Midnight's Kiss (Elder Races #8)(61)

Steel shutters at the windows ran on an automatic timer. At the moment, they were all closed against direct sunshine. The room lay in deep shadow, with the only light streaming in from the hall, until he switched on the lamp beside the chair.

He knelt in front of her, gathering her close again. She threw her arms around him and hung on. He stroked her hair, and the silence that fell between them wasn’t empty in the slightest. It was more full than any words could have made it.

When her arms loosened, his did too. He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers as he said reluctantly, “I have to go brief Yolanthe and Xavier.”

She straightened in her seat. “I need to be there too.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Not two minutes ago you were shaking like a leaf, and you couldn’t stand upright on your own. You need rest and good food.”

She set her jaw. “I could sure as hell use a shower too, but Justine made me a part of this whole damn thing. Julian, I refuse to play the role of a helpless victim. I need to be a partner in bringing her to justice.”

At that, he gave her a fierce frown, but she met his gaze steadily, and after a moment, he said, “I understand. How about a compromise? You stay up here and look after yourself. Let me brief Xavier and Yolanthe. I’m going to have them send investigators into the tunnels to start the process of extracting and identifying bodies. I’m also going to have them start a citywide search, and I want Xavier to investigate recent helicopter activity.”

She frowned. “Helicopters don’t have to file flight plans, do they?”

“No, but I’m hoping there’ll be some kind of trail to follow. If the helicopter was rented, there’ll be a record of that. If either Xavier or Yolanthe has any news, I’ll call you down to join the conversation. If not, after I’m done with the briefing, I’m going to come back up here and shower too.” He searched her expression. “We need to rest while we can, so that we’re ready for whatever happens next.”

She rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh as the starch left her spine. He was right. She needed to be a partner, but she had to be a robust and reliable one.

She said, “Okay.”

He kissed her forehead. “I don’t have any women’s clothes in here, but I can have Gregoire send out for some things. In the meantime, help yourself to whatever you need.”

Was it wrong of her to be fiercely glad he didn’t have anything feminine in his private rooms? If it was, she didn’t want to be right.

“Go on, don’t worry about me,” she told him. “I’ll be fine.”

He looked deeply into her gaze. “We have a lot to discuss, you and I.”

“It’ll keep.” Her eyes narrowed. “For now.”

Nodding, he gave her a hard, quick kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

When he strode out, he seemed to take all her remaining energy with him. She sagged in the chair while she stared into space. She had to call her mom and shower. Or shower and call her mom. They seemed to be insurmountable tasks, and she couldn’t decide which one to tackle first.

The phone in her pocket rang, startling her. She pulled it out to look at the screen.

She knew the number from the incoming call like the back of her hand.

Huh.

She clicked the answer button. As she held the phone up to her ear, a woman’s dangerous, icy voice said, “Keenan O’Sullivan, this is Tatiana Aindris. I will give you five million dollars for the safe return of my daughter. Or I can hunt for you forever, and if that happens, I promise you won’t like what happens when I find you.”

As she heard the Light Fae Queen’s voice, decades of adulthood fell away until Melly felt like she was five years old again, happy and loved and utterly safe.

Her lips pulled into an incredulous smile. “Mommy?”

Thirteen

“Melisande.” The intensity in her mother’s voice caused her to start shaking again, and her eyes to swim with tears.

“How on earth did you know to call this number?” She knew she was grinning like a fool, but she didn’t care. Sluggishly her mind clicked into gear. “Wait. I made a PayPal payment.”

“We started monitoring all your accounts within a few hours of finding out you’d disappeared. When the payment to Keenan O’Sullivan went through, we jumped on it. I have someone on the way to his house right now.”

“Oh, no,” she exclaimed in dismay. “Mom, you’ve got to call them off. Keenan and his friends helped me this morning.”

“How do I know you aren’t being coerced into saying that?”

“Because I’m not!” She heard how irrational that sounded and caught herself up. More calmly, she said, “Yes, I’m in San Francisco, but I’m at Julian’s house.”

“What?” The ice had come back, and it was sharp as a dagger.

“I just arrived – I literally sat down five minutes ago, and I’ll tell you all about what happened. Just promise me you won’t do anything to Keenan. He’s totally innocent.”

“If he’s innocent, why did you pay him twenty thousand dollars? And why did you answer his phone?”

“Because I bought his motorcycle, gear and phone. And his gun.” The silence that resulted from that was more dangerous than any ice. She took a deep breath and braced herself. Here we go. “Justine kidnapped me. She used me to trap Julian. She forced him to give himself up in exchange for my life, only when he surrendered to her, she didn’t let me go. Julian and I got free, and I’m okay now. I’ve got some cuts and bruises, and I’m dirty and tired, but I’m safe. I’m fine.”