Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,25

area, just in case?”

“Yes, and we didn’t find anything. Not her car, not her phone, not her.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Darkside had her. I had no doubt of that. None at all.

“Tell Ginny to stay at Southport and make sure Barney does as well,” Mo said. “The spells I wove around the mansion will protect them in the short term. We’ll head to Mia’s and grab the stuff we need to do a tracking spell.”

“Heard that, and will do,” Ginny said. “Where are you now?”

“Just outside Launceston.”

“What the hell are you doing all the way down there?”

“Long story, and one that can wait.”

She grunted. “Be careful, won’t you? This may be but the first step of them taking us down one by one.”

Undoubtedly, and it was one of the major reasons I really hadn’t wanted the two of them so deeply involved. But that horse had well and truly bolted.

“Let us know if you hear anything or if she suddenly reappears.”

“And if she does suddenly appear,” Mo said, “be a little cautious. It might not truly be her.”

“I take it there’s a story behind that comment too?” Ginny said, frustration and worry very evident.

“Yeah. Keep her in light, don’t go into a darkened room with her, and knock her unconscious if she does even the slightest weird thing.”

“God, now I’m even more worried.”

She had every right to be. “I’ll see you soon.”

I hung up but before I could say anything, the phone rang again. This time, it was a private number.

My heart rate leapt several more notches. It was them. I knew it was them. I glanced at Mo, my fear so fierce I couldn’t even speak. I simply showed her the screen.

“Answer it,” she said. “You have no other choice. Not if you want to save her.”

I pressed the button and then said, “Who’s this?”

“That’s none of your fucking business” came the harsh reply. A woman’s voice, not a man’s. Not Max’s. “If you want to see your friend alive again, you’ll meet us on King Island at six. Don’t bring the knives, your grandmother, or the Blackbird. We see any of them, and your friend is meat for our evening meal.”

And with that, she hung up.

Chapter Five

I threw the phone onto my lap then scrubbed my hands through my hair. “If they’ve hurt her, I’m going to burn their asses to hell and back.”

“It wouldn’t be to their benefit to hurt her—not at this point. They’ll know you’ll want to see her alive before you meet any of their other demands.”

“Which they haven’t yet made.” Not that they really needed to. They’d been trying to either capture or kill me for weeks now. “It’s odd that they’ve given us so much time to get there, though. Do you think they know where we are?”

And, more importantly, what we were doing?

Mo wrinkled her nose. “I’ve had no sense of Darkside’s minions—”

“Would you though? It’s not like you’ve been given that sort of info in the past.”

“True, but in a place as unpopulated as Bodmin—and in weather as foul as we had today—I’d have felt the weight of a watcher, both on the earth and in the air. Besides, the fact they’ve chosen King Island as a meeting point suggests they think we’re still near there.”

“And the time?”

“That’s easy when you’re actually thinking rather than panicking.” She cast a wry look my way. “The sun will have set, and the demons can come out to play.”

“And if they do, I’ll burn their asses too.”

Mo smiled, though it failed to reach her eyes. “Which is also why they no doubt told you not to bring the knives. I dare say they’ll check before they bring Mia out into the open.”

“It’s just as well I no longer need to hold them to unleash their fury.” But even if that hadn’t been the case, I still would have walked into this trap. There was no way known I’d allow Mia to remain in Darkside hands a second longer than necessary.

I flexed my fingers in an effort to remain calm, but it was an action that had the opposite effect thanks to the sparks that flew at the movement. The inner lightning was very ready for action, and its ferocity scared the hell out of me. If I fully unleashed, I might not be able to control it. And while Mo might have said I couldn’t be killed by the forces I raised as a mage, that didn’t mean they couldn’t affect me. Using the