Katie said, “I’ve waked my computer system. It’s top-of-the-line, and I’ve compiled a databank of all properties ever owned by any Mithran in this state for over three hundred years. Your Kid has my permission to merge our systems. The screens in the office are newer. Come.”
My eyes didn’t bug out, but it was a near thing. We all gathered in the office. Troll, who had been out picking up a girl from a “date,” went to work covering the windows with plywood that he had already scavenged from my house. My house. How weird was that? Maybe now I’d put up vamp shutters and do some more improvements, like install a hot tub for soaking. I have a house.
Time passed. Everyone got itchy, twitchy with unused energy. Waiting was never easy. My pain waxed and waned, my shoulder muscles and tendons healing, aching, moving under the skin as they rearranged and regrew. And it freaking hurt. Over the cell at my ear, I heard static and Shoffru say, “—will try to keep him alive until we get the diamond.” I jerked toward the sound, but it cut off. Eli? Was Eli the one he wanted to keep alive?
“Come on,” the Kid said, cajoling. “Come on, come on, come on.”
And I realized that Alex had lost the cell connections. I put the cell on speaker and set it in my lap as the reason for the loss occurred to me. “Alex, were you using your regular cell or a burner?” The Kid cursed and cut the connection. With my free hand, I rubbed my shoulder. It throbbed deep down inside, but as I rubbed, something else popped and the pain eased further.
Bliss brought me a tall glass of water and a wet purple washcloth. I drank the water down all in one gulp. Magic heals, but like any magic, it requires energy, and healing my shoulder had taken a lot out of me. When the glass was empty, I handed it back to her and scrubbed the dried blood off me. It stained the washcloth, but I figured that Deon knew all kinds of secrets for getting blood out of cloth. He had to, living here and taking care of the girls.
When I was cleaner, Bliss handed me a purple T-shirt and I spread it out on the bed. It was fuzzy, long-sleeved, with a dragon on it. Not a pretty dragon, but one of the eats-virgins types of dragons, with a body striped like a coral snake, its wings spread wide, covered with striped red skin and feathers. Weird. And so ugly the dragon was beautiful. Through my fingertips, I felt magics tingle over my hand.
I raised my eyebrows at Bliss, and she shrugged. “I figured it was time to see what my magics did. Turns out I have”—she shrugged again as if searching for the words—“some ability with healing. The shirt has a healing spell woven in it. Molly taught me how. I brought it from the lair where we were kept.”
“Yeah? Cool,” I said, trying for nonchalant. Bliss had denied her power and heritage for a long time, running away from it for myriad reasons. That she was embracing it was, well, yeah, amazing. Despite my worry over Molly and Eli, I nodded approval at her. She ghosted a smile at me.
I pulled off my tattered shirt. Big Evan turned away, closing his eyes, which made Rachael grin evilly, her silver earrings catching the light. Poor Evan. The former call girl would never take pity on him now. He was in for a difficult time if he hung around Katie’s for long. When I eased the shirt over my shoulder, I sighed with relief. “Nice,” I said to Bliss. My cell rang and I picked it up again.
“I’m back. Okay,” the Kid said into my ear, frustration lacing his voice. “I got an address for the cell billing, but it won’t do us any good. It’s in Galveston, Texas.” Where the limo had come from. All the pieces were coming together but were leading us nowhere. Unless we had an address for Eli and Molly, we were lost.
“Do you have a broad location?” Katie asked.
“I lost them near Belle Chasse, heading east.”
“Hmmm. . . . I’m sending you my databank file,” Katie said casually, keys tapping, as if she used and talked about computers all the time. “According to my records, a house, the kind I believe you call a McMansion, in Lakewood Golf Club is a rental, owned currently by the Damours’ estate while the property is in probate.” More keys clacked, both in the office and over the cell. “Of course, there are other properties, but I assume Jacques would prefer a large, ornamental house for his temporary clan home.”
“Got you, you bastard,” Alex muttered. I smiled. He could cuss and swear all he wanted right now. I just needed him to find Eli. “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The car with the cells is heading in the general direction of the golf course. Yeah. Sending a map and a sat view to your cell.”
“We’ll head that way.” I closed my cell and looked at Evan. “Well?”
“I told him. He cut me off without a word.”
I closed my eyes. If Reach was working against us, we were really in trouble. I’d never find Molly or Eli. I pointed to the front of the house and asked Big Evan, “Are the keys still in Eli’s SUV?” He nodded. To Rachael, I said, “You know how to use a gun? A knife?”