Motor City Witch (5 page)

“Lord Green Oak.” The voice on the other end of the device belonged to Baldric of the Fjords, Lord Chamberlain. He was Queen Llyris’s first cousin and essentially her chief of staff and personal assistant. Baldric was a sneaky bastard, who was always looking out for himself, but Aidan was relatively certain the man was loyal to the queen, maybe even above and beyond his own interests.

“I need to know if any of the council members have had family members go missing in the last few days,” Aidan said. “Particularly those who sided with the queen in the recent vote.”

The Seelie Council was composed of the heads of the twenty-one noble houses of the Seelie Court. Aidan was one of those, Meagan another. From among the twenty-one, a ruler was elected, who usually maintained his or her office for life. For the first time in millennia, though, another faction had nearly gained enough votes in the council to unseat a ruler, a plot which Meagan and Ric had foiled a few months earlier.

“Yes.” Baldric didn’t hesitate. “One of Willow’s teenage grandsons, though his parents fear the lad simply ran away. Lady Northwood’s husband is also missing. The assumption is that he ran off with one of his human employees, who is also unaccounted for. Why?”

If they thought he’d taken off with a human, that meant the missing man was probably abducted Overhill, if he had been at all. “Was the boy Underhill or in the mortal realm?” Aidan squeezed the bridge of his nose.

“Overhill.” The older Fae practically spat the words. Baldric had little use for the mortal realm. “New York. Why?”

Much as he hated to reveal his own uncertainty, it wouldn’t do to leave the queen’s people uninformed. “Because tonight, a child who may or may not be my heir was taken from her mother’s home.” The Fae didn’t really have a concept of legitimate or otherwise when it came to children. For elven nobles, the title always went to the oldest offspring of the oldest offspring, male or female, regardless of legitimacy, or who or even what the other parent was. If Dina was Aidan’s daughter, she was his heir, despite her half-human state, or her mother’s opinion on the subject.

“Bugger it,” Baldric grunted. “I’ll inform Her Majesty and start contacting the other houses and warning them. Let me know if you hear anything more.” He hung up before Aidan could say another word.

Next, Aidan dialed the New York portal house, where he spoke with Lord Willow’s son, Clive, who was understandably frantic as well. When Aidan explained the situation, the poor man didn’t seem to know whether to be relieved or even more concerned.

As Aidan was assuring Clive that he’d be in touch if he learned anything, a wall sconce flashed on above another concealed door—this one leading to the portal linking the Grosse Pointe house with the Faerie Court.

“Finn,” he called to the guard out in the library. “Someone’s activated the portal.”

The younger elf moved into the office at the same time as Wallis stepped into the library. Both were armed with automatic weapons, though Wallis said, “It’s probably Toby.”

“Most likely.” With the other two covering him, Aidan opened the door into the small, windowless room that housed the portal. The space appeared empty except for an archway filled with a silver mist. As they watched, two figures stepped through the arch, hand-in-hand.

“We came as soon as we could.” Meagan released her husband’s hand to come hug Aidan. “Is Elise okay?”

Aidan scowled at Ric over Meagan’s coppery head. “I thought I told you two to stay in Paris.”

“As if.” Meagan punched Aidan in the arm.

Ric snorted. “Let’s see—a ten-minute trip to the Paris portal, in one and out the other in the palace, and we’re here. Did you really think we wouldn’t?”

Aidan shrugged. He’d hoped. Having Ric at his side would help him breathe easier, but he didn’t like the idea that Meagan might be at risk if it was about the council.

“Look, if somebody’s targeting mixed couples on the council, I was already at risk.” Meagan’s tone was even and reasonable. She let go of Aidan and stepped back to Ric, who automatically tucked his arm around her waist. The adoration in the bard’s eyes further reassured Aidan that his cousin had married the right Fae. “At least here, I’ll be surrounded by people who know me, instead of a hotel staff.”

“Your telepathy skills have gotten better, cousin.” Aidan shook his head. Meagan had only recently gained access to her Fae powers, but she was learning to control them with unexpected speed and skill for a halfling.

“Greg may have mentioned the possibility of a purity plot when he called me,” Ric admitted with a wry grin. “But she’s right. At least this way, we’ve got some strength in numbers.”

“Besides, someone needs to be here for Elise.” Meagan looked up and made a face. “Oh—hi, Des. Well, another female to talk to never hurts.”

Ric nudged his wife toward a chair. “Anyway, we’re here. Now tell us everything.”

“That’s going to take more coffee.” Aidan’s temples throbbed. “And a bigger headquarters than the security office. Wallis, let’s set up the library as a war room. Bring in some extra phones, a couple of computers, some scrying materials and get somebody to send up breakfast.”

“Bronwyn and the cook are taking turns making sure somebody’s in the kitchen around the clock.” Wallis was already moving back into the security room as he spoke over his shoulder. “Standard crisis procedure, my lord.”

Of course it was. Aidan had set up the rules himself when he’d taken over the Detroit portal four years earlier. A well-fed force was essential in any battle.

Elise appeared in the doorway, dressed in her jeans and sweater from the night before, her black hair still damp and hanging down her back. Her expression was fierce, angry and determined. Aidan had to look closely to see the carefully banked terror behind the bravado.
All she needs is a sword to be a perfect avenging angel.

“Elise!” Meagan was out of her chair and running to hug her. “Oh, honey, I’m so, so sorry this happened!”

“What are you doing here?” Elise tentatively returned the hug and shook her head. “Never mind. Of course you came.” She sat down between Meagan and her brother and turned to Aidan. “What news?”

They all gathered around the library table and Aidan caught everyone up to speed while they waited for food and Wallis’s staff set up equipment. Right after breakfast arrived, the portal light blinked on again, this time heralding Toby’s return. The brownie slumped into a chair, accepted a scone and began to talk.

“’Twas as ye feared, Cap’n.” The thickness of his brogue always increased with the amount of whisky he’d consumed and by the sound, Toby had downed several glasses while seeking out information. “There’s been a djinn seen hanging about the palace. Attached himself to the new Lord Le Faire, he has. Rumor has it, the snot-nosed lordling was offering a good bit of gold to anyone willing to come work for him who didn’t have much in the way of scruples. Built himself a small army of Unseelie sidhe—some trolls, an orc or two, a passel of goblins.”

“So Oswald Le Faire is continuing in his father’s footsteps, is he? No great surprise. If he’s kidnapping people, I assume he’s holding them in the dungeons at his family estate.” Most of the elven lordly manors boasted working dungeons—even Oakwood.

“Nae.” Toby hung his head morosely. “Spent the last two hours chatting up one of his housemaids. Oswald hasn’t even been back to his estate in a week or two. Wherever he has his captives stowed, ’tisn’t at his home.”

“Damn it.” Aidan paced back and forth at one end of the table. “Where?”

Mairead stood at the library doorway and ducked her head deferentially. “What can I do for you now, my lord?”

Aidan saw the relief on the woman’s face when she spotted Toby. Bollocks, how had he missed the attachment between the two? “Get some sleep. Toby, you too.” Neither of the two had had more than an hour or so before hell had broken loose. “I may need you to be well rested later.”

It was Elise who turned to her brother. “Des, have you contacted the League? What do they have to say?”

“I found out my call to Toronto was fake,” he growled. “Somebody wanted to make sure I was out of town and knew who to contact to make it happen. There’s no record of that request prior to the moment I was called—a couple of hours after the reception.”

Aidan leaned both hands on the table and glared at Des. “And you couldn’t have mentioned that earlier?”

Des shrugged. “It didn’t come up. But yeah, apparently the bastard has a contact among the
Wyndewin
. This purity thing may go deeper than you thought.”

“I wonder…” Greg drummed his fingers on the table. “There’ve been some weird rumblings in the shifter world, too—loners who think we should stop keeping ourselves secret from the humans.”

“But the whole point of the
Wyndewin
League is to keep paranormals from messing with humans,” Elise argued. “I can’t see anyone in the league working against humanity. And certainly not helping kidnap a
Wyndewin
child.”

“I hope not,” Des countered. “But I got that call from the director in Toronto. As soon as we find Dina, I’m going to go up there, find out what the hell is going on and kick some ass.”

“Fine. Right now we need to find out where the hell Oswald is keeping his prisoners.” Aidan smacked his hand down on the table. “It may or may not be Underhill. If he has a djinn working for him, there’s no way to tell. Ric, since you’re here, I’d like you to go see what you can find out at Court, liaise with Baldric and check in with Willow. Greg, you are Meagan’s shadow and personal bodyguard while Ric is gone, Desmond, you keep an eye on your sister.”

***

Elise’s blood boiled. How dare he take command and relegate her to nothing more than sitting and waiting? That was not happening, not when it was her child, her baby, who was missing.

“Ummm, not exactly helpless here.” Meagan laid a hand on Elise’s arm right before Elise leapt to her feet. “I mean, yeah, I’m not going to go looking for a fight right now, but I’m computer savvy enough to take the place of one of your security officers so he can be out in the field. Elise is even better than I am. And we sure as hell don’t need both Des and Greg out of the action to babysit us if we’re right here in the house.”

“Of course. I should have thought of that. Wallis, meet your two new recruits.” Aidan rubbed his temples as if his head was throbbing and Elise’s anger softened a touch. Had he gotten any sleep? Elise checked the clock for the first time since she’d risen—she’d only managed a couple hours—he’d had even less.

Wallis nodded. “Where do you want me to send the extra men?”

“With Sir Alaric,” Aidan decided. “Lord Rose, rather.”

“Just call me Ric. It’s easier.”

Elise didn’t think the bard was quite used to being a lord yet.

“As the mate of a council member, he may already have a target on his back as well.” Aidan’s hands fiddled with a pen he’d popped in from somewhere.

Meagan bit her lower lip, as if that notion hadn’t occurred to her. When Ric absently laid his hand over hers on Meagan’s tummy, Elise’s eyes watered. She hoped Meagan appreciated how lucky she was to be going through her pregnancy with the man she loved beside her.

“Desmond, if you don’t mind, why don’t you and Elise go back to her house? She can pick up anything she needs and you can see if there’s anything you recognize in the residual magic.”

A light flashed on the phone in front of Wallis and he held up a hand for silence as he clicked on the speakerphone. “Greene residence.”

“Lord Green Oak,” came a snarling voice. The accent wasn’t the near-British Elise had come to expect from the Fae. Instead it had an almost Middle Eastern cadence. Could this be the djinni everyone was talking about? “Now.”

“One moment please.” Wallis clicked the hold button on, nodded to Aidan and switched it back.

“Green Oak here.” Aidan’s voice was icy enough to remind Elise that he hadn’t made much of a leap from pirate to corporate raider. “Who’s this?”

“You don’t need to know that. All you need to know is that we have the girl.”

Elise bit her lip until it bled to cover a gasp.

Aidan’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the phone. “What do you want?”

“Actually,
Lord
Green Oak, what we want is you.”

“Explain.” The sheer menace in his tone should have had whoever was on the other end shaking in his boots.

Instead he chuckled. “It’s quite simple. We’re willing to trade the halfling for someone much more useful. You turn yourself over to us and we’ll return the brat.”

“I want to hear her voice right now,” Aidan barked. “If I’m assured that she’s unharmed, I’m willing to make the switch.”

There was a scuffling sound on the other end of the phone and Elise held her breath, praying to every god she’d ever heard of.
Please, please let Dina be okay.

“Hello?” Her light, high-pitched voice was strong and firm, thank the gods. “Mommy? Don’t cry.”

Meagan’s arm wrapped around Elise and kept her from lunging for the phone, even as a choked sob escaped from between her bloody lips.

“Adina, are you all right?” Aidan gentled his tone which was as unsteady as Elise had ever heard it. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, but I want to come
home.
This place is dark and cold.”

After another scuffle, a man grunted and Dina yelled, “Let me go!” This time it took Meagan and Des to hold Elise in her seat and Aidan’s fingers were stark white where they gripped the table.

“Convinced, my lord?” The man’s oily voice was back.

“When and where?” Aidan’s dark brows furrowed together.

“Sunset. There’s an old burial henge south of Edinburgh called Bald Tor. You can bring the girl’s mother. No one else.”

“One other to guard them on the way back,” Aidan bargained. “Someone who can operate the old portal.”

“Bring anyone else and they can each take back a part of the girl.”

That time Elise did scream the word
no
out loud and lunge halfway out of her seat.

The bastard laughed. “You. The woman. Unarmed. And you come through the henge portal—not from anywhere in Elfhame.”
Interesting that he used the older name for Underhill. Great—a traditionalist kidnapper.