which is over two hours away. Is that Molly Sullivan?”
“Yes. I want you, Richard, and Henry to leave Atlanta. Meet up with Maria in Birmingham.”
Anson swore. “Fine. For how long?”
“Let’s play it by ear. Steven’s still in New York, so he should be all right.”
“We can’t sit in limbo forever.”
“I know, but we also can’t afford to take unnecessary chances, and we’re not ready for a confrontation. Just leave for now and hold tight. I’ll get back to you soon with further instructions.” He punched the button that ended the call.
She was spewing chaotic Power again, and this time it wasn’t a brief spurt. Chernobyl was having another meltdown. And he didn’t have her cell number, so he cast a spell to make a phone call go through to her, but she didn’t pick up.
When he’d felt her Power surge, he had just finished putting in an appearance at his official apartment and was en route to the safe house. As luck would have it, he was only a mile away from the hotel. The chaotic Power lay in that direction.
He arrived a few minutes later. Whipping into a parking space on the street, he cast a cloaking spell over himself, put his phone on vibrate, and raced into the hotel.
Finding Molly’s floor ended up being easy. He made his best guess, and when he exited the elevator on the eleventh floor, he could tell he’d gone too far up, so he loped down the stairs until he stopped on the landing of the ninth floor.
This was definitely the floor. He pushed through the stairwell door.
There were dozens of rooms and suites on each floor, but her energy signature shone like a beacon in his mind’s eye. Unerringly, he turned right.
Down the hall, Austin Sullivan stood, talking to one of the hotel guests. Josiah felt an urge to violence as he came to a standstill. At the party, Molly and Sullivan had hurled nasty things at each other, but Molly’s words had come from a place of truth and deep hurt while Sullivan had deliberately chosen to be cruel.
He was a snake, and Josiah would have no problem crushing him under his heel. But violence wouldn’t solve Josiah’s bigger issue, so he checked the impulse and coldly watched the exchange between Sullivan and a middle-aged woman.
Sullivan said, “I’m sorry again for bothering you.”
“No problem.” The woman in the doorway smiled. “I hope you find your wife.”
“Thank you, so do I. This whole thing has been a misunderstanding.” The snake gave the woman a charming smile.
Sullivan’s presence had to be the cause of Molly’s meltdown. She must know he was here. Josiah tossed around ideas for how to get rid of the other man without revealing his presence. Perhaps a panic spell would work.
General panic spells were interesting in how they affected the unwary and unaware. They caused the victim’s mind to supply the reason for the panic by elevating their own phobias and fears.
Yes, that would do. After the woman had shut her door, Josiah tossed out the casting.
Sullivan had started walking to the next door, toward Josiah. When the spell hit, he slowed to a stop and glanced around. One corner of Josiah’s mouth tilted up in a hard smile as the other man frowned and the conscious charm in his handsome expression transformed into anxiety.
Maybe Sullivan was recalculating the risk of drawing attention to himself by knocking on doors. Maybe he would think about what trouble he might get in if a guest complained. Or maybe he had an irrational fear of carpet. Josiah didn’t fucking care as long as the spell drove him to leave the hotel as quickly as possible.
Sullivan paused, clearly struggling with himself. Then one of the hotel doors opened and a couple stepped out, giving him a curious glance as they walked past, and he broke. He pushed past them and headed for the elevators.
Leisurely, Josiah stepped out of his way and remained flattened against the wall until the couple had left. Then he thrust the other people out of his mind and headed toward Molly’s room.
He located her chaotic Power at the third door from the end of the hallway, opposite where Sullivan had talked with the woman. Logic said Sullivan wouldn’t have been heading back toward the bank of elevators if he hadn’t already gone down the other side of the hall first.
So he had to have already knocked on Molly’s door. Josiah imagined her looking out the peephole to find