Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
“So this is how the other half lives,” Leo says, standing up from the reclining seat he was just sprawled in.
The plane has leveled out, and we don’t have much airtime left before we land in Pittsburgh.
Xavier arranged a car for us, and we’re heading straight to a coffee shop near the bus station where Claire was last seen several hours ago.
“She got spooked,” Leo says, “but there’s a decent chance she’ll try to buy another ticket once the shift changes and there’s someone new working the desk.”
“Maybe go easy on the champagne,” Antonio says, watching Leo pour himself a second glass
“We’re landing in an hour.”
Leo ignores him and looks at me. “You look like you’ve done this before. The pilot knew you. Or is he just being respectful because you’re Xavier’s wife?”
“I’ve been on this plane before.” I raise one of the thick window shades and look down at the ground far beneath us. “I flew to Connecticut and found my parents’ graves. I have a grave too.”
Both of my brothers look at me. I realize I’ve never told them that.
“All of my relatives think I died the same night my parents and aunt did.”
“This is probably not the right time to bring this up,” Antonio starts, “but you know you could go find some of the Blackwoods.”
I glance at him.
“It’s not like the family died with your parents,” he says bluntly. “You probably have grandparents. Cousins. Other relatives.”
“Yeah.” I run my fingernail along the stitching in the ivory leather seat. “And I could introduce myself by telling them I released the demon they locked away centuries ago.” I give him a look.
“I’m sure they’d welcome me with open arms.”
“Hey.” Leo gets up and sits beside me.
“I know telling you it’s not your fault probably doesn’t make you feel any better. It probably just sounds like empty words at this point.” He nudges my shoulder. “But it isn’t your fault. And if your family is halfway decent, they’ll understand that.”
“I know.” And I do know that. At least logically. “I’ll tell Claire the same thing,” I say. Then I look back out the window. “Though her family doesn’t exactly sound halfway decent. They forced her mother to give her up because Claire was a half-blood.”
“Could it have been because Eudora was a teenager?” Antonio asks.
“That still doesn’t sit right with me.” I turn toward him.
“They knew Claire would have some kind of magic. Even if they thought her blood wasn’t pure enough for whatever ridiculous standards they had, they knew there was a chance her powers would eventually show up.
” I shake my head. “They know how terrifying and confusing that can be when you have no idea what’s happening to you.
” I think about Claire’s therapy notes. The dreams. The unexplained incidents. Being accused of lying.
“So even if they genuinely believed she’d have a better life with a loving adoptive family in the non-magical world, leaving her there with absolutely no explanation was kind of an asshole move.”
“Yeah,” Antonio says. “When you put it like that, I agree.” He reaches over and takes the champagne bottle away from Leo before he can refill his glass. Then, proving he’s a massive hypocrite, he brings the bottle to his lips and takes a long drink before setting it in one of the holders.
I lean back in my seat. I really wish I’d brought some of the Xanax Mabel gave me. When all of this is over, I need Xavier to take me somewhere fun on this plane. This is only my third time flying on it, and I’m already starting to associate it entirely with danger and impending disaster.
The car is waiting for us when we land. I sling my backpack over one shoulder and keep it close as we get off the plane.
Flying private on a jet owned by my vampire husband means we didn’t have to deal with normal airport security.
Which is probably for the best. My brothers and I each have bags filled with weapons because none of us knows what we’re going to encounter when we find Claire.
I also brought the vial of her blood. And a printed map of Pittsburgh. I haven’t told anyone about that part. But I needed it…just in case. If Claire is somewhere within a few miles of us, I can’t let her slip through our fingers. My phone buzzes the second I get into the car.
I pull it from my purse, expecting Xavier.
I’ve kept him updated through text, and he has my location along with the flight information, so he already knows we landed.
But it’s Ryder. I stare at his name for a second.
I don’t have time for this right now. I shove the phone back into my purse and let out a breath, trying to keep myself grounded.
It takes us a while to get to the coffee shop near the bus station. Leo and I grab a table and order drinks while Antonio goes around asking questions, telling people he’s searching for his little sister.
No one remembers seeing Claire.
“Okay,” Leo says after opening his laptop.
“I pulled the CCTV footage from when Claire ran out of the bus station.” Antonio comes back and sits with us.
It takes Leo a few minutes of jumping between different camera angles before he finds what he’s looking for.
“There.” Claire leaves the bus station and walks into a store down the street.
“There’s only one entrance,” Leo says.
We watch the footage with bated breath. He speeds it up. An hour and a half passes before Claire finally comes back out. I almost miss her.
“She changed clothes.”
“And put on a hat,” Antonio says.
“She’s disguising herself,” I say, stating the obvious.
Leo flips through more footage from nearby businesses. My coffee is cold by the time he finds another useful angle. A camera across the street catches Claire walking quickly down the sidewalk.
She looks agitated. At one point, she spins around and starts yelling at someone. Except there’s no one there. My stomach twists. Then she reaches the corner directly beneath another camera. She looks up. Straight toward the lens. The footage glitches.
“What the hell?” Leo whispers.
The image distorts for several seconds. By the time it clears, Claire is gone.
“What’s the timestamp?” Antonio asks.
Leo checks.
“An hour and a half ago.”
My stomach knots painfully. We are so fucking close. She could literally be down the street. We could find her. Get her somewhere safe. And maybe, finally, this could all be over. My phone rings again.
Ryder.
This time I send it straight to voicemail.
“I know you guys aren’t going to like this idea,” I begin.
Antonio shoots me a look. Apparently the warning alone is enough for him to know he’s going to hate whatever comes next.
“I brought Claire’s blood.” His expression darkens. “I could do a locator spell.”
“I thought we collectively agreed that was a terrible idea,” Antonio reminds me.
“It was a terrible idea when I was hundreds of miles away in North Carolina.” I lean forward. “But she could be less than a mile from us right now.” I spread my hands. “I could do this. We could find her and go home.”
“Oversimplifying things like that is almost worse than jinxing them,” Antonio says flatly.
“I know it’s not that simple.” I exhale.
“And I’d have to find somewhere private because I obviously can’t start casting spells in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh.” I look back toward Leo’s screen. “But she’s so close.”
Leo is still jumping through CCTV feeds. “It’s like she just disappears,” he mutters. I bite my lip and watch him click through different windows. He leans back. “I’m breaking into another system. Give it a minute.” Then he pulls his phone from his pocket.
His expression changes. “Oh, shit.”
“What?”
“I have like ten missed calls from Ryder.”
“Shit.”
I pull out my own phone. “He called me a few times too.”
Leo opens one of Ryder’s voicemails and puts it on speaker. “One of you needs to seriously answer your fucking phone,” Ryder’s voice comes through.
We all go still. “I don’t know what the hell is happening with the Order, but they just sent out an alert.” A pause. “Florence Malus is in Pittsburgh.”