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“That was quick,” Caleb says.
“I was in the neighborhood. Had a feeling you might need my witchy skills again.”
Caroline chuckles as she stands. “A bit psychic, are we?”
Galina pins Caroline with an intense, extremely serious look. “Of course. Aren’t you?” Then she turns to Caleb and Maddy, all sparkly eyes and smiles. “Who are we finding this time?”
“Orion,” Caleb answers.
Galina’s smile drops away. “Ah.”
“Can you do it?”
“Of course. It just might take a little time, depending on how many wards and magic I have to get through to locate him.” Galina begins a minor chord hum as she rolls up her sleeves. “If he’s smart, he’s hiding, but one thing about Orion, he’s ballsy.”
Quinn nods at that, her lips thinning.
Soon, Galina’s conjuring a location spell, searching the atmosphere for traces of Orion’s aura and his magic. She searches the mortal plane for hints of the Fae. Then she searches Mercy City, but Orion’s not there.
Her search widens.
As a mortal, Caleb can’t see Galina’s magic well anymore, but he can tell she’s casting. Maddy and Cora stare at a large space below Galina’s hands, and he’s seen it often enough before to be able to approximate what it looks like.
Caroline leans close to Caleb. “Can you tell what she’s doing?”
“Yes,” he says, but he doesn’t add anything else, and Caroline moves back into her own space. Caleb isn’t about to explain the mortal-to-vampire-to-mortal his life has been so far. Finally, Galina’s eyes twinkle.
“Ah ha! I’ve found him. He’s several hundred miles away.” She frowns. “In a…” She focuses on Caroline. “Palace?”
Caroline steps forward, and her hands start moving even before she starts speaking. “Yes! I knew it! I knew there was something going on there.” Her elation is obvious while the others are waiting for more information. “There’s a family mansion there. It used to belong to one of the Merrick ancestors. It never showed up on the data for research and development, but I would find random large shipments sent there from the research labs. I knew there was something secretive going on there, but I could never find any real evidence to warrant digging into it more closely.”
Galina beams at Carline. “Well, it seems your father’s keeping Orion there.”
“Or maybe they’re both there,” Caleb says. “And they’re preparing for Orion’s attempt to conquer this world.”
Galina steeples her fingers. “Possibly.”
Maddy shakes her head. “You meanprobably.”
“The question, is what do we do now?”
Caroline’s eyes widen. “Oh, I know when it’s going to happen.” She swallows. “Tomorrow.”
They all whirl to face her.
Maddy taps her foot. “How do you know it’s going to be tomorrow?”
“It was a date that came up in some of the notes associated with whatever was in the crates.” Caroline’s completely still as she speaks. ”I often found evidence of the shipment contents, but the shipping lists were often deleted. On the couple I found, the notes included tomorrow’s date.”
“Then they’re going to do it at dawn,” Cora says.
“Why?” Maddy demands.
“Because it’s one of the times when the distance between planes reduces. It’s easier to get from realm to realm at sunrise and sunset. Why do you think humans love to watch them so much?”
Maddy blinks. “Are you serious?”
Caleb grasps her hands. “She’s serious, and she’s not wrong.”
