Atlanta doesn’t seem to agree with you.”
I gave her a weary smile. “You’re telling me.”
I made Tobias watch at the window. As soon as Latham’s car vanished down the driveway, I sat up and swung my feet to the floor. I still felt weak and dizzy, but at least I had the strength to sit up and think.
“How are you feeling?” Tobias asked anxiously.
“Weak, but otherwise okay. What have I missed?”
Tobias pushed out a breath, looking . . . bewildered. “Nothing? Lots of stuff? I don’t know. I woke up at noon, and you weren’t back at the hotel. You weren’t answering your phone. And you weren’t here. I got worried.”
“Sorry I scared you,” I said. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” he said, his voice nearly a wail at the memory of panic. “I called everybody, but none of the vampires were awake, and no one else seemed to know anything. The only people I know here are the vampires, that witch lady, and the lady who booked my flights. But I only had her email.”
“Maya? Did you email her?”
“Yeah, and she hasn’t gotten back to me. And that was hours ago.”
“That’s strange.” Maya had always responded to my emails or texts within minutes. That in itself wasn’t proof that she was working with Odessa, though.
He shrugged. “So I searched the house, in case you were tied up somewhere, and since then I’ve just been wandering the property. I didn’t go near the barn, though, ’cause Beau told me not to.” He shifted his weight from one foot to another, looking ashamed. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I assured him. “That’s exactly why she lured me out there.”
He toed the carpet. “Yeah.”
I reached into my pocket, intending to call Lily or Mary and reassure them that I was fine, but I remembered that Odessa had taken my phone. Crap. “Did you talk to anyone from home after you found me?”
Tobias nodded. “I called Mary and told her. She said she’d let the others know. She’s, um . . .” He looked profoundly uncomfortable. “She’s very glad we’re coming home tomorrow,” he said, summarizing what I’m sure was quite a long rant from the alpha werewolf.
I gave Tobias a smile, but all I said was, “It’ll definitely be good to get home.”
But first I had a promise to keep.
Tobias abruptly snapped his fingers. “Almost forgot.” He turned and sped out of the room, returning a moment later. He thrust a small brown package in my hand. “This was on the porch when I arrived.”
I tore open the paper. Inside were six gorgeous pieces of mahogany obsidian, each one nearly the quality of the one from Quinn. There was a note tucked inside, a few words scrawled on a small piece of thick card stock: All I can get at short notice. I will send a bill to Mr. Calhoun’s office manager as instructed. —Dulcinea Woods.
I grinned. Finally, some good news. “When you searched the house, did you find any string?” I asked Tobias. “Twine, yarn, anything?”
“Sure. You want me to get it?”
“Yes please.”
By the time Tobias warned me that there were vampires approaching the front door, I had four necklaces lined up on the back of the baby grand piano in the foyer. The other two were on Tobias and me.
Beau opened the front door and sauntered through with Milburn at his heels—but his polite expression dropped as he took in my appearance. “Sergeant Luther?” He frowned at the IV pole I’d dragged out to the foyer with me. “Whatever happened?”
I pushed out a breath. “You might want to sit down. I’m afraid I have bad news.”
Chapter 35
“I don’t believe it,” Beau stated. “Odessa would never do this.”
I blinked, surprised. I had just laid it all out for him, and the whole time I was speaking, I was kicking myself for not having figured her out earlier. It hadn’t occurred to me that Beau would just . . . not believe me.
But then, of course he didn’t want to think that the woman he’d raised from a child would stab him in the back.
Silently, Tobias shifted a little so he was standing closer to me. We were still in the foyer. Beau had offered to move the group to his office, but I hadn’t wanted to waste time lugging the IV around. Now, though, I wished we had moved so we would all be sitting, instead of just me.
I chose my words carefully. “You must smell