Holding a calm circle around herself and her Witchlock power while teleporting, Adrianna opened her eyes the moment she sensed they had arrived. She stood mere inches from a poor excuse for a streetlight doing its best to offer some illumination against the dark skies. Those lights wouldn’t be on this early in the afternoon if not for the bloated rain clouds moving slowly over Atlanta.
Wasn’t late May supposed to be nicer than this?
The flowers around her house were blooming and they needed the rain, but this unseasonable cool was just dreary.
The building next to the streetlight had been covered in graffiti.
Almost getting impaled by that steel lamp pole would officially make this the worst Sunday-before-Memorial Day that she’d ever been through.
Opening her hand, she used Witchlock spinning at tennis-ball size to scout the surroundings for any unexpected energy.
“Do you detect anything?” Daegan asked, unbothered by water splashing on his head, face and body.
Turning to Daegan, she closed her fingers and said, “No.” Nodding at the post, she said, “Cut the landing a little close, didn’t you, dragon?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps you should stand right next to me in the future, witch. I would have destroyed anything in the way of landing.”
Was he serious? “How does that work when it’s a human being or one of the Beladors?”
“My energy naturally pushes anything living out of the way.”
“Of course. What was I thinking to question an arrogant dragon?” she grumbled.
He’d teleported the team to the west side of Atlanta. They stood in a rutted parking lot next to what might have been a garage for car repairs at one time, based on the old-style garage doors. The crumbling metal building had a rusty screen door hanging off the hinges of a walk-in doorway and was fronted by a two-lane road.
Wind swirled the steady rain.
Tristan, Storm, Quinn and Reese stepped close to form a small circle with Adrianna and Daegan. Storm had his arms crossed and his lips tight in a grim line. Water ran off his carved features. That man wouldn’t care if he stood in a downpour of acid rain right now.
Quinn asked Adrianna, “What’s next?”
“Isak said he’d watch for us and ... ” She angled her head to look past Storm. “That’s probably him now.”
Five dark images emerged from the deepest shadows across the street, taking form as a black ops team with Isak in the lead.
With the night-vision monoculars they wore, each one reminded her of a cross between cyborg and human.
She’d take her chances with a cyborg over Isak in full battle mode. He and his men stopped ten feet away.
Why did her heart hold a dance party at the sight of that human? He was covered in black from head to toe and she could only see one eye.
She reminded her foolish heart that he would never fully accept a nonhuman woman.
Isak began reporting. “I’m thinking you know that my people used facial recognition to track the two humans on traffic video to this location, but we have no live confirmation it is them. They were seen walking the downtown accident location twenty-two hours prior to the collision, which leads me to think they were scouting the site. We normally would have inserted into their apartment building first to confirm the target identities and that both are still inside, but you asked that we not approach until you arrived.” He sent a pointed glance at Adrianna when he mentioned being asked to wait.
Fine. She’d give him points for doing as she’d asked, since Isak was not one to take direction from anyone else.
Pausing only to wipe water off his uncovered eye, Isak said, “I want to make one thing clear. Until we have an opportunity to interrogate these men, we can’t pin Evalle’s kidnapping on them.”
Daegan rumbled a noise and Storm growled, both sounds she took as threats if the human didn’t move this along.
Adrianna had asked the team to allow her to take the lead in dealing with Isak since she was the most experienced with this particular person, barring Evalle being present. She addressed Isak, explaining, “If you’re concerned that we’re going to kill a human without determining if they’re guilty of anything, we aren’t. Interrogating them will be simple as we’ve brought our own lie detector.” She nodded at Storm who stood very still, like an earthquake before it destroyed an entire city.
Adrianna knew better than to take Storm’s extreme silence as a good sign.
For that reason, she warned Isak, “Time is of the essence and we will tolerate no one standing in the way. Thank you for locating the humans. Once you point us in the right direction, you would be wise to leave.”
Isak’s lips curved with an all-knowing smile not meant to be confused with a happy expression. “Not going anywhere. Follow me.” He turned and strode down a long alley.
When he reached a building that advertised used vehicle tires, Isak initiated a series of hand signals, sending his men to each end of the building.
Adrianna stayed close to Isak. Too close. She kept catching the scent of him. Not aftershave or cologne. As a black ops soldier, he never wore those when working. No, this was the scent of Isak alone, some deadly combination of unscented soap, shampoo and sexy man. Witchlock seemed to heighten all of her senses at times, just from her connection to it.
Still, how could one tiny smell find its way through all this rain and wind outside?
Shaking off the distraction, she studied a light on inside a room on the second floor.
Isak whispered, “That light was reported illuminated as soon as my men arrived, but we have no traffic cam in this area. We got nothing with our thermal scan, so this could be a bust with no one there.”
“I understand,” she replied. “But even if it is empty, Storm can track the scent if someone hasn’t teleported them away. We need something, a lead, anything that gives us a place to start looking.”
Daegan walked up. “I’ll teleport in and determine what’s going on.”
Isak stiffened and swung his gaze to the dragon king. “That’s not how we do this.”
Just as quickly, Daegan said, “This is how we do things. Adrianna suggested you leave. If you stay, you work with us. If anyone gets in my way, I’ll teleport them out of my way.”
This is why Adrianna had suggested she take the lead.
Could the air get any more polluted than having an overload of human and preternatural testosterone?
She kept her voice soft, but snapped, “Daegan is going in. He’s pretty indestructible when only humans are involved. We need intel. He’s not going to kill our only chance at getting that intel. Everyone clear?”
Isak’s posture eased. He arched an eyebrow above the one exposed eye. “Yes, ma’am.”
Daegan snorted. “I’ll bring all of my people inside if it’s safe.” He told Isak, “I assume your team would prefer the steps.”
“Yes.”
Daegan lifted a hand and vanished.
Quinn walked up, hair dripping with water. “Are you our dragon whisperer, Adrianna?”
She said, “No. I’m more like a dragon irritator.”
Quinn cocked his head as if hearing a telepathic message, then told the team, “Prepare to teleport.”
She stood outside one moment and after a short blast of energy, she stood inside a squalid room. Sure, it was dry in here, but putrid stench hit her hard. Rotting food sat on the counter and in the sink along with dirty dishes and trash. She didn’t want to look too closely at what was littered on the floor. She gagged and covered her mouth.
As Storm, Quinn and Reese appeared in the middle of the same kitchen-living room space, Reese doubled over.
Tristan pinched his nose, but he was too macho to throw up in front of Daegan.
Pigs lived cleaner than this.
But that wasn’t the only thing turning her stomach.
It was also the disgusting smell of dried blood and expelled body fluids along with lingering nasty body odors.
Storm’s nostrils flared.
Isak and his men pounded through the quiet building and hit the door once, knocking it open. He told his men to stand outside, then flipped up his monocular as he entered. His gaze went first to Adrianna before taking in the macabre scene.
Quinn had Reese turned away from the bodies and was holding her at the waist as she unloaded her stomach. It wasn’t as if she could damage the floor.
Daegan studied the two men without seeming to notice the revolting odors. Probably a more common smell back during the days of dragons and battles fought with swords.
Adrianna peeked. Both men they’d come to interrogate had their throats sliced and their abdomens had been cut open.
Once she breathed through her mouth, Adrianna asked, “If this was done by a preternatural, why kill them that way?”
Storm walked over to take a closer look, which had to be even more repulsive with his strong sense of smell. He said, “That was to hide any majikal signature and probably to make it appear to be a human crime. Whoever did this is still masking their scent, but that takes energy just like any other supernatural action. We need to find a place where the killer was comfortable enough not to expend the energy to mask his smell.” He raked a hand over his hair. “Damn. We’re at another dead end.”
Reese coughed and stood up as Daegan produced a glass of water out of thin air to hand her. She pinched her nose to drink.
Adrianna had to give him his due. That dragon shifter had some kind of old majik.
Isak said, “These men match the images my people used to identify them.” His blue eyes moved past everyone to reach Adrianna, then he said, “I’m sorry. I want Evalle found, too.”
Storm turned raw eyes toward Isak at the mention of his mate.
Isak said, “Any resource I have is yours to help you find her.”
Storm managed to say, “Thanks.” Then he stepped out of the room into the hallway.
Ever the smart mouth, Tristan said, “Those two speaking? Brace for an apocalypse next.”
Adrianna gave the Alterant a sharp look. “You’re not helping, Tristan.”
Reese was arguing with Quinn in terse whispers over something and finally said out loud, “I can do this!”
They all turned to her.
Reese’s face had turned the color of a faded paper doll. Standing straighter, she kept her nose pinched and sounded as if she had a cold when she spoke. “I want to try my remote viewing to see if I can figure out if the killer went somewhere next, but I won’t see anything if he teleported again.”
Storm returned. “The only trail I found belonged to these two and is almost a day old. No preternatural scent trail.”
Nodding, Daegan turned to Reese and asked, “What do you need to try your remote viewing?”
She grumbled, “Killing the smell would help, but not if it’s going to block my access to the energy left behind.”
Daegan took a hard look at the two dead guys as if he hadn’t realized that had been an issue. He lifted a hand, his lips moved with a silent word and a film formed over each body. Next, he did the same thing to block the sink, counters and most of the floor debris.
Adrianna’s next breath drew in cleaner air. The room still stank, but without the nasty taint from the bodies.
Everyone made a sound of appreciation.
Reese sniffed a little and let out a big sigh. “Thank you, Daegan. That knocked down the smell significantly.”
“You’re welcome.”
She walked toward the bodies with Quinn dogging her heels.
Adrianna wasn’t the only one to notice Quinn’s attention. On the other hand, his daughter did live with Reese. Everything about that situation seemed odd, but Adrianna didn’t pry into other people’s affairs.
She respected everyone’s privacy because she was guarded about her own.
Turning her back on the gory scene, Reese closed her eyes and lifted her fingers to her temples. In a matter of seconds, she was moving her head a little this way, a little that way, and then she stilled.
When she lowered her hands and opened her eyes, she seemed to still be looking at something.
Storm cautiously asked, “Did you see anything?”
Reese chewed on her lip then released it. “Maybe.”
“He didn’t teleport away?”
Her face closed down as she pondered that. “I don’t think so, but I didn’t see anyone in particular. Based on what I’ve encountered in the past, I shouldn’t be able to see anything once he teleported away, but this time I followed a path, which makes me think he might have taken off on foot.”
Storm swallowed. “Can you explain?”
She raked a handful of wavy hair off her face. “I saw a path from here to the trolley. Then I was inside the trolley going from this direction back into downtown. When the trolley stopped at Peachtree Center, the path pulled my attention off the train to the sidewalk and I followed along as it kept moving until everything stopped in the middle of some funky painted art.”
Quinn asked, “Did you notice a street sign?”
“No.” Scratching her head, Reese said, “I’ve never been trained to use my gift, so it’s a surprise to me any time it works even that much.”
“Thanks for trying, Reese,” Storm murmured. “If he didn’t leave a trail from here to the trolley, I doubt he left one once he exited the trolley.”
“Hey, don’t quit so fast,” she ordered. “It’s not over ’til it’s over.”
Storm’s mouth opened, then closed without a word.
Clearly, he didn’t know what to say to that verbal yank on his attention. Even Quinn gave Reese a wide-eyed look.
Adrianna nudged Reese with, “What else did you see?”
Scrunching her face, Reese grumbled, “That art thing ... I’ve seen it, but I haven’t lived here in a long time.”
Daegan asked, “Where do you think it might be?”
“I can’t put my finger on the street.”
Prodding a little, Tristan asked, “What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about that art?”
Reese closed her eyes. “Seems like it’s at an overpass to the interstate in downtown.” Her eyes popped open. “I do remember that spot. I could find it if you put me close.”
Storm’s eyes sharpened with a thought. He snapped his fingers. “I bet it’s at Ralph McGill Boulevard and—”
“Courtland Street,” Quinn supplied. “It’s the overpass with folk art on display at different times during the year.”
Grinning, Tristan told Adrianna, “See? I’m very helpful, witch.”
Isak glowered at Tristan.
Adrianna quickly replied, “Whatever, Alterant.” That snarky comment calmed Isak, but why would he get upset over her being called a witch?
She would never understand that man. In hindsight, she’d been wrong to tell Daegan she should lead this outing, because Isak confused her more than ever, and she needed her attention on finding Evalle.
The man acted as if he cared.
She’d been there, gotten her heart trampled and had no desire for the T-shirt.
Daegan said, “We have to deal with these bodies before we leave.”
Storm had that ready-to-explode look on his face. He said, “Fine. I can get there on my own before you finish dealing with this.”
Isak stepped in. “I’m not teleporting with anyone. We’ll handle the cleanup. That way, you can all leave together.”
Adrianna wanted to hug Isak for the offer. It allowed them all to stay together when she feared letting Storm take off alone.
Evalle should be here to see Storm’s look of surprise. He stood there a moment, then seemed to come to a decision and extended his hand to Isak. “Thank you. I’ll repay the debt someday.”
Isak took his hand for a brief shake. “You don’t have to pay a debt when something is offered freely. I can’t help in your world, but we’ll keep looking for any lead to pass along.”
Daegan said, “You are an unusual human. You stepped in to give aid when your offer was first turned down. I never forget when help is given. If you ever need assistance from our people, all you have to do is ask. It will be known that you are a friend of the Beladors.”
Isak gave him a sincere sounding, “Thanks.”
Adrianna should be taking notes for Evalle. That was as close to being knighted as a human could get in the world of Beladors.
Quinn and Reese were in another quiet argument where she had her arms crossed and was shaking her head. Quinn had the frustrated expression of a man up against an immovable object.
Daegan, Tristan and Storm had decided to take one more look around just to be sure there was no additional evidence.
Isak walked up to Adrianna.
Her back turned rigid as a steel rod, but she schooled her features to show no outward change, maintaining her mildly interested expression.
When he stopped in front of her, Isak drew in a deep breath that expanded his massive chest before he exhaled slowly. “When this is done, I’d still like to talk with you.”
She wanted to lash out at him for hurting her, but her conscience evidently played for Team Isak because it quickly pointed out how he’d given them aid.
Where was the man who had told her and Evalle he never wanted his mother to be around nonhumans again after they’d all battled to save Kit and the twins in Blairsville?
Knowing Kit, she’d laid into her son as soon as she caught her breath from being captured by preternatural predators. No doubt she reminded Isak how the Beladors had lived here secretly for many years, protecting humans.
Even if that had happened, it would not change the fact that Isak did exactly what Adrianna had feared at the first hint of trouble. He’d declared nonhumans the enemy.
Yet he stood here among nonhumans in a roomful of carnage, waiting for her reply.
She swallowed the angry words that had filled her heart since they parted ways in Blairsville that rainy night. “Thank you for your help in finding these men.”
Isak said nothing. He was going to make her answer him.
She added, “Like the Beladors, I also consider you a friend.”
He arched one eyebrow at that.
Infuriating man. “I do not wish to repeat past mistakes, Isak. I told you before we got ... involved, that it was a bad idea. I was correct.”
Finally, he said something. “I’m willing to admit you were right at that moment, but it doesn’t mean you’re right about the future.”
Steeling herself, she stuck to her decision. “I am not willing to go through what happened again.”
At that, he looked at the ceiling, apparently searching for the right words. When his gaze came back to her, he admitted, “I screwed up. Big time. I just want a chance to talk about it.”
No way should she agree to that.
To be the most powerful witch of all that she knew, she had a disappointing lack of discipline around this man. Just hearing his voice curled her toes. Blast him. The only thing that had hurt her more than losing her sister—who’d had her majik cooked by a crazy witch—was being rejected so coldly by Isak.
Her conscience weighed in again. What could be the harm in hearing him out?
Where was Evalle, who would be all up in Isak’s face right now?
Adrianna could fight her own battles, but she did not show explosive emotions in public. Evalle did and this is one of those times she’d love to have her friend here.
Without that support, she folded to her conscience. But as Adrianna started saying, “I have considered your words and I will—”
Daegan boomed, “Everyone ready? Let’s go!”
Isak had been hanging on her words like a condemned man expecting a reprieve from the guillotine.
Shaking her head, she said, “Sorry. I have to go.”
As she stepped past, Isak gently clasped her arm.
All it took was that one touch to stop her.
The rest of the team had ceased talking and turned where they stood in a group in the middle of the room. Every pair of eyes watched her.
She whispered, “Please, Isak.”
He immediately released her arm.
She couldn’t leave without him knowing one thing. “Kit came to Storm’s building and refuses to leave until we return. She’s heavily protected by a ward, but I wanted you to know.”
Isak said nothing, but one look at his face shouted how upset he was for his mother to be there.
Storm offered, “She’s in the safest place from nonhumans and humans alike right now, Isak. Plus, Lanna is a miniature supernatural Terminator when anyone she cares about is threatened. Lanna has taken Kit as one of hers to watch over.”
Isak said, “Copy that, but I’m still sending three teams and snipers to watch over your building.”
Everyone waited for Storm to argue, but he said, “If that gives you a comfort level about her safety, that’s fine by me.”
When Adrianna took her place in the group for teleportation, she turned to look at Isak.
He’d walked out of the room and was talking to his men.
Was he so angry he couldn’t look at her?
Maybe she’d be glad later that she hadn’t folded and accepted the olive branch he’d extended just now, when he hadn’t tried to find her at all before today.
But he’s willing to talk now.
She told her conscience, You don’t get a vote.
The room blurred and they were off again. She appreciated the ease of traveling with Daegan, but even with his power, constant teleportation was exhausting. She hadn’t expected to feel the drain on her body.
Thinking back, she had more appreciation for how Tristan had teleported the team in and out of the TÅμr Medb realm, then from North Georgia to downtown Atlanta. Unlike Daegan, Tristan had not been born with the gift. He’d gained it from a powerful drink he’d been given, which allowed him limited ability to teleport.
Tristan had ended up with blood pouring from his eyes and nose during that adventure to rescue Daegan from TÅμr Medb.
A busy breeze lifted Adrianna’s hair as the team landed at the overpass Reese had described.
Humans walked around a display of folk art spread over a wide area on the southeast corner where Ralph McGill Boulevard and Courtland Street crossed.
Adrianna lifted her hands to form a cloaking, but Daegan said, “We’re safe. They can’t see us. We just need to not bump into one of them and knock someone over the wall into traffic.”
The dragon must have cloaked everyone as they arrived. She said, “Got you.”
Daegan said, “Storm, can you scent inside this cloaking?”
“Yes, but it’s not as distinct in my human form. I’m going to shift.”
Peeling out of his clothes, Storm wasn’t the least bit self-conscious about exposing all that bronze-colored skin. Out of consideration for Evalle, Adrianna didn’t watch.
Reese, on the other hand, hadn’t been expecting a naked man in the group. Her eyes widened for an instant before Quinn stepped in front of her.
Adrianna could swear she heard him say, “If you want to ogle someone, you can look at me.”
“I’ve seen you,” Reese quipped.
Quinn rubbed his forehead. “I will not survive this operation with you.”
Power rushed through the cloaked area as Storm shifted.
Ignoring the domestic squabble, Adrianna watched as Storm’s jaguar stood eye level to her. He growled a deadly sound.
Daegan said, “I will keep you hidden, Storm. We’ll stand out of the way.”
Nodding, the jaguar started padding around, avoiding humans, but keeping his nose to the ground. The breeze ruffled his fur.
His huge head lifted sharply. His chest expanded on a deep inhale. Swinging around, he took three long strides and stuck his nose to the ground behind one of the larger displays.
When he lifted up and turned to the group, his eyes glowed yellow ... then red. Oh, no. Evalle would not want him to go demon mad.
Hurrying back to where his clothes were piled, Storm shifted so fast Adrianna couldn’t believe it didn’t hurt.
As he stepped into his jeans and yanked them up, Storm said, “He must have dropped his cloaking right before he teleported this time. I got a scent.”
“So you can identify him if you smell him again?” Quinn asked.
Pulling the T-shirt over his head, Storm said, “Yes. In fact, I’ve smelled it before, but it’s one of thousands I catch any time I’m out.”
Studying Storm, Daegan asked, “Are you able to identify multiple scents?”
Without a hint of hesitation, Storm said, “I can catalogue and recall thousands at any time. It surprises me that I’m not pulling up a mental image to go with this scent, though. I might figure it out now or weeks from now, but I have more than that scent to go on. I smelled Noirre majik.”
Daegan said, “Truly? That actually surprises me.”
Storm had dropped to the ground to put his boots on. “Why?”
“I considered both Macha and Maeve for this. Macha is not one to do something so rash. As for Maeve, I would have thought Cathbad would show more forethought. When last we spoke, he did not want a war or for us to invade TÅμr Medb.”
Standing up and sounding excited, Storm said, “Don’t know what to tell you, but it’s definitely Noirre. I smelled more of it in that one tiny spot than any Noirre I’ve ever scented before. It was crazy strong.”
Shifting his attention to the place where Storm had found the scent, Daegan said, “Let me get us out of this cloaking so I can smell it as well.”
Nodding, Storm said, “I can wait another minute.”
Quinn pointed out a spot not far from the art exhibit where they could shed the cloaking unnoticed by humans. Once they moved there and Daegan dropped the protective shield, they hurried back to the current folk art on display.
Storm led the way to the place he’d detected the odor. He jerked his head back. “Man, I didn’t realize how much the cloaking dulled the scent. That smell is even more powerful now.”
Bending down to sniff, Tristan stood up quickly. “That’s the worst Noirre funk I’ve ever inhaled.”
Daegan squatted down, ran his hand a few inches above the spot, then stood up. He took in the group and said, “It may not be Maeve.”
Storm’s face ruptured with fury, clearly ready to argue.
“Ya’ll just now findin’ this place?” a deep voice asked.
Reese jumped around. “What the heck are you?”
Quinn quietly said, “Let me introduce you to Grady, Evalle’s favorite Nightstalker.” Then he told everyone to circle Grady to protect him from view by humans in case his image began to solidify on its own.
Grady gave Quinn a look. “What you talkin’ ’bout.”
“Don’t worry,” Quinn said. “I’ve seen you and Evalle. I don’t know how it happened, but I do know you occasionally take corporeal form without a handshake.”
The old guy had a fierce attitude for someone wearing dirty clothes that were two sizes too big. The clothes he’d worn when he died.
Evalle had told Adrianna more than once that she believed Grady had been a highly educated man when alive, maybe even a professor. But he was also a cantankerous old ghoul that Evalle would protect just as avidly as one of the living beings in this group.
Grady told Quinn, “I’m not just her favorite, I’m the best one of the bunch. She knows it. So does her mate. Right, Storm?”
“You’re right. Have you got anything to share?”
“I do.”
Storm extended his hand.
Grady looked at it with a foul expression then told Storm, “Don’t go insultin’ me. You’ll just upset Evalle.”
Storm pulled his hand back in apology and crossed his arms.
That pushed Grady to start talking. His voice reminded Adrianna of Morgan Freeman. “My contacts said two men helped one of your kind kidnap Evalle. The ghouls saw those two men a day before the wreck. Sounds like they were snoopin’ around the location.”
“That fits with what we’ve learned,” Storm confirmed.
“Different ghouls saw those men within minutes of the wreck, but in the Old Fourth Ward. Somebody had to be movin’ them around fast to cover that distance.”
“We found their bodies tonight,” Quinn interjected. “We’ve come to realize the kidnapper is teleporting, which is hampering our ability to catch a trail.”
Deep wrinkles covered Grady’s old face when he seemed to chew on that. “They dead, you say? You didn’t get no intel from those two?”
“No,” murmured through the group, but Storm said, “It did lead us here.”
“We gotta find her,” Grady muttered, irritated. “This is all I got. The Nightstalkers around the wreck when it happened said the power guy wearing a hood stank of Noirre, bad stink like they never smelled, then the odor disappeared like he cloaked it.”
Daegan said, “That also fits with what we’ve just discovered.”
Scrunching up his face, Grady looked at Daegan. “You shoulda found that girl by now.”
Showing no sign of offense at Grady’s words, Daegan said, “We’re working on it.”
“You better hurry up and git to it. Humans took videos of the wreck and that hooded guy disappearing with those two humans and Evalle. Shit is hittin’ the fan. Word is VIPER’s havin’ a fit and blamin’ Evalle. I ain’t standin’ for that.”
Storm said, “She is not facing VIPER for any of this.”
At the same time Quinn said, “They’ll have to face all of us,” and Tristan harrumphed in agreement.
Daegan lifted a hand, asking for silence. When he spoke it was to everyone. “Evalle will answer to no one over this. If VIPER has an issue, they will face me. End of discussion.”
Rubbing her stomach unconsciously, Reese said, “Back to the hunt. Why would someone powerful enough to teleport need humans?”
Grady held his arms out with his hands open. “Somebody gonna do that when they got no team or followers. Whoever it is needed humans to drive the trucks, then he killed ’em. That stinkin’ Noirre might be sloppy or maybe someone usin’ it to point us at the Medb.”
Adrianna added, “Or, the Noirre use is so obvious that it could actually be the Medb behind this and they intend to claim they’re being framed.”
Daegan’s gaze bounced to each of the team as they spoke. He seemed to be allowing them to figure out something on their own.
Adrianna asked him, “What are you thinking, Daegan?”
“This particular Noirre scent is key to finding Evalle.”
“You just said you didn’t think it was Queen Maeve,” Storm pointed out with suspicion in his voice.
“I don’t. This scent is of pure Noirre.”
Grady’s form floated around in one spot. “Say what?”
Adrianna said, “Grady. Down, please.”
“Oh.” He floated back to eye level with the other men.
Daegan explained, “Pure, as in the original form of Noirre majik.”
Agreeing, Storm said, “That makes sense and it’s enough to convince me where we go next. I’ve been at a lot of supernatural crime scenes since coming here and have never smelled any Noirre this strong. Queen Maeve and Cathbad have to be behind this.”
“Not necessarily,” Daegan argued gently. “This Noirre is full strength. When I said pure, I meant that it was straight from the plant.”
“What plant?” echoed around the group.
Daegan looked fairly shocked. “None of you know where Noirre originated?”
Adrianna noted every headshake.
The dragon king explained, “Back during my time, prior to my being captured by Queen Maeve, she sent half her warlock army to bring her a section of the plant that grew in a cave where the bodies of over a thousand innocent women and children had died. The cave was in Ossory. When Vikings raided the nearby village, women and children ran to hide in the cave because of its narrow entrance. The Vikings thought they were clever and tried to burn them out.”
Quinn picked up the thread, saying, “The entire group was asphyxiated. It was Dunmore Cave. The area once known as Ossory is now Kilkenny or maybe County Kilkenny, now that I think about it.”
Tristan scrunched up his face. “Where’s that?”
“Ireland.”
Giving a short nod of agreement, Daegan continued. “Yes, that’s the cave. All of the Medb army sent was lost except a warlock left near the entrance as a lookout. He returned to the queen, claiming he would accept any death rather than ever go back to the cave. He was terrified after hearing the screams of dying warriors. Next, she sent a mage, who also died.”
Grady had his arms crossed and remained a few inches above ground in his translucent form. “That Maeve a greedy bitch. Killin’ people just to get majik to kill more people.”
“What was in the cave that attacked the soldiers and mage?” Tristan asked.
Daegan said, “The Noirre plants.”
Adrianna couldn’t have heard him correctly. “A plant was that deadly?”
“Yes. The plants are said to be not just deadly, but sentient. The Vikings believed a mother to a child lost in that cave had been a witch and that she cursed the Vikings. The plants grew from that curse.”
Reese said, “Never cross a powerful mother.”
“No truer words have been spoken,” Daegan agreed, then continued explaining. “Maeve must have offered Cathbad whatever he wanted, because after the mage died, the druid went to the cave and Maeve joined him, though she remained outside. He survived long enough to teleport out, but he was badly injured. She poured a load of power into the druid to keep him alive.”
Tristan asked, “So Maeve is definitely behind this?”
Shaking his head, Daegan said, “Not necessarily. Macha knows the history of the Noirre plant as well. To be honest, it could be either one. Maeve would have knowledge of how to battle the plants, but Macha is willing to go to any length to kill me and get Treoir back. That’s why I said the pure Noirre is key to finding Evalle if we can determine who gained the most recent plant.”
Moving back and forth, Grady said, “Now you talkin’. Sounds like that bunch of spirits controllin’ those plants. You take me with you, I’ll git to ’em and make ’em talk to me.”
Adrianna admired the Nightstalker’s loyalty to Evalle, but Grady might be in danger if he entered a hostile spirit’s area.
Turning a warm expression to Grady, Daegan said, “I am not sure you could teleport away from this place, and even if you could, Evalle would never forgive me for putting you at risk when you do not have powers to protect yourself. You could be of far more benefit by continuing to monitor this area and inform our Beladors of any threats from humans exposing our existence.”
Grumbling under his breath, Grady finally said, “Word is VIPER might be your biggest threat. They upset about more humans coming out with videos of other supernatural activity. Every paranormal researcher and demon hunter outside of Atlanta be showin’ up before you know it.”
Reese asked, “Speaking of demons, have you seen any in the city recently?”
“Naw. Not since the last one.”
That’s right. Adrianna now recalled that Reese had energy that turned her into a demon magnet. Maybe that was the reason Quinn wanted Reese out of here, away from a potential threat.
Heaving a deep sigh, Grady told Daegan, “Okay. I’ll stay here, but I ain’t forgivin’ no one if she don’t come back.”
“Understood.” After appeasing the ghoul, Daegan looked to Storm. “Do you now see why I say this scent is the key?”
The Skinwalker nodded and said, “The kidnapper might have left his scent around the plants, and even a trail if he thought no one would suspect his gaining pure Noirre. How do we get to the plants?”
Everyone except Daegan stared at Storm as if he’d lost his mind after that story of hideous deaths in the cave.
The dragon king answered, “I’ll show you. Let’s teleport.”