looking forward to being a great-grandma.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Elise waved goodbye and then ran to catch up with Caleb.
“Things are settled then?” he asked as he helped her into the truck.
“I think they are. At least with my family. Now we just have to figure out who is stalking Zara.” She settled back in her seat as Flora started the engine and put the truck in drive.
“At least we have a lead,” Caleb stared out into the darkness as they drove back through the wildwood. “It’s more than we had a couple of hours ago.”
“I’ll call Oscar.” Aiden dialed the number on his phone. “No signal.”
“You’ll have to wait until we’re on the other side of the trees,” Flora told him. “The trees block the signal this deep inside the forest.”
Aiden tapped his phone screen again but there was still no signal. Caleb took out his phone and glanced at the screen, but he couldn’t call out either.
“I’ll call Karros as soon as we get a signal.” Elise stared at her phone screen, too.
“Whatever did people do before cell phones?” Aiden asked.
“They were more patient,” Flora replied.
“Is that a criticism?” Aiden asked.
“If you want it to be.” She eased her foot down on the gas as they reached a straight section of road.
“Now who is impatient?” Aiden asked as he checked her speed.
“I’m going slower than you do,” she replied. “It just feels faster because you’re not in control.”
“Oh, I got a signal.” Elise’s phone beeped as a message came through. Then it beeped again and again.
“Someone’s popular,” Caleb said.
“Is it your parents?” Flora asked. “Don’t say Grandma Sylvie called them and broke the news?”
“No, it’s from Karros.” She tapped the screen, her heart rate quickening as she scanned the first text and scrolled down to the next one.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb reached for her hand, sensing her growing panic.
“Zara sensed someone was watching her. She went to confront them.” Elise glanced up with tears in her eyes. “She hasn’t come back.”
“How long?” Caleb asked quickly.
“I don’t know.” She sucked air into her lungs before letting it out slowly. “I can’t tell when the texts were sent because of the lack of signal.” She turned the phone screen to face Caleb. “I don’t know if the time means what time the message was sent or what time I received it.”
“Okay, calm down, deep breaths.” He took the phone from. “We can call Karros. For all we know, Elise might be back by now.”
He quickly scanned the rest of the texts, there were five in total, the first explained that Elise was missing, the last ones asking Elise where she was. Caleb pressed dial and put the phone on speaker.
“He’s not picking up. Why isn’t he picking up?” Elise whispered.
Flora pressed her foot down on the gas, sending them speeding through the forest. Her grim expression reflected in the rearview mirror and despite his unease at the truck traveling too fast on the winding road, Caleb trusted her to keep them safe.
She has good reflexes, we learned that when we were searching for Imelda, his bear said supportively.
“Karros?” Caleb cursed under his breath as the phone went to voicemail.
“I’ll call Ivan.” Aiden grabbed his phone and pressed dial.
“Will he go and check that they’re all right?” Elise asked.
“No, I’m going to ask him to meet us at the edge of the fae realm. He can fly us to Zara’s house. We should be there…” Aiden sucked in a breath as his brother answered. “Ivan. I need a favor.”
We also need a large dose of luck, Caleb’s bear said as they raced toward the edge of the fae realm.
Caleb closed his eyes, his thoughts haunted by the man whose face he now remembered. The man who had stolen two young shifters.
What was his plan for Zara? Caleb tapped the screen and listened to Karros’s phone ring and ring until it once more went to voicemail.
Damn it. What was happening?
On the day he’d finally recalled long-forgotten memories of his parents and his baby sister, Caleb was not ready to lose Zara once again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Elise
“Where is he?” Elise stared out of the window as Flora drove out of the fae realm and slowed to a stop. They had agreed to rendezvous with Ivan but so far there was no sign of the dragon shifter.
“He’ll be here.” Caleb reached across and placed his hand on hers.
“Flora, park the truck off the road. We should grab anything we might need and get