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‘And Krieg probably had thirty or forty ogres on the property.’
‘And the crows. Don’t forget the crows,’ I said lightly.
My phone started buzzing and I drew it back from my ear to look at the screen. It was an incoming call from Joyce Evergreen, the dryad. ‘Steve, I better go. I’m getting a call that I need to take.’
‘All right. Touch base if you find out anything else.’
‘You too. Later.’ I hung up from Steve and swiped up to answer the call.
‘Lucy? It’s Joyce.’ The normally calm dryad sounded hysterical. I wasn’t going to like whatever was coming next. ‘A griffin has taken Wren!’
Shit.
Chapter 18
‘Ineedtospeakto Jinx, but I can’t get through to her. Her phone keeps ringing out. I need Jinx! I need her to help me. I need her to get Wren back for me!’ Jinx was Jess’s nickname. The majority of people called her that, but for me she would always be little snot-nosed Jess Sharp.
I grimaced. Jess was offline. ‘I’m sorry, Joyce, but Jess told me that she wouldn’t be contactable for the next day or two.’
At that, Joyce started sobbing hysterically.
‘I know this is hard, but I need you to calm down,’ I said. ‘Take a deep breath. Your child isn’t the first – one of my werewolf pups and an elemental’s child have also been taken. Someone is targeting the Other children in this area. I need to know as much about what happened to Wren as possible. You said a griffin took her?’
‘Yes,’ Joyce managed. She took several long breaths while she tried to get herself under control. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was going through. I’d met Wren, albeit briefly, and she was a delightful four-year-old girl. Plus, Joyce had already been through the wringer; her husband, Reggie, had been brutally murdered not that long ago, and she was still finding her feet. To have her child kidnapped so soon afterwards stretched the boundaries of bad luck.
‘Can you tell me what happened?’
‘We were at the park. Rose was fussing, so I got her out of the pram to let her play on the swings for a while. I took my eyes off Wren for a second. God, I should never have taken my eyes off of her at all.’
‘You can’t blame yourself,’ I consoled her. ‘This isn’t your fault.’
‘Then why does it feel like it is?’ Joyce continued brokenly, ‘Wren was on the climbing frame, at the very top. She was playing with the binoculars. I settled Rose into the baby swings to give her push, and suddenly Wren shrieked. I turned around, assuming she’d fallen, but I couldn’t see her. I just couldn’t see her! She was still screaming and I realised the sound was coming from above. I looked up and saw her being carried in a griffin’s claws. I screamed for help but there was no one around me.’
‘What did you do next?’
‘I called the Connection to report the kidnapping. I’ve already given a detective a full report, and they have the most recent photograph I’ve got of Wren. She was wearing jeans and a white hoodie with a picture of a unicorn on it. She’s obsessed with unicorns. I’m sorry, you don’t need to know that. I’m in pieces.’
‘It’s okay, Joyce.’ Sonofabitch; Marley had known about this when we spoke. He’d said ‘kidnapping cases’, and missing ‘kids’. He’d already known that a third child had been taken. Steve needed to watch out because he was on my shit list. Lying by omission is still lying.
‘I need to speak to Jinx,’ Joyce insisted. ‘She’ll be able to find Wren.’
‘I’m sorry, I don’t know where she is. But I’ll do everything in my power to help you. Have you reported it to the dryad elders?’
‘Yes, of course I have. But this kind of thing is outside our experience. We mostly avoid trouble – we can always run away into our trees. There were no trees at the kids’ park. Why did I take her to that damn park? There were no trees for her to run to!’ Her voice was rising again.
‘Even if there had been trees, it sounds like it all happened too fast for her to run to safety.’ I wasn’t sure if I was helping, so I changed the topic. ‘Can you tell me anything more about this griffin? Any distinguishing features?’
‘It was a griffin. It was flying away at the time, and I was focusing on my daughter in its claws. I’m sorry – I know I’m useless.’
‘Not at all. Most people would be hard pressed to tell griffins apart. But if we know a griffin is involved it’s a lead, one we didn’t have before. I promise you that I’ll follow it up immediately. Is there anything else I can do for you?’
‘No,’ she said miserably. ‘Nothing.’
‘You’re welcome to come to the mansion, if you like. You could bring Rose and sit with Sonia, the other mother whose child is missing. She’s probably the only one who can really understand what you’re going through right now.’
‘I – yes. Okay. I’ll come. Thank you, Lucy.’
‘You’re welcome.’
