A Witch's Fury (23 page)

“Easy, Darren,” I whispered. “Calm down, the
baby can feel you.”

His startled gaze and open mouth had a
million questions, but he was stalled when Kass cried out
again.

“Focus on your breathing, Kass,” he
soothed.

The new awareness was readying, strengthened
by Darren’s presence. I kept the calm energy flowing through my
fingers to Kass. Her breathing, while labored, evened out.

The nurse came back, shifting Kass to her
back and checking her.

“Great news, it’s almost time to push. I’ll
get the doctor.”

…

Three hours later, I was holding Harrison in
my arms, swaying and humming to him while Kass and Darren
slept.

“You have to share him,” Logan reminded me,
drumming his hands on his thighs. He made the hospital chairs look
dainty.

“Pfft, nope.”

Hannah had been relieved and exhausted once
Kass and her new brother were safe; her grandparents had carted her
home for some much needed sleep. I gave them the manor’s number and
told them to call if Hannah struggled with her emotions again.

Pressing a light kiss against his swaddled
hand, I passed the tiny bundle to Logan, who looked both awkward
and handsome holding the small tyke.

“We still have to get Jerry,” Logan reminded
me.

“We will,” I agreed, calmed by Harrison’s
arrival and strengthening resolve.

I checked my almost indestructible watch. “We
have time.”

Harrison gave a squawk, one little fist
reaching out of his swaddle. “He’s strong,” Logan breathed, as he
smiled down at his nephew.

“He is loved,” I answered, enjoying the quiet
moment.

…

Logan carefully lowered the sleeping Harrison
into the bassinet next to the sleeping parents, briefly resting his
enormous hand on the baby’s small body.

His lip ticked up a small smirk, probably
envisioning his own little tyke being grown in the belly of the
wannabe queen bitch. At least one good thing would come out of it.
I was officially off the hook for planning their wedding. Thank
you, cheating bitch. Although I’m not sure we had decided the child
was Logan’s, we had certainly made assumptions to that effect.

Quietly leaving the room behind us, we spent
the walk to the car in silent retrospection.

“You driving?” Logan asked.

I chewed my thumbnail, squinting in the
settling daylight, finally shaking my head. “Let’s go to the manor.
Tommy should be home and I need his help to pinpoint where The
Oracle showed me.”

He grunted and we slid into the SUV
together.

“So she didn’t show you an address?”

“It doesn’t work that way. She showed me the
location of where we can find Jerry and when, but it wasn’t an
address, just an intersection.”

“Which was?”

“Main and Becker.”

“Why don’t we find it and go now?”

I sighed. “The Oracle is not a transparent
help. It’s best to adhere to the time and place she shows.”

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
“I don’t like it.”

Releasing a breath, I leaned my head against
the headrest, looking up at the visor in front of me. “I agree, but
we have to get Jerry back, nothing else matters.” Mark’s desolate
eyes haunted me.

“If I can only do one thing right, it will be
this,” I added with my jaw set hard.

“Why does it only have to be one thing?
You’ve lived this long.”

I gave a short, humorless laugh. “Twenty-four
years, such an accomplishment.”

Logan cut a shocked glance my way. “You are
twenty-four?”

“Yeah, how old did you think I was?”

“Not twenty-four. Older, much older.”

I smiled, toying with a violet strand of
hair. “I’ll be lucky to see thirty.”

Logan shifted in the seat. “Don’t be
foolish.”

“I’m not. I’m realistic and a planner.”

Logan pulled into the manor after security
cleared us. I was done with this conversation and I was done
feeling sorry for myself. Silence descended as we stomped up the
stairs to Tommy’s room; rather, I stomped up the stairs. Heads
peeked out of rooms and quickly ducked back in. At Tommy’s door, I
knocked on a poster of some strange anime character.

“Yo Olie!” Tommy yelled though the door. “You
may enter.”

Pushing open the door I asked, “How did you
know it was me?”

“Security cameras. I monitor the feed with
Becky.” He remained fixated on the screens in front of him, his
back to us.

I smiled and nodded as I ruffled his dark
locks, leaning to look over his shoulder.

“I need you to find an intersection, Main and
Becker.”

Logan leaned against the desk that hardly
contained Tommy’s three monitors, each one quickly flashing
information that I couldn’t track.

“Do you have any more details? Like the
state?” Tommy asked, looking up at me in disbelief.

“No,” I grunted, hovering over his shoulder.
“I’ll know it when I see it, though.”

“Want to explain how that works?”

Leaning my arm on the back of his chair, I
propped my chin on my hand. “So, I went to see The Oracle—“

“Wait, THE Oracle?” Tommy asked me, turning
to face me and throwing me off my resting spot.

“Yeah, unless there is another one I don’t
know of.”

“Wow.” Tommy spun back in his chair and I
took that as an invitation to continue.

“And she told me I could find Jerry on Main
and Becker in about a day and a half.”

“Humph.”

“Then The Oracle tried to kill her,” Logan
felt the need to add.

“WHAT?” Tommy squeaked, turning again to face
me.

I shrugged a shoulder, staring daggers at
Logan before turning to assure Tommy, “She tried, but she
failed.”

“Did you kill her?” he asked in awe.

“No, the bitch is badder than me.”

Logan stifled a laugh, asking, “How hard was
it for you to admit that?”

“Not at all,” I lied, adjusting my shirt
forcefully to hide my irritation.

I apparently did a poor job, as both Logan
and Tommy were smirking. Asshole and asshole-in-training.

“What do you got for me?”

“You need pictures, I’m assuming.”

“That would be ideal,” I confirmed.

Tommy grunted, fingers again flying over the
keyboard.

“Did you see Harrison?” Tommy asked.

“I did, he’s adorable.”

“He’s a boy,” Logan and Tommy informed me in
unison.

I shrugged. “Still adorable.”

“Alright, Olie, let’s put The Oracle’s
information to the test. Assuming the intersection is within your
boundaries, we can eliminate at least half, leaving eight
intersections that match. Can you tell me anything else?”

I thought back to the memory. “The street
signs are blue with white lettering.”

“Okay, that takes care of another three.”
Tommy pulled up pictures of the remaining five intersections.

“That one.” I pointed to a bustling downtown
photo. Humans were everywhere in the revived industrial buildings,
sipping on coffee, shopping, talking and laughing. Not good. Why
couldn’t they stay with their long tradition of abandoned
industrial buildings?

Tommy let a low whistle out. “That’s
Nashville. They are having some huge music convention there in a
day or so.”

“Why would the witches open a portal to the
Fae with a huge human audience?” Logan questioned.

“Sacrifices; blood magic to boost their
power,” I answered, running my index finger over my bottom lip,
thinking. “What shops are on those corners?”

Tommy pulled up another view of the corner.
“Only two shops, the street dead ends into a hotel. On the south
side of the road is a coffee joint, and on the north is an art
gallery.”

“Can you get pictures of the coffee shop?” I
asked, leaning over his shoulder.

“Olie, I’m insulted,” Tommy teased.

I rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling as
images assaulted my eyes. Ignoring the smiling faces in the
pictures, I focused on the background, the corrugated sheet metal
used as paneling for the bottom of the walls, the red tables, the
reclaimed wood counter top, and the concrete-floored storage
room.

“There,” I pointed, leaving a finger smudge
on his pristine computer screen. “That’s where he will be.”

“Can you get me the name of the hotel?” Logan
asked.

“For real, you people don’t listen!” Tommy
huffed, annoyed.

Logan smirked. “Sorry Tommy, you have us both
impressed.”

He huffed an answer.

“The Majestic Hotel. You thinking of setting
up camp there?” Tommy asked, spinning around as both Logan and I
took a step back, he to make a call, and I to watch him, wondering
the same thing.

“Can’t hurt to be close,” Logan agreed,
before speaking to the person on the phone.

“You leavin’ again?” Tommy asked, the sullen
teenager peeking out from behind the computer genius.

“I have to get Jerry.”

He nodded, not looking at me. Squatting in
front of him, I took his hands in mine, letting the love I felt for
him seep into his dark skin. “I’ll be back, and I promise to spend
an entire day and night here until you can’t stand the sight of
me.”

“Really?” he hesitantly asked, raising a dark
brow at me.

“For realz,” I teased.

He shook his head, already recovered from the
temporary emotional vulnerability.

“Ready?” Logan asked.

I stood, resting a hand on Tommy’s shoulder.
“Be good, kid. I’ll be back.”

I chose to ignore the pointed look Logan gave
me. It read all kinds of see-I-told-you-so,
aren’t-you-glad-I-caught-you-at-The-Oracle. Passing by him, I
teased, “Whenever you are, Kitty,” trouble in my eyes.

“You are not allowed to call me that in
public,” he sternly reprimanded me.

“That ruins all my fun,” I pouted, descending
the stairs next to him.

“OLIE!” Grams called behind me.

I turned. “Hey,” I greeted her, as she made
her way down to Logan and me.

“Next week I’m taking a weekend off to get
away with Mercer. Can you watch the manor and Mindy?”

“Yeah, you know if I—“ Logan elbowed me,
cutting off my next sentence. Turning on him with a glare, I
amended, “Yeah, no problem.”

“Lovely,” she stated, clipping back up the
stairs in her designer heels and pastel pink skirt and cream
blouse.

“The kids don’t need to hear that,” Logan
cautioned as we began our downward descent again.

“Oh, and what are you, a fucking expert on
children now?” I hissed back at him, my protective nature going
into overdrive.

He shook his head, holding the oversized
front door open for me. “No, but I saw the way you and Tommy
interact.”

I shrugged, not willing to get into it. Some
memories really should stay buried, and the memory of finding Tommy
was one of those.

…

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I looked over
at Logan in the driver’s seat.

“It’s a four hour drive, we should probably
get started,” I hinted.

He smiled, knowing I wanted to get going now
that I had the intel. “I thought we shouldn’t jump the gun, for the
sake of ‘destiny’ and The Oracle.”

Crossing my arms, I raised a brow at him.
“The hotel is not the location The Oracle showed me.”

“Technicalities.”

“Whatever. Hurry up, let’s get your bag
packed so we can get on the road. I should probably update
Mark.”

I toyed with my phone before using the touch
screen to place the call.

Mark answered on the first ring, groggily,
“Olivia?”

“Hey Mark, I found Jerry.” No use in delaying
my news. A sharp intake of air met my announcement.

“Where?” he rasped out.

“Nashville, TN. Logan and I are headed out
now, do you want us to pick you up?” I ignored the pointed look
Logan was throwing me.

“Yes,” he breathed out, amidst a massive
exhale.

“Okay, be ready in thirty.” I ended the call,
ready for Logan’s unneeded input.

“You shouldn’t be involving him in this. He’s
too emotional, emotions cloud judgment.”

“He needs to do something, needs to feel like
he is helping get Jerry back. While I agree his judgment is
clouded, I trust him to get Jerry to safety so we can deal with the
bitchy witches. “

“Witches certainly are fairly low on the
supernatural totem pole,” Logan commented.

“For good reason,” I grunted. “When I first
took over, they sucked up the biggest share of my time with their
petty disagreements, coven boundary disputes, and other useless
drama. It got to the point where I finally banned them from the
Council. Their numbers were plentiful, more than adequate to
protect their own. Not being able to do so was not a good enough
reason for me to keep getting involved.”

Logan grunted. “They weren’t always so lowly.
At one point they were highly revered for their knowledge.”

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen—and how the
fuck old are you, anyways?” I asked as we pulled into Logan’s
driveway.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to ask
someone’s age?”

I laughed, following him out of the car. “So
you’re really old.”

He huffed, straightening his shirt. “Old
enough to know something,” he smoothed, throwing me a wink.

I laughed again, following him into the
house. “Did you just flirt with me?”

“No, I most certainly did not.” He was in
front of me so I couldn’t see his face, but I had the distinct
feeling he was joking. I couldn’t help but choose not to deal with
it.

“Hurry up, princess,” I yelled as we cleared
the door and he headed up the stairs. It seemed that both of us
were in better spirits, finally having a target and something to
do.

I headed to his kitchen for some snacks.

Logan found me with an open container of
prepackaged cookie dough, using a spoon to eat it.

“Really?”

“What?” I asked around a mouthful. “I’m
hungry.”