Chapter 23

F eet moving faster than my brain, I was running full out for the truck before Kierce finished his thought. I had just been texting with Matty. He was safe. He had to be. And if he was okay, then Josie was fine.

Please, God, let them be all right.

As I dodged startled spirits and hurdled graves carving into my shortcut, I checked my phone.

No new texts.

I dialed him. No response. Switched to Josie. No answer there either.

And Kierce was stuck with only human methods of travel available to him.

Had my siblings been at home, I wouldn't have stopped at the truck. I would have kept running. I would have blazed a trail straight to them. But the hotel was far enough that wheels would get me there faster.

I leapt the fence without slowing down and bounced on the balls of my feet at the truck. Kierce was next to me, having matched me with his much longer legs, but Carter was bringing up the rear. With the keys.

"Go." Kierce motioned to Badb. "Don't let Harrow out of your sight."

The crow flew with a purpose in the direction of the hotel.

Ready to run back, pick up Carter, and carry her to the driver's seat, I took a step toward her.

"Don't you dare," Carter huffed, clutching her key fob, which she mashed to unlock the doors. "Get in."

Happy to get one step closer to my family, I did as she asked without hesitation.

Kierce and I were strapped in and ready to go by the time she climbed behind the wheel.

She cranked up, sped clear of the parking lot, and spun out onto the road.

"I wasn't going to steal your keys."

The sound of my voice shattered the quiet muffling the cab.

"Sure." She glowered at me in the rearview mirror. "And I'm the Queen of England."

"I was going to pick you up and carry you," I admitted, knee bouncing. "Is that better or worse?"

"I am not the kind of girl you sweep off her feet unless you want to get kicked in the face."

Had I believed for one hot minute it would speed things along, she couldn't have stopped me.

Adrenaline made impossible things possible. It also let you believe impossible things were possible.

Like I could sprint fast enough, holding her, to outrun her teeth tearing into my throat. Because startling a redcap with a taste for my blood in her mouth, boosting her closer to my carotid, wasn't the brightest idea in hindsight. That didn't mean I wouldn't have done it. I just would have paid the price for it later.

The parking lot at the hotel was only half full, which made it easy to notice the lack of Chevelle in it.

"Any update from Badb?" I threw off my seat belt and opened the door on rolling pavement. "Kierce?"

Head cocking to one side, he listened, but then he shook his head. "She's not close enough."

"Would she have gone inside?" Carter stole a handicapped space. "The exterior doors are automatic."

"Definitely." I jumped out with a stumble. "She's an old pro at sneaking in and out of places."

Smart as she was, she would have stood outside Matty's door and pecked if that was what it took to warn him.

We burst into a lobby in chaos as a maid and a desk clerk swiped the air with a mop and a broom.

"What the actual hell?" Carter watched them bolt down the hall. "Have they lost their minds?"

A single feather tumbled end over end onto the mat in front of the elevators. "Badb was here."

"She rode the elevator up," Carter said, her tone making it plain she wanted confirmation.

"Looks that way." I jabbed the button, growling as the numbers ticked down. "Come on, come on."

I wedged myself in the crack before the doors fully opened, and I didn't wait on Kierce or Carter before I started mashing the button for our floor. They rushed in as the doors began closing. Carter looked at me like I was nuts, but Kierce only searched for more signs Badb had come this way.

As soon as the car ground to a halt, I was in the hall, banging my shoulder on the way out.

I ran. As hard and as fast as I could. I ran.

Regardless of my speed, the room where Matty had been sat just as empty as it would have had I walked there.

"Matty." I ransacked the space, checking every inch of it. "Matty."

A weak, garbled noise perked my ear, and I dropped to my knees beside the bed. I planted my palms flat on the carpet and pressed my cheek against it, praying he had somehow wiggled underneath. But it wasn't him.

The bloody trail leading to a broken body ended in a mound of black feathers.

"Badb." Hitting the carpet on my chest, I used my hands to scoop her across my palms. "Hey, girl." I kept my hands steady as I wriggled back, drawing her clear with me. "What did he do to you?"

Static raised the hairs down my arms as Kierce prowled through the door with electric eyes.

"Harrow took Matty." His voice doubled and redoubled until my ears rang. "Badb tried to stop him."

"He did this to her?" I heard my shock. "Are you sure?"

If Harrow had been working with Lyle or Armie or both without us knowing, then there might be someone else in the mix too.

"She was attacked from behind when she flew in to scout for Matty. They tossed a towel over her to blind her then threw her down and stomped on her. She doesn't remember how she got under the bed."

"Her left wing is broken, and she's bleeding from her abdomen." I held her up and out for Kierce to take her, then got to my feet. I hated to leave them, but I had other priorities. "I have to check on Josie."

"Go." He cradled the crow against his chest. "I'll take care of Badb."

Acid flooded my mouth when I registered the door was standing wide open.

Ethereal moans and shrieks spiked my ears, roaring at me, but I struggled through the onslaught.

"I've got her." Carter stood in the center of the room with a limp Josie in her arms. "She's okay."

"What happened here?" I snagged Josie's wrist and checked her pulse. "What's wrong with her?"

"There's Ambien on the nightstand." Carter jerked her chin toward the bottle. "She's out cold."

"Damn it, Mary." I wanted to scream in Josie's face. "We told you to quit taking them."

"I'm getting her out of here." Carter wasn't asking. "I'll take her to my place then circle back for you."

"Your place?" I clung to Josie to hold Carter still. "Where is that?"

"I'll text you the address." She stalked past me. " After I have her in bed and get Aretha to sit with her."

"Aretha?" I shot in front of her. "She's Harrow's friend."

"She's also a damn fine med-witch with a sterling reputation."

"Fine." I forced myself to step aside. "If you trust her, I trust you."

"Plus, I'll rip her fucking throat out if she hurts Josie."

Done waiting for my permission, Carter hit the elevator, leaving Kierce and me to our own devices.

There were definite upsides to being friends with a redcap, but I wasn't sure having one look at my sister the way Carter had been—like she would drown the world in blood for her—was one of them.

On my way back to Kierce, I took out my phone and dialed Harrow.

No surprise, he didn't answer. He would be lucky if the voicemail I left him didn't vaporize his ear canals. He better hope I got Matty back in the same shape as when I left him, or I would punch my fist through the wall of Harrow's chest, set his soul on fire, then smear the ashes on my face like war paint to warn off the next person who targeted what was mine.

Stalking to the other room, I returned to find Kierce murmuring softly to Badb. "What do we do for her?"

"She's dying," he said matter-of-factly. "Her lungs were punctured when Harrow broke her ribs."

There was no doubt in his mind then. That Harrow was capable of this. Such violence.

"Kierce." I dropped down beside him and slid my arm around his waist. "I'm so sorry."

"As am I." He caressed her head with a fingertip. "It's not forever."

With him, I couldn't be sure he meant that figuratively or literally. "Death?"

"Yes." His sadness belied his words. "It comes for us all." He smiled sadly. "Eventually."

A chill spread through me for no reason I could pinpoint, but inspiration shivered outward next.

"I wish I could make her a psychopomp for you." I gave him the best deal I had to offer. "I could bind her soul to her body for a few weeks. Let you say your goodbyes on your own time."

"I won't put her through that." He hunched over her still form. "It would be selfish of me."

"Not if she wants it." I rubbed his back. "You're in the unique position of being able to ask her."

Their eyes met and held as they communicated wordlessly.

Memories of the past few weeks, Badb curled up in her cat bed at my feet, bombarded me until my eyes stung. She had saved my life dropping that leaf into the culvert. She…

The leaf.

The tree.

The fruit .

"What about your tree? What would happen if she ate the fruit?"

"I'm not sure." He kept his hope locked down tight. "Or if it's even ripe."

Had Josie been in better health, I could have guaranteed him it would be, but it was up to nature this time.

"There's one way to find out." I had Josie and Matty, but Kierce only had Badb. She was the closest thing to family he had based on the snippets he had shared about his life. We had time before Carter returned with the 514 in tow. If I could spare him heartache, that was exactly what I would do. "Let's go."

"You're going to leave?" Protest on his lips, he still rose. "What about Matty?"

I had no idea where Harrow had taken my brother, but he knew me well enough to hide him where I would never find him. Until he reached out, I could only wait and hope and maybe plan his funeral a little.

"Harrow won't hurt him." I had to believe that was true. "Badb is in greater danger at the moment."

Armed with that belief, gripping it tight in both hands, I rushed Kierce down to the wagon and drove home.

Kierce beat me to the tree, but his hands were full with Badb, so I got the honor of plucking the first fruit and praying it was ripe. I dug my thumbnails into the thick skin and pried it in half. Red juice ran like blood over my fingers and down my arms. A tingle swept in its wake, and all I could do was hope absorbing it topically wouldn't conflict too badly with whatever Armie had been feeding me. The flesh wept, seeds in clots within the valves of the fruit's heart.

Moore had been right about one thing. The fruit threw pomegranate vibes.

"Juice? Seeds? Both?"

"The power is in the seeds."

Scooping out one with my fingernail, I waited for Badb to part her beak before dropping it in her mouth to slide down her throat. A few seconds passed without the miracle I was aching for, so I poured in juice next. That got us nowhere either. I was about to try our luck with pulp, or even rind, when a shudder rocked her body.

"I will donate your bed, toys, and food to Mr. Mittens if you don't quit dying."

Another shudder rippled through Badb, this one more violent than the last.

Fear and anger fisted my throat, and I had to shut my eyes and force myself steady before the spirits got a toehold in me again. I kept hearing if I can't save her, how can I save Matty on a cruel loop in my head. I was allowing terror for my brother to boil over onto my worry for Badb, and my brain sizzled with it until steam should have poured out of my ears.

"That's it." I squeezed the fruit until I crushed it. "Stop having death throes."

"Frankie." Kierce shook his head. "She's…"

Slumping against the trunk, the fight bleeding out of me, I slid down the tree, straddling its roots.

"I'm sorry." I wiped my hand on the grass and then my jeans. "I shouldn't have gotten your hopes up."

"No." He crouched before me and thrust out his hands. "Look."

Only the bright spark in his eyes, lightening them to moonlit misty gray, gave me courage to examine her after the crushing certainty I had failed them. But her chest no longer curved inward, and it rose sharp and fast. The bend of her wing twitched, the muscles tugging into alignment. A dull crack, and the bone set.

"It worked?" I touched her claw in wonder. "She's healing?"

"She's healing." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. "Thank you, Frankie."

"You planted the tree." I beamed down at her when her lashes fluttered. "Thank yourself."

"I have grown numb to the inevitability of death," he said softly. "Until I almost lost you, I had forgotten. I don't have to accept it. I can choose to fight it." He swept his gaze over my face. "You remind me of the choices I thought had been taken from me."

Carter once asked me if I saw Kierce as more , as in relationship material, and I had told her no.

Yeah, well, I lied. To her, and to myself.

"If you give up on yourself, even once, you'll make it an option, an acceptable outcome, and you'll forget why you fought so hard in the first place. Keep pushing your boundaries, never surrender ground to doubt, or it'll pin you in a corner and never let you up again."

"I like that you're a fighter."

"The key is to find something worth fighting for."

"Yes." His eyes fixed on me. "I believe you're right."

A call had me scrambling for my phone on the off chance Harrow had been cowed by my voicemail.

"You better not be sitting on the couch next to your brother," Carter growled in my ear.

"Couch?" I jerked to my feet, raking my back raw on the bark. "You found him?"

"I meant you better not have gotten yourself kidnapped too."

"Oh. No." I reordered my thoughts. "I'm at the shop. With Kierce. We came to get help for Badb."

"How is she?" Carter's concern rang genuine. "I can't handle a god-sized meltdown."

"Much better." Okay, so maybe not concern for the bird herself, but still. "How's Josie?"

"Aretha verified she was under the influence of Ambien, but she countered it. Josie is already more alert but not happy. She slept through Harrow abducting Matty, and now she blames herself for him being taken. She's trying to break out of my guest room as we speak."

"Do you have any houseplants?"

"Only fake ones." She hesitated. "She can't control those, can she?"

"We've never been allowed to own them, so I can't swear to it, but you should be safe."

"Good." She exhaled. "Aretha will sit with Josie. I'm on my way to the hotel. Crime scene techs will meet us there." Her inhalation dragged across the line. "The 514 has put out an APB on Harrow. I would prefer not to involve SPD yet. They'll be a greater hindrance than help at this stage. Our evidence is information they don't need to learn. Pull one thread, and the whole tapestry unravels, you know?"

"I get that." I cast my gaze across the street. "The feed to the cameras has been cut, right?"

"Yes." She bit out the word with every bit of disgust I felt. "I've taken the liberty of contacting someone I trust to debug your property. She's a technomancer. Anything Armie stuck up, she'll pull down. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, can hide from her." She paused. "If you have any special friends , you might want to relocate those. Unless you're cool with her knowing you keep a toy drawer and what's in it."

Special…? Oh. Oh . This was what I got for thinking about vibrators earlier.

Josie was the one who stood to take a financial hit in that department, but I knew without asking that she would be grateful for the excuse to toss everything and buy new things Armie had never touched.

Me? I would only be out like ten bucks. What could I say? I was easy to please.

"Tell your friend to have at it. As long as she doesn't fry any major appliances, we're good." I waited for relief to come, but I was too angry to let it settle into me. "And thanks. For taking that off my plate."

"It's what friends do."

"Yeah." I pushed back the anger enough to smile. "It's what friends do."

Having a new friend—one with a pulse who didn't also share a body with my brother—was pretty cool.

After I hung up with her, I returned my attention to Kierce, who was stroking Badb's head while they did the silent-conversation thing. I didn't have to ask him to know he wasn't going to put down Badb, and he wasn't going to let me go alone either. Which meant we needed a means for him to carry her.

We kept a lost-and-found box in the office for things left at the shop, and one of the latest additions gave me an idea that would either solve our problem or get my eyes pecked out.