Page 54 of Scout’s Honor

Aven answered, coughing. “Sorry,” he said. “Hairball.”

“Skree, Aila must be the woman at the mental hospital that Jameson took me to see—you know, the one who fell from the sky.”

“Maybe…”

“She doesn’t glow but… she’s involved in ‘The Cause’ somehow, I know it, and Jameson knows it too. The magic house wants her out of that place and ‘brought home.’ That’s what’ll get it to come back, I know it.”

“Makes sense,” Aven said. “I'll tell Jameson… but Cora's got hyperemesis and—”

“Hyper what?”

“She's puking more than pregnant women normally do, and Jameson's distracted, worried about her and taking care of her.”

“Okay,” Dallas said, thinking. “It's up to us then. Will anyone listen to you?”

“Sure, Maze will. Ryder, too, if Shiloh doesn’t tell him not to. Maybe Riot and he’d bring Gemma.”

“We need a plan.”

“I guess for now we’ll scramble some surveillance. We should be watching her doctor anyway, in case the vampires come back. How can we get her out of there?”

Bonhi spoke. “I don’t know this case, but normally, someone related to her can request her release into their custody, or if she becomes lucid, they will cut her loose. Other than that, you can request a guardianship, but it will take time… or I could request a conditional release if you could show support for her that might return her to a healthy state.”

Dallas smiled at her. “You’re like a legal wizard.”

She grinned and winked at him, making him want her even more.

“Witch, actually,” she teased.

Dallas laughed out loud. You believe, he mouthed to her, then he spoke to Aven, while Bonhi kissed his shoulder and rubbed his forearm. “What about out here in New Orleans? Mama Soline could use checking on.”

“Checking on for what?”

“Oh crap, I guess we didn’t tell you the whole story. She gave Thorn the clothing spell so he could hide something in his clothes from himself.”

“Hide something from… himself?” Aven sounded genuinely confused.

“I don’t know, bird, but then vampires came and tried to charm her. Two of them, I think they might have been your Count Chocula motherfuckers.” Bonhi looked at him, eyes wide. He nodded at her, still speaking. “She played dead and they left her alone.”

“Smart.”

“She’s so scared of them she even faked her own death and took on a new name. Now she’s Queen Mambo.”

“Shit. Let me talk to some people and see if we have any contacts in New Orleans. Can you stay out there another night?”

Dallas looked at Bonhi.

“I’ll check,” she said. She typed quickly on her laptop, then gave him a thumbs up.

“We can,” Dallas said. “Thanks.”

Bonhi smiled at him. “Can I talk to Dakota?”

“Uh, sure. Bro?”

“Yeah, she’s here.”

Bonhi took the phone off speakerphone. Dallas picked at the dessert.