Evalle tried to swallow against the dread clogging her throat. Call her a pessimist, but there could be nothing positive about the unexpected appearance of a bazillion-year-old centaur. She really had no idea of his exact age, but he was ancient. She said, "Hi, Deek."
Menace poured off him. He cut a scathing look her way, acknowledging her with one acidic word. "Alterant."
The horse part of Deek's body had to go at least eighteen hands at the withers. From there, the neck of the horse blended into the torso of a man built for fighting Spartan warriors.
Like really capable of battling those impossible-to-kill warriors.
In his centaur form, Deek towered over Evalle, and she was tall for a woman. He struck a mighty pose. The guy was oblivious to being in the middle of suburbia, and seemed unconcerned that one of Rowan's Midtown neighbors might notice him.
Evalle had also seen Deek in his human form, and she'd call him hot if not for the insane ego that came with the whole package. So, yes, he could shift.
He chose to be in this form.
Rowan demanded, "What do you mean by coming to my home and in that form, centaur?"
Did these two know each other?
Deek amped up the death threat in his glare. "This is not a social call, witch."
Yep, that sounded as if they were familiar.
If any more tension built between Deek and Rowan, the ground would split open and spit fire next. That'd be funny if it wasn't an exaggeration.
Two houses down from Rowan's, an engine revved to life and the car began backing out of the driveway.
Evalle interrupted the glare fest. "Humans are going to see, uh, you, Deek."
"Don't insult me by suggesting that I can't shield myself from a human, Alterant. They see me only if I choose so."
"Don't you insult a guest at my house, centaur," Rowan warned.
Clearly, names were not allowed at this impromptu meeting.
The driver of the car passed by and never noticed the strange half-man, half-horse, or Rowan dressed in fluffy lingerie.
Rowan went back on offense. "What are you doing here?"
Crossing his arms, Deek said, "Searching for Mattie's familiar." His gaze swiped over to Storm's truck, making it clear he'd found said familiar. "What's it doing here, and where is Mattie?"
Evalle decided to let Rowan take the lead, since these two knew each other. No one wanted to get caught between an angry witch and a scary centaur.
Rowan watched him as she would a grizzly about to attack, but her voice changed with a thread of suspicion. "Why are you asking about Mattie?"
Deek took a menacing step forward. "I answer to no one, witch."
"You do when it comes to my council members."
He leveled another laser look at her, wrinkling his nose. "You think I want to harm Mattie? If I wanted to harm anyone, you would not stop me." His horse hooves shuffled about, while neither he nor Rowan gave an inch.
Evalle had not known Deek to be a patient person. Who would give in first?
Deek surprised her when he finally conceded, "Mattie is someone who matters to my niece. Now, where is she?"
This could escalate quickly if someone didn't help diffuse it. Guess that's my job. Evalle offered, "Deek, Mattie is missing, and I was on a VIPER team that found her familiar, Oskar, after we killed a creature that had him cornered in a building. I brought him here to try to find the owner. Rowan just called Mattie, but she got no answer. Just before you showed up, Rowan was saying she's sure something has happened to Mattie. We don't have any lead on where Mattie is, or if someone has her, or why they took her if she was kidnapped. That's it in a nutshell."
His attention shifted wholly to Evalle. He studied her for a moment, then a sly smile lifted his lips as if he'd come up with a clever idea. "You will find Mattie, Alterant, and return her home immediately."
Evalle had planned to help Rowan in any way she could, but Deek was not making this her responsibility. "I don't have authority to do that because VIPER is not allowing agents to give aid to the white witches." She sensed Rowan tense at that, so Evalle quickly added, "But I absolutely intend to do everything I can to help find Mattie."
"Do not confuse my words, Alterant," Deek warned in a calm voice that would freeze water. "That was an order, not a request. You will find her, or have you forgotten our last conversation?"
"You have no say over Evalle," Rowan argued, hands going to her hips, which was probably the safest place for those dangerous fingers.
But Evalle had no argument. Deek had her. She owed him an open-ended debt.
During a Medb attack, Tristan had accidentally teleported Evalle into Deek's private office above the Iron Casket nightclub. Due to very old agreements, VIPER had no authority on Deek's property. Visions of Deek threatening to lock her in his dungeon assaulted Evalle's mind. She'd been at his mercy, and agreed to repay the debt in exchange for Deek allowing her to leave alive. The centaur could have held her forever, or until Tzader, Quinn, and Storm came after her, which would have ended with them dead.
Or he could have just as easily smoked her with a flick of his fingers.
Evalle put a hand on Rowan's arm. "Actually, I do owe him a favor."
"See, witch?" Deek said with a smug look. "'Tis as I said. The Alterant will find Mattie."
Evalle wouldn't go quietly into the night, though. "You're far more powerful than I am, Deek. Why can't you locate Mattie? You found Oskar."
"Because I have you to find her." He was pleased with his answer.
Rowan leveled a narrowed gaze on him. "What is Mattie to your niece?"
Fury stirred in Deek's dark gaze, but it settled after a moment and he shrugged. "Mattie's sister is my niece's godmother."
Rowan looked away, thinking, then snapped her fingers and turned to Deek. "Caron? The Fae princess? She's Mattie's sister?"
Sister? Fae princess? Evalle recalled rumors of Deek having once been involved with a Fae woman who broke off the relationship. Word was, Deek proceeded to create a nightclub so shiny and sparkly it would be irresistible to any Fae, and named it the Iron Casket.
Not exactly subtle about his hard feelings over the breakup, since iron was death to many Fae.
Deek's hooves pawed at the lawn. "Caron and Mattie are half sisters."
"What's up with Caron? Why can't a Fae find her own half sister?"
"Caron is none of your concern," he grumbled back.
"You don't want to tell Caron that Mattie is missing," Rowan said, sounding as if she'd figured out something. "Why?"
Evalle wished she could send Rowan a telepathic shout to stop aggravating Deek, but Rowan didn't share telepathy with Evalle.
Glaring clearly had no effect on the witch, either. She continued jabbing that sore spot of Deek's. "You listen to me, centaur. Don't come around here making demands when you're not willing to offer any substantial aid or explain why an all-powerful Fae can't help."
Deek released a fierce growl that could send a herd of lions running.
He snarled, "If you must know, they aren't speaking. Mattie sided with me when Caron and I separated."
"Oh?" Rowan appeared genuinely surprised.
"I last spoke with Mattie a month ago when she called to inform me that she'd invited Caron to visit this weekend. Mattie wanted to make peace with Caron before my niece's birthday. I went by Mattie's house to have her promise to contact me if Caron got out of hand. Caron and I are not communicating."
That sounded final. Evalle had been on the receiving end of Deek's anger, and could only imagine him and a Fae going at it.
Deek said, "When I found Mattie missing and came here, I expected to find Mattie's familiar dead and have someone's head to hand Caron when she arrived, but if that's Oskar, Mattie must still be alive."
Evalle thought on that. "Did you teleport into Mattie's house, Deek?"
"No. What kind of barbaric men are you around, Alterant? No man just barges uninvited into the home of a woman like Mattie."
<
br /> Evalle rolled her eyes, noting he'd narrowed that to a 'woman like Mattie,' which probably meant all others might be fair game. "Then how do we know she's not there and unconscious?"
"Because I teleported in to check on her."
"Wait, what?" Evalle mumbled.
Deek's eyes narrowed to thin slits and light glowed from them. "I went in after Mattie failed to answer my phone calls and my knock," he said slowly, as if Evalle was a moron for not realizing the obvious reason he'd teleported in at that point.
Engaging in verbal battle with an ancient centaur would serve her as well as asking Sen to personally give her a mani-pedi. Evalle asked, "Did you notice anything out of place?"
"Other than Mattie and Oskar missing, no," Deek replied. His hooves danced around then he settled down, tail swishing. "Be forewarned. While Caron may be angry with Mattie for siding against her, she will allow no one to harm her family. If Caron arrives to find Mattie missing, she will level this city and every other one in her path until her sister or her sister's body is returned."
The way Deek kept moving around gave Evalle the idea that he was going to disappear soon. If she had to settle a debt with Deek, finding Mattie would be ideal, since she planned to help Rowan anyhow.
If she found Mattie.
But Evalle wanted a witness to the terms of her deal this time. "Deek, do you agree that if I find Mattie, my debt to you is paid in full?"
"Did you say if, Alterant?"
"I meant when," Evalle corrected, even though she had no idea how she was going to make good on that.
Rowan crossed her arms and cocked her head with challenge. "That seems reasonable to me."
Deek had been somewhat calm until Rowan spoke up. "Do not interfere."
Evalle sent Rowan a please-don't-help-me look and waited for Deek to agree or not.
It didn't take long. He said, "If you return Mattie safe and sound before nine on Saturday morning, the debt will be considered settled."
"Why by nine on Saturday?"
He smiled with victory. "'Tis the time that Caron is expected to arrive at Mattie's house."
Deek raised a hand and Evalle rushed to stop him before he vanished. She shouted, "Wait. What about Oskar?"
"Do not allow harm to come to him, or you will face me." Deek flipped his hand and blinked out of view.
The door on Rowan's house opened.
She and Rowan turned at the same time.
Trey walked out, running a hand back and forth through his disheveled hair. He had a thick, sleep-drenched voice. "What's all the shouting about? What's going on out here?"
Rowan waved him off. "Nothing that requires you to be up. I'll check on the baby. Get your sleep and I'll fill you in over breakfast."
Evalle said, "Sorry to wake you, Trey."
He nodded. "Call me if you need me."
She knew he meant telepathically and replied, "I will."
Once Trey closed the door, Rowan told Evalle, "I would be glad for this additional attention on finding Mattie, but not the timeline. I've heard stories about Caron. It was ugly when she ended her relationship with Deek."
"I can imagine."
"Maybe not, since it was before you came to Atlanta. The city thought a tornado had hit. Word was that Caron selectively struck every property Deek owned, and he owns a lot. She managed to do it without any loss of life, but she doesn't care one bit for VIPER, or shielding humans from the knowledge of nonhuman existence."
"Got it."
"I'm actually shocked to find out about Deek's connection to Mattie. He never gets involved with anything that isn't extremely important to him. Just coming to look for Oskar says a lot. Who knew that Deek had a soft spot for a little old white witch?"
"His niece is pretty important?"
Rowan said, "He's raised her since her mother, Deek's older sister, died."
"How could the sister of a centaur die?" Evalle wanted to know.
"Deek is the only one who knows the whole story. I've only heard rumors. I hate to give him any credit, but he raised his teenage sister and his niece." Shaking off a thought, Rowan said, "Mattie has never spoken about her family, Deek, or his niece that I know of, which was wise since that's a volatile situation. Caron is just as dangerous as Deek indicated."
That meant he hadn't been blowing smoke about Caron wiping out the city. Evalle tried to envision telling VIPER about this.
Yep. Not happening.
Rowan walked around, hands in pockets, sounding as if she was thinking out loud. "None of the homes of missing witches have been broken into, so that fits for Mattie's to also be undisturbed. The fact that Deek teleported in means that Mattie's wards were down, too. I've had council members trying to find the first three missing witches. Even I can't pull up anything by scrying." She sighed disgustedly.
"What do you have for me to start with?"
"Just a distinctive odor. We've found residue of Noirre majik at each kidnapping site, but it's too--"
"What?"
"Obvious. I know that sounds ridiculous, but tell me--how many demons were you hunting prior to the Medb coven being allowed to enter the city?"
"One or two a year.
"Exactly," Rowan agreed. "While not all demons can be verified as Medb creations, we both know they've created quite a few. They had to use Noirre majik to create the demons, yet any evidence, and the Noirre scent, has been hidden. Why go to that kind of trouble to cover their tracks so well with the demons, and yet leave clear evidence of Noirre in the homes of kidnapped witches?"
"Good point." One that Evalle had to run past Storm and Quinn for their feedback.
Rowan continued, "Even if I convince VIPER to send a team to investigate, and they confirm the Noirre residue present at the kidnapping locations, I have no doubt the Medb will accuse us of planting that evidence. I don't want to bring a Tribunal into this, but neither will I allow anyone to harm the witches under my protection and get away with it."
"Of course not," Evalle agreed. No one wanted the Medb run out of the human world more than she did, but in all honesty, this was the worst timing for Evalle to be caught in a conflict between the white witches and VIPER.
If someone was going to the trouble of planting leads at the crime scene, Rowan might not have a choice about this reaching a Tribunal decision.
Even worse? Everything Rowan said could end up clearing the Medb of any suspicion.
Any evidence would have to be presented to a Tribunal, which would involve Beladors investigating and Medb being put on trial. Fingers would point both ways. Accusations would fly. The Tribunal gods and goddesses would lose their tempers.
As bizarre as it seemed, the Tribunal would hold Evalle responsible for not keeping peace between the Beladors and the Medb.
I might as well be a tiny pebble trying to hold back a landslide.
Taking Rowan's side would also put Evalle in a hot spot, but back in November, Rowan had waded into war side by side with Evalle and Adrianna, against that crazy witch, Veronika, to help prevent her from grasping the Witchlock power.
If Veronika had pulled off her grand plan, the preternatural world as they knew it would have never survived. Well, all except the Medb. Rowan believed that coven would have probably joined with Veronika to turn any surviving witches into slaves.
The human world would have been wiped out first.
Plus, Rowan was Evalle's friend, and Evalle did not let her friends down.
You're responsible to the gryphons, too, and they're your friends as well.
Just what Evalle didn't need right now, a mouthy conscience.
If this caused a delay on the vote about gryphon rights for another couple months, Evalle would also have to face Tristan and the rest of her gryphon pack on Treoir. She had enough guilt to drown her over living free when the others weren't, without yet another delay happening.
All this drove home the point Rowan had made earlier. Where was Macha during all of this? Why couldn't she leave Tzader to watch over
Brina, and pop in long enough to give everyone a hand? When would she step in to back up her Beladors and speak up for the gryphons?
Okay, getting riled over that was still not helping.
Macha would never be a fairy godmother, so Evalle had to stop wishing for the impossible.
Rowan tapped her chin in a thoughtful look. "Once we find Mother Mattie, if the Medb are behind this, we'll have the hard evidence required to force Sen and VIPER to accept that the Medb are attempting to take down the white witches." She huffed out a long breath. "I shouldn't have to deal with Sen at all. I'd like to know who picked that jackass."
"You and me and about half of VIPER," Evalle concurred. Sen was a six-and-a-half-foot-tall thorn in Evalle's hide. The guy had changed his look recently, but his 'tude had stayed right where it had always been--on the putrid side of rotten.
In addition to his role as liaison between agents and the Tribunal, Sen doubled as the Tribunal enforcer when the deities ordered a decision carried out.
Everyone Evalle knew thought Sen functioned as liaison under duress--that someone had forced him into the position--but all they had was speculation.
He also claimed the top spot on the list of Evalle-haters. She'd never done anything to earn his disdain, but he'd showered her with it since the first day they'd met.
Rowan started typing quickly on her phone.
"Okay, what's the plan now?" Evalle asked, wondering who she was texting.
"Do you think Storm can track Mother Mattie, or the person who used the Noirre if the residue is in her house?"
"He can track anything he detects at Mattie's, and I know he'll try."
"Of course he will. He'd do anything for you." The warmth returned to Rowan's voice. She paused typing. "I'm glad you two found each other."
Evalle smiled at the truth in that statement. "I am, too."
"How's your new home coming?"
"I've been over there helping for more than a month, but Storm asked me to stay away for the past ten days. He wants our area furnished and decorated so I see the finished product." She didn't care what it looked like, but Storm did and that was fine by her. "We should be moving in any day now, according to Storm. He left early this morning and asked me to meet him at the building when I head home. I'll have a better idea then."
Life had calmed down into a nice rhythm. Feenix still hadn't warmed completely to Storm, but the arrangement they had was keeping the peace.
She took that as a positive.