Witchlock Read online

  Evalle had given her agreement to Quinn that she'd stay out of the Medb's way. If she wanted everyone to respect her reasonable requests, then she had to give the same. Since she couldn't run the streets with the Beladors tonight, she could at least accomplish one simple thing, which was to settle her debt with Isak and convince him that she was not the woman for him.

  And remain friends.

  She wiped the water spots off her phone and sent a text to Storm asking where he was since Grady had seen him downtown. She'd thought Storm would at least swing by here to see her before she went inside to eat, but she took his lack of presence as respecting her space to handle this dinner thing with Isak.

  Her phone rang.

  Storm.

  She hurried to answer and almost dropped it. "Hey."

  "Hi, sweetheart. Where are you?"

  After the first two words, she wished to be meeting him for dinner. She said, "Six Feet Under."

  "Okay." That had sounded resigned and not happy about it.

  She wanted to snap her fingers and make him happy, but that wasn't happening so she offered, "This is just dinner and then we're done. You can go with me when I pick up the twins, okay?"

  "Sure. No problem."

  She changed the subject. "Where are you?"

  There was a brief silence that bothered her, then he said, "Taking care of some business in town."

  "How'd the tracking go?"

  "Not bad. I followed a trail from the mountain and I've got a few ideas, but nothing firm yet. Don't worry, we'll get to the truth."

  She tried to sound like she had his faith. "I know. I talked to Grady." She shared what Grady had told her. "He's doing some snooping around too."

  "I wish you weren't out tonight."

  "Are you on the way to the apartment?" she asked, thinking she might be able to beg one more day out of Isak if it meant she'd get to spend time with Storm.

  "Uhm, not yet. I've got a few more things to do. I'll be there before daylight."

  She wasn't planning on staying out more than a couple of hours. What was keeping Storm out so late? "I should be home in two hours, tops. Can you be there by then?"

  "I'll try. I've still got to deal with my house."

  "We could go together."

  "I've got it handled. I don't want you around that place after what happened because of ... her."

  He meant Nadina, but Storm wouldn't say the witch doctor's name. They'd slept outside the last night there because he didn't want to take Evalle back inside where the witch doctor had been.

  She should appreciate that and roll with it. He accepted her nocturnal life. She'd accept his hours, whatever they were. "Okay, that's fine. I'll see you when you get there."

  "Great." Now he sounded relieved so she must have given him the right answer. Points to me!

  Isak pulled up in his black hummer and Evalle lifted her hand to let him know she saw him. "I've got to go, Storm."

  "I know. Tell him if he touches you, he'll lose that hand."

  "That's not going to happen." But she did smile at the threat. "Love you."

  "Love you more. Be careful going home."

  Isak got out and left his truck running as Evalle hung up.

  She said, "Don't think they'll let you park there all night."

  "We're not staying long."

  "That was not the agreement."

  "Yes it was," he argued. "You said to meet you here, not that we had to eat here."

  She crossed her arms. "I plan to eat here."

  Isak's tone changed to a more conciliatory one, with a dash of charm thrown in. "I've got a nice quiet place to have--"

  He stopped talking and looked past Evalle.

  She turned to find Adrianna strolling up in a snug red dress with a short furry jacket over a scoop neck that showed off her assets.

  Evalle looked back at Isak. He had his laser gaze locked on the witch.

  Adrianna stepped up and said, "Where are we going for dinner?"

  Isak pulled himself together and said, "You weren't invited."

  Adrianna looked at Evalle who gave her an I-don't-care look so the witch flashed a brilliant white smile. "You didn't say I couldn't join you, either."

  Ha. Adrianna had turned Isak's tactical use of omission right back on him. She owed the witch, even if said witch didn't know it. Relieved to not be alone with Isak, which should make Storm happy, Evalle said, "The more the merrier."

  Then Adrianna lost all her friend points when she said, "I ate here last night."

  Isak piped up. "I was just telling Evalle I have reservations at a nice quiet place. For two."

  Adrianna smiled. "I'm sure changing that to three will be no issue for a man with your... resources." She sashayed toward his truck.

  Isak growled and strode over behind her.

  Evalle saw her window and all but flew past both of them so she could jump in the back and force Adrianna to sit up front.

  He ended up lifting Adrianna into the Hummer by her waist. It was either that or produce a set of steps.

  Once Isak had them on the road and cruising through the city, Adrianna said, "This dashboard looks like an aircraft cockpit. What is all this?"

  Even though Isak hadn't been happy about her presence, in spite of his first refusal to bring her, he behaved like the gentleman Kit had raised. He pointed at various controls. "Access to computers at Nyght headquarters. I can reach any teams on surveillance and link their video, traffic cams, whatever is needed."

  Evalle asked, "Is that how you can always find me so easily."

  His gaze filled the rearview mirror. "I have special equipment dedicated just to keeping up with you."

  Adrianna half turned and looked at Evalle, who held her head in frustration. Adrianna winked and asked Isak, "So you can find anyone you want right now?"

  "Pretty much."

  "What about Storm? Can you find him?" Adrianna flashed the smile of an imp.

  Evalle warmed to the idea. Put the focus on Storm and not her, because she seriously doubted Isak could locate Storm so easily. "Really, Isak. You could find Storm?"

  Isak rose to the challenge and punched a number on his dash that connected him to a male voice who answered, "What can I do for you, sir?"

  Isak said, "Give me a ten-twenty on nine-seven-seven."

  "You have a number for Storm?" Evalle asked.

  "I have a file on every nonhuman." Isak looked over at Adrianna and added, "Including witches."

  Amused, Adrianna asked, "What's my number?"

  "Six-six-six."

  Evalle burst out laughing and Adrianna chuckled.

  After a moment, even Isak saw the humor in his attempt to take a dig at Adrianna. Then he said, "Here comes the report."

  Adrianna said, "There's like eight listings for Stone Mountain."

  "They do an update every fifteen minutes on a sighting."

  Evalle did the math. Storm had only been in Stone Mountain Park for two hours. The rest of the addresses were primarily downtown and one had been two blocks from the apartment.

  Two blocks and he hadn't even called.

  She squinted at the list. "What's the last one on that list?"

  "His current location as of nine minutes ago. Want to see it?"

  Of course she did. She had a moment of feeling like a snoop, but Storm had said he was taking care of business. If he was on a traffic cam, it was public knowledge.

  See? Didn't take much to talk herself into this. "Sure. What the heck?"

  Isak tapped the screen and the text went away. An image appeared from the street cam, but the street was empty.

  She was glad. All of a sudden, she felt bad about snooping on Storm after all, since ...

  Two people stepped into view and Evalle couldn't have looked away if her life depended upon it.

  One person was definitely Storm. She'd know that strong profile anywhere.

  The other person turned at an angle that showed her attractive face, her blond hair in a chic, sw
ept-up hairdo and the frilly while blouse and trim slacks in a style more suited to Adrianna than Evalle.

  Storm reached over and opened the door, smiling and holding it for her to walk through, then he followed her inside.

  Evalle thought her stomach was going to come up her throat.

  Adrianna gave her a guarded look and asked Isak, "What's in that building?"

  "It's empty." He tapped buttons. "Zoned for ... light commercial, uh, no that's not right." He tapped some more. "Looks to be plans for condos or apartments and offices, but there's no certificate of occupancy on file yet so no one has moved in."

  Adrianna gave her a look and a tiny lift of her shoulders as if she didn't understand either, but Evalle had it figured out.

  She was not going to insult Storm by thinking he was seeing that woman. He'd earned Evalle's trust, but Storm was looking for a place to live and probably wanted his apartment finished before he told her. She should be glad he at least wanted to move closer to her, but it was hard to swallow past the ball of hurt lodged in her throat.

  They'd never have a life together. Not like other people lived together.

  Was it asking too much to have one part of her life feel normal?

  Evalle wanted to get out and just leave. Walk home.

  Isak flipped off the video as he found a three-story parking garage on the north side of downtown. He pulled into a second-level spot in front of a short wall that allowed a view of the night blanketing Atlanta.

  "This place is dead for a downtown parking deck," Adrianna muttered, looking around.

  Isak parked and turned off the engine. "There are never many cars here at night. These are all purchased spots. I own this space."

  Evalle didn't care. She'd do what she promised, but she needed some time to get her head straight.

  Isak got out and walked around the front of the Hummer.

  Adrianna turned quickly to Evalle. "Storm is the one who asked me to join you tonight, so give him a chance to explain. As soon as we have time, I need to tell you what I found out after we talked today."

  Her door opened and Isak was there before Evalle could answer her. She had things to tell Adrianna, too. Evalle jumped out quickly. She wasn't up for Isak touching her right now, even if Storm couldn't see it and there wouldn't be a fight about it.

  She didn't want to be around anyone at the moment.

  Cool night air swirled, but it brought a hint of warning. Evalle paused and opened her senses to assess the area for a threat.

  Adrianna came around first and stopped next to Evalle, obviously also on alert, then Isak strolled up behind the witch as the lights went out in the garage.

  A whip of energy buzzed and circled Evalle, pulling tight like an invisible lasso that tied her arms to her body.

  Isak and Adrianna were in the same fix except whatever looped around them had bound the two together with Adrianna's back to Isak's front.

  Chapter 34

  Evalle realized Isak was trying to lift his hand that held a phone, but the lasso of energy had his arm pinned so tightly he couldn't move his hand and turn the phone, and couldn't touch the screen with his fingers.

  Adrianna was sandwiched tight against his chest, but she stared forward, ready to face whatever had captured them.

  A man who had to be a warlock stepped into Evalle's line of sight. She could see just fine in here, but Adrianna and Isak would be at a disadvantage.

  Evalle started with simple questions. "Who are you?"

  "I am Imar."

  Adrianna spoke up. "What do you want? I don't normally grant a last wish before executing a criminal, but I'll make an exception in your case."

  Go Adrianna.

  Isak stared down at the top of Adrianna's head with a look of surprise and muttered, "Damn, that's hot."

  "I am here for my mistress. You will come with me." The warlock talked like a robot and had the unfocused gaze of a zombie.

  Evalle worked her fingers loose. The binding went from her elbows to her hands, but with some effort that had her gritting her teeth, she managed to bend her wrist on the side of her body Imar wouldn't see.

  Imar lifted his hand to reach for Adrianna, who bit off a fast series of words. Imar's arm wrapped around his neck to grab his own chin.

  Fury seethed in Adrianna's eyes and she ordered, "Cuir gu bas!"

  Imar yanked his hand and the snap of his neck breaking away from the rest of his spine cracked the quiet.

  "Holy shit," Isak said. "Remind me to never piss you off."

  Adrianna smiled at the compliment.

  Evalle said, "What language was that?"

  "One of the Gaelic languages. He has a Medb aura, which means he's of Celtic descent. I spoke in a language his blood would recognize, but he likely would not." Then Adrianna pointed out, "We're still stuck."

  Evalle searched the dark space. "That's because there's more than one warlock here and Imar was sent as a sacrificial fool."

  Isak said softly, "Can you touch my phone if I turn it toward your hands, Adrianna?"

  "Maybe." She wiggled the fingers on one hand, inching them around her hip toward him.

  "Listen you two," Evalle whispered. "I need whoever is in charge alive."

  "Are you serious?" Isak groused.

  "Yes. Do not kill the head guy once he shows his face. It's important."

  "We won't kill him ... unless we have no choice," Adrianna clarified. "But no one is taking me captive."

  "Agreed." Evalle would never put Adrianna and Isak's safety second to her need to deliver evidence to a Tribunal, but anything out of the ordinary could lead to that evidence.

  Energy sizzled from the entrance where another man walked in, but intelligence slashed through this one's gaze.

  Adrianna whispered, "Medb."

  And a scar that sliced straight down his left cheek.

  This was the guy Grady had seen.

  "Poor Imar can't handle anything by himself and now I'm going to have to replace him plus explain his death." The warlock took in all three captives and paused at Evalle, withdrawing his knife and touching the tip. "Not so deadly without your dagger, are you?"

  Had he heard about the dead warlock and her dagger ... or did this guy know something?

  Replacing the knife, he lifted a radio and said, "Bring the truck."

  Adrianna opened her mouth and the warlock pointed a finger at her. "That crap you spewed won't work on me. I was told to deliver you two kicking, but that doesn't mean I can't rough you up some. Try that spell on me and you'll find out I'm not your average warlock."

  Adrianna closed her mouth and gave him the attention one would a slug.

  He might think he'd shut her down, but Evalle knew enough about Adrianna now to know the witch was merely thinking, not beaten.

  Evalle asked this warlock the same question. "Who are you?"

  "We're not going to be friends, but you can call me Don since we'll be intimate soon." He leered at her.

  Evalle shook her head. "Forget I asked. No point in remembering the name of a dead warlock walking."

  "You got a smart mouth for someone with trouble hanging over your head."

  She hadn't smelled the Medb scent, but Adrianna called these guys Medb and he just confirmed it for Evalle because no other warlock should know about her dagger right now. Plus, she couldn't think of any other kind of warlock around who would be arrogant or stupid enough to attack her, much less her and Adrianna together, even if they knew nothing of Isak's reputation.

  While killing a Medb warlock would be a great stress relief right now, explaining a second Medb death might not go well with the Tribunal in their current frame of mind.

  Adrianna was still working her fingers behind her, but staring calmly at this Medb, who kept his eyes on her and the cleavage the witch intentionally lifted with deep sighs of boredom.

  Don clearly dismissed Isak as a threat because he was human.

  To pull the Medb's gaze to her and confirm a guess, Evalle said, "I bet s
omeone thought that was a slick trick, changing one of your warlocks into a demon then sticking a glamour on him, but it didn't work."

  "Looks like it did from where I'm standing." Don found that highly amusing.

  Damn. She had the guy she needed right in front of her.

  Adrianna and Isak had no idea what this Don would mean for clearing Evalle's name. She scoffed. "You don't really expect me to believe that you could have done that? If you were that powerful, Queen Maeve wouldn't have you out here doing grunt work."

  That pissed off the warlock. Perfect.

  Don stepped over and got in Evalle's face. "Believe it, bitch. I'm the one who handed the corpse to Cathbad. I saw you kill my demon up on Stone Mountain."

  "Why change a Medb warlock into a demon? That makes no sense at all." She tried to sound so unimpressed.

  Adrianna helped out by chuckling.

  "I was building an army, but I won't need one now."

  Evalle said in all honesty, "Once the Tribunal finds out what you did, you'll be lucky if Queen Maeve and Cathbad only kill you."

  "That's never going to happen and those two are no longer my problem. I don't answer to that witch or Cathbad."

  He was serious.

  When he turned away, looking for his truck, Evalle twisted fingers on her left hand that was on the side angled away from the warlock. She fed her kinetics into the fingers and pushed at the invisible wrap around the middle of her body, feeding more power and straining to keep it isolated while she experimented.

  She felt it stretch then give. Her finger poked through.

  After all that, she'd only managed to punch a hole.

  The sound of a large truck engine slowing meant Evalle and her friends were out of time.

  The warlock standing with them waved his truck in.

  Twisting her wrist into a painful angle, Evalle called up her warrior form where muscles expanded and cartilage popped up under the skin.

  That upped her kinetic power, but more than that, her expanded body size stretched her binding until she could move her wrist. She whipped her fingers fast at the warlock and slapped him in the back of the head.

  The blow knocked him off his feet and facedown on the floor.

  Evalle gave Adrianna and Isak a look. "Time to make our move." Using her kinetics, she called his knife to her.

  The blade flew from his sheath to her hand, grip first.

  She pushed the blade between her and the binding, hoping a Medb knife would cut Medb majik. She sawed through an inch.

  It was working. Not fast enough.

  Isak shouted, "Code Nine! Code Nine!"