The lot was packed when I arrived back at the festival, and people were streaming onto the grounds for the second night. As I got out of the car, magic hung above the tents like a pollution haze, and the scents danced in the air, flickering through my awareness. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus, mentally tallying what I detected, pulling each color and smell apart.
Venemon. Animalia. Animus. Invictus. Inlusio. Locant. Arma. Terra. Omnias. I had run into each one and could now distinguish them if I was paying close enough attention. None of them smelled like the terrible smoldering stench I had detected just before Crowe and I were hit with lethal hexes. I wished I knew what it was—but I was also glad I couldn’t pick it up nearby.
“I can do this,” I whispered, shuddering. Without the benefit of alcohol, it all felt sharper and brighter, but, I admit, I also felt slightly more in control of it. I headed up the path slowly, behind crowds of people. Some were gossiping about Katrina and Alex disappearing, and some were whispering about the tension between the clubs. I quickened my steps, heading for the Medici tent. I didn’t really want to talk to Crowe, but I thought maybe Lori would be able to give me an update.
I pushed through the hanging flaps over the entrance to the tent and ran face-first into Crowe’s chest. He caught my arms and looked down at me, smiling. “Where have you been?”
I pulled myself out of his grasp. “Home. I was tired.”
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Did the meeting go well? Any leads?”
“No leads. Killian didn’t even bother to show up, and his people claim they don’t know where he is—they’re grumbling that maybe he’s missing, too, but I’m not buying it.” His expression had gone dark and dangerous. “Especially since it turns out his prospect wasn’t missing after all.”
“Oh, really?”
He went on, seemingly too wrapped up in what had happened to detect the suspicion in my voice. “I haven’t been able to reach Flynn for the past few hours, either. I’ve got Jackson and Brooke out hunting for him. I met with the leaders of the other clubs. Ronan, Terrence, and Ren volunteered members to guard the perimeter, and I did as well. Everyone works in teams. No one goes it alone. Assuming we manage not to kill each other, it seems like the best way.”
“True,” I said. “Walking through the woods by oneself seems like a great way to get beat up.”
Crowe arched an eyebrow. “Yeah,” he said, drawing out the word. “I guess so.”
I looked at him steadily. “Did Darek say what happened to him?”
Crowe tilted his head to the side and looked at me through narrowed eyes. “He said he got drunk and ended up in a ditch, basically.”
“And everyone believed that?”
“I wanted to question him about my sister, but he insists she drove off alone. Not sure I believe him, but I can’t push it right now, not with Katrina missing and Ronan stomping around about it. I’ve got Hardy keeping an eye on him, though. If he has done something to them—”
“He was the one who was hurt, Crowe.”
“That’s what he wants everyone to believe, sure.”
“Ugh.” I turned and stalked away, but Crowe grabbed my arm and wheeled me around.
“What’s wrong with you tonight?” he asked. “I was worried about you this evening. Jane said she spoke to you. I wondered if maybe she said something, or—”
“What’s wrong with me? I thought I knew you, and then I come to find out that you’re the type of person who beats up innocent people!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Darek,” I shouted. “You jumped him in the woods!”
“Who told you that?” Crowe’s face went from confused to grim in a fraction of a second. “Oh, I get it. I saw the look he gave you in the tent last night and wondered about you guys. I mean, I knew you two hooked up last year, but—”
“Hooked up? He was my friend!” I yelled. “And believe me, I really needed one.”
Crowe held his hands up, but no magic was coming from them now. “You think I beat up your friend? That’s the kind of guy you think I am?”
“You don’t exactly have a history of hashing things out nonviolently.”
Crowe ran his tongue along his bottom lip, and my stomach tightened. “At least I know what you think of me now. Did your dad help convince you? He came to town just looking for an excuse to bind me. Meanwhile no one’s taking a close look at Killian Delacroix, who can plant thoughts in people’s heads and make them do stuff they aren’t even aware of. Everyone’s forgotten who his brother was and what he did. That guy needs to be taken off the street, Jemmie. He’s dangerous.”
I stared at him. “So are you, Crowe.”
“Yes, I am. I won’t apologize for that. I took responsibility for this club and everything that came with it. I’ll defend it to the death if I have to.” His jaw clenched, and he looked around. Then he pulled me off the path, heading for a more isolated spot at the bottom of a low hill. “I think Killian is trying to finish what his brother started. I think that’s why he’s here. He’s good at messing with people’s minds, so no one would suspect. He could have even used Katrina to attack us this morning—that’s exactly the kind of thing he could do.”
I thought back to this morning. I hadn’t sensed much animus magic, crimson and coppery, during that brawl, though there had been red streaks mixed with black around the two people who had cursed us. “Killian seems to want peace more than almost anyone else,” I said, thinking back to what he’d said in the beer tent, maybe trying to convince myself.
“All he wants is to gather one kindled for each type of magic,” Crowe explained, his eyes bright with fierce hope. “Think about it—Alex, venemon. Gunnar, arma. Katrina, animalia. If he’s got Flynn now, that’s inlusio. Darek doesn’t have a dominant power, right? So he didn’t fit my theory, but the others do. And it turns out Darek was never missing to begin with.”
“Crowe—”
Crowe’s mouth snapped shut around whatever he’d been planning to say next. “You don’t believe me.”
“I don’t know,” I said quietly. “He’d have to kidnap a lot of people, and this isn’t exactly familiar ground for him. Why would he risk it here? If he wanted to do something like the cruori spell, why not try last year, on his home turf?”
“Because it was his home turf,” he said in a flat voice.
“I hope you can get more evidence before you take this theory public—because tensions are high already.”
“I’m not stupid, Jem,” he said. “But Jane said something big was going to happen, and someone doing the cruori would certainly count as big.”
And she’d said I was a part of it. I just wish I knew how. “Did she say anything else this afternoon?”
“She sure did.” Crowe’s nostrils flared as he let out an exasperated breath. “She said that by this time tomorrow, someone would be dead. She wouldn’t say more than that.”
“Great. Really helpful.” I rubbed the sudden goose bumps that had rippled across my arms.
“In the way only Jane can manage.” Crowe pulled out his cell phone and typed out a text. “I have to go take a shift with Ren and a few others. Boone will keep an eye on you. Make sure you’re safe.”
“I don’t need—”
“Yes,” Crowe said, his voice rising. “You do.”
“I’m not going to fight with you.” Looking at his face was painful. Was he lying about hurting Darek, or was Darek the liar? Or… could Killian have made Darek believe that he’d been beaten up by Crowe? Could he have manipulated Crowe into beating up Darek or hurting Katrina? I rubbed my hands over my face, wishing I could figure all this out.
Wishing I had Alex with me, to talk it through like we always did.
“Ho! Just got done hanging out with three big hairy men,” Boone called as he crested the rise and headed down to us. “Time to hang out with a pretty girl.”
I waved at Boone before returning my attention to Crowe. “Is my dad helping with the perimeter guard?”
Crowe nodded. “He’s with my group. You know, to make sure I don’t beat up powerless kids in the woods.”
I hung my head back. “Look—”