“What is it? Is she alive? Does she need help?” I race through questions, trying to figure out what to do next.
Caro straightens her shoulders, and her eyes find mine for the first time since she came out of the spell. “She’s fine, alive, and, apparently, doesn’t want to come home. There’s a branch of our coven in the south, and she’s staying there for a while.” She pauses and inclines her head toward me. “She’s got a powerful blocking spell in place, and I wouldn’t have been able to see her if you hadn’t helped me.” Her lips purse. “Thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go talk to her? I…could go with you,” I offer tentatively. There’s something bothering me about her answer, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
She pats my hand. “It’s fine. She’ll come home when she’s ready. Now, what did you want with the archives?”
“With your knowledge of the archives, you might be the best person to help us,” I state, waiting for her to look at me. “Can you have Henry, or someone, pull any available correspondence or meeting notes from one thousand to fifteen hundred years ago? I know most of the archives were destroyed, but anything you can find will be great.” I wait for her to agree.
She’s looks uncomfortable for a second before she blurts out, “I’ve already gathered all the documents with the name MacAllister. I can have Henry send them to you.”
Interesting, but not entirely unexpected. I wonder if she’d have been so forthcoming if we hadn’t helped her. Probably not, but honestly, who cares? She’s done us an unintended favor, and since we’ve also done the same for her, we’re even.
“Great, I’d appreciate it,” I reply. “If you need help with Cassandra, please let us know.”
“I’m quite capable of managing my daughter,” she returns snidely.
I grit my teeth but don’t respond. Glancing at Astor, I motion to the door and stride out with him.
“Theron thinks my visits here are interesting. I wonder what he’ll say about this one,” I murmur softly, my mind whirling. “The good news is the first step is done, right? I wonder if she would have given them to us if we hadn’t helped her.”
Henry steps out of the living room. “I think it’s better if you don’t ask those questions. I’ll box them up and get them to you tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Henry. You’re a saint.” I place a kiss on his cheek to thank him.
He stills. “Far from it, but I’m trying to do better.” Caro’s voice sounds in the distance. He gives us a quick bow and walks toward the door. “I’m sure you can find the way out. Duty calls.”
Heading outside, Astor and I walk over to the motorcycle parked in the driveway.
Picking up the helmet, he places it on my head and straps it on. “Lie,” he whispers.
“Which part?” I wonder, thinking back to Caro’s explanation. The sheer joy on her face tells me she definitely located Cassandra, but I’d bet a chest of gold Cassandra isn’t staying with the coven.
Astor lifts a shoulder before getting on the bike. I hop on behind him, and we take off. I’m buried in my thoughts when Astor startles me. He lifts his hand and points to the side of the road. Running parallel to us is a wolf, but its gaze is too alert and intelligent to be anything but a shifter. I wonder if it’s that asshole shifter I ran into at the club…or an assassin…or a spy. The possibilities seem to be endless.
Astor shouts back, “I’m going to create a portal to get us out of here. Hang on.” A portal appears directly in front, and we shoot through it at top speed.
The garage appears, and we slip through the entrance into the safety of The Abbey, finally coming to a complete stop where we jump off.
Astor calls Fallon, who appears a second later. All three of us walk to the entrance and watch. A wolf, maybe the same wolf, walks by a few times but doesn’t stop. The wards around sanctuary are so strong, I don’t worry about it getting in, but I’d sure as hell like to know who’s sending shifters after us.
“What the hell? As if we don’t have enough to deal with. Seriously, who let the dogs out?” I smirk when Astor and Fallon look at me incredulously. “It’s either laugh or kill right now. Personally, I’d like to hold off on the killing and see who sicced the wolves on me. Then we can kill them.” I stride off, leaving the two of them in the garage.
* * *
Theron sendsa group text to everyone later that evening.
Theron: Shifters? Wolves? I leave for a day, and we’ve got wolves at the door?
Arden: See, Theron’s sense of humor is intact.
Daire: When did Theron get a sense of humor?
Valerian: This isn’t funny, Arden.
Theron: What did you two find out?
What two?
