But why?” Spencer asked. “That’s the part I don’t understand.”
“He thought I could open the plane door.”
“You can’t?” Steve’s confusion was profound.
“No.”
“Why would he think you could?”
It was time to lie. “Because several plane doors have been opened in the area over the past year or so. He assumed we were responsible. His knowledge of the paranormal world was limited, so he ascribed everything that happened in the area to us.”
“Who was opening the plane doors?”
Of course Steve couldn’t let it go. “There are a variety of paranormals who can open plane doors. I’m not one of them.”
Apparently—at least for now—that was enough to placate Steve. “So he kidnapped you with your aunt’s doppelg?nger and expected you to open the door. Instead, he’s here—trying to eat his own nose—and the naiad and Millie are gone.”
“They left through the plane door.”
“We can’t go after them?”
“No.” I wouldn’t give him that option. Ever. “That avenue is closed to us.”
“And we’re supposed to pin this all on him?” Steve gestured to Greg. “How does that work? He didn’t kill those men.”
“No, but he is responsible for the naiad’s death … and he was dangerous. Now he’s not.”
“He looks fried.” Steve leaned down and stared into Greg’s eyes. “What’s your name, buddy?”
“Greg Prentiss. I killed four men.”
I cringed at the dead way Greg delivered the line. “He’ll get better,” I promised. “He needs a few hours to sleep it off. When he wakes in the morning, he won’t be confused.”
“And we just pin all of this on him?” Steve couldn’t wrap his head around it, which meant I was going to have to lay it out for him.
“He’s guilty, and the naiad is out of your reach. You need someone to blame, and he’s not innocent. Let him be your explanation.”
“But … that’s not the truth,” Steve protested.
“What’s more important, truth or justice? This solves all of our problems.”
“But it’s not how we do things.”
I was shaky as I got to my feet. Landon caught me by the elbow and kept me from tilting. “It’s how I do things. You need to decide if you can deal with that.”
Steve’s eyes darted to Evan, Scout, and Gunner in turn. “Who are your friends?”
“Random hikers,” I replied. “They noticed I was feeling week and stuck around to make sure I was okay.”
“Yes, we’re regular Girl Scouts,” Scout agreed.
“I’m a Boy Scout,” Gunner countered.
“I’m fine being a Girl Scout,” Evan said. “I’m not picky.”
“Oh, listen to you.” Gunner flicked Evan’s ear. “Such a suck-up.”
Steve took in the banter, then looked at me. “You’re going to make me earn the truth,” he realized.
“We’ll take it one case at a time,” I said. “For now, Greg is yours. I need to get some rest. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow if you have more questions.”
He clearly had questions, but didn’t push me. “I guess that’s as much as I’m going to get.”
I gave Landon’s arm a tug. “Take me home.”
“We have to stop by the inn,” he said. “I want my dog and dinner.”
“Sounds good.” I leaned into him, his arm going around my waist. “It has been a good day.”
He was still pouty. Relieved, but pouty. “Not from my perspective.”
“You’ll ultimately remember it as a good day.”
That earned a grin and a wink as he took the bulk of my weight. “I guess that’s good enough for me.”
It was good enough for me too.