"It's the first night of the full moon. And I think--I hope--I can find the site of the rites tonight. But I need to go now."
"And you think we'll let you try to stop an act of black magic, a major working of blood rites, alone?" She was aghast, her tone asking me if I was out of my mind. "Jane Yellowrock. Someone stole our children. If you think you know where they are, then we will be there. Like it or not." Her face hardened. "And besides, the vampires who took our children are witches. You'll need us to stop the rites without making all the magic go haywire.
"What?" she demanded of the surprise on my face. "You didn't know you can't just interrupt a major working without consequences? You'll need us to fight. And you'll need us to protect the children."
"I knew," I grumbled, remembering the smell of the torn and blasted wards. "But you'll be in the way of me finding them." My eyes told her I'd be in Big Cat form. "I have some . . . guys . . . who will be close by. They'll have guns."
"Which will not stop a blood rite without a detonation big enough to take you all out."
"Crap." I hadn't planned this well enough.
"We'll be close by," she bargained, "with whoever you're working with. Out of sight. You'll have your phone. You'll call us when you find the site. Then we'll come. And we can bring your weapons."
"Why wouldn't she have her weap--"
Molly cut her sister off with a single motion, a cutting swipe of her hand. "Not important." Evangelina went silent. She had appeared at the opening to the kitchen, her presence blocking another exit, a fact Beast did not like at all. Three angry witches had her cornered. Her claws came out and cut into my mind. "Where will you be?" Molly asked.
I sighed. Beast wasn't the only one feeling trapped. Molly had just backed me into a metaphorical corner too. I knew what could happen when a spell went wrong, when magic went haywire and escaped the confines of the working that contained it. It wasn't pretty. And it had been known to interfere with my own magics in unpredictable ways. Grudgingly, I said, "I'll be at New Orleans City Park in an area called Couturie Forest. It's several hundred acres, and I'll be off the beaten paths. You won't be able to find me in time."
Without taking her eyes from me, Molly said, "Evangelina?"
Her sister, dressed for sleep in a long sleep shirt, stepped around me in the dark and handed Molly something. Molly rubbed the surface with a thumb, and brought it to me. It turned out to be a river stone painted with a black symbol. It was wrapped with silver wire and hung on a silver chain large enough to wear in either of my forms. "Put this around your neck. It works like a tracking device for maybe a half hour. Hold the rune for ten seconds between your thumb and forefinger to activate it, and we'll have a good idea where you are. We can find you." She pointed at the rune, which looked like a capital F with the horizontal arms broken down at an angle. "Ansuz, a rune meaning a revealing message or insight, communication."
I sighed, long and frustrated, but slipped the silver chain around my neck. "Okay. Fine. Wait for me near the soccer fields at the park. But if you get hurt or shot I'll make you regret it."
Derek Lee and his men met me at the entrance to the projects, their dark van under a rare functioning street-light. The side door slid open when I wheeled up. The smell of exhaust mingled with the hot grease of fast food and weed from inside. The men were all decked out in the latest military and paramilitary toys. My own personal army. Even with my worry, I couldn't resist the grin when I pulled up and cut the engine. "Dude. You guys look seriously whacked."
"Dude? Whacked?" Derek laughed at me from the driver's seat, his teeth white in the moonlight. "Girl, that is so white-chick."
I chuckled, the laughter easing my tension. "Not me. I'm part of an enslaved, seriously abused, cheated, lied-to, and ripped-off minority. Two, if you count that I'm female."
"Pardon me if we don't bleed for you, babe."
I knew sarcasm when I heard it and my smile widened. I had too many people depending on me tonight. And I still wasn't sure what the heck I was doing. The snarky retorts reminded me that these guys, at least, could take care of themselves.
"What we got?" one of the men in the back asked.
"Did you get a look at the paintings you dropped by from the raid?"
"We saw."
"We're going to rescue two witch children, a witch adult named Bliss, and maybe a human or two, being sacrificed by witch vamps under the full moon. Blood magic, black magic, and secret weapons," I said, thinking of the sliver of wood in its velvet bag.
The men laughed, something appreciative and eager in the sound. "That's cool. Long as there ain't any cops around to spoil the fun."
"No cops. They're busy elsewhere." I got a thumbs-up for that and Derek tossed me a small metallic device. I caught it one-handed.