AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Clawdia, Charlie, Zaide, would you mind taking a look at our new suspect pictures? We’d like to update the team as soon as possible.”
“We can do one better actually,” I said as I swung an arm around the back of Clawdia’s chair.
I needed her close.We joked last night about her being an emotional support animal, but maybe that’s not untrue.I was stressed but playing it cool in front of my birth mother, yet Clawdia placed a hand on my thigh, and I suddenly felt like I could breathe again.Is this a love thing, or a familiar thing?I had no real way of knowing, but fuck if I wasn’t going to take advantage of it. I covered her hand with mine and squeezed her shoulder.
“I have seen him in a vision. I can show you him,” Daithi said. He was also playing it cool. No one would have guessed that only a few moments ago, he’d stared in utter confusion as he was able to control something that had been like a curse to him all his life.And all he needed to do was to stop being a know-it-all prick and listen to Zaide.
“Please. Go on.” Joseph waved a hand.
Daithi took a deep breath, and suddenly, in the middle of the table was a large hologram of Fafnir. The human version, which suddenly shifted into the dragon and back. The collective gasp that came from the council and my mother made me smile smugly. I wasn’t shocked by Daithi’s illusions anymore.
When you’ve seen him accidentally turn a cat into a human, everything else is a bit boring.
Marianne looked through her phone and quickly checked her photos against the image. “None of the new suspects are him.”
Joseph took a picture. “I’ve just sent the image to the teams. If they are in the right place, they should get sight of him soon.”
“He doesn’t look like he could eat you when he’s this small.” Samuel waved his hand through the illusion.
“And Clawdia doesn’t look like she’d piss in a litter box,” I said with a shrug, “but she has.”
Clawdia gasped and poked me in the stomach. Hard. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” I grinned, unrepentant, even as I rubbed the spot her boney finger stabbed me.
“You can go off some people you know.” She turned her nose up at me, which only made me want to piss her off more.
“You can’t go off me, Clawdicat.” I whispered, my lips brushing her ear, making her shudder. “You’re literally attached to my soul forever.”
It was still a weird thought, that she’d be with me until we died. We’d gotten magically married without ever discussing it, but a part of me was glad. You didn’t get to keep a lot as a foster kid. At least I knew I’d never lose Clawdia. And, in turn, never lose Zaide or Baelen.
Elizabeth’s gaze moved between Clawdia and me before she turned to Joseph and asked, “Have your team found anything on what Fafnir might be doing? Has anyone reported missing people?”
Joseph shook his head. “They haven’t found anything yet. No reports have come in about missing members of our community, so we can only assume he’s regaining his strength another way.”
“Or your communication is being sabotaged,” I muttered under my breath. Alex shot me a sharp look, and I shrugged. “There’s no way he’s just biding his time. He’ll be building. So either he has a way of stopping you guys hearing about people going missing, or he’s got a collection of people who have been ‘missing’ for a while now that he can snack on.”
“People have been going missing for months now. You think not all of them have been taken as slaves?” Clawdia asked.
“It’s easier to prey on people in panic.” Zaide said in a voice so low and deep that it sent shivers down my spine and silenced the entire table. His jaw was tight, and Clawdia pulled his hand onto her lap, offering him the same comfort she offered me.
“Enough with the conspiracy theories please, Charlie. We deal with facts of matters here. We don’t have evidence of anything you are saying.” Joseph sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We are looking for Fafnir. That is all we can do for now.”
You aren’t utilizing your resources properly or thinking like the enemy. You’re doing the bare minimum.My teeth ground together as frustration burned through me.
“What about finding my family?” Elizabeth asked.
“They are searching,” Joseph said with an edge of irritation.
I leaned forward, taking my arm back from behind Clawdia to put it on the table as I stared Joseph down. “How are they searching? Physically? Magically? Digitally?”
“Charlie, you need to trust that our teams know what they are doing.” Marianne added, her mouth pursed in a frown.
Through gritted teeth, I said, “I just want to know so I can tell you if I can do it faster.”
“Be our guest.” Samuel grinned mockingly and waved his hand, which really fucking irked me.
“The council is really starting to piss me off.”I told Clawdia.
