Jono tried to keep his breathing steady as he and Sage made their way outside, on edge after everything that had happened. They made it to her Bugatti, and Jono got behind the wheel so she could keep her attention on Wade. He had to shove the seat back to make room for his legs, but after a couple of seconds of adjustments, he started the engine and got on the road. Sage synced her mobile to the car’s Bluetooth, letting Wade’s voice filter through the speakers.
“Are you at the PCB yet?” Jono asked.
“Yeah, I’m waiting,” Wade said.
“We should report the kidnapping to the PCB,” Sage said.
“I’m pretty sure the attorney guy is already doing that. I left him at the office, and he’d already called the cops.”
“Did the US attorney leave with Hades and Andras?”
“The demon did. I think. She was passed out on her desk when I left.”
They couldn’t be sure, but neither was it Jono’s problem to worry about right now. He was holding on to his ability to think by the thinnest of threads when all he wanted to do was tear through the streets until he bit into Estelle’s throat.
Sage kept Wade occupied while Jono tried not to hit anyone as he drove them home, ignoring the speed limit as much as possible. They weren’t pulled over by sheer luck, and Jono double-parked out front, surprised there weren’t any reporters waiting for them. Maybe the gargoyles had scared them off, or not wanting to be collateral damage in a werecreature civil war.
“Wade, we’re here. Grab the book Patrick brought back from DC and come down,” Jono said.
“Uh, sure,” Wade said.
He finally ended the call, and Sage opened the side door to get out so Wade would have an easier time crawling into the back seat. “Where are we going?”
Jono stabbed at his mobile, calling Lucien. “Ginnungagap.”
He disconnected the mobile from the Bluetooth, pressing it to his ear. It only took five rings before Carmen picked up the line.
“We made it clear the daylight hours are not our problem when it comes to your packs,” Carmen said.
“Andras and Hades took Patrick. Make it your fucking problem and meet us at Ginnungagap,” Jono growled before ending the call.
Wade barreled out of the front door to the apartment building, clutching the spell book to his chest. He scrambled into the back seat, long legs kicking the seat as he twisted to get situated. Sage climbed back inside, and Jono stepped on the gas the second the door shut.
“You know this thing is made with human skin? It’s gross,” Wade said, thrusting the spell book between the two front seats and waving it back and forth.
“We’re aware,” Sage said.
“Are we giving it to Ashanti?”
“She’ll get it if she helps us out,” Jono said.
He didn’t know what spells were contained in the bloody thing, but whatever she’d written down and forgotten over the years had to be worth something. Yes, she might have needed Patrick for a spell to track Hannah, but Jono was willing to wager there were other spells inside that book she wanted back.
He wasn’t sure what price she’d demand for it, or if she’d help them without demanding payment. Jono wasn’t taking any chances, not with Patrick’s life on the line.
His rage had settled into an icy fury that left him eerily focused in two directions—the meeting they were driving toward, and the soulbond. He kept reaching for that tie to Patrick, hoping that it would reveal his location, but the emptiness at the end spoke of interference or distance he couldn’t push past.
Losing his temper would help no one, least of all Patrick.
Estelle did her absolute best to break him when she rang.
“Don’t answer,” Sage said when he picked his mobile up from the cup holder in the center console.
Jono ignored her and answered anyway, resyncing the mobile to the Bluetooth with a tap of his thumb. “You realize you signed your death sentence by taking Patrick.”
“You should have kept a better eye on your weak spot,” Estelle said, with none of Andras in her voice.
“Like you did Youssef? Heard you couldn’t off the bloke yourself. Had to get someone else to dirty their hands for you. Bloody typical of you and the way you run things, but you won’t be running them much longer.”
