Zia… Downtown Condo Building, Atlanta, GA

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The high-rise building cast subliminal messages of promised luxury and wealth to be found within. The ornate brick paved drive that led visitors to the covered valet area hummed with traffic.

Occupants of the Dragofin Clan sat in their van with a direct view of the front. Strategically positioned across the famous Peachtree Street on one of the one-way feeder streets eyeballs were glued to the front entrance. No one spoke as they watched vehicles move with efficient grace to drop off and pick up their charges.

Zia beat down anxiousness each time a new car drove up to the front door. Her parents were most likely already here.

Lucien called for an update from the others. “Any activity from the back? We found a place across the street and are in a parked position.”

A male voice that sounded like his, only less gruff responded. “No, even the receiving dock is quiet. Looks like a normal mid-afternoon for the lack of activity going on. We’re taking advantage of the downtime to research and track what we can. The ladies should have an update very soon as well.”

“Roger that. I want to know everything, even down to garbage drops and building employee smoke breaks. We’ll be here if it takes.”

“You still haven’t heard back from your parents or therapist’s call service?”

“No, Greg. I’m staring at the phone like you.”

The sharp edge to her voice was pronounced in the enclosed space of her mind. Zia made an effort to soften her tone as she spoke to her mate. It was harder to regulate her emotional intensity using the neural link. He picked up on her effort and bent over to kiss her on the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t mean to make you more stressed. I’ll contain my requests for updates to a minimum. You don’t need added pressure from me of all people.”

“Thank you, mate.” She hated taking out her frustration on him. Greg had been by her side the entire time. She would clean up her mood. Zia was thankful to have him. Remembering that only a few days ago he’d been attacked because of her knocked the snippiness right out of her attitude. “I love and thank you for being here with me. Let me try it again. No, heart of mine, I haven’t gotten any updates from anyone.”

“You two get anything yet?” Lucien asked them from the driver’s seat in front of where Zia sat.

“Neither my parents or Dr. Rosario are returning my calls. We need to go up there. It’s 1:43.”

“They could be in session. Does your therapist ask you to do anything with your phone before you start a session?” Quinn asked.

Zia looked up at the ceiling of the industrial van and prayed for patience.

“Yeah, she makes me put it in a little basket when I walk in.”

“There you go. That must be what’s happening. From the looks of it, nothing unusual is going on,” Wren said, looking through the front window of the van at the opulent high-rise building.

Unbeknownst to Zia until they were set to leave, the Dragofin Clan thought this would be the best time for an inaugural voyage of some of their new vans. Lucien had awakened Nolan, Blaise, Rylan, and Kylan to accompany them to the building.

The vans were specially outfitted and equipped with the alien tech Greg had been on about the other night. They were two vans strong today. This van had been named the couples’ van with Lucien and Quinn up front, Wren, Matt, Ajax and Hildy in the back, with Greg and her on the second row behind the driver.

The other van carried Nolan and Blaise, The Triplets, and the Dragon twins—Rylan and Kylan. Zia felt safer rolling down here fifteen people deep, but there was still the unknown to contend with.

The inside of this van had an extended cab of the back, one side held equipment and a workstation, while the other side had a bench that ran the length of the rest of the van.

In the back of their vehicle, Matt sat in the seat of what had to be a mini-command center for stakeouts or assignments, while the others took the long bench.

Everyone’s comms buzzed to life as one of the Triplets’ voices flooded their ears. “The source of energy is still inside. We can’t directly pinpoint which floor, but until we know if your parents return your call, we won’t know if they’re safe or not.

“As for the therapist, we’ve been looking at her background, and something is making our senses tingle. Zia, did you know that is she not only a Psychiatrist but also a licensed Pharmacist? She easily fits the profile of a sorcery practitioner. Hold tight; we’re trying to find out more about her family.”

Zia felt the eyes of the van locked on her. “What? My mother said she was referred to her by a family friend.”

Greg used his too-calm-to-not-be-about-something voice. “Did you ever feel like she wasn’t on the up and up with you?”

“No, I only went to her what…” Zia did a mental count, “three times while I was at home.”

“Zia?” One of the Triplets came through on the comm.

“Yes?”

“Did she ever give you anything?”

“Like what?”

“Anything, no matter how small or insignificant. Please, try to remember.”

Already the list started to take form in Zia’s mind’s eye. “Yes, let’s see, she gave me some sleeping pills to help with my sleep. Oh, and at the time I had panic attacks, so she gave me a specially customized smartwatch to help me track when I was about to have an attack.”

“Hmm, interesting” the Triplet said. “Did she have access to your vitals and data from the watch?”

“I don’t know. I never thought to ask. She did ask me how I was doing the next time I saw her after she gave it to me.”

“Which did she give you first, the pills or watch?”

“Uh, I don’t know I—”

“Think, Zia, it’s important.”

“Okay, let me see… the pills came first.”

“And, did you start to feel better or worse after you started taking them?”

“Wow, never thought to make that connection. I—that’s when I started having the night terrors.”

“And did she instruct you to wear the watch to track your sleep patterns too?”

“Yes, that bitch!”

“Slow down, it’s still too soon to jump to conclusions,” the Triplet said, “but, we found a write up she did in a medical journal that infused nanobots technology to deliver psychedelic drug therapies for treatment in PTSD cases. The delivery could easily be through ingested capsules. We sent a message to Miss Connie to check your blood results again to see if anything shows up. We’re hoping she can get us the results as soon as in the morning.”

Zia thought about the mother-figure of the clan. “Don’t rush her. I’m worried Miss Connie is doing too much. She’s not been looking her best of late.”

“No worries, we can go over to The Diner when we get back and grab the reports and any samples she might have left over. If not, we can always get a blood sample from you and do it at our lab, too, Zia.”

“Great, more blood-letting fun.”

“Ah, Zia, it’s almost over, we promise. Once we know for certain that the seed remnant and access to you are closed, you will only have to put up with us in social settings. We’re pretty fun to hang out with.”

“Uh-uh, y’all aren’t that much damn fun,” Hildy laughed.

“Yes, we are!” The Triplet chuckled. “Hey, this is Tina, everyone. I remember seeing an isolated anomaly in Zia’s blood work when Miss Connie was working with her data. We even referenced it but never got back around to look at it specifically. I don’t want to jump the gun on this, but the results would explain the non-biological material content that was in her blood. Until we know for sure, let’s use caution and not take risks. Zia and the baby are the top priority.”

“Yes, they are,” Greg chimed in.

“Hey, you don’t think that being this close to the building might trigger something in Zia that tips them off do you? I’ve heard of some pretty off the wall things about what nanobots can do. I’ve heard of the grey goo,” Hildy said.

“Conspiracy theory much? But, yes, we’re hoping Zia’s blood will reveal what, if anything that woman gave her. If we can isolate any residual markers from the foreign bodies in Zia, that anomaly might give us a direct link to the doctor. We have access to databases for raw materials. If she went through proper channels and we find the strain in Zia, that will be direct proof to back up what we suspect. It won’t hurt to have that dirt on her for the authorities either. In the meantime, we’re holding her guilty until proven innocent. Something isn’t right about her. We sense it.”

Hildy huffed. “Why can’t we get that in simple English, geez. This must be Mina talking with all that highfalutin information. Lina, please, come through. Speak to it very simple. You know, put all that into percentages on your suspicion level for Zia’s doc. You know me, I like and need it plain and direct.”

“This is Mina, and I promise, Hildy, it’s on when we get back to the Lair. I call dibs on taking you down to the mat.”

“Woohoo, girl on girl!” a man’s voice said.

“Shut it, Nolan,” one of the Triplets said. “Must you be so obnoxious all the time? This is Lina, and to answer Hildy and you too, Zia, it’s a better than eighty-five percent chance that your therapist is involved in some way. No one else in the metro Atlanta area boasts the credentials she has to have pulled off that poison Greg encountered.” Lina paused. “Is that better, Hildy?”

“Yes, much better, Lina. You sound like there’s more, keep going.”

“There is. We also suspect Zia’s therapist was using her as a test subject for her scientific research at the least and maybe as her target to become a portal at worst. We think this therapist might be the Sorceress behind the dust.”

“I’m going to be sick.” Zia tried to bend over to breathe while thoughts flooded in to support the Triplets’ case. “I’m such a stupid idiot.”

A voice from behind her in their van spoke up. “Cupcake, you had no way of knowing,” Wren tried to soothe her with comforting words. “We’re still not completely sure.”

“Are you still wearing the smartwatch?” the Triplet asked.

“Actually no. I haven’t worn it since I got to the Lair. Come to think of it, I only took a sleeping pill that first night, too. That might be why whoever this is started to put the pressure on to try to flush me out. They couldn’t track me anymore.”

“That sounds highly plausible.”

“We’re inching toward being a little more certain, now,” an unfamiliar male voice came through the comm. “This is Kylan, Zia, glad to welcome you to the family.”

“Yeah, me too. Oh, this is Rylan and before this gets out of hand so do all the other brothers.”

“As I was saying before being interrupted,” Kylan said, “we just found some information about your doc. Seems she came over from Puerto Rico when she was twelve. None of the information lists her father, but it says she was a child phenom in the sciences. Wow, she went to an impressive state-side university at the age of sixteen where she got her doctorate in Pharmacology.” Kylan paused, probably to read something. He came back through on the comm, and added, “She breezed through that program with honors and went to medical school after to become a leading research physician within only a few years. She’s a highly respected and leading Psychiatrist in the field of psychedelic drug therapies. Says here, she dedicates her work to her father who died when she was young.”

“My mother’s family still lives in Puerto Rico. Maybe they know her and who her father was.” Zia prayed it wasn’t who she vowed to never utter the name of again. “Usually someone knows how to connect the dots. My mother’s maiden name is Colón.”

“On it,” Kylan said. “Hey Zia, do you have anyone you can call back there?”

“No, unfortunately, my mother didn’t allow us to visit or keep in touch with her side of the family. She said they practiced a form of the religion she wasn’t fond of. My mother was adamant that we not deviate from normal Catholic doctrine.”

“Sounds like some island hoodoo flare to me,” a man said who she assumed was still Kylan.

“I told Zia the other night that whoever this sorcerer or sorceress was, knew Vodun,” Hildy interjected.

“This is Rylan. While Kylan has been working on pinning down your doc’s background, I’ve been working on isolating activity at the address your parents gave. That address is for one of the four penthouse apartments. It looks like there is movement at that location. Without getting eyes on the place from an adjacent spot, I’d say your parents made it to the apartment and are in there right now.”

“Any irregular activity?” Lucien asked.

“Not that I can tell. Looks like it’s limited. They might be sitting and talking like a regular therapy session. Can’t be sure until we have better intel.”

Lucien took command of the conversation. “Rylan, Do you know if you must have a key or be let up to that level?”

“Yes, that is one of the locked floors. Had already thought of sending someone up before. No one has reason to be up there without being brought up by a resident or the building management.”

Lucien had an idea. “Zia, didn’t you say the therapist was only in town for the week?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said on my voicemail.”

“All right, that’s a possible in. Rylan, check the records to see who owns the unit. We might be able to send one of you up as a service employee on behalf of the owner.”

“Checking now.” Light tapping pecked in the distance as everyone waited. “Humph, it’s owned by a corporation. One that looks to be a shell game.”

“Hey folks, this is Nolan, I say we stop all this and send Zia and Greg up. Zia can call the apartment from the lobby and say she got her mother’s text. Have the therapist buzz her up, and we jump in the elevator on the ride up.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Nolan. Let’s see what Rylan comes back with first.”

Rylan made a little whistling sound before speaking up again. “I’ll be. The shell corporation goes in a circle that goes back to a company that we know for certain is owned by The Group. Whoa, the entire building is owned by The Group, so we have no way of knowing if the doc is in on it or not. It could be someone else in the building.”

“Well, that just doused my idea,” Nolan’s voice floated in. “Luc, you and all us know anything dealing with The Group is bound to have wards, traps, and other nastiness.”

“Yes, I do. Hold on, let me think.”

Zia’s phone buzzed. She looked down to see an unknown number.

“It’s an unknown number, what should I do?”

“Answer it,” Greg instructed.

Zia pressed the button for the speaker and answered. “Hello?”

“Zia, it’s Mami. How has Atlanta been? See, I told you I’d give you space. I waited almost a week before I called.”

“Mami?”

“Yes, baby, why you sounding like you don’t know my voice? Oh! That’s on me. I’m calling you from my new cell phone. My other one went missing. I’m just getting around to getting a new one. I wanted to call from it, so that I could give you the number.”

“Okay, Mami, where are you?”

“Huh, baby, I’m at home. Why?”

“And where’s Daddy?”

“Right now, he’s out there in his workshop. Hold on an I can get him to come to the phone.” Zia looked up at everyone with confusion twisting her mind into a pretzel. “Zia, baby, are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Hey Mom, did you ask Jeremy to check on me here in Atlanta?”

“No, what for? I haven’t talked to him since that day he was here. I could tell you weren’t feeling him, so I didn’t try to be bothered with him when he called trying to get me to put in a good word with you.”

“Hmm, okay. Thanks. Hey,” Zia got an idea. “Don’t you remember that pan of yours I loved to bake with growing up? Do you think you could send it to me here?”

The voice on the other end of the phone gave a little laugh that sounded exactly like her mother’s. “Baby, what are you talking about? I never baked, all those pans were yours. You took them when you left. Zia, are you feeling all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. “This was her mother and not that guilt-pressuring fraud who had been calling and making Zia’s life miserable for the last week.

“You sure? Your father and I could be there in a few hours if you need anything.”

“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine.” Zia’s heart raced as thoughts of all the conversations she’d had with someone pretending to be her mother whizzed by. “I just forgot about the pans with all the stuff I’ve collected.”

“It’s okay. I wanted to give you time there too before I checked in. By the way, you acted when you left, I suspected you had a little secret beau you wanted to get back to there in Atlanta. I do hope it’s going well. Maybe you could bring him home for a visit soon?”

“What? Really? I thought you wanted me to hit it off with Jeremy?”

“No, phfft! That guy. You know he worried the hell out of me when he found out you were home. I only allowed him to come by because I thought you might get a kick out of seeing him. I was glad when you got rid of him. He should have learned the first time. You don’t choose someone over my baby.

“Oh, and I could sense that you needed to get back to your life. Baby, please know that all I want is the best for you. Your father and I did what we could. We didn’t always do things right, but the last thing I want is for you to come back here and be trapped. You don’t owe us anything but to be happy.”

A curtain of worry fell away as Zia heard the truth of her mother’s words. For the first time, she could hear that her mother loved her and didn’t want anything but the best for her.

Aware that the entire group could hear their exchange, Zia opted to end it until she could unpack what was happening. With as much cheeriness as she could muster, Zia talked to her mother with new respect and understanding. “Wow, okay, Mami. Thank you for that, you know, what you just said. I’m glad you called.”

“Save this number in your contacts and put my best picture with it, so that’s what comes up when I call. I didn’t keep the same number since someone must have stolen the phone. It was just easier to call the people I wanted to have the new number and start from there. Well, it sounds like you’re busy. If you can, call back tonight. Your father is home this week and would love to catch-up.”

“Okay, I will,” Zia could feel the sting of tears as she tried to keep her voice from shaking.

“And, baby girl. I’m so proud of you. You hit a rough patch but got back up on your feet. I can hear it in your voice. You’re going to be all right. If and when you want to talk, I’m here. Zia, I mean it when I say that. You’ve done so much with your life. I couldn’t ask for more. All right, scoot. I know you’re probably out doing what young folks do. I need to call my friend, Carole back. She just buzzed while we were talking.”

“Yeah, all right, Mami, talk with you soon. Oh, and tell Miss Carole I said hello.”

Zia heard the phone disconnect.

“What the hell, Zia!” Quinn said. “Who have you been talking too if that was your mother?”

“I wish I knew.”

“That’s it. We go up there. This bastard has gone too far, using Zia’s parents as a ruse. This needs to end right now!” Nolan was amped

“Nut, why are you so ready to go in there? How do we do that without getting Zia snatched or worse?” Quinn asked. “It’s like you want to get Zia hurt.

“We get the management to let us up. That way we don’t come up against any wards or traps.”

“On what grounds would they open up their most expensive unit to you on a locked floor with other tenants in residence, huh, Nolan?”

A bit of fluster began to creep into Nolan’s words as he realized he was going head to head with Quinn of all people. “Well, Ry just found out that one of the units up there is vacant. We can say we got the tip from a friend and on a whim decided to stop by to check it out.”

Quinn didn’t let silence have a chance as she countered. “And, you think they’re going to take a big guy like you and your steel-toed galoshes, jeans wearing, off the street common, self and take him up to their penthouse level for a look around?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Because it’s stupid, Nolan. That’s why not.” Quinn’s voice was too loud by now.

“You all, enough,” Zia spoke up. “This is about me. Whoever this is, wants me, plain and simple. I’m going to stop all this.”

“How do you plan to do that, Cupcake Fluff?”

Zia cringed at that name. “Hildy, I’m not answering to that, no matter what you do to me.”

The other woman chuckled.

“I’m going to call up to the apartment and make it plain. I’m here and let’s do this.”

“Just like that. What about our family and us?” Now Greg was upset with her—just great.

She couldn’t take much more of the drama and danger. “Baby, this has to stop. I can’t take much more.”

Greg pulled her into his arms and began to rock her back to comfort.

Quinn spoke up. “There’s another option.”

“Which is?” she heard Greg ask.

“You go back home to the Lair. Zia, this risk isn’t worth it. Your parents are safe back in Texas. We know that this building is owned by The Group and that all this is a set up to snatch you, Zia. There’s no benefit to knowingly walking into this trap. With The Group involved, we can’t go running in without a serious plan. When they come on the scene, they play hard enough to erase your ancestry.”

Zia allowed Quinn’s reasoning to season her thoughts. “All those things are true.” Zia looked over to Quinn. “You really do have the gift. Thank you.”

“Yes, and remember we do this with finesse. You listening to me, Nolan? We plan victories around here, not escapes. And that’s why I’m the Strategy Boss!”

Zia didn’t try to hold back the giggle. “I guess if I must tangle with the devil, I might as well do it with some Quinn strategy and finesse.”

“Amen, sis,” Wren cheered from the back. “The devil might work hard, but we work smarter.”

The men in the van were also smart enough to remain quiet as Lucien guided the van into congested downtown traffic.

After he let the other team know to pull out and head back to the Lair, Lucien said, “everyone grab some rest and meet up at six. We need to find a way to cut this danger off once and for all.”

“And I say we have a welcome movie night for our newest member, Zia. Oh, this is Blaise, by the way.”

Quinn yipped, “Blaise, my sweet pea! Yes, of course, it’s on.”

Zia didn’t miss the look Lucien gave his mate as she showed extreme favoritism to his younger brother.

“Don’t,” Quinn, said, holding up a hand. “It’s Blaise, my Blaise. He’s been asleep and needs to catch-up on everything. Ah, no, let me stop you right there,” she said when her mate opened his mouth to say something. She lowered her voice and added a bit of huskiness to it. “I’ve got a little somefin’ for you that nobody else gets when we get back.”

Zia could see the profile of a huge smile on the man’s face. And, no, she wasn’t in the least bit ashamed of eavesdropping. She could take all the lessons on mating she could get or even snatch from all them.

Quinn grinned and said out loud, “Now, drive this bitch like you stole it.”