“I spotted a strange power signature, but it wasn’t on Julian’s land. It was right outside of it.”
“What do you think it was?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. I flew over, but as I got closer, it disappeared. Then when I was flying away, it popped back up in the same spot.”
“Was it like when you found Jeb?”
“Sort of,” he said. “But this one was bigger and more muted. Jeb’s was more like a spotlight.”
“I don’t think it was Enid, but we can’t know for sure.”
Ray shook his head. “I don’t think it was either. It didn’t feel heavy. That Hag would give off a lot of hate. It was just weird, kinda like it was messing with me.”
Jessica, can you hear me? It was my father. He wasn’t always able to get through, and we didn’t know why.
Yes! I answered, excited to hear his voice. Have you touched down yet?
No, we’re being diverted.
What do you meaning you’re being diverted?
The pilot just announced that we couldn’t land as planned. They’re taking us to a runway approximately two hours south of where you’re located.
I glanced at Ray. “My father just told me that their plane is being diverted to a different location. We have to head back so I can figure out what’s going on.”
Ray grunted. “I’m not surprised. That guy doesn’t want to be outnumbered on his own turf, nor does he want any surprises. Especially if he’s in up to his neck in all this shit.” He waved his arm, gesturing up and down the valley.
“What do you think all the shit is? He’s working with Ceres, but to what end? What does he stand to gain from of all this?”
“How do I know? But it’s clear she wooed him with something. Her scent is all over this place. And if they’re sleeping together, that makes things more complicated. My guess is power. It’s always about power.”
He was right.
Jessica, what’s going on? my father asked.
Sorry, just talking to Ray. My best guess is Julian has decided it would be a threat to let you land here. We’ve been keeping information from him and poking around on his Compound. He’s not happy. We just found out he may be working with Ceres.
The goddess?
Yes, which may have something to do with Tally being missing.
He’s a shrewd Alpha who has to look out for his Pack, my father answered very rationally, not mirroring the way I felt at all. I may have done the same thing in his situation. Let him know we will stay just outside the city limits of Florence. I’ll wait to hear from you or Tyler. If anything changes, and there’s significant danger, we can be there quickly.
How many wolves did you bring? I asked.
Enough.
I had to hand it to my father, always calm in a crisis. To Ray, I said, “Take me back. Let’s make an entrance on the veranda. I want Julian to know this news is not welcome. We have to show some power. I have a feeling that things are going to get messy around here soon.”
Ray snorted. “They were ugly before we got here. If you want power, we’ve got it in spades.” He wrapped his arm tightly around my waist and whipped me upward.
I kept my wits about me, but just barely. Flying through the air felt so wrong.
Luckily, we weren’t up there for long.
On the way down, we were moving fast, but I saw Rourke glance up a second before we landed on the terrace. It was hard to look all put together with my hair flying in my face, but I managed.
Before I could address the mostly stunned group, Tyler, sensing my mood and tension, asked internally, What’s going on? Why’d you come in with Ray?