Chapter 13
MORGAN’S VERY SNEAKY PLAN
NELSON
I didn’t need to check in with Gage on this change in plans, but I trusted him to point out any flaws I hadn’t considered yet.
Morgan’s suggestion, which he now called his “Very Sneaky Plan,” appealed to me.
Any opportunity to learn more about the hunters was worth consideration.
But I also knew I couldn’t trust my own thoughts on this, because everything in me wanted to please Morgan.
To see him smile. To make him wiggle around like he had after I agreed to consider his idea.
If Gage thought pleasing Morgan would jeopardize his safety, I wouldn’t do it. So, while Morgan called his cousin, I contacted Gage.
“Tell me what’s happening,” the demon said as soon as he answered, not bothering with a greeting.
“I found the unicorn,” I said. He’d have already heard that from Ogden, but I needed to say the words. I still couldn’t believe how easy it had been. After looking for Morgan for so many months, finding him so easily felt anticlimactic. “The hunters are here too.”
“Is it that woman? Tammy?”
“Yeah. And she’s with three others.” I paused to glance at Morgan, just to make sure he was busy with his own conversation and not listening to mine.
“What?” Gage asked, sensing I had something else on my mind.
“Venus had wanted me to protect a Rudy Tada, right?” I whispered. “The thing is… That’s Morgan’s alias. And two supes were trying to get a powerful artifact to him. Something is going on that we don’t know about.” I didn’t bother telling him which crystal it was. He’d find out soon enough.
“Get back to Willow Lake ASAP. With Morgan.” I don’t know why he tacked on that last bit. As if I’d leave the unicorn behind now that I’d found him.
“I know,” I agreed. “You know that tracker Van gave me? I’m thinking of planting it on the hunters before we leave.”
“It’s risky,” Gage said. Of course it was risky. Risky shit was what our team did. “If something goes wrong…”
He kept talking, outlining all the potential problems I’d already considered, as I peered through a narrow gap in the curtains to the parking lot.
I wasn’t looking for anything specific, but keeping an eye on my surroundings made me feel better, like I was doing something.
I didn’t see anyone lurking in the shadows—and as a shadow jumper, I knew all about shadows—but I did see snow. A lot of it.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Talk to me.”
“It’s snowed a lot since I arrived. We need to get out of here before it gets worse.”
Gage mumbled something to someone on his end. I waited. A moment later, he said, “There’s talk about road closures. You might make it before they put up the blockades if you leave now, but you might not.”
“Shit.” I rubbed my head. This situation was getting more complicated by the minute. A spike of fear stabbed through my chest. I needed to get Morgan out of here. There wasn’t another option.
“Follow the plan,” Gage said.
“Yes. The plan,” I agreed.
Gage’s reminder about my plan had me letting out a slow breath. I had a plan. I always had a plan. I didn’t know why I was so jittery this weekend. It wasn’t like me. At all.
I didn’t like this feeling.
So, I went over the plan again in my head.
Gage and I had gone over everything a dozen times, just like when he was my team lead.
He knew about my backup plan… and the backup to my backup plan…
and the extra backup plan too. He knew where I’d go to shelter if I couldn’t stay on the road, which was good.
That meant we didn’t have to talk about any of that over the line.
I thought the magical protection on my phone would hold up to any attempt to hack it, but you could never be completely sure.
“We talked about all of this. Just follow your plan,” he said again. He wasn’t usually so gentle with us, but it was like he knew how dark my thoughts were getting.
But his words worked to settle my unease, because I did have this covered.
The first plan was simple. We’d hit the road.
If the road was closed, we’d shelter at one of the three places I’d already chosen.
From there, we’d wait for the roads to open.
Then we’d leave for Willow Lake at four in the morning the next day.
Easy.
I really hoped the easy plan worked.
And if anything went wrong, Gage and my team had my back.
“Right,” I agreed as I scanned the shadows outside again. “Just like we talked about.”
“Have you let Carter know about the change in plans?”
“Not yet. I wanted to run everything by you first.”
“I’ll call him. He’ll be waiting for you outside the hotel in twenty or less.
Finish as quickly as you can and get out of there.
We can double back for your bike in a couple of days.
If you can’t get the tracker on the hunters within that time, don’t worry about it. Morgan’s safety is more important.”
I didn’t like leaving my bike here, but Gage’s plan made sense. “Will do.”
“And be careful.”
Yeah. I didn’t need that reminder. The image of the oracle’s painting was seared into my brain. I knew what was at stake. Getting Morgan in the limo so there were two of us to protect him would go a long way to settling my nerves. Getting him to Willow Lake would be even better.
Morgan’s call ended about the same time mine did. He didn’t appear happy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Violet hadn’t noticed I was late to check in.” He frowned. “Gary was distracting her.”
I trusted Morgan’s instincts about Gary. I should have asked Gage to look into him. The timing of his visit to Violet was suspicious. But right now, everything seemed suspicious.
“What did you tell her?”
“Just that I had a lead on the crystal and was leaving to follow up on it.”
I wished he hadn’t even said that much. The fewer people who knew what was going on, the better. But it was too late now.
I glanced at the clock. If everything went according to this slapdash plan, Carter would be outside soon. It was time to get a move on. I hadn’t unpacked anything, so I simply grabbed my bag, and we were on our way.
When we arrived at Morgan’s floor, everything seemed normal until we opened his door. Morgan let out a startled yelp. I pushed him out of the way and charged into the room.
No one waited inside, but someone had been here since we’d left for dinner. His clothes were strewn haphazardly around the room.
“Well, this is unexpected,” he said, peering around the room. Then he bent to pick up his earbud charger from the floor. It was broken, likely crushed under someone’s shoe.
He didn’t sound upset, just surprised. He scratched his head. I wasn’t sure what was making him scratch. It could be anything from him puzzling over what’d happened, being itchy from his earlier lying, or the discomfort of wearing a wig.
Me, though? I was livid. How dared someone do this?
“Get your coat. We need to leave. Now.”
Pointing out the obvious helped me keep control.
My emotions had never been a problem until now.
But seeing Morgan’s room ransacked was messing with my head.
I wished Adrian were here right now. As a wolf shifter, he’d be able to sniff out who had invaded Morgan’s space.
I didn’t have that ability. It sucked. I felt like I was running around blindfolded.
I’d obviously become too reliant on my old teammates.
“Where is your jacket?” I rummaged through his closet. When he didn’t answer, I turned to find him placing items into his makeup bag. One little item at a time. “Leave that.”
He looked up from his task. “What do you mean? What about my stuff?”
“Leave it.”
“But my disguise…”
“You won’t need it at Willow Lake.”
“You packed your bag,” he pointed out.
“Change of plans.” I shook my head. “I’m leaving it here now that I’ve seen this mess. The less attention we attract on our way out, the better. If we leave without luggage, people will just think we’re going into town for the evening.”
“Fine,” he huffed out. He adjusted his cloak around his shoulders like a stage magician.
“That’s your jacket?”
“Yep.”
Damn it. He was going to freeze. I hoped I had something in my saddle bags for him.
Less than three minutes after we’d entered Morgan’s room, we were leaving it again.
If Morgan hadn’t stopped and reminded me about the tracker, it would have been even faster.
Right now, I didn’t even care about the hunters, but Morgan had a stubborn look on his face that made it clear we were doing this.
I gave in, just to get him moving. When I’d ripped the tracker out of my jacket, his grin had made it all worthwhile.
“Do you think someone will stop us? Ask why we’re leaving?” Morgan asked as he reached for the door. “The market doesn’t officially open until tomorrow morning, and we haven’t even stayed one night yet. Seems like people might get suspicious.”
“Like I said before, most people will just think we’re going into town for the evening.” I rubbed the tracker between my thumb and forefinger. “Now remember, as soon as we leave this room, you are Rudy Tada again.”
“I know.” Morgan nodded and subtly adjusted his shoulders and posture, so he was standing straighter. “Violet and I practiced that a lot.”
“Right. So, you’re going to go to the entrance and wait for the limo. The driver is a bear shifter named Carter Jones. You should be able to sense his magic, right? If someone else is driving, don’t get in the limo.”
I didn’t think Carter’s role in this would be compromised, but it didn’t hurt to make sure Morgan could identify his allies.
“We don’t need a limo. I have my big bad black SUV.”
“We’ll leave that. Right now, we just need to get out of here. It’ll be better if we leave together.”
“Because you think my magic is sucky and I can’t defend myself.” He crossed his arms.
“No.” I shook my head. “Because three supes are better than one or two.”
“Ugh. Fine,” he bit out. “But it’s a rental, so I can’t leave it here too long or I’ll be charged extra.”
That was the least of my worries, but I nodded anyway. “Of course.”
He scratched his arm. When he realized what he was doing, he narrowed his eyes at me. Could my lies make him itchy too?
“Wait.” His forehead furrowed. “How am I going to make a distraction if I’m outside?”
“You aren’t.”
“I’m not what? Outside?”
“Making a distraction.”
Morgan scowled. I was pretty sure if he’d been in his shifted form, he’d be aiming his horn at me about now. “That’s a bad plan. I object.”
“I don’t need a distraction. It’ll be easier to drop the tracker on them if they stay relaxed and calm. They won’t have their guard up that way,” I pointed out. “A distraction might backfire and make them more vigilant.”
“You’re just like Violet,” he muttered. “She never wants me to have fun either.”