Peri considered the few people who might know the answer to her question but decided it would take too long to go and interrogate them all. She’d just have to figure out if her hunch was correct without her usual amount of research. “We’re at this hospital because Sally and Jacque asked me to snatch a nurse who specializes in breast feeding because Jen was having a difficult time. She’s the only female that isn’t pack that has recently been in their suite.”
“But you thought she was human?” Cyn asked.
Peri nodded. “I didn’t sense any magic from her. How is that possible, if she is indeed our kidnapper? I also didn’t sense any evil. Which again begs the question, if she’s who I think she is, how did she slip under my radar?”
“So what are we doing here?”
Peri started rifling through the woman’s desk. “Looking for a home address.” She opened several drawers before finally finding what she needed. “Ah-ha,” Peri said, snatching up an envelope that was addressed to Kimily. “Got it. Follow my trail,” Peri said as she flashed from the room using the address to guide her magic. She knew Cyn would follow the trace magic Peri was leaving behind, and when she appeared in front of the apartment building where Kimily lived, Cyn was only a second behind her.
“We’re doing this the old-fashioned way,” Peri said as she headed for the entrance. They took the elevator to the third floor, as indicated by the address she’d found. When they stepped out, Peri glanced at the door to her left and then the one after that. 301, 303. 302 was across the hall from the first two, which meant Kimily’s would be down that hallway and on the left side of the building.
“As soon as we’re in, you secure the child,” Peri said, operating under the impression that Kimily was definitely their culprit. “No exception. You do nothing else other than grab Thia and get the hell out. Take her straight to her parents. I will deal with the female.”
“I understand,” Cyn said, though it was unnecessary. Peri knew that her comrade would do exactly what she ordered to the letter, which was one of the reasons she had always appreciated working with Cyn. She was predictable. In high risk situations, predictable meant reliable and steadfast. Cyn wouldn’t wavier from her assigned task, and she’d die trying to accomplish her mission.
“Let’s go,” Peri said and then flashed into the apartment. As soon as she reappeared, she saw the bundled, blue baby laying in a basinet. Peri pointed at Thia. “Get her.” Cyn flashed to the child’s side, and as she was reaching for Thia, someone screamed, making a noise like a war cry. A woman leapt at Cyn, swinging a knife as she did so.
“Cyn, go!” Peri roared as she threw her hands out to stop the woman from hitting her mark.
Cyn grabbed Thia and turned her back at the same time, shielding the child. The woman froze in mid-leap. The knife was less than an inch from the fae warrior when Cyn flashed from the room.
Peri stood, staring at the motionless woman. The high fae tried to reign in her emotions. She wanted to obliterate the woman for taking Thia and for daring to harm Cyn, but first, she needed answers.
“You are going to be able to speak in a moment, but you will not be able to move. You are going to answer my questions, and then you are going to accept the sentencing for your crime,” Peri said in calm, emotionless voice. She walked closer to Kimily and took the knife from the woman’s clutched hand. Peri frowned. “A fae blade. Now, where in seven hells did you get a fae blade?” she asked and then flicked her wrist at the woman, lifting the magic that silenced her.
“You have no idea who you are dealing with, Perizada of the fae,” Kimily snarled. She looked completely different from the passive woman they’d abducted from the hospital.
“You’re correct on that point,” Peri agreed. “I thought you were a human. I was wrong which, I might add, rarely happens. So, if you need a pat on the back, that’s the only one you’re worthy of. What are you?” she asked, hoping to confirm what Fane and Vasile had scented. She narrowed her eyes on Kimily and let a little of the glamour that kept her power hidden drop away.
Kimily sucked in a breath as her eyes widened. Now she was beginning to understand just whoshewas dealing with.Not so brave when you aren’t holding a sharp object, are you?Peri thought to herself as she waited for the woman’s answer.
“It doesn’t matter what I am,” she finally said. “I know what my sentencing will be.”
Peri could see in Kimily’s eyes the woman knew she was staring at death. “Youwilldie,” Peri confirmed.
“Will you not have mercy if I tell you why I took the child?”
“Mercy?” Peri snapped. “You took a three-day-old infant from her home. You knowingly put the child at risk of harm, and you think I would grant you mercy? Not even if the child had been nothing to me. But you didn’t just take any child. Not only did you take the child of an alpha wolf, you took the child of a woman I consider family. You took the child who was a miracle to even be alive. You took the child that has been blessed by the Great Luna. There is no mercy for a person who would commit such an atrocity.” Peri clenched her jaw as her eyes bore down on Kimily. “Mercy or not, you will tell me what I want to know, or I will turn your brain to liquid by taking it from your mind. What. Are. You?”
Kimily’s faced grew even paler at Peri’s words. She seemed to come to some sort of decision. “I’m an elf.”
“I sense no magic from you,” Peri said, talking more to herself than Kimily.
“I’ve lived in the human world, as a human, for a very long time. Magic is weak in the human realm. You know if a supernatural is separated from others of her kind she grows weaker.”
“Yes, but still, I should sense at least something,” Peri said and then stepped closer to the elf. “If your magic is so weak, how did you flash, and whose magic did you use to do that nifty trick?”
“That is information you won’t find in my mind because I don’t know. My family was kicked out of a very powerful supernatural organization when I was young because my mom had an affair with an important member. We were considered a disgrace. But when we left, I found a note and a stone waiting for me in my luggage. The note said that one day I would have an opportunity to prove myself loyal to the Order, and the magic within the stone would allow me to flash twice. The note said to use it wisely. You led me to my opportunity. What better way to prove myself than to hand them the first Canis lupus infant born in nearly two decades? I only had to wait until one of their people checked up on me, as they do frequently. I have no way to contact them.”
“How long did you say you’ve lived in the human realm?” Peri asked. “And wait, did you say the Order? I’m pretty sure that’s not what you said, right?”
“I didn’t say how long. I simply said a long time, and you heard correctly,” Kimily answered.
Peri shook her head. “No. There is no such thing. Not anymore.”
“Why would you say that? Just because you haven’t heard about them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
“I say that because I helped destroy them,” Peri snarled.
