Chapter 6

Star

It had been completely quiet, but now I could hear someone coming. When the door opened, I saw the guy we were looking for.

"Where is my daughter?" I asked.

"Hey, I"m not who you think I am. I"m just a poor artist. It"s my brother you want. He causes me trouble all the time. We"re twins, identical twins."

"What"s your name?" Damon asked.

"Dean Sullivan, but my brother goes by many names. My mother named him Sean. Twin names usually rhyme, but my mom said at least we"d be different because our names looked like they rhymed, but they didn"t."

The guy was obviously nervous and afraid that we might try to kill him. I sensed he was being honest. There was no point in causing him any issues because of a family member. Maybe he had information to help us find his brother.

"This can be a problem when you"re using a sketch to locate someone," Belle needlessly pointed out.

Do you know something that can help us find my daughter? I asked.

"I rarely see my brother. When I do, he needs something. He never tells me anything, and I don"t even know what he does for a living, only that it"s a secret, hush-hush kind of thing. You might as well come in. There"s no need for you to stand on my doorstep." He stepped back and gestured for us to enter.

"Have anything to eat?" Harry asked. I noticed that Belle was waiting for him to answer, too.

"I"m not much of a cook, but a few ladies brought some baked goods yesterday. They always load me up with more than I can possibly eat. I"m not sure why they do that. Maybe they just feel sorry for the poor single guy in town," Dean admitted. "I can make some coffee unless you prefer tea and bring some of the baked goods out."

"Harry, we"re not here to eat," I advised.

"But we may be here a while, and it"s good if my battery is charged," Harry countered.

"Go with him and help. We will wait until you return," I suggested.

I was not surprised when Belle tagged along. Dean didn"t appear so happy. I could only imagine he wanted to save his favorite baked goods and use the others for us. With both ladies going with him, they would see whatever baked goods he had available. It wouldn"t surprise me if all of them got eaten.

While this would cost us some time, having both Belle and Harry well-fed was good. They returned in ten minutes with a carafe of coffee, snack plates, coffee cups, and an assortment of pies, cakes, and cookies. Under different circumstances, I would have called it quite a party.

"You should try the snickerdoodles," Harry suggested. "They are amazing."

I suspected they were one of Dean's favorites because he flinched when Harry grabbed two and stuck them in her mouth.

"Harry and Belle, why don"t you divide up the food and pour the coffee while we see what Dean might know," I directed, and they immediately followed my instructions.

"Do you know where your brother lives or any address he used in the past?" I asked.

Dean pulled out a small notebook and started writing. He tore off the page and handed it to me. "This is the only address I have ever known him to use. It is where my mother lives, but she is under a nurse"s care. Her mind is not what it used to be."

I felt bad. Losing your mind meant losing who you were. It also meant that Dean"s mother couldn"t help us, but we still had to try.

After Harry and Belle were full and everyone finished their coffee, we said thanks and left. In the yard, we made a circle and flashed to the address Dean had given us.

He was glad to see us go, especially since all his baked goods were eaten. I was sure he would have no trouble getting the ladies in town to make more. There was no doubt they were interested in more than cooking for him. Did he know? It was hard to say but also hard to believe he could be that clueless.

The house we stood in front of looked like a small Manor house. It was well kept, and the gardens were amazing.

"The gardens are spelled," Harry informed.

"Fae magic resides here," Belle added.

That made sense since they were in touch with nature. I was sure some earth witches could do something similar, but the garden was overwhelming in its beauty and size. We walked up the stairs, and I knocked on the door. A nurse in uniform answered the door.

"May I help you?" She asked.

"We were hoping to visit Mrs. Sullivan," I responded.

"Are you aware of her condition?" She asked.

"Dean has explained, but we still wish to visit her," I offered.

She waved us in and led the way. The house was beautiful, with a lot of natural wood and windows everywhere. The windows allowed one to enjoy the garden while walking through the house. We entered a room where a lady sat in a recliner. She was drinking tea and watching the birds play in the garden.

"Miss Etta, you have company," the nurse announced.

"Oh please, have a seat. Nancy, could you be a dear and please bring us some snacks?" Etta asked.

Nancy left. I was sure she would return with the requested snacks. Etta must be paranormal because she didn"t look old enough to have two adult sons. Glancing at Harry, she mouthed fae. That explained a lot, except why she would be ill. Fae practically lived forever in perfect health.

"How long have you been affected by this?" Belle asked.

"Since my husband died. He was a selfish bastard and didn"t want me to find another love."

"Have you tried to remove it?" Harry wondered.

Were they talking about some kind of spell, maybe a curse? Magic didn"t scare my wolf as much as some, but curses were a different matter.

"I was told there is no way to remove it and that it will be with me until I die," Etta explained.

Harry looked at Belle, who nodded. "I think we can remove it."

"Please try," Etta encouraged.

The two of them faced each other and held hands. Belle chanted away any darkness showing on Etta. It moved higher until it was above her like a dark rain cloud.

There was a loud clap like thunder, and the cloud disappeared. We had just seen a poor woman freed from a horrible curse that her husband had put on her when he knew he was going to die. What kind of man would do that?

Etta began to cry. "Thank you, thank you so much. You never said what you came for?"

"We are looking for Sean. He took my daughter away from her abductor, but now we can"t find them, and we are very concerned," Lou admitted.

"Sean is a little wild, but he"s a good boy. Dean was always the calm one. He could be counted on. While Sean wanted to be helpful, he was usually gone when I needed him. I have a phone number, but that is all I have." She wrote it down and handed it to me.

I wondered if all we would get was the next clue, and we would never actually get anywhere. A phone number would be more challenging to work with. Sean might not answer. He might figure out who we were and hang up the phone.

"What do we do now?" Harry asked.

"Call the number?" I suggested.

"Track the number," Belle offered.

"What happens when you track the number?" I asked.

"On a good day, it will take us to the phone," Harry explained.

"On a bad day?" Lou asked.

"We"ll get nothing, but we can still make a call," Harry advised.

That was a no-brainer because it allowed us to find the phone without sacrificing other opportunities.

"Let"s try to track the phone," I directed, and everyone nodded.

Harry, Belle, and I joined hands and began to chant. If we found the phone, since we weren"t touching the others, would we leave them behind? I didn"t know, but it worried me.

Something was happening. Something swirling around us, and then we were gone. The others were left behind, just like I had feared.

In a flash, I went back and grabbed Logan and Jagger, dropped them off, and was gone. When I returned, I had Will and Nicky. We hadn"t gone far. We were still in the same town that Etta lived in.

*****

It was a nice house, too, but not as lovely as Etta's. The most significant difference was the garden, which was barely there. The yard was big enough, but little care had been put into it.

"Whose house is this?" I asked. They"d been standing in front of it for a while, so surely, they had an answer.

"My guess is a family member of Sean's. I would also say that he appropriated the house, thinking we couldn"t find him. Who wants to knock on the door?" Harry asked. Everyone turned and looked at me.

I headed up the steps and used the knocker on the door. Someone was coming to the door to answer it. From the heavy sounds of the footsteps, it was a male. The door swung open, and I was looking at Sean unless there was another child.

Lou pushed her way past me. "Where is my daughter?"

"I don"t know. I brought Star here. When I left to get food, she must have left. I"ve been looking for her but cannot find her," Sean admitted.

"Did she leave anything behind?" Harry asked.

"I gave her this sweater, but she didn"t take it," he explained.

Everyone ignored him as Harry took the sweater and did her magic. We all flashed. I was amazed to find that we were back at Star's house. Could she really be here? Could we have searched all over, and she managed to get away by herself?

Lou screamed her name, which made my ears hurt. I heard somebody rushing down the stairs. She jumped into her mother"s arms. She looked just like her mother would have thirty years ago. It was a shame this was not over yet. Star was home, but we had to keep her here. We had to catch whoever was abducting paranormals. At least Lou had her daughter for now, and the pressure would not be hard as we continued to investigate.

"Why don"t we all sit down, and Star can tell us what"s happened to her and where she has been?" I directed.

"Will there be something to eat?" This time, Belle asked.

"Mom, you"re back. Did they find you?" A younger witch came up, grabbed Star, and hugged her.

"She is about to tell us everything that happened in the kitchen. You can help by setting up snacks for everyone," Lou advised.

"Yes, I can do that, grandma." The young lady hurried into the kitchen and got to work.

Everyone headed that way and grabbed a seat. The kitchen table would seat six, but an extension made it large enough for eight, and there were extra chairs. So many people were visiting, and she needed the extra room. A few additional seats were sitting in the corners of the room that others could claim.

"Go ahead and tell us what happened when you were taken!" Lou demanded.

"I was sleeping. I felt pretty safe because after what happened to Pearl, I had put extra wards and spells everywhere around the house. Nothing disrupted my sleep, so I think they drugged me. Starting to wake, I felt rough, achy, and tired. I had a sense that I wasn"t home anymore. When I woke enough to get my bearings, I realized I was in a cell. The mattress was horrible, and the place smelled funny. I had no idea what I was going to do," Star admitted.

"Here, Mama. Here"s a drink and something for you to eat. I will pass it out to everyone else, and then you can continue your story," the young witch suggested.

"Thank you, Celia."

The young witch put a plate in front of everyone and set different salty and sweet snacks around the table. She also floated a tray loaded with drinks in front of everyone so they could select whatever they liked. Certain drinks were selected more often and refilled on the tray. When everyone selected something, the tray and whatever was left on it disappeared.

"There was water in the room and a cup to drink from. I was fed once a day and thankful to have it. It got cold in the room, and I only had a thin blanket that stunk like the mattress and pillow. I got very ill. A healer was called in, and she told them if they didn"t treat me better, I would probably die before the auction. She gave me herbs and other medicine. I improved, and they began feeding me three times a day and bringing things to drink other than the water. They also got me a clean pillow and blanket. All those things help me recover. How long I was there, I can"t say. The twins were put in the cell next to me. It gave me someone to talk to. The other cells also began to fill up. I heard there would be an auction and that we would all be sold. Were any of the others freed?" Star asked.

"They were all freed, but we have not caught those who did it, so everyone is still in danger," I replied.

"Go on with the story," her mother demanded.

"More time passed, and the young man was brought in. I"m not sure exactly what his job was, but he talked to all of us and took pictures. Maybe he was there to catalog us for the sale. He talked to me more than the others, and we became friendly. One night, he came to my cell, opened it, and told me he would save me. Of course, I asked him about the others, but he said he could only save me at that moment, and once we got away, he would send information so the others could be saved. Did he ever do that?" She asked.

"If he did, it was sent to whoever he worked with at the council, and they never notified anyone as far as I know," Damon admitted. He and Marissa had been so quiet I"d barely noticed they"d tagged along the whole time. "Maybe it"s time to make some introductions? I am Damon McDougal, and this is my lovely wife, Marissa."

"Oh, Goddess. You"re famous, and so is your wife," Star shrieked.

"This adorable little lady is Harry."

"The toad princess?"

"None other." Harry took a bow.

"The couple over there is Will and Nicky, then last but never least, is Belle."

"I"m honored to meet you all." Star looked stunned.

"You"ve met Jagger, but you"ve not met me. My name is Logan."

Star nodded at him. "Now that I have met you all, I have a question. How are we going to stop him from capturing those people again?"

"That"s a good question. I suggest that no one be alone, not even at night," Damon directed. "Also, better guards are needed. Whatever you have in your house is not good enough. It didn"t keep them out the first time, and I"m sure he still has access to that magic."

"Point taken. We need to make a witch"s circle and cast a protective spell on every entry point to the house and the yard, so we are alerted if anyone enters," Lou directed.

They moved upstairs to start. Even Belle was included. She might not be a witch, but her magic was the same level as Harry"s. It was two hours before they made it downstairs. It was supper time, and we ordered Mexican food. We ordered everything on the menu, although some things were in larger amounts, like tacos and burritos.

Everyone seemed pleased with the food, and I knew the witches needed to regain their energy. Even those who could not completely get it back through food could at least get a little that way.

Harry had also added her golden nets to each entry. That way, if the slavers managed to get in, they would be captured. Having seen the nets at work, I was very impressed.

I would have felt safer had they been able to complete the downstairs, but it would have to wait until tomorrow when everyone was recharged. I was happy to protect my Lou tonight as I slept with her. I could only hope that our relationship would move forward, and she had shown a few signs of weakness toward me.

After eating most of the food and cleaning up the mess, we were all more than ready to get some sleep. I took my shower first and put on a pair of sleeping shorts. I wasn"t sure where Lou was, but I soon realized she had gone to a different bathroom and got ready. Her Victorian nightgown didn"t prevent me from seeing her as a sexy woman. Once the lights went out, we both quickly fell asleep.

When I woke, Lou was in my arms, and we were kissing. The heat generated between us was incredible, and I decided to push for more. Was she fully awake? It was hard to say. Maybe I was dreaming, but I didn"t think I was. Her Victorian nightgown was pulled over her head, and I felt her body against mine. Only if she used magic would I be able to stop at this point. She was mine. Holding back for so long had been a struggle. There had been signs that she knew what she was to me, and she was afraid to take the plunge.

I just knew in my heart that if we mated, she would change, and we would have a long life together. Lou ended up on top of me after I pulled off my shorts. She would make the decision whether we would make love or not. It seemed we would when she moved into position, and my cock slid deep inside her.

Nothing had ever felt so wonderful. At this point, I didn"t think Lou would stop, either. My mate was moving up and down, and I rose to meet her. Our bellies slapped together. The tempo was faster and faster until suddenly, she screamed her release, and I pushed mine forward.

Had I intended to bite her? My human side hadn"t, but I couldn"t say if my wolf had. Clearly, he was satisfied with himself and didn"t see the big deal in what he had done. She would undoubtedly be angry, and it would take a while for her to get over it.

While she hadn"t been hurt at this point, she had a change to go through. It was still possible that she might not survive it. I did not believe it, but I still acknowledged it was possible.

I thought Pearl had not made it because she had been forced to take an unwanted bite. Her change had been forced.

I had heard of such things but thought it was a myth. Clearly, I was mistaken, and the bite overloaded Pearl"s heart. Going through a natural change would allow Lou to survive.

It was morning, and I wasn"t sure if she remembered what we had done last night or that I had bitten her. She said nothing, so I said nothing. We would have to discuss this at some points, but I was not ready to do so, and it seemed she wasn"t either.

Lou woke before me and was already downstairs.

I dressed and rushed down, feeling hungrier than I had in a long time. My mood was good. I grabbed a cup of coffee and thanked Harry for making it.

"Someone"s in a good mood. I sense a mating," Harry observed.

I glanced at Lou. She didn"t seem to have heard what Harry said. Was she just ignoring it? Or had she been busy eating and not heard? Will handed me a plate loaded with food, and I thanked her. It would give me the energy to continue our investigation.

We only had a few clues. Star still had the clothing they had given her to wear. That could be used to search for whoever claimed ownership of them.

Magic would be instrumental, and we had some of the most powerful witches around to help. Until the witches did the finding spell, there was no way to know who it would take us to or where they would be.

We all had plates in front of us and were eating. No one was rushing. A good meal would strengthen us for the challenging day ahead, and there was no way to tell when we would get to our next meal. That was the life of an investigator, and all of us knew that.

Damon and his wife had gone home before bedtime yesterday. They had flashed back and joined us for breakfast. It wasn"t long before we were done. We cleaned up before we left Lou"s house. No one was brave enough to leave a mess for her to worry about later.

"Who is going to do the finding spell?" Will asked.

"I will," Lou said. I guess she had refrained from finding spells to look for her daughter because it was just too personal. Now, she didn"t mind because she was seeking revenge.

No one said a word. We waited for her to complete the spell. She held out the nasty shirt her daughter wore and threw it into the fireplace, where it immediately caught on fire. Her spell differed from Harry"s or Belle"s because the creature hopped out of the fire and onto her shoulder. She gave it a candy bar I hadn"t seen her holding. It whispered in her ear. She nodded and thanked it.

"I have the location. We need to do a circle so we can all go there," Lou informed.

"Everyone gather round, and let"s get this shindig started," Will directed.

We did as we were told, and with all the magical assistance, Lou could take us where we needed to go immediately.

"Where are we?" Belle asked.

I looked around and had to admit I wasn"t sure. It was not a nice place. The sky was gray, most plants looked dead, and the noises we heard weren"t reassuring.

There was a house on a hill. It looked like a haunted house from a terrifying story. I couldn"t imagine anyone living there that I would want to meet. There was no choice. We had to go.

I began making my way up the hill toward the scary house. Everyone else fell in line behind me. No one spoke, but I knew we were all wondering what we were getting ourselves into. Even though we were all in good shape, it took us half an hour to make it up the hill.

We stood at the door, and no one wanted to knock. There was a sense of magic in the air. A magic user would be better prepared for whatever might happen when that door opened.

Harry sighed deeply and stepped forward to knock on the door. One would think she was used to this from all her time chasing those who sold blood drugs. Maybe the truth was that this was something no one ever got used to.

Everyone was ready to fight or flee, depending on what happened next. Heavy footsteps came to the door. I had no clue what to expect.

When the door finally opened, an elderly lady who looked like someone"s grandma stepped out. "Hello, I don"t get visitors much. What can I do to help you?" She asked.

"We found a plain blue dress and did a seeking spell to see who it belonged to. It took us here. Do you know anything about it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, my, yes. I make clothing and sell it in the local market. Someone ordered a pile of those simple dresses, but they have yet to come back to get them. That"s why I took them to the market and sold them at a much cheaper price."

"Do you know who bought them?" Will asked.

"I do. He said his name was John. I"ll admit that he didn"t look like a very nice guy. There were several scars on his face that most healers could have taken care of. He didn"t say much. He pointed to the dresses, and I gave him a price. He pulled out the money and handed it to me. I packed them in a bag and handed them to him. I tried to start a conversation. I got a name out of him, but I can"t be sure it"s his real name," she admitted.

"Could you describe him so I could sketch him?" Linda asked.

"I certainly could." She went on to describe different aspects of his face as Linda sketched.

By now, I figured out that Linda could pull pictures from somebody"s mind because the description the lady gave was extremely general. When she finished, she showed the picture to the lady.

"That looks just like him. You have a real gift," the lady admired.

While I was glad we had finally gotten another clue and might be able to identify someone involved in this scheme, I had to admit when we reached the house, I had hoped to capture the mastermind.

"Boy, that"s one ugly guy," Belle observed.

I agreed but kept my opinion to myself. "Anyone recognize him?" I asked. There was a chorus of no. It was worth a try.

"Maybe we should go home and have lunch before we head out on our next flash. That will give us time to rest and build our strength," Lou suggested.

Everyone seemed agreeable. No one was hurrying to hunt down the big, ugly guy. It was also lunchtime, and I am sure some of us were extremely hungry at this point.

"I"m hungry, so I am glad you suggested that, Lou," Harry said.

"Me too!" Belle declared.

"We need to form our circle to get back to Lou's house," Will directed.

That was what we did. In a flash, we were in Lou"s kitchen. "Do you have any suggestions for what we should eat?" I asked.

Everyone spoke at once. They all suggested something different.

Ultimately, Lou decided we would call for subs or salads depending on what each individual wanted. Everyone was hungry and wasn"t worried about gaining weight with all the walking we had been doing, so everyone got a giant sub. Harry and Belle got two. While waiting for the subs to get ready, Lou pulled out several kinds of chips and dips. I don"t know when she made them, but she must have gotten a grocery order. There were also some pies and cupcakes. I wondered if she made them or bought them.

Surprisingly, the subs were magically delivered. It didn"t take very long for such a large order. I know several of us looked surprised.

"It"s a new shop one of my nieces just opened. It"s called Magic Subs," Lou explained.

"Goodness, these are amazing," Harry said, or at least I thought she did because she spoke with a mouthful of food.

"I agree," Belle added.

I took a bite and agreed it was the best sub I had ever had. I could eat these every day and not get tired of them. This would fuel our investigation for the rest of the day. It was good to get away, even if only for a little while, and everyone concentrated on filling up.

Later, we would get back to our work. But for now, we would enjoy our food and well-earned time off.