Maddy excused herself as I talked over the details with Javi. When we were done, I dropped my phone and simply sat for a while. I couldn’t stop thinking about how Maddy was takingthis. Her fears about having a baby had to have skyrocketed with the news of the fresh attacks, and hers and her wolf’s emotions were fluctuating from the pregnancy hormones. I could smell the changes taking place within her. I needed to find Viola and end this, but how? Even with every government scouring the planet for her, there’d been no success. Not even a whisper of her whereabouts.
But I knew the one person who might know something.
I dialed Donatello’s number, and he answered on the first ring.
“Nico, how are things? I trust you, and yours are safe?”
“I am, yes… I mean, we are.”
“Fantastic. I know things have gotten rather intense today. Abi, as sweet a girl as she is, has almost tread on my last nerve with questions. Every hour she’s back at my door, demanding to know more. It really is tiresome.”
I winced in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Don. If it’s too much with her there, we can work out something else.”
Donatello huffed a dismissive laugh. “Nico, you shame me. I’m not so fragile as to break at the incessant questions of a young lady. No, she’s fine. Now, let’s get to the point of this little call. You want info on Viola’s location, do you not?”
That caught me off guard. Whenever I dealt with Donatello, I always had the faint but nagging feeling that he had everything figured out before any of us had even managed to start thinking.
“Well… yes, actually. How did you?— ”
“No time, dear Nico. I’ll go ahead and get into what my and my associates’ teams have worked on.
“First, we’ve had the world’s pre-eminent cybersecurity experts trying to trace Viola’s location. You’ve seen the little ‘interviews’ she’s been doing on different media outlets? Always from some unknown location that no one can recognize?”
Gritting my teeth, I nodded to myself. “Yeah. I’ve seen them.”
“Dressed for the cameras in guerilla uniform, no less. If the bitch is one thing, she’s committed to the show. Well, these videos are coming from somewhere, but her team is doing a fantastic job preventing a trace. She’s using dozens of shadow servers and mimicked IP addresses. The last interview traced back to the International Space Station of all places. I’m one hundred percent certain that’s not where she is.” Donatello chuckled to himself.
“Damn. So, there’s still nothing? No trace at all?”
“Not actionable, no. There are rumors of someone with lots of money buying weapons on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia, but that could be any rich, wannabe terrorist or drug kingpin. My people are also running down leads on a rumor of a mysterious woman running some sort of cult-like compound near Guanshan in Taiwan, but I don’t hold out hope for that one.
“Our teams are on it. I’ll make sure you’re the first to know if we find anything. I promise you, Nico. Also, I think congratulations are in order, are they not?”
His question tugged me out of the depressive spiral I had been about to go in. Coming back to reality, I managed to speak. “What? Oh, shit, yeah. Yes, I guess so. How’d you find out?”
“Abi. She was at my door five minutes after getting off the phone with Maddy. She says lovely Miss Sutton is a bit of an emotional mess over it, though. Fear of the unknown, perhaps?”
I grunted noncommittally. “She’s terrified Viola will find out and use it against her. It pisses me off because this should be a really happy time, but this situation has ruined it.”
“My friend, never let the evils of the world drain away your joy. I promise you this, in the times of the greatest darkness, a sliver of light can change everything. Babies were born in the ghettos of the Holocaust. They were born during the Great Shifter Purge of the twelve-hundreds. Children have entered the world during every great tragedy. That is what God does—hegrants us moments of blessed happiness to get us through the bleakest of days. Never forget that, and when your child is born, hold them tight, raise them high, and remember what you fight for.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. I wiped them away and laughed. “You know, Donatello, if you hadn’t become a billionaire, you could have been a poet.”
“Ugh, perish the thought. I like poetry, but… Lamborghinis are really fun.”
After talking some more, we hung up. I’d hoped the call would ease my worries, but it didn’t. Viola still being a ghost in the wind, irritated me more than I’d thought possible. I was becoming antsy. I loved my pack lands, but it was becoming claustrophobic. Being unable to go out and do what needed to be done made me feel helpless.
I was trying not to feel sorry for myself when it hit me. A small change, but noticeable. Almost like a surge or push on the pack lands. I was more in tune with the land since my experience, and this did not seem natural.
Thundering footsteps rushed down the stairs, and Sinthy burst into the living room, her eyes wide with panic.
“The wards! Someone is trying to tamper with them.”
I was on my feet in an instant. “What? Are you sure?”
She nodded and scrunched her face in concentration. After a few moments, she shivered. “It’s wrong. All wrong.”
“What’s wrong, Sinthy? Is it Viola? Is she here?” Dread flooded through me. If she was here in broad daylight, she must have been very confident she’d win.
