Breaking Out (30 page)

Someone should have slapped me around to wake
me up from this idiotic fantasy. Only, I did want to help people,
and I knew I’d be good at it, if I could only be certain that I was
in control of my magic.

I dried off and dressed, grabbing an apple
from the fridge and sitting down in my office to make some plans.
Might as well get started.

Advertising would be tricky. We could only
work for supernatural clients, unless we were willing to work using
only mundane tools and methods or being super careful if we
absolutely needed to use magic. I felt like we could handle it, but
maybe it would just be safer to stick with supernatural cases.
They’d probably pay more.

The doorbell rang. Samson didn’t bark so I
figured it was Ivy coming back after her recovery. It was only
after I’d opened the door, that I saw Samson out cold on the carpet
by the window. There was a dart in his neck.

I felt a pricking sensation and fell, my
knees giving out before my brain.

IVY

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

I was going
to ring the bell, but the door was partly open. Jay or Charlie must
be in the back yard or something.

When I saw Samson on the rug with the dart in
his neck, I pulled it out and shook him. He didn’t move. After
looking in every room, I called Jay on my phone.

“Hey. You back at the house? I’m next door
looking at another apartment with Brina.”

Why does he need to get an apartment with
Brina? I shook my head to clear it. I’ll deal with that later.
“Charlie isn’t here and Samson was drugged.”

They arrived a minute later. They would have
gotten to me sooner, but they couldn’t exactly take the lines with
the real estate lady in the same room with them. She would have
fainted and we’d have two problems instead of one very serious one.
Charlie’s location was definitely problem uno.

Jay took charge. “I’ll call Aaron.”

Brina put her hand out, stopping him. “This
is our job.”

“His life could be in danger.”

“When is it not in danger? Everyone wants
him. And Aaron will be of little help against the demons who took
him.”

“You think it was demons?”

All Fae thought demons were the scourge of
the three realms. “You’re both being ridiculous.” They turned in my
direction. ‘Bout time. “Jay, use your nose. Brina, use you aura
sensing magic. Trace where they went. I’ll keep trying to wake up
Samson.”

The monster was already on his feet, and
growling at the street. “Can you carry all of us through the
lines?” If Brina’s cold expression could turn kelpies into sushi,
I’d be part of a roll right now. Well someone had to take things in
hand. “Samson will point us in the right direction and you’ll take
us block by block.”

“Charlie did that when we were searching for
you.” Jay looked excited by the idea. “Maybe Isaiah can zone in on
his scar. We could contact him.”

“How? He is a demon. He would need to be
summoned. We go now.” Brina was about as patient as a two year
old.

Jay grabbed my hand while Brina took Samson
by the scruff. We reappeared alongside a restaurant. Thank goodness
it was nighttime and no one saw us. Samson ran around the corner,
barking, but we caught up to him and went another two blocks. We
were near a dock now. Samson took off faster than I’d ever seen him
run, his claws clattering on the metal of the bouncing structure.
He came to a screeching halt beside an empty slip.

They’d taken him out to sea.

“My magic does not work as well on top of the
ocean.” Brina looked worried.

I laughed. “I got this part covered.” I
kicked off my shoes and dove in, heading to court. It only took me
a couple of minutes, but each second felt like hours. I ran to
chieftain’s office, ignoring the guards.

“Rylen.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s kidnapped Charlie. He’s on a
boat.

“Tell me.”

I explained, giving him all the information I
could. He and a team of six kelpies headed out to search. He told
me to wait at the dock with my friends, because he would return
Charlie to me there. I dragged myself out of the water and Jay
threw his leather jacket over my shoulders.

“I called Aaron anyway,” He confessed.

“Fine with me. It was Blondie who said no.” I
started to pace on the dock, my nerves on edge.

“Blondie?” Brina had a quizzical expression.
“Is this an insult?”

“No. It’s just a fact. I’m a brunette. You’re
a blonde.” I walked back the other way, passing the fae female and
moving on toward the end of the dock.

“You will refer to me as Brina.” She called
out.

“I’ll do my best.” I hardly knew this snooty
fae and I already hated her.

“You realize she’s a fae warrior.” Jay said,
his expression wary, his eyes following my progress.

“Yeah, and I’m a kelpie of the royal line.”
In fact I’d give a king’s ransom to go for a run in my steed form
right about now. It was a great way to ease tension.

“She’s Fin’s granddaughter.” Jay explained,
as if I didn’t already know that.

I stopped in my tracks, my hands fisted on my
hips. “One of how many?”

“A lot,” he said, confused.

“Then she’s more diluted.” I walked closer to
Jay and poked his chest with a stiff finger. “And what were you
doing getting an apartment with her?”

“No. Oh no, I’m not living there…with her.
I’m staying in the house with Char.”

I smiled. “And me.” He didn’t smile back.

“The apartment has two bedrooms. Char and I
thought you girls could share.”

“Over my dead body.” I shouted, beginning to
pace again.

“I can accommodate you on that score,
minnow.” Brina had the nerve to laugh at me. “Although there is a
small closet in the back bedroom where you might sleep. You are
certainly puny enough.”

“If she calls me minnow again I’m gonna drown
her.”

Jay backed away. “You girls are nuts. Totally
wacko.”

“Let’s drown
him
instead.” I was so
pissed off I couldn’t think. “Why aren’t you two upset? Charlie’s
been kidnapped!”

Jay and Brina looked at each other. “We’ve
done what we could. “ Jay held up his hands. “You got your people
working on this.”

“Yeah, but…”

Samson started barking. There was an enormous
wave in the distance. It wasn’t that wide, but it was pretty tall.
On top it of rode a boat, another cruiser, as if it were surfing
the wave in a suicidal mission to crash onto the shore. There were
people on the beach and swimmers in the water. Males on the boat
were screaming, holding on for dear life.

“Holy shit!” I jumped back into the water,
shifting form and catching up to the others. They were having a
good ole time pushing the boat toward shore without even a thought
to how dangerous this was to the passengers or the innocent people
on the beach.

Luckily all of these bozos were lower in
status than I was. “Stop playing with them. You’re gonna hurt
somebody.”

“Yes, Lady Ivonne.”

They were good boys. The wave shrunk and the
boat was brought to the dock without any further incident.

Kaera, Farrell, Aaron and Ginamarie were
there when I got back. Turns out the boat was piloted by the three
werewolf hit men who’d killed the two wolves and had also kidnapped
me. Imagine that. The one problem was—and it was a big one—Charlie
wasn’t on the boat.

Brina was livid. She picked one of the wolves
up by the throat. “Where is Charles?”

“He’s gone. Delivered.”

“Delivered to who?”

“We don’t know. We were told to head to this
particular longitude and latitude and that he would be taken from
us. When we got there he disappeared. We were heading back when the
wave picked us up.”

“Who contacted you?” Brina asked.

“A letter. Written in French. But it wasn’t
modern French. We had to take it to a language expert. He said it
was archaic, but he was able to translate it.”

“What did it say?” I asked.

“Bring the fae and demon prince to this
longitude and latitude and I will pay you one hundred pounds of
gold bullion.”

“You believed the writer?”

“Hey we had nothing to lose. It was a simple
steal.” The one with the beard replied.

“Yeah, he dropped like a rock as soon as the
dart hit him.”

“Where is the gold to be delivered?”

“A warehouse in Huntington Beach.”

“Show me this note.” They handed it to Brina.
She took in the paper’s scent, read the fancy calligraphy and bowed
her head. “I must call my king.” Brina knelt on the dock,
whispering words in the fae language. I suddenly felt guilty that
she and I had been fighting over such stupid stuff. Getting Charlie
back was everything.

“But where is he?” Jay asked, sounding a
little desperate.

“He’s been taken to Aine, the former queen.
He is in Tir na NOg, the place of no returning.”

“But he’s not dead, is he?”

“Perhaps not. I do not know.” She was slumped
on the dock, her face a mask of pain.

“Fin returned and
he’s
not dead.” I
pointed out.

“That is why he is our only hope.”

“What’s she like? Queen Aine?” I asked,
holding onto Jay’s hand for support.

“I am too young to have met her, but I have
been told she is a jealous creature who holds grudges and seeks
vengeance. Queen Aine murdered my father’s mother because Finvarra
honored her with his attentions. Our king is unusually fertile and
he sired seven children, one of them my father. Caelen and Fionna
were the children of the queen; the younger five were birthed by
four other females. Even though she encouraged Finvarra toward this
end for the sake of our people, the queen killed these females in
an envious rage. When she turned her jealous gaze on the children
of those unions, our king took her to Tir Na NOg. He saved our
lives and gave up his own. At least for a time.”

The world shimmered and an instant later a
tall male fae stood before us. Raven haired, his beautiful face
looked worried and angry. He spoke to Brina first in Fae. Good
thing I could understand what he said.

“You lost him?”

“I believe he is with Queen Aine, sire.”

“Explain.”

Brina did in crisp tones, not leaving out any
facts. Talk about dropping the ball. She and Jay had been in
another building. Charlie had been left in the apartment alone with
Samson. None of that sounded too bad. I mean he had more magic than
the rest of us and Samson was an amazing watchdog. It’s just that
nobody thought about tranquilizer darts.

Finvarra turned to Kaera and Farrell. “You
were assisting the wolves?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“I gave Brina permission to assist Aaron on
one occasion. Did I give either of you permission to assist the
others?”

“No. Lord.”

“No, Lord.”

“Aaron is not an ally.”

“Kaera and I were at Jackie’s when Aaron
asked for help. I thought since he was Garrett’s cousin…”

“You are familiar with the laws I’ve imposed
since the upheaval at court.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“You have disobeyed me and broken a law.
Return to Faerie.”

“But Charlie…” Farrell looked panicked.

“Will you disobey me even in this? Go.”

They bowed and left.

Brina stood straight and silent, maybe
expecting the worst. But the king spoke to everyone else on the
dock. “Brina and I will go to Tir na NOg. We will do all we can to
retrieve him, but it may not be possible.”

“Does Queen Aine wish to kill him?” Brina
asked.

His response was icy. “She is no longer the
queen. Do not refer to her as such.”

“Yes, Lord.” Brina looked down at her feet.
I’d never seen her look so ashamed. She’d seemed a proud female,
strong. Now she looked like a puppy that had just peed on the rug.
I felt sorry for her.

Finvarra looked at Aaron and Ginamarie. “I
apologize, but I must do what I can to rescue my grandson. Because
of recent events in Faerie, you will no longer have access to my
people and will need to find other modes of transportation.”

Aaron smiled, not at all thrown by the snarky
king’s remark. “I apologize if we overstepped a diplomatic
boundary. There was an emergency in this area that involved the
lives of a large group of people, and I took what was offered
without asking about permissions or protocol. It was my mistake as
much as your fae warriors’. Their help was invaluable and I thank
you as I did them.”

“Mr. Green, at a later date we may sit and
discuss diplomacy and protocol but on this day I must do what none
of the rest of you has been able to do.”

“What is that?”

“Ensure Charles’ safety.”

He spoke to Brina in Fae, “Come, child, we
will get him back together.”

And they disappeared in a whisper of
flux.

CHARLIE

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

My head hurt
and my stomach was doing flip-flops, but that wasn’t the worst
part. No, the worst part was that I couldn’t connect to the lines
because they were either blocked on didn’t exist at all. I wasn’t
in Kansas anymore, Toto.

I was flat on my back on what could have been
grass, but wasn’t. I was outside, I think, but there was no sun or
moon or stars and the sky was a strange shade of blue, like
mouthwash. Unless I was looking at the ceiling of some house.
Anything was possible down the rabbit hole.

Something slithered past my head, so I sat up
really quick, which was a mistake—but not as big a mistake as doing
nothing and getting consumed by a giant boa constrictor. Only it
wasn’t giant sized or snake like or even dangerous looking. It was
fuzzy and kind of cute and it slithered because it had these
finlike pieces on its legs that brushed the tall grass, parting it
as it moved.

“Do not try to stroke the limm, young male.
It will consume your fingers with great delight and then look to
your toes for further sustenance.” The language was fae, only more
formal than what I was used to hearing. I turned slowly, partly to
keep the throbbing in my head to a minimum and partly because the
voice was unfamiliar.