Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
“Ithink I should cast the locator spell now,” I say, feeling like we have nothing left to lose. “They already know we’re here.”
I resist the urge to look around as paranoia creeps down my spine. Were we naive to underestimate how well-connected the Order still is? Even though we avoided the main security checkpoints at the airport, we still passed through a highly populated, heavily monitored area.
“Keep your cool,” Antonio tells me, picking up his iced coffee and taking a drink.
Unlike me, he’s doing a decent job pretending not to scan the room.
Order members are trained to blend seamlessly into their surroundings.
We’ve been so hyper-focused on Claire that I haven’t been paying attention the way I normally would.
I have no idea how long anyone has been sitting here. Or if somebody came in after us and deliberately chose a table with a clear line of sight.
“I’m kind of leaning toward the locator spell too,” Leo admits. “They already know we’re here, which means they probably know Claire is here too. If they’re following us anyway, finding her exact location isn’t really any different than finding her the old-fashioned way.”
Antonio runs a hand through his hair. “I see your point.” He glances toward the counter.
“Okay. Let me order something to go so we have a legitimate reason to leave.” He stands, takes one step, then turns back.
“Do either of you actually want anything? If I’m ordering anyway, I might as well get something you want. ”
“Can I have a cake pop?” I ask.
“Make that two,” Leo adds. “Birthday cake.”
Antonio stares at us. “You’re both children.” Then he heads for the counter.
Leo immediately calls Ryder, and I scoot closer, knowing we can’t risk putting him on speaker in case anyone nearby is listening.
“Finally,” Ryder says when he answers. “Is Wren with you?”
“I’m right here.” I lean toward the phone. “We’re at a coffee shop,” I add, making sure he understands we’re in public and he needs to be careful. “How’s your mother doing?”
“They’re taking her to the hospital,” Ryder replies smoothly. “They don’t know what room she’ll be in yet, but they know something is definitely wrong enough for her to be admitted.” He pauses. “It’s a good thing your father knows the doctor.”
I give Leo a sideways look. I’m not entirely sure what Ryder is trying to tell us.
“Yeah,” I say anyway, trying not to sound as confused as I feel.
“I’ll let you know if there are any updates,” Ryder says. “And be careful. Whatever she has, you can catch it. You’ve been exposed.”
“Thanks, man,” Leo says. The call ends. “What the hell was he saying?” Leo asks quietly. “Marco is behind this?”
“That’s kind of what I got from it.”
“I’m with you,” Leo says. “We should do the locator spell, find Claire, and get the hell out of here.” He looks at my backpack. “You have everything you need?”
“I do.” I lower my voice. “We just need somewhere private. An alley. A bathroom. Something. I only need a couple minutes.”
“And it’ll give you her exact location?”
“Where she is right now. It won’t track her if she starts moving again.”
“Right.” Leo leans back. “She’s seventeen, doesn’t have a car, and doesn’t exactly seem to know what she’s doing. If we can get her current location, I’m pretty sure we can catch up to her.” He looks toward Antonio. “Which is why I’m going to tell him we’re doing it.”
I take one last drink of my lukewarm coffee and toss the cup into the trash beside the table.
As I turn back, something catches my eye.
Two guys wearing Steelers jerseys are sitting several tables away.
One has an iced coffee in front of him. The cup is still completely full.
But condensation coats the plastic, and most of the ice has melted.
He hasn’t touched it.
He’s not here for coffee. He’s here to watch me. I walk casually back toward the table and text both of my brothers, praying they have enough self-control not to immediately look over. Antonio is still waiting in line when he replies.
Wren, go first. Leo and I will stay here. If you’re going to do the spell, do it now.
My gaze shifts toward the bathroom at the back of the coffee shop. I haven’t been inside yet, but it looks like a single-stall bathroom. Someone opens the door. For a split second, I catch a flash of daylight. Perfect. There’s a window.
Going out the bathroom window. I’ll do the spell and send you a picture as soon as I have her location.
I put a hand over my stomach.
“I knew I shouldn’t have had that much caffeine when I’m lactose intolerant,” I say loudly to Leo.
He nods solemnly. “Rookie mistake.”
I grab my backpack and head toward the bathroom. I don’t bother locking the door behind me.
Instead, I go straight to the window. It looks like it hasn’t been opened in years. There’s no chance I’m getting it up with brute strength. Good thing I don’t need brute strength. I step back and shove it open telekinetically. The frame groans. I pop the screen loose and look down.
Of course. There’s a dumpster directly beneath the window. And naturally, the lid is wide open.
“Thank God for magic,” I mutter. I close the dumpster telekinetically, then climb through the window and carefully lower myself down.
Once my feet hit the lid, I jump to the pavement and hurry farther into the alley.
I find a relatively hidden spot that smells terrible but gives me enough room to work.
My mind flashes briefly to Devon as I pull everything from my backpack.
I’ve done this spell enough lately that I practically have it memorized, but having him around to help set everything up has been nice.
I spread out the map. Then I take the vial of Claire’s blood.
My heart pounds as I carefully add a single drop to the spell.
I begin the chant. The herbs scattered across the paper tremble.
Slowly, they move and gather into a tiny circle on the map. I stare at it.
Claire.
She’s only a few blocks away. “Holy shit.” I take a picture before anything can shift.
I wait another second. The herbs stay exactly where they are.
Claire isn’t moving. I grab the map, shake the herbs back into my bag, and text the picture to Leo and Antonio.
Hopefully, they can create enough of a distraction to get away from the hunters inside.
I make it back to the sidewalk and stop at the corner, waiting to cross.
The second I step into the crosswalk, someone rushes toward me.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“Stop!”
I turn. A police officer is running toward me. Either he’s Order in disguise or the Order somehow convinced local police to bring me in. Neither option is particularly good.
Claire is too close.
I run across the street and dart between two buildings.
As soon as I’m out of the general public’s view, I stop and raise my hands.
If this guy is a real cop, he’ll follow procedure.
“Florence Malus,” he says, breathing hard as he catches up. “You’re under arrest. Turn around slowly and put your hands on your head.”
I do exactly what he says. He steps behind me. The second his fingers close around my wrist to pull my hand down for the cuffs, I turn. I press my fingertips against his forehead.
“Somnun.” His body goes limp. I catch him before he hits the ground and gently lower him onto the pavement.
“Sorry.” I pull out my phone and check my location.
I still have a couple blocks to go. Then I run.
I don’t stop until I reach the area marked by the spell.
And immediately, I don’t like it. Not because anything looks inherently dangerous.
It’s just empty. A huge parking lot stretches in front of me.
There’s some sort of convention center to my left and a river beyond it. For a teenage girl trying to disappear, a place like this makes it dangerously easy.
“Claire!” I shout. No answer.
The locator spell placed her near a tiny park, but when I get closer, I realize it’s barely more than a patch of grass.
A few trees grow thicker toward the river.
There’s a walking path. A painfully fit, cheerful couple jogs past me like the universe isn’t currently ending. I turn in a circle, trying to think.
Where would a normal teenage girl hide? That’s the problem. Every place I would choose is based on years of hunter training. Claire doesn’t have that. She’d probably choose somewhere obvious.
Somewhere that feels hidden without actually being hidden.
I’m considering casting the spell again to narrow down the location when a car pulls into the parking lot behind me. Doors open and several hunters get out. They spread around me.
“Are you sure that’s her?” one asks.
“Positive,” another answers. “That’s the girl who attacked the Russos.”
“Oh, please.” I turn toward them. “I am a Russo.” They stare at me. For a second, I remind myself that these hunters aren’t necessarily the enemy. They’re doing what they were told. Not that long ago, I could’ve been standing exactly where they are.
Kind of.
“Sure you are, Skinwalker,” one of them scoffs.
Okay. Maybe not. Because even at my stupidest, I would’ve known better than to openly taunt a Skinwalker in public. I also would’ve known a Skinwalker probably wouldn’t be casually wandering around downtown Pittsburgh in broad daylight.
There are six hunters. One of me. I’ve had worse odds. And I have one advantage they don’t. Magic. Though if they genuinely believe I’m a Skinwalker, they’re going to use weapons capable of doing serious damage.
“Look,” I say, holding up my hands. “I really don’t have time to explain why this is a mistake.” I shrug. “I’m in a bit of a pickle here, so it would genuinely benefit all of us if you just walked away.”
They exchange confused looks. Then rush me. I throw out my hand. A wave of telekinetic force slams into the first hunter. He flies backward into two others, and all three go down in a tangled heap. The remaining hunters immediately draw their weapons.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, my brothers appear.
Antonio tackles one to the ground, knocks the gun from his hand, grabs it, and cracks him across the side of the head with it. The hunter goes limp. Leo grabs another from behind and locks him into a chokehold. I raise my hand toward the last man still standing.
“Don’t.”
He hesitates. I dart forward before he can make up his mind and press my fingers to his forehead “Somnun.” He drops.
It doesn’t take long to subdue the remaining three.
A few sleeping spells later, six unconscious hunters are scattered around the empty parking lot.
I look around. “I feel like I should almost be insulted that they sent newbies after me.”
Antonio snorts.
“They called me a Skinwalker.”
He actually laughs. “These guys really are new.” Then his expression changes. He looks at Leo. Then at me. “The Order knew you’d fight back.”
“Fuck.”
“They’re building a case against you again,” Antonio says. “Think about it. They send six inexperienced hunters after you?” He raises his eyebrows. “You were always one of their best hunters, even before the Jedi mind tricks.”
I put a hand against my forehead. Once I’m back in Charlotte and under Xavier’s protection, the Order isn’t going to be much of a problem. Getting back to Charlotte might be.
“We need to move,” Leo says.
We run across the parking lot and jump the low wall separating it from the walking path.
“If you were a teenage girl, where would you hide?” I ask.
Leo scans the area and then points toward an old bridge off to our left. It’s covered in graffiti and sits between the road and the walking path on the far side of the convention center. Thankfully, nothing appears to be happening here today. We jog toward it. Then something catches my eye.
Movement, across the street. I stop. There. A girl slips between the convention center and a squat concrete structure.
My heart jumps. “Claire.” My brothers follow my gaze. “Stay here,” I tell them. Then I run, darting into the street in front of an oncoming car. The driver slams on the brakes and lays on the horn. I barely hear it. I reach the other side. The girl turns.
I stop a few feet away, still not completely sure. But she looks at me like she knows me. “Florence?”