Devils & Thieves (Devils & Thieves #1)(60)

I wasn’t afraid anymore.

My magical battery might be low in the aftermath of what Darek had done to me, but I could see the locant magic hanging in the air so easily, the threads of it braided together to form a kind of mesh across the road and far into the distance in the fields on either side, stretching high up into the air. It actually made me smile to know that my power had produced it, even if it had been controlled by Darek at the time. It meant I could do it if I tried.

I laid my palms on the barrier’s firm surface, and light pulsed through it, reacting to my touch. To Crowe and Hardy, I was pressing my hands against empty air, but they were silent as I worked, and their faith added to my confidence.

I felt the warm throb of power against my skin, and I whispered an incantation to call it back to me, to let me through. I was glad that even though I hadn’t ever practiced these things, I had studied them. Now I realized they came naturally once I stopped hiding from them. And being able to see the magic only made it better.

Feeling a bit of magic trickle from me, I pushed against the threads of the spell, feeling them start to fray. The net of locant magic began to wrap itself around me, and for a moment the burn of it in my lungs made my heart pound with anxiety. But I reminded myself that this power belonged to me. My fingers curled and dug in, boring holes through the barrier. With one last command, I tore through the thing, leaving a gaping hole, and then I ran my hand along the edges, widening it.

Smiling, I turned back to see Crowe and Hardy watching me warily.

“Is it done?” Hardy asked.

I looked back at the barrier wall, which now contained an archway the width of the road. “Yep.”

Crowe walked over to me, and Hardy laughed. “You might want to put out your hands to keep from busting that pretty face of yours against the barrier if she’s wrong,” Hardy suggested.

Crowe gave me an assessing once-over. “Nah,” he said, then strode confidently through the hole that only I could see. “She’s got this.”

The way he was looking at me made me feel like my bones were melting.





A few minutes later, I stood shivering in my driveway as Crowe primed his bike. I held his helmet in my arms, waiting. I had sworn I’d never ride with him again, but a little thrill ran through me when he kick-started the bike with a quick, downward thrust of his foot. The engine caught right away, the sound of it like rumbling thunder. When he gave it a little throttle and looked at me over his shoulder, the ram’s skull patch on his vest almost glowing on his back, I knew I was a goner.

I’d spent so many months trying to forget him, trying to hate him. I’d thrown myself into my thing with Darek, pretending I could feel the same way for him that I’d once felt for Crowe. Pretending it was enough, pretending that it felt right. But there was no avoiding this now, just like there was no avoiding what I could do. I needed to face it.

Whether I was a distraction to him, only a friend, or anything else, it didn’t matter. My heart knew the truth.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on tight as we raced back to the festival. The closer we got, the more real the challenge became. Jane had been right—I was a part of this, not just someone watching from the fringes. If I couldn’t figure out where Darek had hidden Alex, my mom, and the others, they would all be dead. I could tell by the tension in Crowe’s body that he was thinking about it, too. And when he rolled into the parking area at the festival and pulled off his helmet, the look on his face said he felt the same weight on his shoulders. “He gave himself a big head start,” he said, frowning as he looked up the path toward the festival. “You really think he’s here?”

“I think we should head for the spot near the Deathstalkers tent,” I said. “That’s where we were when I lost Alex’s signal.”

He nodded. “Hardy, go find Owen, Jane, and the rest of the Devils. See if Boone has turned up.”

Hardy swung his long leg over his bike and left his helmet on the seat. “Should I alert Terrence and the Kings? What about the Sixes?”

“No. Not yet. We’re missing the most people—their lives mean more to us than they do to any of the other clubs, and it’s my responsibility to get them out. Besides, the more people we have chasing after Darek, the greater the chance is that we’ll be found. We have to go in fast and quiet. Let’s keep our numbers small.”

“Copy that,” Hardy said, and jogged up the path to the RVs.

Crowe and I headed for the woods. “Who is Darek missing for his spell? He has Alex, so that’s venemon. Katrina is animalia.”

“If he took Gunnar the night he got into town, that’s arma,” Crowe said. “Flynn is inlusio. And your mom would be merata. That’s half of what he needs, and if he grabbed Boone tonight, he’s got terra, too.” He frowned. “But he left you at your house tonight after draining you. He didn’t even try to take you, even though your locant magic is strong as hell.”

“He must have someone else.”

“That, and he’s in love with you,” Crowe said drily. “But…” He cursed. “Owen is easily the most powerful locant here.”

My heart lurched. “You just saw him, though, didn’t you? And Darek was at my house grabbing my mom.…”

“He’s not working alone, Jem.” Crowe already had his phone against his ear. “I’m calling your dad now.” He gritted his teeth together as the phone rang and rang. “Voice mail,” he said, and jabbed at the screen.