Page 17 of Fateful Reunion

“Can you patch Haven in? I think he should hear this.”

“Give me a sec.”

She waited while Gabriel established the three-way call.

“It’s Haven, what’s up, Roxanne?” she heard her colleague ask a moment later.

“You know about the assignment I’m on, right?”

“Gabriel filled me in earlier. How can I help?”

“Do you have any way of contacting Wesley?” Never mind that she didn’t particularly like him, but at least Wes might be able to help her figure something out.

“Sorry, I tried numerous times over the last few days, but it’s going to voicemail. I can’t even locate his cell on our GPS. Either the chip is broken, or...” He sighed heavily. “I have no idea where he is or how he’s doing.”

Hearing the worry in Haven’s voice made her feel bad that she’d often treated Wesley with coldness. She knew Wesley didn’t deserve it, but she hadn’t been able to separate the man from the witch. “I hope he contacts you soon.” She took a breath. “He has an extensive collection of books on witchcraft and history. Could you try and find something for me in those books?”

“What do you want me to look for?”

“Charles told me that Ilaria, the witch we’re supposed to protect, is his niece. Apparently she was born with the mark, whatever that means.”

“What kind of mark?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t specify. But he said it makes her different from other witches. I need to know what that means. And why other witches would hunt her because of it.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Haven promised.

“I appreciate it.”

“Roxanne?” Gabriel now said.

“Yes?”

“Have you found out anything else? Why he’s here? What he wants? Why he needs protection for her?”

Roxanne leaned back against the cool tile wall. “I’m working on it. But he’s cagey. All he said was that Ilaria needs to be with her own kind. And that her future is here in San Francisco.”

“Have you tried to get close to him to make him trust you again?” Gabriel probed.

Yeah, and look how that turned out!

“Roxanne?” Gabriel asked again.

“I’m working on it. Gotta go.”

Roxanne disconnected the call. She should have never let herself be talked into taking this assignment. Now she was caught between—well, between what and what? Her heart and her head? Her past and her present? Her duty and her desires? Whatever it was, she was trapped. And the door to the trap she found herself in was slowly closing.

If she were smart, she’d make a run for it and get away while she still could.

6

After reassuring himself that Ilaria was taken care of, Charles withdrew to one of the bedrooms on the second floor, telling Roxanne and her team that he was going to sleep. Nobody questioned him. After all, witches weren’t nocturnal like vampires. But he didn’t sleep. Instead, he took a map from his travel bag and spread it on the floor in front of the bed. From a side pocket he retrieved a crystal on a leather string.

He reached for the tissue on the bedside table. A blotch of red, dry by now, was in its center. Blood from Ilaria, not just from any spot on her body, but taken from her mark. She’d agreed to it without protest, knowing what was at stake. He wrapped the blood-stained tissue around the crystal.

Cross-legged he sat down, stretched his hand holding the string out over the center of the map and closed his eyes. He hummed a soft melody, while concentrating on his solar plexus. As warmth spread from cell to cell, he felt a tingling in his arm traveling down to his fingers. He allowed it to release into the string and reach the crystal. It began to swing.

He’d done this several times before they’d come to San Francisco, starting when Ilaria had first come into her powers. And now that she was getting stronger, the readings he got became more accurate. It was time to make contact, though he was sure they already knew that Ilaria was here. Just like Charles could sense his niece’s power, so could other witches. And that fact made his quest more urgent with every day that passed. Soon, more and more witches would hunt them, and there would be no place to run anymore. No place to hide what she was.