24. Chapter 24
Danzig
“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Marduk said, echoing what I’d been thinking for the last few minutes.
“Same,” I said. “I’m going to go find her and Hugo.”
I moved to the front door and opened it hoping to see Bec and Hugo walking back from the green area. Instead I found Ysabella standing there with Muggsie at her side and Hugo in her arms.
“No,” I whispered.
Ysabella tilted her head in a questioning manner. “Yes? Bec had to run to work to check on something. She asked me to bring Hugo back to you when he and Muggsie were done playing.”
I looked over my shoulder to see Marduk with his phone out and up to his ear. His expression was dark.
“Who are you?” he asked into the phone with barely suppressed rage in his voice.
I rushed over with Ysabella behind me. “Put it on speaker phone,” I demanded.
He did as I asked, and we heard an unfamiliar voice come from the phone.
“ …bring me the dog or you’ll never see her again.”
Marduk opened his mouth, probably to issue threats of destruction and death, but I slapped a hand over his mouth.
“How do we know you have Bec?” I asked.
“She can’t talk right now, but I’ll send you a picture,” the female voice said, her tone smug and taunting.
We heard some shuffling, then Marduk’s phone pinged with a text.
It was Bec, curled up in the trunk of a car.
Her eyes were closed and her body relaxed, as if in sleep.
I wished pictures could show auras, that might’ve told me what they’d done to her, but at least there weren’t any obvious injuries.
I felt Marduk’s rage growing, but I pushed my need for him to remain calm and in control.
“How do we exchange Bec for Hugo?” I asked.
“I don’t want Hugo, I want the dog,” she said.
“Hugo is the dog, remember?” a strange male voice said and then giggled. “How did you forget that, Gale?”
“Shut up, Lars,” Gale hissed. “The damn dog's name doesn’t matter.”
Lars started to protest. “Yeah, but you were—”
“Lars!” Gale shouted. “I know I’m talking to Marduk or Danzig. I know you're both snake shifters. I know you can do all kinds of things, so if you want Bec back, you’ll do everything I want exactly as I tell you.”
“We’ll give you the dog,” I said quickly, disturbed to find out that she knew so much about us. “Where should we meet for the exchange?”
The other end went silent, as if they hadn’t thought out this part of the deal.
“I’ll text you a time and place. Be ready,” Gale finally said, then ended the call.
The moment I moved my hand from Marduk’s mouth, he started talking.
“We aren’t waiting for them,” he said.
I nodded. “I can track her.”
Ysabella put a hand on my shoulder to turn me so we were all facing each other. “How?”
“Danzig is good at seeing auras,” Marduk said. “Much better than me. He’d be able to spot Bec’s aura unless they put her deep underground.”
“What if they do that?” Ysabella said, making both of us growl. “I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but graves are underground. We aren’t even sure if she’s still alive.”
“She is,” I said, rubbing my chest. “I can feel her.”
“When I said deep, I meant deep,” Marduk explained. “She’d have to be at the bottom of a missile silo before Danzig wouldn’t be able to see the aura.”
“The other problem is that we don’t know where to start looking,” Ysabella said.
“We know where to start,” Marduk said. “You said she went to the office. That’s where Gale must’ve found her. The problem is that tracking them from the ground will take forever.
“We need a flier,” I said. “When I helped Tobias find Briar, he shifted into his bird form and flew me around until I found her.”
“It won’t be night for hours yet,” Marduk said. “We can’t wait that long.”
“Pixies can fly,” Ysabella said. “And their glamor is so good that no one will see them even in broad daylight. That means the kidnappers won’t be alerted that they’ve been found. If they’re human, anyway.”
“Pixie, yes,” I agreed. “Do we know any pixies?”
“Lobo Gris,” Marduk said, tapping frantically at his phone. “One of their pack members is a pixie. Her name is Issy.”
He hit the number for the alpha of the Lobo Gris. Mikey answered on the second ring and Marduk quickly explained what had happened.
“I know Issy would help,” Mikey said. “But she’s in Albuquerque.”
I wanted to scream in frustration, but the alpha was quick to keep talking. “Beatrix is a pixie and an exceptional flier. Let me get you her contact information. If she can’t help, call Mason. He’s a gargoyle and not as fast a flier as a pixie, but with the same glamor to hide in plain sight.”
He hung up and the phone chimed again with Beatrix’s contact information. She was also quick to answer.
“We need help,” I said.
“What? Who is this?” Beatrix asked.
Crap, I was an idiot. I quickly explained who we were and what we needed. She gasped and gave the response we needed.
“Tell me where to meet you. We’ll fly the whole damn county if necessary!”
After we ended the call, Marduk and I were ready to rush to meet Beatrix, but Ysabella stopped us. “Wait a moment.”
“We need to go!” I said.
She shook her head and pointed at the French bulldog, who was fast asleep on his bed. “Why do they want Hugo so badly?”
Her question brought me up short. What was so special about the dog? We all looked at the slumbering Frenchie.
“You’re right, it’s odd,” Marduk said, moving to kneel in front of the dog bed. I stood behind him. “This whole thing seems to revolve around him somehow.”
“I don’t feel any magic radiating off of him,” I said.
“He’s got two collars,” Marduk murmured. “I didn't think about it before, but that’s not normal, right?”
This was the first time I’d noticed it. “One looks like the kind you can buy in any pet shop,” I said. “The other one is odd, isn’t it?”
Marduk ran his fingers under it. “I’m still not feeling any magic.”
“Turn it until we can see the clasp,” Ysabella said from behind me. Marduk did as she asked, and Ysabella sucked in a breath when she could see the simple clip.
“Oh, that’s powerful.”
I still wasn't feeling anything. “You can tell that from the clasp?”
“No, it’s that bead,” she said, pointing to a plain brown bead worked into the woven collar near the clasp. “Let me touch it.”
We both moved out of the way, and she put a finger on the bead, then shook her head.
“This collar is woven out of a mixture of zebra hair and lion's mane. This bead is carved from the scale of a pangolin. While it’s clasped, the magic’s invisible.
Once I unlatch it, you’ll be able to see how powerful it is. ”
“Are you sure you can take it off Hugo without hurting him?” Marduk asked, voicing my concerns.
“He’ll be perfectly fine,” she assured us. “You need to break the weaving to release the magic stored in it. It’s very typical of how casket druids create spells.”
Using both hands, she undid the clasp. The moment the two ends of the collar separated, bright light filled the room, making me gasp and shut my eyes. When I opened them again, she had the closed collar draped across her palm.
“This is probably one of the most powerful items I’ve ever held,” she murmured.
When she met my gaze, her eyes were sad.
“Many zebras, lions, pangolins, and more died to make this thing. It has an intended purpose, but I can’t tell what it is, and there’s enough power here to level all of San Diego if it was unleashed in the wrong way. ”
Marduk took the collar from her. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
I’d told Beatrix to meet us at Jim’s office. Since we were closer, we got there before her. The front door was wide open, but except for an overturned chair, the inside didn’t look disturbed.
Beatrix and Titan, one of her mates, showed up soon after.
She was wearing leggings and a racerback style tank top I’d seen a lot of pixies wear.
When she turned to grab something out of the back seat of her car, I saw what looked like colorful tattoos peeking out from under the tank top on her back.
When she was ready to fly, those tattoos would emerge from her skin and turn into gorgeous dragon fly wings. It was clear that the shape of the tank top would accommodate unfolding or refolding her wings so she could fly.
It was a relief to see blatant evidence of her ability to take flight. Marduk and I moved to the front door of the office to urge the two of them inside.
She eyed me, looking doubtful. “How small can you make yourself?”
Instead of answering, I shifted into my snake form, predictably getting tangled in my clothes. Marduk was quick to fish me out and hold me up so Beatrix could see my size.
“Oh, you’re adorable!” she exclaimed, holding her hand out so I could move from Marduk to her. “What’s the best way to hold you so you can see and be secure while I fly?”
I moved up her arm and wrapped loosely around her throat.
“Is that going to be okay?” Marduk asked. She nodded so he explained how I’d tell her where to go. “He’ll tap on the left or right side of your throat to tell you which direction to go. If he gives a little squeeze, it means he’s spotted something.”
She nodded as she clipped a small bag across her body. “I can do that. I’ve got my phone, so I’ll call you when we find her.”
“I’m not sure about this,” Titan said. The giant wolf shifter was a gentle soul who’d made it his life’s mission to rescue animals. It was only fitting he’d ended up mated to Arthur, a powerful, protective vampire, and a strong-willed pixie who wouldn’t let anyone bully him.
Beatrix looked up at her wolf shifter. “I know you’re worried about me, but this is important.”
“If we wait until it’s dark, Arthur can carry Danzig around,” Titan said.
“That’s too late,” Beatrix reminded him. “Bec’s in trouble, and we can help. I promise I’ll stay out of danger. All we’ll do is find them, we’re not going to engage until everyone gets there.”
“I don’t know if I trust your promises,” Titan grumbled, stepping out of the way so she could walk out of the office.
“You can trust me to do my best,” she responded with a grin, making Titan chuckle.
“Sometimes your best is very confrontational,” he said under his breath. I’d only met them a few times, but I’d be forever in their debt for this help.
We all stepped into the daylight, and I felt a wash of magic. A glance over her shoulder showed her beautiful, shimmering wings had emerged.
“Wait a moment,” Marduk said, then touched me. Don’t go in alone! I know it’s tempting, but I can't lose both of you in one day.
I’m going to make sure you don’t lose either of us, I said.
Marduk sent me a feeling of love, then stepped back to give Beatrix room. She lifted up in one smooth motion and soon we were flying. I spotted a trail of Bec’s unique aura right away and tapped.
Relief filled me. I’d have Bec safe in my arms very soon.