Chapter 2

Wish upon a Star

My daughter was gone. If some of my relatives and friends had thought me difficult before, they had been sorely mistaken. Logan and his team were the best help in recovering her. That was not good for me because I was strangely attracted to the wolf. I didn"t know how old he was. Many paranormals didn"t show their age. Even in my family, that was almost human now, the aging process wasn"t as severe as it was for many humans. Since I needed Logan, I would have to stick close to him and try to avoid a relationship until we got my daughter back. Logan was the only one I had not invited to stay at my house. While I knew it was rude, it was simply self-defense. The wolf was too attractive to deny if I were in close quarters with him.

Everyone else had settled in, and there was a knock on the door. I looked through my peephole because I was naturally suspicious. My daughter being taken had only made me worse. It was Jagger and Logan. They were who the rest of the team had been awaiting. They hadn"t just been sitting on their hands doing nothing. They had gathered evidence, discussed the possibilities, and even done a few phone interviews. They were waiting for the big decisions and to do most of the other things for the two leading this investigation. Logan was the first leader, even though Jagger would typically have been. It was because my niece, Linda, was expecting their first pup, and he had to be available to her when the baby came.

The team would finally get on with things, and I was relieved. My daughter had been taken out of bed, at home, with a house full of people, and no one had heard a thing. I knew everyone thought they had probably drugged her. I felt that, too. She would have put up a fight had she seen them coming. The crime scene guys worked through things, and we only hoped they would turn up something helpful. Everyone knew there was no point in waiting for something to fall into their lap. They would have to get out there and find leads. She was taken yesterday, and a day had passed before the group was assembled.

I understood it had taken a little time because they were in different areas, and Logan had been across the country. He was some big-shot spy or something. His base could be wherever he chose to live, but he was often sent across the country or even out of the country. It had been a big surprise when he was sent to work on this case.

Will explained, "Two of my guys hadn"t been able to come. One might join us later. Logan is familiar with the family and the area. So, he was asked to come. Of course, he immediately agreed and headed here. He flew home on a council plane that happened to be nearby so he could bring what he needed. At that point, Harry took him to Jagger's house."

She shot me a look of disapproval because I had not invited Logan to stay at my home even though I had the room. It was easy to tell my home had had many additions and housed several generations in the past. It had also been a bed and breakfast at one time, and I was considering doing so again. I hadn"t because it might encourage visitors we did not want. If I relied only on visitors who came for events that other families hosted, I might lose money. My daughter, Star, suggested advertising in a witches' newspaper. I was considering that.

Star had been a beautiful baby, and the best daughter a mother could have. We were close, and even though I had other children, including a couple of daughters, I could not deny that she and I were the closest. My daughter was a good person. That was obvious to anyone who met her. She was bright and capable with anything she ever tried. Her house was beautiful, and her gardens overflowed with practical fruits, vegetables, and beautiful flowers. She had a unique garden where she planted the herbs needed. Those she sold in her magic store, where one of her granddaughters assisted. She had been training hard to take over, and now it seems that she would,

She had come by her prevaricating honestly. I was guilty of the same. When I had my daughter back, I would try to get my life in order and do those things I had been putting off. Glancing up, I saw Logan looking at me. What was I going to do about him? Since I didn"t believe I would change, all he would get was an older woman who would not live much longer. Was he willing to take that risk? I knew that my sister died caught halfway between human and wolf. The white wolf, Daisy, died the same way. Was it because they were forced or because their feeble little bodies could not make the change?

There was no way to know, and I wasn"t willing to risk it. No one could convince me there wasn"t a risk. Looking away, I glanced back only to find him staring at me again. What did he think he would accomplish?

"I have news," Logan quietly explained. "There is a criminal mastermind developing an auction full of paranormals. One of them is Star. They promise there will be a hundred by the time the auction begins. Those running it are promising a great variety of paranormals, both male and female."

"Where did you get the information from?" Will asked.

"An anonymous source. She sent me the link to the auction site. It"s not much now, but if they have the opportunity, they intend to make it a large yearly event. I sent you the links. There"s a picture of Star, but she isn"t awake," Logan explained.

"Dear Goddess!" I gasped.

Logan came to me and pulled me into his arms. "It"s okay."

"She looks dead," I said with my eyes full of tears.

"She's not. They need her alive to sell her," Logan insisted.

Harry came over and touched me, and I immediately calmed. I might not have appreciated Harry casting a spell on me later, but for the moment, it had helped. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"The computer guys are on this trying to find any information that will lead to either one of the culprits or the place the prisoners are being held. We are going to Star's house to see if anyone there has seen or heard anything useful. Now that they"ve had time to calm down, maybe something will come to mind," Jagger replied. "The crime scene guys sent me a message. They found something that no one else is claiming. We hope it may be something dropped during the abduction."

"Yes, a clue at last!" Harry happily yelled.

"Let"s go already," Will insisted. Nicky, her vampire mate, was with her this time. Last time, Dare, her wolf mate, was with her.

Her, Nicky, and Harry seemed to be the extent of her team. The others had not been able to come, so Logan was here. He usually was a Sentinel, and his duties were more often political than criminal unless they were both. Everyone knew that politicians were often criminals, too.

"Where does your daughter live?" Logan asked.

"Next door in the purple and pink house, " I answered. That had made the abduction an even greater insult because I felt like it had taken place right under my nose.

All of us headed toward the door. Between the two houses was an empty lot full of various vegetables, fruit, and flowers. There were also a few trees, but none in positions where they would cast shadows on the garden soaking up the sunshine. My Star had a green thumb and could grow anything.

"What a beautiful garden. I see several plants I use in spells and potions," Harry observed.

"It"s more than her hobby. She has a store. Some of the herbs she grows are sold there. She also uses the garden to feed her family," Lou offered.

"I wish I had a green thumb, but mine is brown. My plants always die within a week unless I cast a spell on them," Harry admitted.

"Star was born with a green thumb, but don"t lose hope. I was not born with a green thumb. I had to work for it. If you look at my garden, it"s not quite as good as hers, but pretty darn good. It did take a while, but I learned a few things about plants. We could talk sometime. I will tell you what I"ve learned and see if it will help you," I offered.

"I would so appreciate that. I love plants, but I have had no luck with them. Anything you could tell me that would help might make the difference," Harry explained.

Leading the way, I opened the door and went right in. I was immediately pulled into a group hug as my grandchildren and great-grandchildren called out for me.

"These are Star's children and grandchildren. Most of them do not live here. Some were visiting when she was taken. The others have come to lend their support until she comes back. None of them are staying in her room, so it should not interfere with the investigation," I explained.

"We need to separate those who were here at the time to interview them. We"ll also need to talk to the others to see if Star told them anything that might assist the investigation," Logan observed.

After the inquiry into my sister Pearl"s murder, I had an idea of how these things went. So much had to be done that wouldn"t result in any worthwhile information, but it had to be done to be sure nothing was missed. Most important were the interviews. Someone would even talk to the little children.

I immediately began to give the family instructions. They followed without hesitation. Two lines formed–those who had been in the house when Star was kidnapped and those who weren"t. There were twelve in one line to the kitchen and the other to the living room. Everyone else would make themselves scarce to avoid interfering with what was happening. I sat in the kitchen where Logan and Jagger interviewed some of my family. I could already see the results would be poor. I made coffee, found some snacks, and put them out for anyone who needed them. I grabbed some cookies, snack cakes, and chips and took them to the living room, where Harry, Will, and Nicky talked to those in the other line.

Harry immediately began to feast on the available food. I returned to the kitchen and handed out drinks. The little witch was most appreciative and had impeccable manners. I"d already liked her from the stories I"d heard and our brief meeting around a year ago. When some of my granddaughters and grandsons discovered this was scary Harry, the toad Princess, they were incredibly excited. Why wouldn"t they be? She was a legend among witches. Harry was also the same age as some of my great-grandchildren and was as cute as possible.

"Don't look so sad. We got a clue. One of the young children saw a scary man walking past the house several days in a row. Linda will sketch him, and we will try to identify him," Harry admitted.

"Why would a child see him instead of one of the adults?" I asked.

"Because this child is an avid gardener and was helping your granddaughter every day so she could learn more about plants. It is great news. Now, we have something to follow. Even if he doesn"t turn out to be the one, maybe he saw something." Harry offered.

"Was it Sasha?" I asked.

"It was. She seems very mature for seven," Harry observed.

"She has an old soul. Her talent and gardening are amazing for such a young one. I feel better since she saw something. Why did she still remember that?" I asked.

"Sasha said he was scary. She thought he was a monster," Harry explained.

"The little girl is empathic, so maybe she sensed something. Being so close to the feelings of others is usually not a good thing. Hopefully, it will be this time," I mentioned.

A week later, little had changed except that the male walking by the house was identified as Kravis Colton. He was on the top ten wanted list for slaving and other heinous acts. All three councils had been chasing him and having no luck at all. I didn"t find this encouraging, nor did the others on the investigation. A lovely young man named Grant, who was training to be a warden, came to help. Since so many trained and capable people were working on the case, Damon gave the team assistance while giving the young warden solid experience. Had we had any clues, that might have been a big help.

I had to admit that Jagger and Logan were turning over every rock, and they had found several criminals lurking in our community that we"d been unaware of, so they sent them to the council. It was frustrating, even though I could see they were hard at work. Thankfully, they were not giving up. A few days later, I had a vision. Visions had never been my thing. That was something Pearl had gotten. The vision was not clear, but I knew my daughter was ill. She might die. Whoever had taken her was not treating her well.

From what little I could see, it looked like a dungeon. We gathered for breakfast, and I told everyone what had happened and what I had seen. Harry assured me that it could help. Linda came over later and tried sketching the place I had seen. It didn"t look to me like she was able to get many particulars, so how could that really help? We were sitting at the table eating lunch with everyone.

"Why don"t we look at this differently?" Harry suggested. "We all know what the place where Star is being held looks like. Why don"t we guess what kind of place this might be? I"ll start with a large basement under a commercial building because it"s too big to be under a house."

"I can see where you"re going with this," Logan admitted. "To me, it looks like a dungeon under a castle. These criminals could be anywhere, including a place with castles."

"There"s no way to be sure it is underground, so I am going to guess it is a converted warehouse," Will offered.

"Why not an old, abandoned jail?" Nicky suggested.

"You guys have taken all the good guesses. What about a basement under a church? Some are quite large, so it"s possible." I added.

"What about a college or some other kind of school? Many of those have basements in case of bad weather or other emergencies?" Grant observed.

"What do we do with the information we have just collected?" Grant asked.

"I"m glad you asked," Harry said, trying to hold back her laughter. "You get to write down all the possibilities and then research them one at a time to see if any are possible."

"Thanks a lot," Grant said, but he didn"t seem mad.

Pulling out his notepad, he wrote down all the possibilities. Then, he started with those closest to us and would work his way out. Looking at his computer, I was amazed by how many fell under the first option. Pictures were only available for some of these places–the ones recently listed for sale. Grant started with those. None looked anything like the picture Linda drew.

"As soon as Grant gets some real possibilities, we will go out and check them," Harry explained.

"It all seems so hopeless," I admitted.

Leaning over from where he sat next to me, Logan hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"Since the auction is a month away, we have time to find her," he explained.

"A month in that hellhole of a cell alone would not be easy to handle. We have few clues that aren"t leading us anywhere," I offered.

Logan pulled me out of my chair and into his arms. He gave me a sweet kiss. "We will find her no matter what we have to do."

I believed him but didn"t know what "no matter" included. As a witch, I had many abilities and wondered if any would help me now. Star was scared, and I thought she was alone. The fact that they were going to fill that prison with others didn"t make me feel any better. Although, at least, she wouldn"t be alone.

A few days passed, and I had a vivid dream. It showed my daughter in one cell and twins in the next cell. A message came through telling me that Cora was somehow involved.

She also showed me two people who brought her food. Linda could draw them, but it was unlikely they ever left where they were.

It helped my peace of mind that Star had recovered from whatever had made her ill. She was once again healthy. I tried to track where she was, but all I could say was it couldn"t be too far away if she sent me messages. A spell on her bars prevented her from using her magic, yet she could still get a message out. What did it all mean?

I woke in the morning with an intact memory of everything I had seen in my dream. Heading downstairs, I thought I would be the first one to wake up, but I could smell coffee and food cooking. Will and Nicky were at the stove cooking biscuits with white gravy, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Harry sat at the table. I was sure she made the coffee because she had it every morning.

"Thanks to all of you for fixing breakfast. That includes your coffee, Harry," I added so she would know I appreciated her help.

Getting a cup of coffee, I sat down with Harry. "I have a story to tell when everyone is here. Jagger needs to bring Linda. I have some people she needs to draw," I explained.

"Have you been dreaming again?" Harry asked.

"I have, and that is something new for me. Occasionally, my sister, Pearl, had dreams, but I never did."

"I hope this will not upset you, but I believe Pearl was the family matriarch. When she died and you hadn"t changed, it passed to you," Harry explained.

"That is something I have thought about myself. It is also something I never wanted. I don"t feel as well equipped for it as Pearl was," I admitted.

"Sometimes we are given something we feel we cannot handle, yet we manage because we must. I"ll admit that I never saw Ariel have any issues or doubts, even though she fell into the position unexpectedly. I feel you will do so much better than you think. Your family needs you, and the situation we are in right now shows how much," Harry declared.

"I hope you are right. If I must do this, I will try my best to handle it. My family needs someone to lead. I just can"t believe I was selected," I said.

Goddess, help me. My whole life was about to change whether or not Logan and I made it. It looked like my family would depend on me, and while I didn"t want to fail, I wasn"t sure I could be what they needed. Pearly was stronger and tougher. She was also more sociable and kept up with everyone. I don"t know how she did it. There are so many people in the family. I knew the white wolves had someone in charge of doing just that and nothing else.

Our whole family would have to come together to protect each and every individual. There was no doubt that I would need help. I tried to think of someone without a job or a business who could slide into the position. The white wolves had someone paid by the wolf council. I was sure she only gave them easily accessible information. Finding people and knowing something about them was the white wolf"s skill, but I wasn"t sure if the red wolves did. We were different from the white wolves. The skills available to us were also different. Perhaps information gathering was a personal skill. I wasn"t sure and couldn"t think of anyone with that skill.

My daughter being kidnapped made me question everything in my life, even to myself. I wondered if there was red wolf blood in my family.

What was I going to do about it?

When I had my daughter back, the family would have to come together and make decisions. Some holdouts still did not believe wolf blood was in our line so that we would discuss.

When Linda had her baby, she could prove it was true. It didn"t mean every family member would change to a red wolf because no one knew

its origin.

The family historian would find that information. They would discover the origin of the red wolf's blood.

With everyone gathered around the table, it was time to tell them what I had seen. Even Jagger and Linda were waiting for me to tell them what I knew.

"It was another dream. In this one, Star seemed to be doing much better. I saw two people bringing them meals and the twins in the next cage. They appeared to be fae with nearly white hair and deep blue eyes. Linda can draw these people, and we will see who can be identified," I explained.

"I already know who the twins are. This will bring in the fae. They will be a help. Did you see anyone else in the cages? Many people are missing right now. Most of them are in high positions or highly valued," Logan observed.

"No, I did not see anyone beyond the twins. The other cages were empty," I admitted.

"Why don"t we go to the living room, Aunt Lou? I will draw the people you saw," Linda suggested.

I was ready. Identifying anyone would have to help. We sat down and started with the ugly man because I thought he would be the easiest to identify. Linda had a fantastic talent. She got him down just as he appeared to me. Logan took the picture when I approved it and said, "This guy is wanted. He works with the worst people, but he hides well."

Linda and I started on the next picture of the woman who brought the food. She was ugly as hell, but that made her easy to identify—or at least I thought it would. I nodded when she finished the picture, and Logan grabbed it again.

"She is known to work with the guy we have identified, but neither of them is known to work with Kravis Colton," Logan admitted.

We started to work on the twins" picture. They were beautiful, and I could see no difference between them. Obviously, the kidnapper valued them and intended to make lots of money. I couldn"t understand why he would take a potential red wolf that was not proven and middle-aged. Though I loved my daughter and thought she was beautiful, whoever bought her was taking a chance that she would be worth nothing. Linda finished the picture of the twins, and I nodded. She always did such an amazing job. It was just like in my dream.

Logan again grabbed the picture. "They are part of the royal family. They will not allow this to go unpunished. I will immediately send a message."

He began to text, and I wondered how such large fingers could do the job. Even Logan looked surprised when someone suddenly appeared. Harry was all excited.

"Belle, I haven"t seen you in ages. Where have you been hiding yourself?" Harry asked.

"I believe I"m not the only one who has been busy. It"s always lovely to see you, Harry. As well as you, Will and Nicky Damon, Marissa, and darn if Tyne and Moe aren"t here, too," Belle added. "Why don"t you introduce me to everyone else?"

"This is Jagger and Linda. Jagger is a warden, and Linda is his mate. This is Logan. He is a Sentinel working on the case. The young cutie is Grant. He is a new warden learning the ropes." Harry explained to my family, "Everyone, this is Belle. She is Will"s cousin, but she also works for the fae."

"Now, if someone will just explain what is going on so I can jump right in," Belle offered.

"Several people have been taken for a slave auction. We are trying to locate it, but they have used magic to disguise it. Magic has also been used to prevent anyone from escaping. We have pictures of three people we feel are involved, but we"ve had no luck finding them," Harry explained.

Belle picked up one of the pictures. "This guy is on our top ten wanted list. He is despicable. These other two are not as serious but aren"t nice, either. Any other clues?"

"I"m afraid not. We have an item that no one claims, but we are unsure if it belongs to any of these people. It will no longer be good once we try a location spell, so we are hesitant to use it yet." Harry described.

I was uncertain who this Belle was, but I could feel magic in her. It was intense but different from mine. Maybe her different magic could work a miracle and help us free my daughter.

"Do you have a place for me to stay?" Belle asked.

"Harry, could you take her to the room next to yours?" I asked.

"I would love to. All the rooms are so pretty I wouldn"t mind seeing all of them," Harry quickly replied.

The girls were gone in a flash. I say girls because Belle looked close to Harry"s age. Neither looked like they were more than teenagers, even though I knew they were.

Our team was growing, and those being added had unique talents that I hoped would help us finish this job. Not only was my daughter"s life on the line, but the lives of others were also an issue. These guys could not continue their evil work. Would other paranormals join us so we could quickly end this horrible ordeal? All I could do was hope.