Out of Smoke and Ashes

  “That’s what I wanted to clarify.” They shook. “As a matter of technicality, I asked her to hold my hand so she could help orient me to find you. Strictly business, I assure you.”

  It was Daniel’s turn to smirk. “I trust her. And you.”

  “That was easy,” she quipped.

  “I also trust Lacey,” Daniel said. “If she thought this was necessary, then I won’t question it.”

  “Okay, please, can we go now?”

  “In a moment,” Ryan said. “I actually need Daniel’s help.”

  “What?” he asked.

  He held out his hand one more time. “I need you to help orient me. I’m not quite omnipotent, but I am most definitely not omniscient.”

  They clasped hands again and disappeared. Callie was about to let out a yell of protest when they returned. Daniel looked startled.

  “Holy crap!” he muttered.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “A warp speed tour,” Daniel said, looking at Ryan with new respect. “You saw Abernathy?”

  Ryan nodded grimly. “I actually believe my path has crossed his before, after the fact. However, give me a moment. That might have been enough for me to do the tracking.” He frowned. “I cannot simply go and kill him for you.”

  “We just want Mom back safe and sound,” Callie said. “We’ll handle the killing. In fact, we have some jaguar shifters who will be royally pissed off if they aren’t in on it.”

  “Right. Hold that thought.” Ryan disappeared again. Before she could turn to Daniel to ask more about the tour, Ryan returned. “I believe I have the hotel location. There have been several calls between him and someone else, who is at a hotel about twenty miles from here.” He held out his hand to Callie again.

  She glanced at Daniel, who nodded.

  She took Ryan’s hand. Before she could blink, they were standing in a breezeway at a hotel.

  “I believe they’re this way.” He let go of her hand and led her down one corridor to a row of rooms. He stopped outside the third door from the end and cocked his head, then extended his hand to Callie, indicating the door.

  “Please confirm it before I bid you adieu,” he whispered.

  She nodded and stepped in. Closing her eyes, she tuned all her senses. She didn’t want to go in and risk them seeing her.

  But she could hear Carla’s breathing.

  With relief, she turned to Ryan to thank him, but he was already gone. Then her phone vibrated in her hand. She had a text from an unfamiliar number.

  You’re quite welcome. :) And yes, this is my private cell number. I expect it to stay private except to give it to your husband.

  She held back her laugh as she replied. It will, and thank you. :)

  She expected at some point in the future there would be interaction between them again. She had nothing more to go on but her gut instinct and the fact that he’d been willing to help out this time.

  She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she’d felt a gradual shift in the energies of the world over the last several hundred years. It would behoove all of them who had the greater good at heart to become closer.

  Her phone vibrated one more time. Thought you might want this. Followed by the name and address of the hotel. Good luck, dear.

  She smiled. He thinks of everything. Guess that’s why he runs that show. She quickly forwarded the text to Daniel so he could get everyone moving. They were at least forty-five minutes away.

  Back to the matter at hand.

  She heard someone approaching down the corridor and allowed herself to fade enough to blend into the stucco wall. She couldn’t maintain that state for as long as she could shape-shifting, but the businessman leaving his room with a laptop case in hand never noticed her.

  Then she heard the thing she’d been hoping for, Carla’s quiet, subdued voice inside the room. “May I please take a shower and clean up before we leave?”

  The man who responded didn’t strike her as mean. In fact, it sounded like he felt full of regret. “Sure.”

  A second man spoke up, sounding uncertain. “You sure it’s okay?”

  “Yeah,” the first man said. “There’s no window in the bathroom. What’s she going to do? He’s not paying me to be a bastard. Go ahead, ma’am.”

  Callie breathed a sigh of relief. These guys were paid flunkies who didn’t seem to have the cold, ruthless choads to hurt an innocent human woman.

  Maybe I won’t have to kill them. She waited until she sensed Carla go into the bathroom. Then she materialized into it, ready to clap her hand over the woman’s mouth if she was startled by her sudden appearance.

  Fortunately, Carla thought as quickly on her feet as Elain did. She threw her arms around Callie and wordlessly hugged her.

  Callie couldn’t communicate mentally to her like she could with her mate or her sisters. She pulled out her phone and typed into the notes feature.

  Switch clothes with me.

  Carla nodded and began stripping without hesitation. Callie reached in and started the shower before she started undressing. She put Carla’s clothes on the back of the toilet and typed into her phone again.

  How many? She held it up for Carla to see.

  Carla held up two fingers.

  Have they hurt you?

  Carla shook her head and motioned for the phone. They’ve been nice. I heard them talking about running away from their boss. They bought me some clean clothes, and a jacket when I got cold. Please don’t hurt them.

  Callie nodded as she read it. She didn’t have a problem blasting assholes, but she didn’t want karma dinging her for taking out people who might have had a change of heart and be leaving Abernathy in the dust.

  No matter what Babs thought of her, her reputation for using guys to death without a care in the world had been greatly exaggerated, mostly by human women pissed off that she’d sleep with guys when they wouldn’t.

  Once Carla was dressed in Callie’s clothes, Callie quickly stepped into the shower just long enough to get her hair damp before shutting the water off.

  One of the men knocked on the door, the first voice Callie had heard. “I’m sorry, but we need to leave in five minutes.”

  Callie motioned for Carla to answer him. “That’s okay, Ken. I’m getting dressed now.”

  Callie smiled and flashed her an okay sign. What’s the other guy’s name? she tapped into the phone.

  Trent.

  Callie flashed another okay sign and quickly typed out instructions to Carla on the note function. Once she knew Carla understood the play call, Callie motioned for her to get into the shower. She pulled the shower curtain closed and quickly dressed. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and focused on the illusion she needed to present. She reached out, flipped off the light and fan, and opened the door.

  Glancing in the vanity mirror as she walked out, Carla’s face stared back at her.

  Callie barely concealed her smile.

  * * * *

  Brodey anxiously drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as they raced toward the hotel. “Stay calm,” Cail warned him.

  “How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” He glanced at Cail. “I want to rip these fuckers open from throat to tail. I swear to the Goddess, if they’ve hurt Mom, I will make them curse the day they were born.”

  Cail managed a wan smile. “I think you’ll have to stand in line behind Elain and Liam and Ain,” he joked.

  “I wouldn’t mind a piece of that action, too,” Micah grumbled from the backseat.

  They were following Blackie, who had Elain, Ain, and Liam in his car. Behind them, the dragons had piled into another car and were keeping up.

  They’d made Mark, Zack, and Jim stay behind with Lina and Mai and the Beasts, under the watchful eye of Jocko and several other shifters.

  Somewhere on the highway behind them, the Montalvo jaguars had also been scrambled from their hotel and were catching up.

  “Do we get to kill Abernathy now?” Brodey ranted.
“I’ve had enough of this shit to last me a lifetime. Someone’s got to stop the fucker and I’m more than happy to volunteer to do the job.”

  “I think Blackie promised the jaguars they could have first crack at him,” Micah said. “Goddess knows the fucker’s made enough enemies all over the world. I can’t imagine anyone crying over him.”

  “This is making hunting cockatrice almost look like a fun hobby,” Cail said.

  “Jeez, don’t remind me,” Brodey said. “We haven’t even gotten back to handling that mess yet.”

  “Kitty went out again this morning,” Cail said. “Wally told me. Hunting for the nest. She’s definitely fixated on wiping them out.”

  “You would be, too,” Brodey said, “if they killed your whole family.”

  * * * *

  When Callie looked at the two men, she immediately recognized them from the video.

  Fuckers.

  Now knowing they were the ones who’d spooked Mai, she still couldn’t bring herself to blast them where they stood.

  In fact, now more than ever she wanted to get up close and personal to Rodolfo himself. See the look on his face when he realized his plan had fallen apart.

  The two men were dressed and ready to go. Callie grabbed Carla’s purse and glanced around for anything else as she headed for the door.

  “You forgot this,” Trent said.

  She turned. He was holding out a jacket she’d never seen before. “Oh, thank you.” She didn’t need it, but realized Carla had in the chilly morning temps.

  Okay, they can’t be completely evil.

  She was surprised when they didn’t bother restraining her hands or anything as they led her from the room, Ken in the lead and Trent right behind her. She knew they were armed because she smelled the faintest traces of gun oil on them.

  They had her get in the backseat of their minivan and pulled out of the hotel with Ken behind the wheel. He looked at her in the rearview mirror. “Do you want me to hit a drive-thru for breakfast, ma’am?”

  Callie smiled. “Sure. Why not?” Come to think of it, she was hungry. And hell, if they’re buying, let ’em.

  It might be their last meals if they got in her way before she got to Abernathy.

  * * * *

  Carla held her breath even after she heard the room door close. She stared at Callie’s phone, checking the time until nearly half an hour passed. Then she finally found the courage to step out of the shower and cautiously open the bathroom door.

  She was alone in the room.

  She stepped over to the door, hung the Do Not Disturb placard in case housekeeping stopped by, then flipped the deadbolt latch. With trembling fingers she texted the information Callie left her about the hotel to Daniel.

  Callie must have already alerted them to where the hotel was. A few minutes later, what sounded like a herd of wild buffaloes stampeded down the corridor toward her room. Terrified, she peeked out the peephole just as Daniel and the others ran up to the door.

  Now she could let her tears flow. She threw the door open. Liam shouldered his way through the pack of men and engulfed her in his arms.

  “Are ye all right? Did they hurt ye?”

  “I’m fine,” she said through her tears. “They were kind to me. Please, don’t hurt them.”

  “We’ll do more than hurt them,” Elain grumbled as she pushed through to hug her.

  “No, honey, please don’t. They weren’t happy about this assignment. They were talking about trying to get away from Abernathy.” She pulled free of Liam and Elain to turn to Daniel. “Can’t you do something? You know, one of those edicts or something?”

  He frowned. “They abducted you.”

  “I know. But I heard them talking. They were considering letting me go and running, but Abernathy’s threatened their families and them to ensure their obedience. Please, they aren’t bad men. I could tell they felt bad about what they were doing. Especially Ken.”

  Daniel scrubbed his face with his hands. “We’ll talk about it later. It depends on how soon Callie returns and what she has to report. Let’s all get back to the cabin and regroup. I can’t call Abernathy and tell him the meeting’s off until Callie’s back safely.”

  Elain let out a snort. “She can hold her own against any of them.”

  “I know, but I don’t want to make the situation more difficult for her than it has to be.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  They all regrouped at the cabin. While Elain got her mom set up with clean clothes and a shower, everyone else plotted their next move. Daniel couldn’t help but check the time on his phone every couple of minutes. Callie should have returned already.

  “So we can call Abernathy now and tell him to go fuck himself, right?” Ain asked.

  “No.”

  “Why the hell not?” Brodey asked.

  “The meeting goes on as planned until Callie gets back.”

  “Maybe she’s got plans to take him out herself,” Cail said.

  Ortega Montalvo frowned. “I sincerely hope not. I want him alive. For now.”

  “I didn’t give her permission to kill him,” Daniel assured the jaguar. He wanted to punch someone. Anyone. “Where the fuck is she?” he growled to himself.

  He had no doubt she was safe.

  That wasn’t the point.

  The plan had been for her to allow the kidnappers to get far enough away from Carla that they could rescue her, and then return to the cabin. Although, admittedly while he had edicted her to stay safe, he hadn’t edicted her to return immediately.

  He let out a frustrated sigh. Callie had, in all likelihood, decided to play the ruse out as long as she could without violating the letter of his edicts.

  I’m going to stripe her ass in a bad way when she gets back.

  * * * *

  After getting Callie breakfast, they pulled over at a convenience store for gas. Ken took her inside to use the bathroom while Trent filled the car. He waited outside the door for her to come out and shadowed her every move.

  From the way he didn’t seem overly tense, she could tell he’d done this plenty of times before without incident.

  It made her even less inclined to hurt them if she could avoid it. They’d treated Mom as kindly as they could under the circumstances. She couldn’t, in good conscience, blast them for that.

  She recognized the route they took, a circuitous, back-road way into the Clan’s territory. They were obviously trying not to be spotted.

  If the dashboard clock was right, there were still over two hours before the meeting.

  As she predicted, they pulled up to the meeting hall. The parking lot sat deserted. Trent got out and walked around back, returning a few minutes later from a different side of the building. “Got it. Come on.”

  They led her to a side doorway and down a hall. She suspected where they were taking her, her suspicions confirmed when they led her to a small, little used conference room in the far corner of the building.

  It also had a large utility closet where the hall’s holiday decorations were stored.

  “Inside,” Ken said.

  She went, but he stepped in with her and pulled the doors shut behind them. Trent left the room and returned about fifteen minutes later, presumably moving their vehicle out of sight.

  Dammit. If they’d put her in there alone, she could have popped home and told Daniel. Now if she did that, they’d immediately miss her and sound the alarm, ruining her plan to trap Abernathy.

  I’ll have to wait it out.

  * * * *

  As time drew near for them to leave for the meeting hall, Daniel had to admit to the others that he suspected Callie had gone a little rogue with their plans.

  He was not a happy wolf. He was, however, head of the Clan Council. “All right. Jocko, Lacey, Kitty, Wally, Oscar, Doug, and Zack, you stay here with Lina—”

  “And why the hell can’t I go to the meeting?” Lina appeared fit to be tied. “Abernathy’s going to be there!”

&nb
sp; “Exactly,” most of the men in the room said.

  “Look,” Daniel said, taking point. “I need you here. You have two newborns to take care of. I need you to stay here with Mom and the others. I’m going to have Callie there. And I need Rick, Jan, and Kael there at the meeting as backup. So I need someone with your…”

  “Ability to blow shit up?” Zack helpfully offered.

  “Yes,” he said. “That. I need you and that skill here, protecting your babies and Mom. Especially since you yourself admitted your powers are fluctuating, I’d rather have you here than accidentally blowing up a room full of innocent shifters.”

  It hadn’t escaped his notice that along with everyone else, he was also calling Carla Mom.

  “I’m going,” Liam quietly said. “I want my chance at the bastard.”

  “Yes, you and the Montalvos can have a field day once we get Callie back safely and we know everyone else is out of the way.”

  Elain stepped forward. “I’m going.”

  He nodded. “I expect you to. And so does Abernathy, I’m sure. It’d look weird if you weren’t there with Mai.”

  * * * *

  “Well, obviously,” Elain said, “the asshole thinks he still has Mom. I’m personally not worried about Callie’s safety.”

  “Neither am I,” Lina confidently said. “She’ll rip Rodolfo a new one if he lays a finger on her.”

  Elain thought poor Blackie looked ready to explode. “I’m glad all of you can be so cavalier about this.”

  “Daniel,” Lacey said, laying a hand on his arm, “she’ll be all right.”

  “How the hell can you possibly know that?”

  Lina, Elain, and Kitty all looked at him with expressions of disbelief. “Seriously?” they said in unison.

  “She’s The fricking Cailleach,” Kitty said. “Dude, she’s fine.”

  “And,” Lacey added, “I saw it.”

  He snorted. “No offense, but that’s not proof. Proof is her standing here in front of me.”

  “Hey,” Elain said, “Lacey said we’d get Mom back safely, and we did. You all kept telling me to have faith, and as hard as it was, I did. So I’m guessing she’s not wrong now.”