Magic Misled (Lizzie Grace #7) - Keri Arthur Page 0,111
six murders in the scout hall, you can be damn sure I will. In the meantime, you will help us capture Leesa’s daughter. Understand?”
He couldn’t nod because he remained in Belle’s control, but the stink of his fear filled the air. No real surprise, given he was being faced down by an alpha in full fury.
Tala returned and handed Aiden a knife and what looked to be a small plastic specimen container with a screw-top lid. He glanced up at me. “How much blood do we need?”
I hesitated. “To be honest, I have no idea, but I wouldn’t think much more than a quarter of that little tub.”
Aiden grabbed John’s hand, carefully sliced open a finger, and then held it over the container. When enough blood had dripped in, he held the finger up while Tala stuck a couple of Band-Aids around it.
“Okay, Belle, release him.”
“You sure? He’s not exactly in a great frame of mind at the moment.”
“He won’t attack. He’s not that stupid.” Aiden rose and handed me the blood, though his gaze remained on John. “If he does, I’ll throw every damn charge I can think of at him, and he’ll be stuck in a prison cell for ages. Understood, John?”
John glared at him for several seconds and then swallowed and looked away. “Yes,” he muttered sullenly.
Belle released him and then took a deep, somewhat shuddery, breath.
You okay? I asked.
Surprisingly, yes, though I certainly shouldn’t be given I’ve never gone that deep into someone’s thoughts before. Her gaze met mine. Maybe some of the wild magic’s strength is bleeding over to me.
Another of those things that shouldn’t be possible, but at this point, probably is.
“Right,” Aiden said. “We’ll head over to John’s and set up. Belle, you’d better go with Tala, as there won’t be room for both you and John in the back seat with all those boxes.”
She nodded and followed Tala out the door.
“You want me to call Ashworth and Monty?” I asked.
“No, I’ll do it once we’re in the car.” He grabbed John’s arm and led him outside. I locked the door and then hesitated, my gaze searching the area. My instincts were prickling again, but as usual, weren’t giving me any concrete reason why. There was certainly nothing to indicate any sort of danger, and yet …
I frowned and hurried after Aiden. As he handcuffed John into the rear, I jumped into the front seat. Again, that vague unease stirred, and I glanced to the right. Whatever I was sensing, it was hiding somewhere back down the road. Was it the stranger I’d chased down the lane? Or was it perhaps Honor?
Aiden jumped into the driver seat and, after he’d made the calls to Ashworth and Monty, reversed out onto the road and followed Tala’s SUV. I flicked down the visor and used the vanity mirror to check the road behind us. There were no cars immediately behind us.
“Problem?” Aiden asked.
“Twitchy instincts.”
“How twitchy?”
“On the scale of these things, it’s about thirty percent.”
“You think it’s Honor?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
I flicked up the visor … and almost immediately, my spider senses switched direction, this time suggesting the problem lay to our right.
Which made utterly no sense, as there was nothing but a small housing estate to our right.
If Honor was tracking us, wouldn’t Katie have sent the wild magic out to warn me? Especially given I was with Aiden? Or had talking to her mother through me utterly drained her? The threads of her wild magic had been unusually absent the last couple of days.
Aiden’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. “There’s no indication that we’re being followed.”
“We’re not now.”
His gaze shot to mine. “She’s moved away?”
“For the moment, yes.” I studied the houses for a second. “If her current trajectory is anything to go by, it’s possible she’s heading toward John’s.”
Aiden grunted and immediately hit a button on the center console. When Tala responded, he said, “It’s possible Honor is heading for John’s. Don’t go anywhere near the place until we all get there.”
“We’re already close, so we’ll pull over up the road from his driveway and wait. Call when you’re near. Out.”
We turned onto Fryer’s Road. Aiden slowed as he drove onto the dusty sections, and my gaze went to the trees on the left. The tingling sense of wrongness was no stronger than before and yet …
That’s when I felt it—a surge of magic so thick, foul, and close that I had no time to do anything more than scream, “Brace!”