Capitol Kidnap: Urban Werewolf Book 1 (11 page)

"My mom's asleep. Someone, I'm thinking you, put a spell on her and my cousins. You tell me what's wrong with her."

"I didn't – I don't…" Mac stuttered.

"Tell the truth." Naomi slapped him. "My little brother is not dying on the capitol steps tomorrow."

"He won't. That was just to get you out there," Mac said, a red handprint rising on his face.

"What?" Naomi asked surprised.

"We want to get as many people out there as we can."

"We who?" Jeff asked.

Bam!

The car swung to the right.

"What the hell!"

They hit the curb and the car stopped hard. Jeff and I am he flew backward. Mac surged up and yanked the door open.

"Thanks for the ride!" He took off running down the street.

"Get him!" Mike shouted, but Mac had already glamoured himself.
 

"Looks like a damn jogger," Jeff said. "I can't see him anymore."

"Where'd he go?" Mike asked.

"I think he turned the corner," Jeff said. "What happened?"

"I don't know! It just jumped right."

"Smell the rubber. He gave us a blowout. But we didn't spin out of control."

"He says they won't kill Bryan – was he lying?" Mike asked.

"No," Naomi said, then she reconsidered. "I don't think so, but they lie really well."

"He was lying when he said he didn't know what happened to us," Jeff said.

"So? What's going on? They want us there?"

"Not going to happen. I'm not volunteering to get killed," Jeff said.

"They won't, though at least – he sounded and smelled sincere when he talked about not killing Bryan," Naomi said. She was sure his heartbeat hadn't quickened at all.

"What do we do then?" Mike said.

"We have to get the groceries home before the pizza rolls defrost," Jeff said.

"And then? We're not – well, they're not killing him."

"I still don't want Bryan tortured into shifting in public," Mike said.
 

"Mindy wakes up in four more hours. I can call her and maybe she'll have some kind of idea of where to go from here."

"So it's settled." Jeff patted his stomach. "We eat dinner."

"And take a nap," Naomi agreed.

"But Bryan is still kidnapped – somewhere," Mikey said.

"Well, we aren't going anywhere until we get the spare onto the car." Naomi sighed. "Boy is mom going to be pissed when she wakes up."

"So… You know how to change a tire?" Mike asked.

"Well yeah. That's the first thing Mom and Dad made me learn before I got my learner's permit," Naomi said. Mike flushed, clearly he didn't know how to change a tire. "Want to learn?"

"I
CAN
'
T
BELIEVE
YOU
TWO
are just eating. We have to find Bry!" Mike stormed out of the dining room.

"Still got to eat," Jeff said. The bathroom sink turned on and Naomi could hear Mike splashing water on his face. "Drama," Jeff mouthed just as the doorbell rang. "You expecting anyone?"

Naomi shook her head and approached the door cautiously. She recognized the scent, but couldn't place it. Whoever it was, there were flowers. Someone from the flower shop? Why ring the doorbell? Naomi looked through the peep hole. Aaron stood in front of the door, flowers in hand.

"Aaron?" Naomi pulled open the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd stop by and see how you are doing." He smiled and tried to step into the house. His face fell. "Family emergency, huh? Missing brother? Who's that?"

"Jeff's my cousin."

"Like hell I am." Suddenly, Jeff was standing too close behind her. "Who's this?"

"My mom brought him down," Naomi said answering Aaron. "She's friends with his mom. They're trying to set us up."

"Then why'd you lie?"

"We called each other cousins growing up," Naomi said. "I don't think of him romantically. I'm just worried about Bryan."

"And now what? It's just the two of you here? I'm sure I interrupted some precious alone time. I'll just leave."

"Dammit Aaron, just come inside already. Mike, we got company!" Mike appeared from the bathroom. His eyes were puffy and red. "This is Aaron, my friend from the gym. He came to check on me, isn't that sweet?" Naomi finally accepted the flowers, but she didn't know what to do with them. Mike took them and began rummaging in the kitchen. "I don't have a vase." Mike waved a hand vaguely in her direction and kept rummaging in her cabinets.

"Naomi sat down in her armchair. The shelf looked empty without Mr. Fishyman. The men sat on opposite ends of the couch while Mikey kept looking for something to put the flowers in. Naomi stared at the empty spot, where the fish tank should have been.

"Do you have any clue where your brother is?"
 

Naomi shook her head, trying to think of something to say.

"We think it might be a hate crime," Jeff said. "No one has any clue where he is. Not his boyfriend. Not their friends. No one. We're afraid someone kidnapped him for who he is."

"I – I don't know what to say. Have you call the cops?"

Naomi shook her head. Again, Jeff surprised her by answering. "They won't take a report for 24 hours. So tomorrow morning we can file, maybe." Jeff shrugged. "Not a lot of clues to work off of. I don't know what they'll find that we didn't."

"What are you some kind a special –"

"Exactly. I'm a special investigator. A private detective up in Redding, but here… Nothing. I don't have any contacts. There's no trail to follow. I'm trying, but we're kind of at a crossroads and I'm stuck."

A light went on in Aaron's face, as if he decided he could help. "I could – I mean this is stupid, hippie dippy stuff, but my cousin Emma, she's into Wicca." Jeff rolled his eyes, but Aaron focused right on Naomi's face and ignored him. "She's really good at finding things with this thing she does – scrying! Maybe she could try it for your brother."

"I don't think so," Jeff said at the exact same time Naomi said, "Why not?" He glared at Naomi. If looks could kill, she'd have been dead and buried.
 

"At this point nothing could hurt," Naomi said with a shrug.

"It's all a bunch of –" He could not be about to call it bull.

"It's a great idea. Especially after everything we've already been through. We don't have any other options, so why not?"

"M
Y
COUSIN
… S
HE
'
S
A
BIT
out there, but she's good people. You'll see," Aaron said as they approached the front door. His cousin Emma had a small pentagram in the window. It was one of those wooden signs over the door and read, "Never again the burning times." Otherwise her house didn't look any different from any of the others on the street. It smelled like some spices Naomi hadn't really smelled before, but nothing too far out of the ordinary.

He rang the doorbell. High heels clicked their way to the door. Fabric shifted as she leaned to the peephole and she sighed just loud enough for Naomi to hear before the door swung open revealing a smiling young blonde.

"Aaron, what can I do…" She trailed off in her voice fell as she caught sight of Naomi. Naomi could smell the dirt from the Davis roadside still on her shoes, and her scent was unmistakable. This was the witch who had kidnapped Bryan.

"You!" Naomi growled, her lips curled back from her teeth.

"What?" Jeff asked. The witch tried to slam the door in their faces, but Naomi shoved her foot into the frame and forced it back open.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked. "I brought my friend over to see if you could help her find her cousin."

"No magic required," Naomi said, pushing her way in. "You know just where he is, don't you?"

"What? Your brother? Bryan?"

"How'd you know that?" Aaron asked.

"Exactly the right question, Aaron." Jeff ushered Aaron and Mikey into the house. Then he asked if Naomi knew the witch. The blonde tried to push them out of the house, but two werewolves were too much for her.

"She's the one. I smelled her in Davis and I can smell the dirt on her shoes." Naomi looked the witch up and down, suddenly recognizing her. She blurted, "You came to the gym with Aaron – almost a year ago, when I first started going."

"That's when I knew what you were." Emma glanced at Aaron and Mikey, then at the two wolves. "Are you sure you want to talk about this?" Naomi shrugged, but somehow Jeff and Mikey looked to her. The new alpha.

"I know everything. Bryan's my boyfriend." Aaron's eyes widened curiously.

"Aaron, would you mind waiting in the next room?" Naomi asked. "I – I don't think you'll want to know what were talking about here."

"Excuse me?" He asked, shocked. "I brought you here to my cousin – you have some kind of crazy business with –"

"Listen to the lady," Jeff snarled. Naomi shook her head with a frown. Jeff stopped talking. She could almost get used to this alpha thing, but she'd better be careful. Her mom just assumed everyone would obey, even if she didn't make a lick of sense.

"Aaron, please, there's personal family business at stake here. I – look we have a family secret. Okay? Nothing crazy, but it's something that I'm not comfortable with you knowing. Your cousin figured it out on her own, but… it's a private matter." He didn't look any more reassured, but the witch led him to the living room and turned on the TV.
 

"It's witch stuff, okay cuz?"

Aaron sighed. "It doesn't sound like witch stuff. It sounds real."

"Oh, it's all real, whether or not you believe in it." Emma laughed. "We'll just be in the kitchen. You can even see us. Okay? He nodded, but there were worry lines between his eyebrows and the vein that popped out of his forehead when he lifted heavy was showing. Naomi would've loved to have the power of Mindy's eyes right now to make him just obey. They sat around the kitchen table as he watched from the couch in the next room. His eyes were firmly on them, not on the episode of Entertainment Tonight. Best to keep their voices lowered.

"You're the witch that kidnapped Bryan, aren't you?" Naomi asked.

"He joined us. I didn't kidnap anyone," Emma whispered.

"My ass you didn't," Mikey said. He want with you willingly without coming home to me first? Or even telling me where he was going?"

"We didn't want the community in general knowing what were planning, okay?" Emma chewed her lip before continuing. "Look, you see my sign out there? Never again the burning times?" Naomi nodded. "You know what that means to me? That doesn't mean secrecy. It doesn't mean hiding – or if it does, it means hiding in plain sight. The only way to avoid persecution is to be honest about who we are. To be open!"

"The only reason that works for you is because no one believes. No one believes that you human witches have any power."

"Not for our lack of sharing it." The witch shrugged. "And listen to me. Don't you wish that you could just say, 'hey, it's werewolf stuff, go over there' and he would listen to you? Don't you wish that you didn't have to hide which you are?"

"It wouldn't be safe," Jeff said.

"Bryan disagrees." The witch smiled, irritating Naomi.

"Like hell he does!" Naomi shouted. Aaron stood. Emma waved her hand at him to sit down. Naomi continued quietly, "Your people called me. They said they were going to force him to transform on the Capitol steps before they kill him. Where the hell is he being held?"

"My people? Look, no one's been kidnapped. Well, okay a few murdering vampires maybe, but everyone else is participating of their own free will."

"Where are you keeping my brother?" Naomi asked.

Jeff grabbed the woman's shirt. His temper flared easily because of the moon. "Tell us. No funny business."

Aaron left the living room chair and tried to tackle Jeff.

"Emma!" Jeff didn't budge when the larger man hit him at full speed. He dropped the witch and turned towards Aaron, snarling. His muzzle stretched forward full of sharp teeth, just for a second.

"What the hell are you?" Aaron asked scrambling away. "Naomi, Emma, come on! We have to get away from this freak!"

"That's enough," Naomi said. Jeff backed away slightly, obeying her command. She bit her tongue, her eyes stinging from the insult. "Tell us where he is and we'll leave you alone. You'll never see any of us again."

"There's no need for all of this. Bryan is doing what he wants. Mac and I approached him as he shifted back that morning. He agreed to come with us. He doesn't want to hide anymore." The witch put her hand on Naomi's shoulder. "I don't think you want to either." Jeff took a step closer to her, halfway shifted, snout protruding from his face, dark hair filling in the bare skin. The witch shook her head. "Fine. He's in Ione. One of our people – look, they have a place out there, in the country."

"What's the address?" Naomi asked. The witch gave her an address. "Was that so hard?" Naomi asked.

"Naomi," Emma said as they walked out the door. "You don't have to hide what you are."

Naomi snorted. If only it were that simple.

"D
AMMIT
! W
HERE
ARE
WE
?" J
EFF
punched at his phone which had lost all hope of getting a signal. Naomi groaned. Barely out of Sacramento and they were lost.

"What was the street name she told us?" Jeff asked again. He was trying to get some sort of the signal by holding his phone out the window and tapping at the screen. The car suddenly died. "Why are we stopping?"

"It just died."

##

Mikey aimed the flashlight while Naomi and Jeff stared hopelessly into the engine. "Could it be the battery?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know. Mom and Dad are usually really good with the maintenance stuff. I think we should walk back to the gas station."

"What about Bryan?" Mikey asked.

"We aren't doing any good way the hell out here." Naomi shook her head. "It's like 2am? She just sent us out here to get us out of the way."