Chapter 2
With a few states between her and Chatan, Jacinda wished she had a phone. She wanted to tell Chatan she was safe, but her mother wasn’t. Maybe he’d understand if she told him what would happen if he came with her.
She missed his voice, his embrace, him. Not to mention the second dream was about her mother, not him. She remembered something while she bought cat food, sandwiches, and bottled water. Thanatos always gave them their worst fears in nightmares.
Thanatos was going after her mother.
As if he sensed her distress, the cat climbed into her lap and made himself comfortable, rubbing his head on her tummy. She reached down with one hand to rub between his ears.
“I screwed up. I had a dream and panicked. I saw him dead in my mother’s home. That tends to mean Thanatos is hunting that person. I knew he was safe in Wanatoga. And the dream was in my mother’s house. I had to go.”
The cat meowed.
“Yeah, it was stupid. And I don’t have a phone. He asked me to get a phone, and I didn’t. I should have.” She sighed. “I’m too far now. I can’t turn back. I finally have what I need to stop Thanatos. I can’t lose my mom.” Thanks to Chatan, she’d found what her father wanted her to find. The bracelet by the pillar, and she freed Dove. She just didn’t know what to do with any of it.
The cat snuggled tighter, and she wiped her eyes. “I should have told Chatan what was going on, what that dream showed me. I should have bought a phone.”
He let out a meow that sound strangely like I understand. Only, she had to be imagining it.
* * * *
A knock on the door brought Brent’s head up. Something bad had happened, the sense of dread had been growing all day, and he had no vision to go with the feeling. Plus, a visitor that late had to mean something bad.
Amelia moved to the door and opened it before Brent could stand. He turned in time to hear her say, “Good evening, Robert and Tremaine. You look worried. Come in.”
They stepped inside and Amelia sat on the arm of Brent’s chair as he took his seat. Robert and Tremaine sank onto the couch across from him.
Robert ran a hand down his lapel. “Your granddaughter is missing.”
Brent snorted. He had never met his granddaughter, thanks to his son. And granted, Tyrell did what he thought was best for everyone, but it hadn’t been. Not to Brent. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“No, you don’t understand. We met her a few nights ago.” Robert turned his head slightly. “She was key to stopping a strigoi feeding off Others moving through a rural town in Northern California. And when I went back to let her know what happened with the case, she was gone.”
“Let me get this straight,” Brent quietly stated. “You found my granddaughter, and instead of letting me know immediately, you let her disappear with no way to find her?”
Robert shifted his weight, then nodded. “How was I supposed to know you were actively looking for her? I didn’t even know you had a granddaughter.”
“I wasn’t actively looking,” he muttered. “Look, her mother was very good at keeping them away from me. But she’s not with her mother now, and something is hunting her family.”
“Well, until we stopped the murders in Saint Morton and dealt with the fallout, I didn’t have time to come to you.”
“That was several days ago, Robert. Why wouldn’t you tell me before now?”
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “I was busy dealing with a scumbag human who allowed magic to be shoved into him and now can’t live without more magic. The Council is still arguing over how to put him down. Then we have a warlock in custody they can’t seem to prosecute, though he’s guilty of a list of crimes longer than my arm. So, no, I didn’t get a chance to come to you and tell you about what happened to Jacinda. Keep in mind, I only know about the relation thanks to one of my DSF members who told me after Eddie at Ward Tower Security learned who she was.”
Brent scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. “Fine, but damn it. I wish I’d known sooner. My son shut us out to protect us, and them. Then he died. I only know that a creature called Thanatos is hunting them, and there’s not enough information to figure out what the fuck it is or what it wants.”
“She made no mention of Thanatos,” Robert answered. “In fact, she was shocked to learn she had a grandfather, but she had been through enough I wasn’t about to pry when I had other things to worry about.”
Brent squeezed his hands shut and released his grip. “And she’s gone?”
Tremaine cleared his throat. “Did you know that your son was part of the Branches of Emrys? He left Jacinda a journal full of runes and arcane symbols. She had figured out all but two sets, and I helped her learn one. I had never seen the last. The emblem of the Branches of Emrys was all over that book.”
Brent leaned forward. “You’ve met her?”
Tremaine sighed. “I didn’t know she was related to you at the time. That was a few years ago, Brent. And I only assume her father is Tyrell since she is your granddaughter, and your girls had boys.”
Brent looked from one to the other and back. “If Tyrell was part of the Branches of Emrys, can Ceridwen find her?”
“I’ll ask,” Tremaine answered.
Robert ran his hands down the lapels of his suit jacket and caught Tremaine’s gaze. “How well do you know the girl?”
Tremaine chuckled. “Not that well. She came seeking knowledge. I taught her what I could about one of the sets of symbols. She had deciphered three other sets, but there was one I had never seen.”
Brent rubbed at his head. “If I could look at the journal, I could figure it out.” With help, but the spirits usually offered information no one else could find. And he was always careful not to let them in.
“Brent, I know you’re upset, but we’ll find her,” Amelia promised.
He took her hands. “What if we’re too late?” He turned to Robert. “Have you found her mother?”
“They’re looking for her at Ward Tower Security. Both of them are so far under the radar they’re having trouble. They’ve uncovered places the women had been to, but nothing about where they are.”
Brent nodded. “I’ll look through the letters Tyrell sent me. Perhaps there’s a clue in those.”
“Good luck. I hope we can find her,” Robert stated.
“If you find her, let me know. Please,” Brent asked.
“I will,” Robert assured before leaving. Tremaine followed.
Amelia sat beside Brent and took his hands. “We’ll find her. We’ll stop whatever is after her.”
“I really do hope so,” Brent answered.
* * * *
Another key to another motel and her heart was breaking.
Jacinda grabbed her box and made her way inside the room with the cat following. She dropped into a chair and the cat climbed into her lap, put his front paws on her shoulders, and rubbed his head against her chin.
“You need a name.” She rubbed behind his ears, then yawned. “Still don’t know why you picked me.” After filling his bowls, she curled up on the bed, where the cat joined her.
“How about Onyx?”
He purred, rolling to his back.
“Why didn’t I take his number? I’ll have to figure out a way to get in touch with Chatan when I get to my mother’s. He likes dogs, but I think he’d let you stay with us. If he still wants me after leaving like I did.”
Onyx rolled over and pressed tight. She yawned again and closed her tear-filled eyes. She’d reach her mother’s house sometime the next afternoon.
Though the closer she got, the more she feared she’d find the worst possible outcome. Her mother, dead, arcane symbols she still couldn’t find burned into her mother’s flesh.
She hoped she was wrong, and there would be a clue to where her mother could have gone. Either way, it was better she was alone. She didn’t know how to protect Chatan any more than she knew how to protect herself. And she was running out of hope.