Page 60 of Investigation of a Quest

“Don’t mention it.” She surveyed the station, her eyes wide with her sudden, overwhelming responsibility. “I should probably read the case notes and get up to speed.”

“Let me know if you need anything.” Griffin pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket and scanned the text message before grabbing Olivia’s arm and pulling her away from prying ears. “Stone texted.”

“I saw,” she said. “I’ll step out first. I have a meeting with a…” She paused. “A taxidermy expert.”

“Perfect,” Griffin said. “Mention that to reception on your way out. I’ll follow in a bit.”

“Binding Morrigan killed my entire coven, so before we begin, is everyone sure this is the path they want to take?” Morana West asked. “Because there will be casualties. I wish I could assure you we’ll all make it out of this fight alive, but we won’t. Someone sitting in this room won’t survive this. So are you sure you want to do this?”

“Bel is my daughter,” Reese said. Eamon had called Bel’s father, and the man had been in his car before they hung up, but they didn’t start this meeting until he arrived at the Reale Estate. “My life has always been something I’d willingly trade for my children.”

“Emerson is family,” Griffin said. “We’re not going to leave her to die.”

“Not to mention that if we do nothing, this Morrigan witch might destroy the world,” Ewan said. “As much as we love Bel, this is about saving more than her. This is about saving our families, our packs, our loved ones.” He glanced at Olivia, not bothering to hide his feelings. “If your coven leader sacrifices Bel and enslaves a dhampir, we’re facing the apocalypse. Black magic combined with an alpha predator who no longer cares what happens to him? I don’t want to see the cursed version of him that’s mourning Bel’s death. We can’t let that happen because it won’t just be our deaths. It’ll be our families.” He looked at Reese with a pointed glare. “Bel isn’t your only daughter in danger. The same blood runs through your other five girls. As children of true love, do you think a cursed Eamon would let them live? He’d go after them first. So, it doesn’t matter if the people in this room die. Better us than them.”

“He’s right,” Eamon said. “You don’t want to live in a future I rule where I’m controlled by black magic and not Isobel. We have to end this, and while my only motivation is Isobel’s life, humanity’s survival is at play.”

“So we’re in this. All of us.” Olivia reached out and grabbed Griffin’s hand, and after a pregnant pause, she took Ewan’s in her other. “Together.”

“And I’ll be with you,” West said. “I lost everyone worth fighting for, but her freedom is my fault. My coven couldn’t kill her, and Ruby and I failed to keep her entombed. I brought this upon us, and I will see it to its bitter end.”

“So we’re all on the same page,” Reese said. “Good. Now let’s get my kid back. What’s the plan?”

“We have to find her first,” Eamon said. “But the idea is to pull the witch’s focus to me so that she’s oblivious to any approaching mortals. Once we know where she’s keeping Isobel, Ewan and I will make ourselves unavoidably visible. We’re hoping Morrigan is tracking us, too obsessed with waiting for us to step inside her reach to notice the humans closing in.”

“Will that work?” Reese asked.

“Probably not,” Eamon said. “But if I go after Isobel alone, we’ve already lost. This is all we have.”

“I’m worried the witch will smell the trap,” Reese said.

“Not if we hover on her magic’s border,” Eamon said. “Which is why we have to find where she’s keeping Isobel. If Ewan, Morana, and I reside just outside her grasp, our hope is she’ll be watching with such bated breath that she’ll ignore any encroaching mortal scent. She’ll be oblivious to anything that cannot bring her victory, and she’ll be so focused on pulling us into her trap that she might be distracted enough to take her eye off Isobel. All we need is a single moment. One lapse of focus, and you could get Isobel far enough away to allow me to move in for the kill. Your coven, Morana, couldn’t destroy her, but I will have no such difficulties. I will rip her head from her body.”

“Even without your detective, she’s dangerous,” West said. “You care about the mortals in this room. If she gets her hands on any of them... She might even sacrifice the shifter if that would deliver you to chains.”

“Can she do that?” Ewan asked, his cheeks suddenly pale. “Can she use my death to bind Eamon?”

“A sacrifice of blood is a sacrifice of blood, no matter how powerfully it flows,” West said. “This dhampir is an anomaly. He cares about everyone in this room, the pitbull included. The detective’s death would create an unbreakable bond, but anyone here could cause his downfall. Love is not required, so even my death could spell his doom, but the connections would make the curse hold stronger.”

“So even if we save my daughter, we’re faced with possible extinction?” Reese asked.

“Now you know why we exiled her to a tomb in a long-forgotten jungle,” West said. “Her freedom brings destruction.”

“Everyone seems to forget that I am far worse than she could even dream of becoming,” Eamon said.

“But you have a weakness,” West said. “One your kind was never supposed to carry. You care, and she will exploit that.”

“It’s because I care that she won’t survive,” Eamon argued, picking up Cerberus from his spot on the floor as if he were a kitten and not seventy pounds of beefy muscle. “I spent centuries fighting for power, and trust me, that greed can’t compare to my need to save Isobel. Morrigan’s power-hungry, and that motivation will always fail when mine puts it to the test.”

“I pray you’re right, Mr.—”

“Sorry, I’m late,” a familiar voice called, and seconds later a handsome man strode into the room before stopping short at the unexpected audience. “What is this?” he asked, but he barely got the words out before Griffin and Gold were on their feet, weapons drawn and aimed for the kill.

“Hands up!” the sheriff shouted, and the bewildered newcomer stared at Eamon.

“I said, hands up!” Griffin repeated.

“Okay…” the newcomer raised his empty arms in surrender.