Alex said, “The car with the tracker spent a lot of time at a vacation property in Barataria.”
Barataria, again.
I knew Barataria. I’d had battles there. It was a good place to hide people, things.
“Did they know we’d be at the church?” Eli demanded of Alex. “If so, how? The comms set lost by Long-Knife was disconnected from the channels we use. Did they get around your block and track us via comms?”
“There is zero indication of that. The comms set has such a low charge I can’t ping it at all now.”
I wasn’t satisfied, but the Kid knew his stuff. “Where’s Quint?” I asked.
“She’s behind you in the SUV. Why? You suspect her?” Alex asked.
“No. I want someone back at the church, watching to see when the witches leave, and then going inside to look for cameras. Specifically solar-powered cams with transmitters. Brute was acting weird when we got there, sniffing up high, as if he smelled something. Or someone. Maybe a random someone who had reconnoitered the church just before we arrived. If they were watching the sanctuary last night, they’d have shown up then but they didn’t. They showed up today.” I tilted my head side to side, weighing it all. “Maybe we triggered something and they sent magic bombs through to crush us, but the roof didn’t fall in. I don’t know. Something’s off.”
Alex said, “So, say they found out you went to the church last night, and after you left, they showed up and opened the transport witch circle, maybe set up cameras to monitor future visits. Waiting on you to show up again and lead them to the key, or maybe take it from you if you already had it. If it was cameras, they’d have had just enough time to open the witch circle in the yard, send through some magical bombs, and then attack. The timing is off but not by much. Or maybe there’s another reason for them to show up at the church.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay. Like I said. Something’s off.”
Eli said, “There’s enough ambient light to keep a battery charged for a few days to operate a motion-sensor camera.”
“I’ll send a team to check,” Alex said. “Quint has other jobs. Head to Barataria, bro.”
“The queen will not go,” Bruiser said softly.
I swiveled my head to my honeybunch, my eyes narrowing. “What did you say? I thought that keep-Jane-safe thing was all settled.”
“Angie arrived at the airport, and our queen was attacked. Angie was at HQ and our queen was attacked. Angie was here and our enemies attacked. Angie may be part of their plan, My Queen. Angie and you, taken together or killed together. Perhaps it doesn’t matter to the Heir which way it all goes, kidnapping or death.”
“Angie...” Angie and EJ had been kidnapped more than once by bad guys who recognized their power, without even knowing why they were so special. If Mainet had scryers, the Heir might have more information about them than I had thought.
Implacable, reasonable, Bruiser continued. “Barataria is where Angie saw a vision, my love. Barataria was Immanuel’s hideout. Everything leads back to Immanuel and the distant past. And perhaps our enemies know that Angie has ties to the angel whom they have partially chained. That means Barataria might be a trap. We need to recon. You need to be safe. You and Angie.”
Before I could respond Eli said, “It’s only humans for this reconnaissance, on enemy territory, against enemy humans and witches. We’re at a disadvantage. And our people’s lives could suffer keeping you safe, when we only need to look around.”
I said a bad word, like a really bad word, as Bruiser pulled over and braked hard. He got out and opened my door. Fuming, I got out too and walked—stomped is more like it—to the SUV being driven by Shemmy, Quint riding shotgun. I got in the back seat and Quint and Shemmy pulled into traffic, heading back to HQ. I thought that bad word all the way back to safety, remembering the time my mouth got washed out with soap back when I was being housed at the Christian children’s home.
***
Using Alex’s drones, the recon team located the tagged SUV abandoned in a parking lot behind a big-box homeand garden store. The drone’s cameras showed little cover and no sign of a circle of disturbed damp ground, churned and muddy—no witch transport circle.
Alex had gone in person with Eli to Barataria and sent up more drones to look for our enemies, then to look for a boat and a house foundation under the shallow waters of the Gulf. They had found two options but nothing definitive. The Gulf was churned up from a storm hanging off the coast, and visibility below the surface was low.
My team had talked through all the options and created a plan of action with lots of potential variables. I hadn’t been included in that planning stage. I hadn’t even been notified when they returned to their various stations for armor and weapons. Nor had I been notified when the team watching the church reported that the witches and their humans had departed through the circle in the yard. Nor that our people discovered two small solar-powered Wi-Fi cameras in the church.
Nope. I had been relegated to Auntie Jane duties, all safe and secure. Cassy was doing nothing but making cooing noises as she was passed from one older blood-servant to another for cuddles while her mother watched in amusement. I sicced the older kids on Gee in the gym and watched them for several hours as they abused his delicate sensibilities. Then I made Deon feed us homemade pizza and PB&J sandwiches. The entire time, I itched to be elsewhere and busy. But I was the queen, to be trotted out only for battles and ceremony.
At one point while Gee was adjusting Angie’s arm and sword position, Beast thought at me,Jane is acting like mewling kit after teat.
Are you accusing me of whining?
Beast’s tail flicked slightly as she considered my question and then turned away.Jane iswhininglike kit after teat.
I was insulted for the thirty seconds it took me to realize she was right. I was moderately ashamed of myself, so I picked a couple humans to spar with me, and got in a good sweaty workout without hurting them too much. After a little violent activity I felt better.
Some people gardened to feel better. I beat people up.
Now, after a meal and a nice shower, and with sunset an hour away, Eli and Alex had narrowed down the location of the missing headset by pinging the nearly dead device from the drones. Pretty nifty. The headset was in Barataria. Natch. They had triangulated the headset location with the two potential boat/foundation sites and narrowed it to one set of coordinates. A small house on the Gulf.
