He whirls around, brown eyes flashing with anger. For a man without powers, he sure is intimidating. Striding back to his desk, he opens a drawer and pulls out a skeleton key. He goes to the bookshelf and picks up a plain black box, setting it on his desk. He unlocks the box and pulls out a pair of antique handcuffs. Something is engraved in the metal, but I’m not close enough to read what it says.
“Turn around,” Mr. Trent tells Rachel.
“Is this really necessary, sir?” Charles asks, twitching as he tries not to move forward.
“She had a job and she failed.” Mr. Trent puts the handcuffs on Rachel and the inscription glows for a moment. “To your room. No food or water for a day.” He waves his hand in the air, dismissing them both. “Bring me the boy.”
I jolt awake, heart racing, and spring up. Feeling a little disoriented, I rub my eyes and take a deep breath. Did I just channel something? It wouldn’t be the first time I saw through another witch’s eyes. If what I saw is true, then Mr. Trent did indeed take the missing children.
And he has more than just Rachel.
“Shit,” I mumble, scrambling up and into the kitchen. I recognize the view of downtown Philly, and it wasn’t from the Ritz. I open my computer, drumming my fingers on the table as Google Maps load. I do a quick search, looking down at the city from a satellite view. It doesn’t take long to narrow down locations, though I can’t be sure between two buildings. One is a fancy apartment complex, and the other is right next door and houses offices.
The room I saw was an office, but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily the office building, especially with Mr. Trent telling Rachel to go to her room.
“New game plan,” I say out loud, opening a Word doc. I quickly type out a note for the guys, hit print, and tape it to the inside of the basement door.
I’m not going to do anything stupid, but I need to check out these buildings in the daylight. That way we’ll be ready to bust in, guns blazing. Because that boy would only be sixteen. He’s still a child.
And who knows who else Mr. Trent has in there…or what he’s planning to do with them. I call Gemma and jump when her phone vibrates behind me. Dammit. She left it on the counter. I leave her a message anyway, assuming she’ll check her phone as soon as she’s home.
“Hey, Gem,” I start. “I think I found where Mr. Trent is holed up. I’m not going in or anything, but I need to narrow down one of two buildings and then I’ll be back. I’m outlining the house with salt and doing the protection spell once more just in case. See ya later.”
I put my phone in my purse and grab the can of salt. Since we’re running low, I try to use it sparingly. I add a few crystals for extra oomph and gather herbs for a protection spell, setting them all out on the counter just in case.
“Okay,” I say to myself as I tighten the laces on my boots. I use the bathroom, grab a bottle of water, and head out. Clouds start to cover the sun, but we’re still hours away from sunset. I get in my car and tear down the driveway, turning onto the street. I turn off my road and onto another country road, this one a little busier than the rural one my house is on, but it still doesn’t have much traffic. A few roads run perpendicular to it, with stop signs on their end, not mine.
Usually, I’m always aware of what other cars are doing, but right now I’m too distracted to realize the truck barreling down the crossroad isn’t slowing down. And I don’t notice until it’s too late.
