Chapter Twenty-five
What now?
Detective Faust had arranged for all the parents to meet me at the station. When I got there they were waiting in one of the conference rooms. Everyone except Faust was sitting down. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He managed a smile when I walked in.
“So, what’s up, Jade?” he asked, pushing away from the wall and standing beside me.
“You’ll find out. Good morning, everyone,” I said in my loudest voice. “Thank you all for meeting me. I asked you here because I have some questions. Please just raise your hand if the answer is yes.”
The parents whispered to one another momentarily but then gave me their full attention.
“How many of you had fertility problems before getting pregnant?”
I watched as all the hands came up hesitantly.
“Thank you. Hands down, please. How many of you tried fertility treatments that didn’t work?”
Again, all the hands went up.
“Okay…now how many of you tried something else?”
“Like what?” one of them asked.
“Like…something a little more spiritual. Like drinking a tonic of some sort made by a witch maybe?”
They erupted into skeptical whispers. Someone even slammed their hand onto the table.
“Are you fucking kidding?” one of the men snarled. “You brought us here for this shit?”
“Everyone, please!” Faust interrupted their banter.
They turned their angry gazes to me. Their energies bit at my skin. I rubbed my arms and took a breath.
“She’s wasting our time.” Another man growled. “You are all wasting our time when you should be out there looking for our girls.”
“Why is it you have a hard time answering that question?” I asked over their voices. “Is it that hard to believe in the power of a witch?”
One of the women stood up and cleared her throat. If memory served me right she was mother to Olivia Coleman.
“I have sought help from a woman like that.” She interjected loudly.
All eyes turned to her and her beautiful Creole cheeks became pink but she continued. “After years and years of trying to get pregnant and quite a few miscarriages, I came across a woman who called herself Regina. She promised that I could have a baby within the next year if I drank a potion she made.” She began to cry and her husband stood up to comfort her. He placed both hands on her shoulders and kissed her head. “I paid her five hundred dollars for this drink. I was pregnant the next month…but if I would have known…” She broke down and her husband turned her into his embrace.
Within the next few moments, all the women stood up and admitted to drinking such an elixir at one point before becoming pregnant. The witch that had offered the toxic concoction used different names each time.
We were able to establish that she was a woman in her mid-forties with vibrant red hair and intense blue eyes. They also said she wore strange clothing. Long bright colored skirts with floral patterns and green tops with gold embroidery.
An hour into the meeting and once all the details were written down, Faust and I stepped into the hallway for a private conversation.
“Talk to me, Jade. What’s up?”
I took a deep breath and told him everything about the faeries and my theory that a bad witch used a tonic to trick these parents.
“I think she most likely was indebted to them, and they made her do it to win back her freedom from them.”
I had done quite a bit of research on these ladies since I found out about them.
“Do we find the witch?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It would be a waste of time.”
He nodded. “So…now what?”
“Now…we go to Romania.”
His eyes grew wide. “I can’t go to Romania, Jade. I have no jurisdiction there.”
“I know, but I’m going. I have to. There is more in this for me.”
“I figured.”
“When are you going?”
I shrugged. “Soon as I can get a flight.”
“You’re going alone?” he asked.
“Probably not.”
I knew it would be an issue with my father so I expected an entourage.
“Can I suggest someone?” He offered.
“Who’s that?”
“Kincaid.”
The name made my bones react, and in an instant, I knew he was near. I could smell him. Feel him. My knees threatened to crumble. I wanted him. She wanted him. The lustful she-wolf inside me stirred with eager anticipation.
I took a breath and his scent filled me. She rolled around in it.
Down girl!
“Jade.” His voice greeted, and I shivered at the sound. How could he have such an effect on me? He walked in front of me. His handsome face and muscled upper body made my body tense.
“Hello, Adrian.”
“So what do you think, Jade?” Faust asked.
“Why Kincaid?” I questioned averting Adrian’s blue eyes.
“Because he’s head of MTU, and I want him working this case with you. I would feel better to know he has your back.”
With my alpha father and his pack, I doubted I needed any more protection.
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Great.” Faust patted Adrian on the back. “I’ll see you later.” He left us alone.
Adrian smiled at me. My heart accelerated, and I frowned while taking a step back.
“Something wrong, Jade?” he asked. “I won’t bite – again.”
“But I might.” I countered.
He beamed. “Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure I could trust myself around him, so I backed up more and started toward the door.
He followed.
Once we were outside, I stopped walking and put up my hands. “I think I need distance.”
He looked at me curiously and then backed up. “Am I a threat?” He questioned.
“No, but…” I didn’t know how to answer that.
Cautiously, Adrian approached me and soon was close enough that I could taste him in the air around me.
“I feel it too, Jade,” he whispered as he leaned into me. “It’s hard to ignore. The pull is intense.” He brushed my cheek with his thumb. “She calls to me…” His breath tickled my earlobe, and I shuddered.
He smiled and then in a snap of a finger, his face contorted, and he doubled over in pain.
“Adrian!” I wrapped my arms around him. His pain instantly slammed into me, and I screamed. It felt like every bone in my body was being broken, mended, and broken again.
“Foolish, child!” My father’s voice growled in my head. “This alliance is forbidden. Do not touch him.”
The pain left me, but I struggled to catch my breath again.
“I am your alpha.” He boomed. “I will not be disobeyed.”
Adrian staggered to his feet. His beautiful face was red from the lingering pain. “I’m so sorry, Jade.”
“Wait.” I countered.
Adrian stopped walking.
I touched his face.
“Jade.” Lucian cautioned. “I will hurt you.”
“Hurt me then.” I offered and brought Adrian’s mouth to mine.
My power created a protective barrier. I felt my father try to break through and when he succeeded, Adrian and I staggered.
When I could speak, I yelled inside my head. “Stay the fuck out of my head, Lucian!”
Even though my insides have been ravaged and the pain left me trembling, the taste of her tongue made it tolerable.
Adrian