The queen looked back and forth between us. "What?"
I blew out a breath. "Well, my birthday today started with finding Frazzle, and then moved on to me getting caught in an explosion downtown at the bank. Where Mr. Washington may have been. And then you arrived … it's been an eventful day."
She nodded and stood. "My felicitations on your day of birth. You will find this thief and apprehend him, and it must be done before two days hence at dusk, due to the terms of the Bargain, though I regret this necessity. I will discover who in my realm has assisted with this theft and falsely blamed you, Jack Shepherd."
For a moment, she faltered. "Your ancestor. Is he well?"
"He is," Jack said, the "no thanks to you" unspoken but still clear.
"We will return, Tess of the Callahan," she told me, and then she—and both of her guards—disappeared.
Just vanished—poof!
I almost could have believed I'd imagined the whole encounter if not for the pile of dirty dishes in my sink and the pile of gold coins on my table.
"We have a science teacher to find," Jack said grimly. "Do you feel up to it?"
"Oh, yeah. I feel great ever since she healed me. Let's go get that snake."
My phone rang, startling me. Uncle Mike. I clicked to answer. "Hello, Uncle Mike, we're actually—"
"Tess. Is your Aunt Ruby there with you?" His voice was tight.
"No, she never arrived. I thought she was doing mayor stuff?"
"She had her own car, and so I took Shelley home to pack for the Orlando trip while Ruby caught up at the office. Tess, Susan said she never arrived. She's not answering her phone, and Andy just found her car abandoned, the door hanging open, behind Beau's."
"What?"
"Tess," he said, his voice breaking—and that scared me more than a visit from a Fae queen and her armed guard had. "I'm afraid somebody kidnapped your Aunt Ruby."
"Jack!" I blindly reached out to him. "Did you hear? Aunt Ruby!"
His face was grim. He put an arm around me and took the phone. "Mike, we're on our way downtown. We'll find her. I can call in some wolf shifter friends of mine to track her if we need them."
Within minutes, we were in the truck, racing down the road toward Beau's and my aunt's car. I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked back and forth. The woman who raised me—who would walk through fire for me—the woman I loved beyond all reason was in danger.
"When we catch whoever did this, if he hurt her, he's a dead man," I said, my whole body shaking as I fought not to cry.
Jack reached over and took my hand. "We'll find her, Tess. I promise."
I pulled my hand out of his and pointed at the road.
"Drive faster."
36
Tess
We didn't need magic to find Aunt Ruby. We didn't even need werewolves. Because by the time we made it downtown, Susan knew exactly where she was.
And with whom.
She called out to me when we jumped out of the truck next to Beau's. "Tess! Jack! The firefighters found her. She's—and I can't believe I'm saying this—she'sunderthe bank. And Mr. Washington is down there with her."
I stumbled. "What? How?"
She pointed at Logan, who'd just appeared covered with dust and gravel.
