“There isn’t.” I stood up, handing Aspen to her while I packed up the diaper bag. Once I’d gotten everything in it, I looped it over my shoulders and took him back. “There can’t be.”
“Who are you trying to convince?” she asked, not letting go of him until I met her dark-brown gaze.
“You, obviously,” I scoffed, dismissing her. “We both know why nothing can ever happen there.” I swallowed thickly before I asked the next question. “Why? Has something changed?”
“It doesn’t work like that.” She shook her head, and that sinking feeling I’d had since she’d first told me her vision started up all over again. “Even if it did, I told you I learned my lesson about sharing what I saw last time.” She spun me around toward the garage door and gave me a light shove.
“Sure I can’t convince you to come with us?” I called out over my shoulder.
“I really need to get some contracts drawn up.” She pulled out her phone, typing up a text and sending it off. Then she shifted her attention, giving me a slight smile. “Otherwise, I’d be there in a heartbeat.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, watching the door open in front of me and loving the fact that I didn’t have to free my hands of Aspen or my diaper bag to do it.
You can do this, Oakley.
As I buckled Aspen into the car seat, I reminded myself to keep the conversation civil and focused on our son, or pumpkins, or the windy weather, and to steer clear of any walks down memory lane.
And if Atlas asked about how I replenished my magic, I’d lie through my teeth.
Chapter2
Lynx
“Irefuse to speak without a lawyer present,” Aurora said, hands clasped in front of her, chin held high. If it weren’t for the puke-green jumpsuit, you wouldn’t think anything had changed for the forty-five-year-old socialite turned suburban queen bee.
“We’ve contacted your lawyer, Ms. Brooks. They’re on the way.” My gaze dropped to the VIS stamped over where her heart would be—if she had one.
Very Influential Supernatural.
Aka fuck your rules.
“In the meantime, we figured we’d keep you company.” I nodded to Saros who sat next to me at the steel-bolted table.
“I know what you’re doing, and I also know my rights.”
The fact that they had a special facility for VIS-level felons pissed me off to no end. A criminal was a criminal. Who gave a shit what their position was on the outside, they’d confessed. Soon, once everything was processed, they would be heading to prison. “You murdered someone.”
“And I’m guilty.” She arched a brow. “There’s no reason to keep holding me here. Just send us off to jail and be done with it.”
Believe me, we would if we could.
The Wellses were taken into custody for Acacia Mirabel’s murder and soon after we were called in to handle their case. I still didn’t understand the connection to our missing suburbanites, but a job was a job.
To everyone in the neighborhood we were off celebrating our wedding anniversary touring supernatural pockets of Scotland and Ireland.
I fucking wish.
Instead, we were holed up at headquarters, wandering musty yellow hallways between interviews, meetings, and looking through case files. While most of the government buildings in the capital boasted modern architecture and grandiose designs, many of its departments, including ours, operated underground where the dankness somehow permeated the walls.
No one realized we were down here keeping their world safe, and it was supposed to be that way. The shiny offices with spacious window views were left to the politicians, the overseers—the higher-ups. People like Archon Thorne.
Of course,hewasn’t here right now. He was still in Artemis, settling into his new leadership position.
Unease washed over me in an acidic wave at the thought of him being there withourwitch. I conjured some of the emotion, swishing it toward Aurora. Her face fell almost imperceptibly. Lucky for me, I never missed even the tiniest cracks in someone’s emotional armor. Hopefully, it would help move this little interrogation along so we could return to our crappy lodging.
Goddess above, I missed Wicked.
“So eager to be imprisoned?” Saros’s smooth baritone cut in, slicing through my thoughts like the steely barrier he always drew up for these interrogations. “You see why that might raise some alarms, Mrs. Wells?”
