‘Loki,’ I said to my familiar as I moved towards the garage where Channing’s car waited. ‘I need you airborne. Be my eyes and ears. My aerial support.’
He puffed his chest out and nodded. ‘I fly,’ he said and launched himself into the air. The bond between us was somehow more prominent than it usually was at rest. Both of us were more aware of the other and holding the bond tight, aware of the impending danger.
I hoped he couldn’t sense that I was trying to keep him out of the way, out of Jingo’s reach. He’d kidnapped my caladrius before, and I wasn’t giving him a second chance.
I slid into Channing’s car and let him get behind the wheel. The atmosphere in the car was tense and heavy. We both knew we were driving willingly into a trap, but Jingo didn’t know the full depth of my power. Didn’t know I was a sub-wizard, didn’t know I had a car full of ogres behind me, and didn’t know about the deadly contact poison in my left ankle holster.
He was expecting me, and he was expecting a fight, but he wasn’t prepared for the depth of it – or so I hoped.
Next to me, Channing’s arms were locked stiff and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.
‘We’ll be okay,’ I promised.
‘It’s Kate I’m worried about,’ he admitted. ‘She’s a good person.’
‘She is. She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure of it.’
We fell silent. The engine noise was loud and the road was too open. I felt naked, exposed. There was a reason why they’d got us on this particular route; they had eyes on us every step of the way, and that didn’t feel good.
‘It’s too quiet,’ Channing muttered.
‘Keep your eyes open. We aren’t just driving into a trap; we’re driving through one.’
Channing’s jaw tightened but he said nothing else. Just kept driving, body rigid with fear and tension. I didn’t blame him one bit. My own stomach was churning, fear for Kate riding high. If Jingo had hurt her …
I looked in the rear-view mirror to steady myself. Behind us, far enough back to look like strangers, was Robbie’s Land Rover. I only caught it when we turned and headlights arced in the rear-view mirror for half a second before dropping back.
Robbie. Ivan. Maktel. Hanlon. A car full of trouble.Mytrouble.
I appreciated the backup that I hoped Jingo wouldn’t see coming.
Loki circled high above us, a small white shape against the bruised sky, wings slicing the air. Through our bond, I felt his tension like a taut wire between us, felt his focus and anger and, yes, a little of his fear. Overriding that was a sharp protective urge that warmed me. It was nice to have someone who cared so much.
We were close. The route had taken us deliberately out of Chester and into the countryside, but now we were a few minutes out from Kate’s house, if that. It wouldn’t be long until we rolled into suburbia.
Kate’s street was in the nice part of town, where the houses had neat gardens and expensive cars and people who didn’t know that monsters were real, let alone that they lived amongst us.
Channing glanced at me. ‘Kate’s going to be all right, right?’
He knew I couldn’t answer that question any more than he could. I had a lot of powers, but seer heritage wasn’t among them. All the same, I nodded. ‘We’ll see to it that she is.’
And if Kate wasn’t already dead, we’d fight the devil himself to keep her alive.
I should have asked Reed for proof of life. Stupid. A stupid mistake. My emotions were ruling me and they had no place here. I did my best to set them aside.
The silence came back, thick and uncomfortable. I let it remain. We were both in our own heads, counting down the moments until we arrived at the house that only days ago had been the crime scene that kicked all of this off.
I was thinking of that scene when Loki’s mind slammed into mine.
A man in field! Device!
A jolt of fear shot down my spine as he sent the image to accompany his words.
It wasn’t a photograph, but an aerial snapshot, sharper than any camera, more visceral.
A lone field to our left, dead winter grass flattened and muddy. One man standing too still in the open, hood up.
In his hands: something black and boxy with wires.
