“I cannot find her either,” Aurelia flatly stated.
“Fuck.” I rarely heard Pops utter such a crass curse. Thick palms landing on the map, Pops leaned over it, blocking out the roads and highways. His chest heaved, his breaths heavy.
I desperately wanted to believe Momma was okay. “Maybe she’s just not somewhere close by. I could get another map.” I’d only chosen a local one. “I’ve got a whole atlas in the closet. I’ll get it and—”
“It won’t help.” I’d never heard Pops sound so damn wounded. “If she wasn’t somewhere on this map, the crystal would have pointed in the general direction off the map. It didn’t so much as budge.”
Icy fear dug its claws deep into my soul. If Pops couldn’t find her then…
“Is she…?” I couldn’t say the words. I didn’t even want to think them. Worse than that, I couldn’t even help. “I can’t search for her if I don’t have a body. I need…” I felt like I might be hyperventilating. Elbows on my thighs, I grasped my head, pulling at my hair. Pops’s fingers met mine, gently pulling my hands away.
“You’ll hurt yourself.” For such a large and formidable individual, when it came to me, Pops had the gentlest of souls. “It’s not what you think. Even dead, I’d still be able to find your momma.”
My head snapped up, and fragile hope pulled my flailing pieces back together. “She’s alive then?”
“I…” Pops hedged. “I can’t say that for certain. Neither Aurelia nor I can find your momma, Erasmus. Do you understand what that means?”
I wasn’t certain I had before, but I thought I did now. “Something’s blocking you.” Anger began wedging away the misery. “Or someone.”
Pops gave a slow nod. “That is my fear. No one knows what a shadow borne is truly capable of. I don’t know how he could do this, but that would be my guess. A brownie could block your momma from my vision.”
“A brownie? But why?” I asked.
Pops shook his head. “No idea. And it wouldn’t be like them. The only other possibility I can think of is that your momma has been taken to Fairy. I couldn’t track her there, and I doubt Aurelia could either.”
“Warlock Holland is correct, at least where my abilities lay. Fairy is another dimension. The magic there works differently. I do not understand how, only that it does.”
“One must be invited into Fairy,” Pops tried to clarify, “and no one in this room has been issued that kind of invitation.” Standing to his full height, Pops stared at the useless map. “But I can’t imagine your momma is there.”
“I could ask Ray,” I quickly offered. “He might know.”
Pops gave another slow nod. “It would be worth checking on, if only to completely eliminate the possibility.”
My legs were shaky when I stood, ready to hunt down my phone. The clock on the stove caught my attention, the time much later than before. I’d been so distracted that I hadn’t realized a very important fact.
“Franklin’s not here yet.” I found my phone, woke it up, and saw that I had no new messages.
“When was he supposed to be home?” Pops asked, fresh concern hardening his words.
I swallowed thickly. “Twenty minutes ago, give or take five.” Phone still in hand, I turned to Aurelia. “You said you just saw him and he was fine. Where was he?”
“Driving. Your mate was very vocal when I arrived.”
Considering Aurelia had a bad habit of popping in unannounced, I could easily imagine Franklin’s response.
“He pulled the vehicle to a stop, so we could converse.” Aurelia’s fingers found Fuzzy Britches’s fur and began combing through it. The scuttlebutt vibrated, and a gentle hum emanated from her round body. It would have been soothing if not for current events.
“Do you know how long you spoke?”
Aurelia’s answering shrug was more than frustrating. “Time is—”
“Inconsequential, I know.” I blew out a deep breath while attempting to calm my racing brain and heart. “I’ll give him a call and—”
“I cannot locate Franklin O’Hare.” Aurelia’s coldly calm announcement froze the blood in my veins.
“What did you say?” My voice sounded like little more than ground glass.
Aurelia’s Caribbean blue eyes flared briefly before they settled into their normal hue. “I thought to check on your mate’s whereabouts. As with Lydia Boone, I am no longer able to locate Franklin O’Hare.”
