Page 90 of Magic Claimed

“I won’t,Mom.” He sounded sarcastic, but then our eyes met for just the tiniest moment and… he grinned.

Victory.

I wished I had time to bask in the thrill, but the clock was ticking, and with every hour that passed, the more urgent the situation felt. As if my siren magic was trying to tell me something that I was too dense, too blind to understand.

So if I couldn’t rely on my magic, how could we find out more about the people behind this? People who hid in the shadows and spread their lies from behind a seemingly innocent game. Where else might they be willing to show the truth of their goals and intentions? Where could you find an audience for anything—even the hateful, the illogical, or the absurd…

Oh, right.

I looked at Kira. “I don’t suppose you happen to be on social media?”

Her nose wrinkled. “Only for the bookstore. Why?”

“I need to do some… I think it’s called cyberstalking?”

Ryker shot me a skeptical look, but Angelica just nodded briskly.

“I’ve got it. Who do you want info on?” She picked up her laptop from the kitchen island and flipped it open.

“His name is Greg Abernathy. He’s a thirty-seven-year-old human, possibly from Texas. Combat training, an arrest record, and some sort of cult involvement.”

“I’ll see what I can find and get you a report in a fewhours.”

I blinked incredulously, and Callum grinned.

“Told you she was the best assistant of all time.”

A hint of pink spread across the blonde gryphon’s cheeks, but she didn’t look up from her computer.

“And while we wait…” I was all ready to launch a multi-pronged assault on Blake’s super secret plans, but Callum interrupted.

“While we wait, you probably need to rest.”

“Pfft, I’m fine.” I wassonot fine. I was just so tired that I knew I didn’t dare sit down or stop because I might pass out for the remainder of the day.

“This will take some time,” Angelica reminded me, more gently than I would have expected. “And if we find anything, you may need to act swiftly. Rest while you can.”

There were far too many bossy-pants shifters in this apartment for my liking. But when I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with any other urgent tasks I should be tackling in the meantime. Except maybe…

“I should go help Faris,” I protested. “We could be working on cleanup. And he’s still got prisoners in his basement to deal with.”

“He’s decided to release Hector,” Ryker informed me, “in exchange for information. He’ll also be lodging a formal complaint with the Shapeshifter Court and slapping a lifetime ban on him. If the snake shows his face on Shadow Court territory again, it’s lights out, and he knows Faris won’t hesitate.”

It was far less that I wanted to do to the traitorous naga, but he was Callum’s subject, so I would have to leave that to him.

“And the fae?” Considering that they’d trying to kidnap Kira, I doubted Faris would be inclined to let them go so easily.

“Draven’s been negotiating for their return ever since he got back to the Fae Court early Sunday morning. He’s hoping to exchange them for information—maybe even the name of the poison used on Callum—but no bites so far.”

It did in fact seem that we’d encountered a lull, and it might not hurt for me to take a teeny bit of a break.

“You’ll wake me if anything happens?” I demanded of Callum, with a look that was supposed to be stern.

It earned me a smile instead of agreement.

“I absolutely promise to wake you if you’re needed.”

That was probably the best I was going to get, so with a sigh and one last threatening glare, I gave in and curled up on the couch. Just to close my eyes for a few minutes. There was too much to do, but maybe a quick catnap of half an hour or so…