“No, but I’m hoping there’ll be some kind of trail to follow. If the helicopter was rented, there’ll be a record of that. If either Xavier or Yolanthe has any news, I’ll call you down to join the conversation. If not, after I’m done with the briefing, I’m going to come back up here and shower too.” He searched her expression. “We need to rest while we can, so that we’re ready for whatever happens next.”
She rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh as the starch left her spine. He was right. She needed to be a partner, but she had to be a robust and reliable one.
She said, “Okay.”
He kissed her forehead. “I don’t have any women’s clothes in here, but I can have Gregoire send out for some things. In the meantime, help yourself to whatever you need.”
Was it wrong of her to be fiercely glad he didn’t have anything feminine in his private rooms? If it was, she didn’t want to be right.
“Go on, don’t worry about me,” she told him. “I’ll be fine.”
He looked deeply into her gaze. “We have a lot to discuss, you and I.”
“It’ll keep.” Her eyes narrowed. “For now.”
Nodding, he gave her a hard, quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
When he strode out, he seemed to take all her remaining energy with him. She sagged in the chair while she stared into space. She had to call her mom and shower. Or shower and call her mom. They seemed to be insurmountable tasks, and she couldn’t decide which one to tackle first.
The phone in her pocket rang, startling her. She pulled it out to look at the screen.
She knew the number from the incoming call like the back of her hand.
Huh.
She clicked the answer button. As she held the phone up to her ear, a woman’s dangerous, icy voice said, “Keenan O’Sullivan, this is Tatiana Aindris. I will give you five million dollars for the safe return of my daughter. Or I can hunt for you forever, and if that happens, I promise you won’t like what happens when I find you.”
As she heard the Light Fae Queen’s voice, decades of adulthood fell away until Melly felt like she was five years old again, happy and loved and utterly safe.
Her lips pulled into an incredulous smile. “Mommy?”
Thirteen
“M
elisande.” The intensity in her mother’s voice caused her to start shaking again, and her eyes to swim with tears.
“How on earth did you know to call this number?” She knew she was grinning like a fool, but she didn’t care. Sluggishly her mind clicked into gear. “Wait. I made a PayPal payment.”
“We started monitoring all your accounts within a few hours of finding out you’d disappeared. When the payment to Keenan O’Sullivan went through, we jumped on it. I have someone on the way to his house right now.”
“Oh, no,” she exclaimed in dismay. “Mom, you’ve got to call them off. Keenan and his friends helped me this morning.”
“How do I know you aren’t being coerced into saying that?”
“Because I’m not!” She heard how irrational that sounded and caught herself up. More calmly, she said, “Yes, I’m in San Francisco, but I’m at Julian’s house.”
“What?” The ice had come back, and it was sharp as a dagger.
“I just arrived – I literally sat down five minutes ago, and I’ll tell you all about what happened. Just promise me you won’t do anything to Keenan. He’s totally innocent.”
“If he’s innocent, why did you pay him twenty thousand dollars? And why did you answer his phone?”
“Because I bought his motorcycle, gear and phone. And his gun.” The silence that resulted from that was more dangerous than any ice. She took a deep breath and braced herself. Here we go. “Justine kidnapped me. She used me to trap Julian. She forced him to give himself up in exchange for my life, only when he surrendered to her, she didn’t let me go. Julian and I got free, and I’m okay now. I’ve got some cuts and bruises, and I’m dirty and tired, but I’m safe. I’m fine.”
Quickly, she sketched in the rest of the details. Another silence fell. This time she could hear her mother’s breathing.
When Tatiana spoke next, she sounded ragged. “Julian acted so bizarrely when he left here, we knew something had to be wrong, but we didn’t know what. Soren had come to help search for you, and so had Graydon, from New York.”
“Julian told me they were involved in the investigation.”
“While Soren stayed with me, Graydon tracked Julian to the de Young Museum, where his trail just stopped. Graydon’s on his way to O’Sullivan’s house now. Since Julian had vanished, we thought it would be better for him to go, instead of me sending Light Fae troops into the Nightkind demesne.”
“Gods, what a mess,” Melly muttered.
“Hang on.” The phone went silent. When Tatiana came back on the line, her voice was steady, strong. “I got in touch with him. He hadn’t found O’Sullivan yet.”
“Oh, good.”