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“What?” I leaned forward while gripping Charlotte’s hand. “Did you find him”
“The child has a strong connection to your mate.”
My eyebrows shot through the roof. “Mywhat?”
When Lorena opened her eyes, she focused on Charlotte. “Your child belongs to this woman like he’s her own flesh and blood.”
“But Charlotte isn’t…”
Lorena waved away whatever explanation was about to sprout from my lips. “Bonds are stronger than blood with packs. You should know that as the beta of the Beaufort alpha.”
“Sure, we forge our bonds from birth. But that doesn’t mean—”
“That it’s impossible for your mate to be your child’s mother?”
Charlotte and I exchanged horrified looks. It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to be his mother.
Just maybe that it was a bit too soon for that.
I shook my head. “This isn’t the time for that. Can you tell me where he is?”
“Yes, the wax will tell us.” She waved her fingers over a candle at her left and a flame sprang to life on the wick. “That map to your right—hand it to me.”
The paper rustled when I plucked it from the shelf. She rolled it open on the table, revealing a typical map of Rochdale. Lines and colors sprang from the page, shifting around the longer I stared at it.
I rubbed my eyes.
“You’re not seeing things,” Lorena explained while lodging the comb into the tapered candle. She held it over the map, allowing a few drops of melted wax to drip from the wick. “This map reflects the most accurate depiction of Rochdale at any given moment. Fae streets and all.”
My eyes widened.
Someone with a map like this could tell anyone where to go, I thought while staring at the witch. Her concentrated features revealed nothing of her motives. But I had some theories.Maybe they could even help a group of vampires steal a child.
No, it was stupid. Downright ridiculous. Lorena wanted money, not power. As much as someone could argue that moneywaspower, that didn’t seem to be her motivation. She simply desired riches, things that meant something to someone else. Her lack of coven was a result of her coveting everything.
That was probably why she kept to herself.
The edges of the map fluttered. Lorena stared intently at the wax that slithered through the ever-changing streets. “Yes, that’s it.”
“Is it going somewhere?” Charlotte asked, her eyes alight with wonder. “Will it show us where he is?”
“That’s the idea, dear Lottie,” Lorena stated. “Looks like he might be hiding under the city.”
Frustration zapped my fingers. Was it Charlotte or me? Orboth?
“Oh, that’s not good.” The witch leaned toward the page. “No, that’s not good at all.”
“Stop being so cryptic,” I snapped. “Tell me where my son is located.”
She wrinkled her nose and paled significantly, her eyelids fluttering when the wax halted in the center of the map. “He’s in the catacombs beneath Domingo’s fortress. But his life force has waned.” Her eyes cut to me. “They’re using him for something.”
“For what?” I slammed the table. “What thehellare they doing to my kid?!”
She sniffed the air. “Smells like a curse.”
“Jesus, this is a nightmare,” I groaned while darting from the room. “This a fucking night terror. This is a...”
The shop turned into a tunnel as I fled toward the door. Each of the shelves I passed seemed larger than life, growing into towering creatures that bent toward me with gnarled fingers. Every step I took felt slow, unending. By the time I reached the door, my chest heaved with panic.
