“No. But she is wanted for tampering with a crime scene. If we find her, I’ll strip her of her powers and let her go to trial, rotting in jail like any old human.”
“But this Trent guy?”
I swallow hard. “He needs to be stopped. He has no magic of his own, and has relied on charms and potions, but he’s much older than he appears thanks to some sort of youth elixir. If he was arrested and thrown in jail, it would only be a matter of time before he aged fifty years or more, and everyone would know something is up.”
“I’ll take care of him, Ace,” Hasan assures me. “You’ve never killed a human. Let’s keep it that way.”
Nodding, I push myself up a bit more. “We need a plan.”
“You get the kids, I’ll deal with that fucker Trent.”
“That’s the plan?” I hike my eyebrows. “Where is the plan in the plan?”
“No need to overcomplicate things. Can you stand?”
“Yeah.” I let him help me to my feet. “What are the others doing?”
“Waiting for orders.”
I let out a small sigh of relief. It’s busy enough down there on the street in front of the building that no one should get suspicious of them. It’s still early, too early for the businesses to open just yet, but I know dedicated employees will come through the doors below soon enough. I don’t want them to get mixed up in the carnage.
“Tell me everything you know about this place,” Hasan says as he looks around the room. “What happened in here?”
“I kind of set it on fire.” I make a face and shrug. “This is Mr. Trent’s office. There’s a hidden staircase behind the bookshelf that takes you upstairs to what I’m guessing is a living room. It looks like Mr. Trent has been living in the penthouse on the top floor for some time as he investigated me. The other magical children are in a room up there as well. Rachel is trying to get them all together so they can cast a protection spell on the space to protect themselves while I take out Trent.”
“Is he alone?”
“There’s at least one armed guard and a butler-slash-guard, but he’s currently unconscious because I took his energy. He might wake up soon and tell Mr. Trent that I’m not dead.”
Hasan looks at me incredulously. “You’ve been busy.”
“Just a little. Oh, and I also might have found out that Mr. Trent was the one who killed my parents, not a demon.”
Hasan’s dark eyes widen. “Should I say I’m sorry? Is that the right thing to say?”
“Yeah, but don’t be. Because if it’s true, I’m getting my revenge.”
Hasan’s lips curve into a smile. “You will.”
“Okay…” I take a step away from Hasan and move to the desk. My head is spinning. Closing my eyes and slowly letting out a breath, I give myself a few seconds before reaching for the notebook and drawing a map. “There’s a good chance this isn’t the right layout of the place. I was also drugged and knocked out for a decent amount of my time here.” I tap the pen on the paper. “But I think this is where Jac is. Now we just need a reason to get you here.” Chewing on my lip, I move over to the hidden staircase and push on the shelves, making the door slide back again. Hasan won’t fit with his wings, but he moves in and tips his head up.
“I can hear them. Jacques is still there. He…he doesn’t have wings?”
I shake my head. “He’s completely human.”
A line of worry forms between Hasan’s eyes. Jacques is completely human…and completely vulnerable.
“After the curse broke, you could still sense me, right?”
“Right. It was as if you summoned us again.”
“But I didn’t, so…this might be a long shot.”
“What might be?”
“Trying to send you all a message. Telepathically.”
“What do you want to send?”
