Page 45 of Night and Silence

“I smell blood,” he said. “How drenched are you under that illusion?”

“I genuinely appreciate your squire’s focus on the important aspects of life with you,” said Tybalt dryly.

Quentin’s eyes flicked to him, suspicion becoming irritation. “I’m mad at you,” he said. “We all get messed up sometimes. Running away isn’t the answer.”

“Understood,” said Tybalt. “I will endeavor to win my way back into your good graces. Now, you were asking the lady about her injuries . . . ?”

Quentin’s attention swiveled back to me. I swallowed a groan. “Dirty pool, cat,” I said.

“A man does not reach my ripe old age without learning the better part of the art of distraction,” said Tybalt.

Walther cleared his throat. “Can we get back to the blood, please? You screamed, and the call dropped. I thought . . .” He stopped. “I thought you were in real trouble.”

“I was.” I looked back at the house, which seemed so perfect, so untouched. It wasn’t hard to make my decision. I turned to the others. “Madden, you need to go back to Muir Woods and let Arden know a Baobhan Sith has been nesting here. She made this her den.”

His eyes widened. “What? There haven’t been Baobhan Sith in the Mists since before King Gilad took the throne. That’s not possible.”

“She tried to chew my arm off. I’d say she’s here. I can help clear her out after I find Gillian, but right now, I need to get back on the trail of my daughter, and you need to tell Arden there’s a threat hiding in Berkeley.” The Baobhan Sith could have been there for years. This was unincorporated territory, no Count or Duke or Marquis to report to when someone disappeared. Most of the fae of Berkeley treasured their independence. They wouldn’t necessarily have gone running to the crown when they had a problem.

Or maybe they had, and the Queen they’d found had seen an opportunity where they saw a monster. The smell of cold and rowan had been so damn strong, and after Jocelyn’s note . . .

“We need to move,” I said. “All the false trails have been here in Berkeley, which means Gillian isn’t. They’re trying to make us waste as much time as possible. Walther, if you can keep your eyes open, talk to your kids, anything. I don’t think she’s here, but if she is, I’m hoping you can find a lead.”

“I’m not an investigator.”

“I’m barely one,” I shot back. “We need to go to San Francisco.”

May frowned. “Why?”

“Jocelyn left me a note. She said I’d find her in the place I ‘gave away.’ That describes two places I can think of, and they’re both in San Francisco.”

“What?”

I turned. Quentin was staring at me.

“One of those places is Goldengreen,” he said. “Dean’s there, and he’s going to be asleep right now. Why aren’t we there already? We need to warn them.” He dug for his phone, already dialing without waiting to hear my excuses.

I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t have any excuses. I just had a lot of fear—and the driving need to bring my daughter home. I started walking, and the rest of them moved with me, a little knot of strangers traveling through a residential neighborhood where we had no business being. It felt like eyes watched from every window, twitching curtains aside and making notes about our suspicious behavior. I knew that wasn’t really happening—if it were, the police would have come for Quentin and the rest while I was inside the Baobhan Sith’s house, fighting for my life against a terror made of teeth and hunger.

Quentin lowered his phone, looking at it bleakly. “He’s not picking up,” he said.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll decide whether I believe you once we get there and he’s okay,” Quentin snapped.

I couldn’t blame him for that, either. Not even a little. I just kept walking.

We stopped when we reached the parking lot, Madden giving me a doleful look. “Are you sure you don’t want me with you?” he asked. “I have her scent now.”

“You need to stay here and show Arden to the house,” I said. “It should be under constant supervision, for when the Baobhan Sith comes back. If she doesn’t need you standing guard, you can keep looking for more trails. I bet we find every monster in Berkeley by finding all the places where my daughter isn’t.”

“I’ll call you if we find anything,” said Walther.

“Call Quentin,” I replied. “I sort of killed my phone.”

“Of course, you did,” he said. “Open roads, October, and good luck.”

“Kind fires,” I replied, and unlocked the car.