Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

47. On the Clock: Pete

“I’ll do what I can to help you narrow down a location, but then after that, I need to bow out of this,” Willow informs us pretty much as soon as our feet are once again standing on solid ground, above ground. “As I said before, I have every right to be here as the Council agent who handles the packs of this region, but I’d rather not be discovered as part of this all the same. I’m less likely to agitate the wrong people that way.”

Midnight, Bria said. We have until midnight, and that’s it. And now we’re losing the more powerful of the two witches? I’m about ready to snap for good, I think.

“Are you sure we can trust this Alpha?” Angel wonders, glancing around the room suspiciously.

We haven’t had use of it before now, but we’ve congregated inside one of the motel rooms that Alpha Miles had set aside for us to work, just in case there was some reason that we needed to operate from within his above-ground territory. Some reason like, oh I don’t know, fumbling around in the dark as though we’re not the highly skilled and well-trained professionals we are, and making it to the mark too late.

“Not in the least,” I grumble my response, crossing my arms as I lean against the wardrobe at the far end of the room to wait for Willow to do her thing.

Because again, like we always seem to be doing, we’ll all just be standing around while Willow sets up a spot to scry. She’s going to search for Grayson’s twisted magic again, but this time above-ground within the radius that she’s determined is as far as he could have gotten with the amount of power he put into his teleport. Though as she suggested before, he may have used another spell to teleport somewhere else immediately after, which could mean that we have to chase his path, hoping that it takes us less time to follow in his footsteps than it took him to make them so that we can eventually catch up to him.

“I’m on it,” Nolan offers, taking his scanner out of his pack so he can check for bugs and other monitoring devices.

Not that he needs it. He can usually sniff out electronics with just his nose, though his gadgets do help him narrow down which are of actual concern and then disable them.

Even though both he and Willow are working and doing what they can, that doesn’t stop me from feeling every second that ticks away from us and worrying that we’re wasting time. It made sense to follow Willow’s lead in the tunnels when there was magic everywhere that was likely more than Phoebe could handle alone, but this isn’t how any of us are used to working.

In fact, her being here might even be what’s been slowing us down, and not just because of the time it takes to scry. She keeps us honest, whether intentionally or not. We have to be careful about how we get results when we’re right under the direct eye of The Council.

But if Grayson’s above-ground now, then there are other trails we need to follow than just his magic. Willow says that he couldn’t have gone far, so maybe he’s rented an apartment somewhere, or a motel room. He’ll need supplies, groceries, and have other expenses. And unless the guy has a stockpile of cash lying around, there will be a paper trail. Electronic transactions. Something. I suppose with her occupied, now’s our chance to jump on that.

“Angel, could you –” I start to say, until I notice that he already has his laptop out and is crouched over it on the bed, working on something.

“On it,” he answers, glancing up only briefly to smirk at me. Yep, he’s definitely thinking the same thing I am.

“You seem a little off your game,” Bruno points out, giving me a concerned look. “The Doc I know would have been all over us already, barking out orders the second we got here and refusing to let us waste even a second of our time. Because now that we’re on the trail, we gotta stay there.”

“Yeah, yeah. Bust my balls, why don’t you,” I grumble, waving him off. “I’m just worried, and a little at a loss of what to do next. This Grayson guy is unlike anyone I’ve ever been up against.”

I'm really not appreciating him challenging me like that. It’s annoying, to say the least, and not at all helpful. It feels a bit like him questioning whether I’m fit for my job. I don’t know if he noticed, but I was just “barking” orders, though being aggressive about it has never been my thing. I don't know what he's even talking about.

“We’ll get the girl back,” he assures me. “Don’t worry. Your cred with the Alpha chick isn’t going anywhere. We’ve got you.”

“Is that what you think this is about?” I challenge him, closing the short distance between us until I have him backed against the closet before I even have a chance to process my body’s own reaction. But I really don’t appreciate his insinuation.

“Uh oh,” I hear Phoebe mutter under her breath, though I ignore it.

“You think I’m just trying to impress the Alpha?” I demand of Bruno, fighting the urge to wrap a hand around his throat. “She’s one of my closest friends. I don’t need to impress her. I need to get her daughter back because I actually care about her, about both of them. So, yeah, it’s personal, but not for personal gain. So, mind your tongue.”

“Geesh, sorry,” he says, holding up both of his hands in surrender. “I didn’t even mean it like that, not really. I didn’t mean to set you off.”

“Your intentions are irrelevant. That was out of line,” I warn him, not waiting for him to finish explaining himself. “I hired you to do a job, and the job is what I need you to do. Don’t worry yourself about what the job is or isn’t to me. I’m good, and I’m not ‘off my game’ or anything like that. I’m just doing the best that I can under the circumstances.”

And yes, I mean the massive unknown we’re up against that goes by the name of Grayson Donovan, but I also mean the way that our hands are a bit tied, which I indicate with a nod in Willow’s direction.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats, still holding up his hands. “I was just concerned is all. Deny it all you want, but you do seem off. I’ve worked with you enough that I know how you usually are, and this isn’t it.”

“She’s his mate,” Phoebe blurts out, shocking me to silence.

Bruno and I both turn to look at her with matching stunned expressions on our faces. Mine, because I didn’t realize she’d figured that out on her own, and I’m even more surprised that she seemed to feel a need to put it out there like that. In front of everyone no less, and not yet knowing whether this room is bugged or who might be able to hear us.

But I realize when I look at her that my little spat with Bruno has been stressing her out. She’s got her arms wrapped around herself, and her eyes are like giant saucers of worry and insecurity. She never could handle the occasional discord amongst the crew.

“Really, Phoebe?” I question her, annoyed. This is not a conversation that I want to have, especially not while on Grayson’s clock.

“Sorry,” she says apologetically, staring at the floor as her cheeks bloom red with embarrassment. “It’s just that ...” She pauses, pursing her lips together. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? She’s your mate, and that’s why you’ve been so weird this time?”

She looks up at me, her eyes full of questions and pain, and I exhale a heavy breath. Now it’s me who can’t help staring at the floor. I know she won’t like the real answer to that, and I hate that Bruno might have been onto something if even she's commenting on it. Maybe I don't have things as well handled as I thought.

“Jesus, Pete. Are you serious?” Nolan demands, appearing before me so that he can glare right at me.

I didn’t even notice when he returned from the bathroom, where he’d been hunting for monitoring devices. He must have heard our conversation from in there and come out to see for himself.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” he questions angrily.

“And have you force me out so you could take over?” I shoot back him, voicing the very fear that has kept me from mentioning anything about my relationship to Anna Jade before now. “No way. Yes, she is my mate, or rather, I’m hers, but this is my operation.”

“It’s good to know that you think so little of us,” he returns, still glaring and agitated. But then he stills, dropping his arms to his sides, and sighs. “No, Pete. I’m pretty sure that we all know that we need you, and I don’t think anyone here would argue that you should sit this one out.”

He glances around, nodding when he confirms that no one is going to challenge him on that.

“But if the girl is your mate, well, then that changes everything,” he goes on, smacking something on his scanner before stowing it away. Guess this room must be bug-free. “And it would have changed everything from the start. We’ve been treating this like just another job, like some bottom line. We just gotta return the girl to her family, hoping that she’s not been thoroughly traumatized before we get to her, but ultimately, also knowing that’s not on us. We do the job, we get out, we get her back to her people, we get paid, we go home.”

“And now?” I ask, wondering where he’s going with this.

“Now I know that we’re out here trying to get your family back, which changes everything, like I said. You’re our family, which is why we’re all here even though we wouldn’t dream of working together like this otherwise. And your family is our family too. We’ll stop at nothing to protect our family, and we’ll stop at nothing to get her back safely, in one piece, before he has a chance to mess with her head too much. Following all the rules and making The Council happy in the process just went out the door as far as I'm concerned.”

He nods at Willow, who hasn’t even been paying attention to our conversation while she’s been scrying. I know that he means we need to get rid of her so we can start breaking laws and bending rules to speed things along, which is kind of what I’ve been thinking too. She might be the more powerful of our witches, but she’s also a burden that maybe isn’t worth lugging around with us anymore.

“I’ve narrowed it down to two locations,” the witch in question chimes in just then, the glow of her crystal ball dimming along with that of her eyes as she focuses them on me.

Or as it turns out, maybe we do still need her. I can tell that Nolan is wondering the same thing from the questioning look he gives me. An exact location would be nice.

“One seems to be in some sort of residential suburb on the outskirts of Riptide territory, and the other is nearby, possibly a motel or someplace with small apartments close together like that,” she explains, nodding as she thinks it over. “But I believe that the more recent of the two is the motel.”

“It also makes more sense,” Angel comments from the bed, seemingly unphased by the discussion about my mate. “The suburb kind of sounds like a decoy location, meant to give us something to do to keep us away from his actual location. But it would attract too many eyes and ears that are likely to care and pay attention to what he’s up to, while at most motels around here, people mind their own business. A man can come in and out with a pretty young girl, and everyone will turn a blind eye and let them be. They’re too busy with their own shady business to care.”

“Agreed,” Nolan says, nodding at Willow appreciatively, as if it was her idea.

“Plus, if it’s this motel,” Angel continues, turning his laptop around so we can see the picture currently displayed on his monitor, “then one of the security cameras picked up a guy matching his description passing under the awning to use a vending machine there. I think it might be our guy, and this was only like fifteen minutes ago.”

“So much for not caring or paying attention,” Bruno chuckles as he studies the photo.

“About what he’s up to in his room, yeah, but this camera is outside the office,” Angel explains. “They do care about getting robbed, and apparently, not much else. It’s the only outside camera, and there’s another one inside the office. That’s it. None on the rooms or parking or anything.”

I can’t help grinning to myself as I stare down the evidence of Angel reverting to some of his old habits, already working on doing his fair share of breaking laws even before Nolan and I were discussing it aloud. Just in time too. That midnight deadline is ticking away in the background faster than we know. It’s time to ditch the Council witch and focus on doing what we do best.

“Then that’s where you should go,” Willow advises, keeping her eyes locked on Bruno as she stows away her crystal ball.

She passes it from one hand to the other, and then poof, it’s gone. He laughs, finally realizing that she’s been messing with him for days. She doesn’t keep it in her satchel like he was worried about.

“I’ll stay behind here, out of sight but ready to assist should you need me for anything,” she adds. “Phoebe should be able to handle whatever traps or wards he’s left around. I’m fairly certain that they’re not rigged in any special way. He just doesn’t know how to make them more resistant.”

“What if he’s still there though?” Phoebe wonders, obviously intimidated by the thought.

Which is normal for her. She was always a valuable member of my team, but she has always needed more than her fair share of pep talks and encouragement to keep her head in the game.

“That would qualify as something you might need me for, and you should message me for assistance,” her mother answers, reaching out to console her grown daughter in a way that I’m sure she’s been doing for about forty years. “But you’re the better choice for this because of how you can tuck away your essence and appear to be only a fox. Grayson will sense me coming. His essence is dark enough that mine will hit him like a freighter full of rotten fish before we can even get close enough to look him in the eyes.”

“Good point,” Phoebe agrees, seeming to relax some of her tension.

“Then I’m assuming we’re traveling the old-fashioned way,” Angel says, grinning his excitement.

Of course he is. That means we’re finally getting a chance to pull out the barely street legal all-terrain motor bikes that I had delivered for us out front, for in case we needed to get around quickly and discreetly. Unlike a car or SUV, we can kill their power and push them into position when we get close to a target, and easily hide them away when we’re not using them.

“Yep,” I confirm, though I still feel like we’re jumping the gun a little. “But how do we know that your motel and Willow’s are the same place?”

“They are,” she assures me. “The image he just showed matches what I saw, and besides, he has a recent sighting of Grayson. I was looking for his magic. I think you should follow the man himself rather than his magic, which we already know can be misleading.”

Then she scribbles something down on the top page of the notepad on the nightstand and hands it over to me.

“But just in case, those are the coordinates, as well as the second set for the house in the suburbs.”

I kind of wonder if her eagerness to step aside now is her way of acknowledging that she doesn’t really fit with a band of mercenaries, and demonstrating just how aware she is that she could potentially be holding us back. I also hope that it’s her subtle way of showing that she’s willing to turn a blind eye to what we do, though she obviously prefers to not be there to witness whatever methods we must use to get the job done. Maybe that’s also partly why she doesn’t want to be seen with us. She doesn’t want to change anything about how we operate, but she also doesn’t want to have to compromise her position or her ethics to do it.

If that’s the case, then I both respect and appreciate it, although it’s also still possible that I’m reading too much into it, and it’s just what she said. She doesn’t want him to smell her coming. Either way, I can’t say I disagree with her decision, and I know that Phoebe can handle herself without her mother’s assistance.

But there’s something else that I haven’t had a chance to share with them yet. I know Bria was concerned about how they’d react and whether it would distract them, but I know them better than she does. She didn’t get to see them at their best down below, to be fair, but how Nolan and the others seemed to react to the news of who Anna Jade really is to me only has me feeling more confident that they can handle knowing this part too, and that maybe it would even be in our best interest if they did.

“Uh, guys. One more thing,” I start to say, waiting to continue until I have all of their attention on me. “Bria kicked us out for a reason. Grayson found out about us working with the hunters and slapped a time limit on their job as punishment.”

“How much time?” Angel wonders, interrupting before I’ve finished explaining.

But that’s fine. I know he just wants me to lay out the bits they need to know and not waste time explaining more than that.

“Until midnight, or he intends to keep Anna Jade and do Goddess only knows what with her,” I reveal, reflexively clenching my fists at my sides.

It burns even deeper having to say it out loud, and now that the words are out of my mouth, it’s also gotten harder to fight back the urge to imagine what horrors he might have in mind for her after the deadline passes. I can’t bear the thought of him laying even a single finger on her, and he’s a caster, so there’s no telling what he might do to her mind once he gets the chance. I can only hope that he hasn’t sent the hunters on what he believes to be an impossible mission, and assuming their failure before the fact, taken the liberty of getting started with his plans for my mate a bit early.

“Not a chance,” Angel declares as Bruno simultaneously says, “We’ll make it to her in time.”

“Good. Then we’re clear on what we need to do,” I tell them, glancing around to take in their determined looks and nods of affirmation.

I know they’re with me, and that even Phoebe reads my unspoken meaning. I just gave them the okay to use whatever means necessary to get my mate back to me before the deadline. I also know that she and I still need to talk about the fact that Anna Jade even is my mate, and I’d love to hear her explanation for how she figured that out and why she didn’t feel a need to mention it to me sooner, but I can tell that she understands that the time for that isn’t now.

“Then let’s go, people. Time’s a tickin’ here,” Nolan declares, scooping up his pack and strapping it to his back.

Couldn’t have said that better myself. The rest of us gather up our own equipment and follow him out the door to our rides waiting in the parking lot, leaving Willow behind to wait for us here.

It occurs to me on our way out that maybe we shouldn’t be leaving her alone in this run-down, fleapit motel where anyone could get to her, especially not knowing for sure whether Alpha Miles really has our backs, but I ultimately decide that she must have it handled if she volunteered to stay there. She’s Council, after all, and it would take a special sort of stupid for someone to try anything with her.

But I would have said the same about anyone deciding to mess with my good friend Kylie, and yet here we are. Grayson has her daughter, and he must know that even if he’s got us chasing after him now, it won’t end well for him. Ready or not, retribution is coming for him, and he’ll get what he deserves in the end.