“Damnit,” I cursed while waiting for the prompt to leave a message. When it came, my words were curt. “Holland, call me as soon as you get this. I’m hoping nothing’s wrong, but Ms. Boone may be missing. We need to find her ASAP. Also, I don’tthink Boone knows yet.” Hesitance entered my voice for the first time. “Aurelia alerted me there might be a problem.” I hit the end button.
Wading through my spinning thoughts was like mucking through a swamp. I was too damn tired to think straight. The days of running on empty had caught up, and I couldn’t seem to hold on to a thought long enough to form a plan of action.
One thing was for certain. I needed to get home to Boone. Hitting my indicator light, I eased back out on the road when there was a break in traffic. “Aurelia, would you mind heading to Boone’s house, just to keep an eye on him? I’ll be there soon, and we can hopefully tell him together. Maybe he knows where his momma is, but I’d like to be there in case…in case there’s something wrong.” I swallowed hard. Nothing could happen to Lydia. Losing her would devastate Boone. And not just him. Lydia was a well-loved individual.
When I glanced at the passenger’s seat again, Aurelia was gone. I had no idea if she’d done as asked or if she’d fucked off to who knows where. What I did know was that none of this sounded good. Maybe nothing was wrong, and Aurelia and I were overreacting. While I hoped that was true, it would be foolish to hang my hat on the thought. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. They were words to live by as far as I was concerned.
The best-case scenario was that Lydia had forgotten and gotten tied up somewhere else. But if that were truly what was going on, then Aurelia should be able to find her. I didn’t need to understand how Aurelia’s magic worked to know what not being able to locate Ms. Boone meant.
If something had happened to her, then chances were good it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill human-on-human shitshow. I couldn’t imagine what kind of power would be required to hide someone from a djinn.
My hand slammed on the steering wheel. Why hadn’t Holland called me back yet? Boone’s pops’s phone was attached to his hip these days. He was so worried about his son that he didn’t want to be out of communication reach. That courtesy fell to me as well.
I turned off the main road, winding my way toward what wasn’t just Boone’s home, but mine as well. I was less than two blocks away when my vehicle bucked, grinding to a halt. The engine revved, pushing against whatever stopped me.
“What the hell?” I pressed down on the gas, revving the engine more. It was like something gripped the wheels and—
“Oh my God.” Shadows swamped me and blocked out the sun, wrapping me in its murky darkness. My head tilted back as I gasped for air, the oily blackness inching up my body, covering my head and eyes and finally my mouth and nose. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.
Darkness was all I knew.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Erasmus
Aurelia was acting cagey, which was saying something. Her eyes kept flicking around the kitchen. I was at the stove, making mac and cheese. It was a little early for dinner, but Franklin had texted earlier letting me know he was on his way home for the day. I’d grab some smoked sausage and add it to the mix. It wasn’t the best meal, but it would tide us over until later.
Her scuttlebutt (Gaia, that sounded wrong and right all at the same time) seemed content on Aurelia’s shoulder. I’d yet to see the little thing’s eyes. It always seemed to be asleep. Fuzzy Britches’s tail was wrapped around Aurelia’s left bicep. Despite her slumber, that tail appeared tightly wound. I wondered if Aurelia would consider a different name for her scuttlebutt as I absent-mindedly stirred the orange powder into the noodles.
I’d thought of making a double batch, but Phlox was currently asleep—or I thought he was. He’d disappeared back into the spare bedroom with Leon not long after Ray left. Phlox was still mumbling to himself about pompous fairies. I had to admit, Phlox was a creative curser.
There were a multitude of reasons I was thrilled Franklin was on his way home, not the least of which was how utterly bored Iwas. I’d officially placed my necromancy business on hold. I still planned to be available to law enforcement, but I didn’t want to take on anymore private jobs until this thing with Huxley was settled.
I had no idea what lengths Tenzen might go to and didn’t want to place anyone else in harm’s way. Considering we didn’t think he could get to me in my home, it made sense he’d make a play while I was out and about. Most of those incidents would be job-related.
Since I didn’t want to lead Tenzen to any other necromancers, I’d placed my search for them on hold also. I went from being crazy busy to sitting on my ass with nothing more to do than worry. That was not a conducive way to live a full and long life. I already felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
I’d called Momma, but that had gone to voicemail. I really did want to talk to her about her little meet-cutes with Aurelia. Not that Momma would listen to me regarding how dangerous Aurelia could be. Momma wasn’t a fool. It wasn’t naïveté that had her inviting Aurelia into her home. As Momma had said time and time again, Aurelia was Aurelia, and she would do what she wanted. There wasn’t a thing in the world anyone but Peaches could do to stop her.
“It has an interesting odor,” Aurelia said as she moved a step closer. “I am uncertain if it is pleasant or not.” Her nose wrinkled as she took another whiff. Given that reaction, I doubted she found it appealing.
“Some people love it, and others don’t.” I shrugged. “Momma’s not much of a cook, and I was practically raised on box mac and cheese. I think I turned out okay.” I shot Aurelia a grin over my shoulder, but that grin faltered. Aurelia’s eyes grew shifty. If there was one thing Aurelia had never had an issue with, it was making eye contact.
Turning down the heat on the stove, I set the mac and cheese to simmer simply to keep it warm. I was a little surprised Franklin wasn’t home yet. Turning, I leaned my hip on the counter. I’d had enough. It was time to confront the djinn. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Aurelia answered a little too quickly. She still wouldn’t look at me. Instead, her eyes tracked to the door, as if she was watching and waiting for someone.
That thought made my heart race. “Did something happen to Franklin? Is he—”
“Your mate is fine.”
Adrenaline still riding high, I whispered, “Thank Gaia.” My heart wouldn’t settle, and I gripped the fabric over it, tightening my fingers. “There for a minute, I thought…” I didn’t even want to contemplate those thoughts.
“I saw your mate only a few moments ago. He was well at that time.”
I started to nod, but then Aurelia’s words caught up to me. “Why did you see Franklin?”
