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“Grandmother, after the night I’ve just had—after fighting my way through over a dozen Spellbinders only to witness my baby sister being brutally murdered by her own bodyguards—after then learning my 6-year-old nieces were abducted bytheirbodyguards and my own best friend—I suggest you tread lightly.”
Breaths were drawn in deeply around me as I mouthed off to our unofficial ruler. Not sure why they were so surprised. Why else did they think I’d been banished from Boston?
“We can and will grieve Kayleigh’s death later—and believe me, those responsible will pay dearly—but I don’t want to losetwogranddaughters in one night, Ava. The wise thing would be for you to let Alexander continue the search while you return home.”
“Towhichhome, Grandmother? Donnelly Manor, the Pack’s sanctuary that was too easily breached tonight? Or perhaps you want me to return toyourhome in Boston so you can wrap me in a bubble and protect me the way you failed to protect Kayleigh.”
Grandmother let out a breath as if those words had struck a nerve. As if I had the power to hurt her. That was even less likely than my being able to hurt Finn.
“No, Ava, I mean for you to return toyourhome. Like Cinderella after the ball.”
My body drew up straight again. It could benocoincidence that she was echoing the same clue I realized Kayleigh had given me not once, not twice, but three times today. Grandmother had taken it even one step further by mentioning my condo. I didn’t know how, but she knew the message Kayleigh had tried to send me and was reinforcing it.
I narrowed my eyes at a sudden flash of insight. “The only waythat’sgonna happen is if you can guarantee the girls will live long enough for Alexander to find them if Idomake like Cinderella.”
“I can guarantee that both their and your best chance of survival is for you to do exactly what I just suggested.”
My breath sucked out and I scowled. “So help me, Grandmother, if you’re sending me on a wild goose chase and those girlsdiebecause of it…”
“They’re not going to die, Ava. Whoever took them either needs or wants them alive. Else they wouldn’t have taken such pains to sneak them away from your parents’ home during the chaos.”
Hearing her echo my own realization oddly reassured me. Mostly because she was so used to political machinations and thinking three steps ahead of everyone else.
“Surely you’ve drawn near enough to them by now for Alexander to close the last bit of distance. He’s a perfectly adequate Beacon.”
Which was higher praise coming from her than it sounded.
“Fine, Grandmother. I’ll head home now rather than waiting for the strike of twelve. But if anything happens to those girls, you can forgetanychance of me ever doing what you want me to in the future.”
Her voice became dryer than the Sahara. “I wouldn’t knowingly endanger them. I know you’ll doubt me, but I care about those girls as much as I did Kayleigh.”
I couldn’t resist one final dig before ending the call, “And look how well that ended for my sister.”
* * *
Finn
My fingers itched to grab the phone out of Connor’s hands. I’d love nothing more than to spit all my angry words at the terrible woman causing Ava even more distress. Like she hadn’t faced enough of that tonight.
But doing that would solve nothing. And it would only give Ava another reason to resent me.
Besides, she took care of things herself by hanging up on her grandmother after getting in a wicked parting shot. Something that had a grin crossing my face. Ava didn’tneedany of us to fight her battles. Didn’t mean we wouldn’t be right there fighting next to her from here on out. But she was for damned sure no damsel in distress. Something both my inner wolf and human side found sexy as hell.
Ava glanced around after ending the call. I could sense the gears in her creative brain turning. Surprisingly, her gaze shot to mine when she spoke. “Finn, you’re not gonna like what I have to ask you to do.”
My body went rigid, but I managed to keep my tone neutral. “I trust you, Ava. Especially in magical matters. What do you need?”
She relaxed slightly, and pride that I’d managed to alleviate some of her stress flared. “My grandmother just echoed a hint my sister gave me several times today. The fact Grandmother recommended I return tomyhome just confirms that. I’m assuming Kayleigh left a concrete clue behind to help us figure out what the fuck is going on. And I know exactly where to look, but we can’t give up the search for the girls.”
Uneasiness at the thought of separating from Ava—again—battled the truth of her words. I glanced across the seat at Alexander. He’d agreed to place himself in great danger to help us. His Understudy had remained in San Francisco, meaning if anything happened to our uncle, their Pack would have a backup Beacon. Ours currently had no such failsafe. It made sense to get Ava away from this search and somewhere safer. And I cared enough about my uncle to not want him toneedhis Understudy to step in should Alexander get taken out trying to rescueourgirls.
I nodded slowly. “It makes sense for me to stay with Alexander. We’ve worked together before, and we’re not sure who else we can trust.”
“And you’re for damned sure the best warrior out of us,” Connor chimed in.
That was a mere statement of fact rather than a compliment, so I didn’t bother replying.
Shea pursed his lips. “As much as I hate the thought of splitting up, I can’t fault Ava’s logic. Neither Kayleigh nor the Dragon Lady would be deliberately repetitious without it meaning something.” He glanced at our uncle. “Are you comfortable carrying on the search for the girls without us?”
