Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

OGDEN

The afternoon was a bust.

Wesley's mid-century bungalow was a jumble of partially filled boxes and packing paper. His favorite clothes were gone, and his neighbor said he'd left his budgie in its cage on her doorstep last night, begging her to adopt it.

In other words, the fucker had skipped town.

With each bit of news, more sparks and smoke streamed from my mouth. I was pleased to see my magic returning, but I would have preferred having Wesley in my coils.

" Son of a fire breather," I muttered as Simon steered me out of Wesley's house. As soon as we were clear of the door, he grasped my hand and tugged me over to Van's SUV . " I wanted to scare that bastard. Make him give up his cohorts."

To say I was irritated was an understatement. My dragon was itching to break free and burn Wesley's house to the ground. Sparks flew from my mouth at the idea. One blast of dragon fire is all it'd take to get things started.

" I know," Simon soothed. He rubbed his hand over my scale-covered arm. His touch calmed my rage. Not completely, but enough.

" What a useless day," I growled.

" Van said they got some leads. We'll know more when the results come back from their experts."

I clenched my teeth. We weren't doing enough. Those other supes were stuck in those cages. They could be sold or moved or tortured or magic only knew what before we found that building.

Van and Dillon came out a few minutes later.

" Find anything?"

Van pursed his lips and shook his head. He was spewing almost as much smoke as I was. " Nothing obvious. Norbert's people are still in there, sorting through every little thing for a clue, and a mage from the SC who specializes in finding cloaking spells is arriving tomorrow. They might still find something."

We all looked at the house again. No one had jumped out to scream "aha" or "eureka" or whatever people shouted when they discovered something remarkable. What other leads were there that we could follow up on?

" Whatever happened with those questions Hayden was going to ask his former pack mates?"

Van grimaced. " They didn't know anything."

" They didn't know anything, or they weren't talking?"

" As alpha, Hayden's senses are pretty sharp. He can identify when someone is lying almost as well as a hellhound. If he says they didn't know anything, I believe him."

" Fuck ." I thought that summed things up perfectly.

" Not much else for us to do right now," Van said, rubbing the back of his neck.

This was not how the day was supposed to go.

" Oh , and Norbert said they found your car. Right where you said you left it by the lake."

" I'm guessing they didn't find any clues in it either?"

I doubted Wesley or his accomplices had even gone inside the car. They wouldn't have needed to because I'd been out of the car getting ready for my swim when they'd captured me.

" Not yet." Van shook his head. " They want to keep it for a couple more days though. The SC is sending in a team to go through everything again."

I sighed.

" Norbert's posting someone outside The Drunken Drake . Maybe your manager will come back, and we'll nab him there."

The tone of his voice said what I already knew. No one expected my former manager to come back. I'd never pegged Wesley as being smart or ambitious. The idea that he could abduct me and evade being caught all on his own was ridiculous. He must be working for someone. Then another thought hit me.

" About my office at the bar," I said, "he'd been in that room enough times to know there weren't any hiding places or secrets stashed in there. I remember thinking that it was loud when he first answered my call and then went somewhere quieter. At the time, I'd assumed he'd gone into the office. I bet he trashed it right after that like a toddler having a tantrum."

" I'll let Norbert know Wesley may not have been looking for anything. And if that's the case, he might not return. Although we can't be sure of that until we find him." Van looked at me. " So , that leads me to my next question, what do you want to do? Stay here or come back to Willow Lake ? I'll be honest with you. I don't think you should stay in Aspen Bay , even with the local guys watching over your place. But the choice is yours."

" You can't stay here. It is too dangerous." Simon squeezed my hand like he was scared I'd disappear. His face had turned ashen.

" It's okay, kitty cat," I said softly. " I'll go back to Willow Lake with you. But I need to pack some clothes first."

" Oh , thank Magic ." Simon released a gusty exhale.

I hated how much this situation was frightening him. All because of Wesley . For Wesley's sake, I hoped his helpers had gotten him out of the country, because if I ever saw him again, I'd show him exactly how fierce dragons could be.