Chapter 27
Around one, Jacinda climbed from the couch and nodded to the door. “I really should get some sleep.”
Chatan followed her as she moved around the counter, to the door. “Wish I wasn’t working. I’d rather hold you all night, make love to you again.”
“Same here, but you’re working, and I’m tired. After working at the nursery tomorrow, you should really get some sleep.”
“Only if I can be near you,” he answered.
“I’d like that.”
“You going to take a nap?”
“Maybe just enjoy your warmth. Good night, Chatan.”
He took a quick kiss. “Sweet dreams, Jace.”
She slipped out the door before he could talk her into staying longer, and she put illusions over the windows in the living room to ensure anyone looking in only saw a dark room, not her going through the journal.
By the time she got comfortable on the couch with the journal, she missed Chatan. Staying curled up with Chatan in the office would have been better, even if he’d asked a million questions. The last hour she’d been in there, he simply held her, and that had been perfect.
She shook her head and focused. First, she needed to find a way to deal with Thanatos, since everyone in Wanatoga would freak out if she went to deal with Josephine herself. Though, if she heard about one more person being taken, she’d have to deal with the woman behind it.
Not to mention Mason, the one who’d tried to take her away. There was something broken and wrong in him.
She pushed that aside and focused on reading the parts with the new bits Chatan had given her. And the more she read, the more the riddles fit with the story Chatan gave her about Dove and Hawk. And with the bracelet, it was hard to deny they may be linked.
What did her father know about old Native American legends? Did her mother know that part? If so, why not tell her?
Jacinda pushed back on the couch, laying her head on the arm. She read the journal, finally understanding the pieces of Dove and Hawk. Well, mostly. There were parts of that she had a hard time wrapping her head around. They had a human form, but maybe lost it over time.
A truck pulled up to the motel.
She snapped her fingers and the lights went off as she scooted to the blinds to look out.
A van. The assholes from Saint Morton climbed out. No Mason in sight, but Butch had become a familiar face. She vaguely recognized two of the other three men.
Chatan was going to freak. She needed to get out of there.
Pulling the shadows around her, she slipped between the couch and the chair and crouched down, waiting. She hoped no one touched her. If the spell failed, she’d have to defend herself against a bunch of asshole humans which would draw the Silver Council’s attention. That was the last thing she needed.
The window shattered over the dining room table, raining glass. Her breath caught as she noticed her shoes. She swept her hand and pushed them under the couch with magic. Then watched as Butch tore the blinds down and climbed through the window.
“Still smell her scent. Even if she’s not here now, she’s been here.”
Her heart thundered in her chest as three more men climbed inside the room.
Holding her breath, she watched as the men went to the bathroom and the bedroom. She slipped past the furniture, toward the door. Chatan stood there, phone to his ear as his gaze swept through the room.
He didn’t see her. He looked worried.
Glass pierced her foot as she stepped down. She gasped as someone came storming back. Jacinda slipped past Chatan and he sniffed, his shoulders relaxing slightly as she managed to limp past him, around the building, where no one would find her.
Rage rolled off Chatan. She could feel it slipping through her veins. The fear he’d felt was gone, replaced with the need to hurt someone. And she knew it wasn’t her. No, he wanted to go after the bastards who tried to take her.
They were bound. She didn’t know how. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Now, more than ever, she wanted to talk to her mother. Not that she could yet.
Instead, she climbed the tree with low branches and climbed far enough she could lean against the trunk and prop her foot up.
* * * *
Chatan heard the vehicle pull up, this one quieter. Loretta didn’t tell him to expect anyone, and it was rare for anyone to come to the motel without visiting family or friends.
That left the asshole brigade from Saint Morton.
And his heart damn nearly stopped when he rushed outside to watch some asshole smash Jacinda’s window in with a brick. He grabbed his phone and dialed Joe.
The cop answered in record time. “Where are they?”
Chatan replied, “Wanatoga Motel. Hurry. They just broke a window.”
“Her room?”
“Yup.”
She could handle herself. He hoped. That was five guys going after her. Pocketing his phone, he charged over and shoved into the open door.
“That’s vandalism, breaking and entering. What else are you planning? Abducting a woman who doesn’t exist except in your damned mind? You want to spend your life in jail, don’t you?”
“Fuck you.” Butch charged out of the bedroom and swung at Chatan.
Chatan ducked and slammed a fist into Butch’s gut.
Butch grunted. “You’re just afraid I’ll find her and take away the only girl stupid enough to want a lowlife like you. Only she’s evil. She needs to die.”
“There’s no Wendy,” Chatan snarled.
Jacinda sucked in a breath, and he glanced over. He couldn’t see her, but he could sense her.
Butch’s eyes followed. “I smell her.” An evil grin spread as he moved toward where Chatan sensed Jacinda.
The guys charged out, looking around as Chatan shoved Butch into the wall. Butch came back swinging and Chatan took a hit on the cheek, but punched him square in the jaw.
Butch went down like a sack of bricks.
Joe pulled in, sirens blaring.
At least Jacinda managed to get away. And he could see every last asshole, and he planned to keep them all in sight.
Joe wasted no time reading their rights.
Chatan took pleasure in helping cuff the assholes. Then he had to sit around and wait while they called Loval and the other deputy to take the clowns in.
There was only one question on Chatan’s mind. Where the fuck was Mason?