“That’s why you’ve got to go, be on your best behavior, and bring gifts to try to buy their affection. Come on, do I have to explain everything around here?” I took a big bite. “Mmm, and bring cookies with you. Treat Maggie like the queen she is and you’ll win them over.”
The personal flames disappeared and his shoulders lost some of their tension. “I’ll think about it. Go away now.”
“Message received,” I said, grabbing another cookie before heading out to the bar.
Owen was brewing a pot of tea, and I could see Meri in the bookstore helping one of the wicches find a book. I walked through the tables, picking up empties with my free hand, while I used the other to hold my cookie.
Owen stared at said cookie, his brow furrowed. “Where did you find that?”
I pointed at the kitchen with my elbow. “They’re peanut butter chocolate chip and they are excellent. Here, take the empties in and grab yourself one. They’re on the counter on the right.” When I finished loading a tray with cups and glasses, Owen took it in to load the dishwasher and grab a snack.
I filled Grim’s tankard of mead, delivered the pot of tea to the wicches by the window, and wiped down the bar while I waited for Owen. He came back a few minutes later, biting into a big cookie but looking back over his shoulder.
He sidled up beside me and whispered, “What’s going on with Dave? He’s more ragey than normal.”
“He’s okay,” I told him. “He’s just got personal junk going on. Speaking of personal junk, can you give me Alec’s phone number?” I pulled out my phone and scrolled through contacts. “Yeah. I don’t have it.”
Owen pulled out his own phone and sent me the contact info. “What’s up? What do you need Alec for?”
I glanced around, not wanting to share this with the bar in general. I waved Owen to come along with me, and we went to the stairs and climbed a few before sitting on them. We were in that weird in-between space. We weren’t in the bar, but we also weren’t above ground. Sounds were muffled here.
“I have some news to share with him.” I handed Owen my phone. “Call him and keep the phone to your ear. That way we can all hear.”
He did. It rang twice and then, “Hey, Sam.”
“Hi, Alec. Can you hear me okay?”
“Sure. You sound a little distant, but I can hear you,” he said.
“Okay, cool. Owen is holding my phone so he can hear too. I haven’t been given permission to tell you this, but whatever. I found out information last night that might relate to Jade.”
Owen sat up straight, staring at me while he kept the phone at his ear.
“Apparently, there is a family of black jaguars in the Amazon rainforest. They are the ruling shifters in that area. The daughter of the leader, or Rei, was stolen twenty-two years ago. She was only three or four years old, and her name was Rafaela. The family is grief-stricken and has been looking for her ever since she disappeared.
“The local vampires were questioned, but they swore they had nothing to do with it. It’s possible they didn’t. If she was stolen and trafficked, they may have found her later. We don’t know. The vampires are going back to check the stories they’ve been told.”
Owen let out a deep breath.
“Now, if Jade is Rafaela and she really was stolen that young, she may not recognize that name or even remember how to shift. I thought I remembered one of you telling me she’d been caged and chained with silver. If they kept her from shifting for so long, she might not remember how or even that she has another form.”
“And what’s the language acquisition of a three-year-old?” Owen asked. “She may not be fluent in any language.”
“She understands me,” Alec protested. “I know she does.”
“Twenty-two years,” Owen whispered, his eyes closing. “Poor Jade.”
“If it’s her,” I said. “We don’t know for sure if our Jade is connected to this stolen Rafaela, but my gut says she is.”
Owen nodded.
“Hang on,” Alec said. “She’s out on the patio, watching the waves.”
We heard him moving and then the sound of the ocean got louder. “Hey,” he said. “I’m on the phone with Owen and Sam. She told me a story.” He paused and then asked, “Do you know the name Rafaela?”
She made a series of low roars that sounded like a chainsaw.
“No. Wait. It’s okay,” he said to her. “I’ll call you back,” he said to us before the line went dead.
