Page 14

CHAPTER SEVEN

I opened my eyes, squinting as the morning light came streaming through the window. My phone was ringing and I sifted through the covers to find it, then answered.

“Are you all right? I was about ready to come over there to see if you’d been kidnapped, too,” Dante said.

“What? I just woke up…” I glanced at the time. Seven-fifteen. “Damn it, I fell asleep before I could set my alarm last night. I’ll be there in twenty. Is Duran there?”

“Yeah, he’s here. All right, I’ll go get breakfast for everybody. What kind of coffee do you want?”

“Quad shot peppermint mocha, please. With whip.” I was already out of bed, and I tossed the phone on the covers.

With no time for a shower, I grabbed on a pair of low-rise black jeans, a V-neck sweater in deep cobalt, and a pair of knee-high biker boots with a two inch heel, four buckles down the outside and two across the heel.

The top strap around my heel attached to an O-ring, and grommets decorated the leather straps.

I buckled a black belt around my waist, then brushed my hair into a high ponytail. With a slick of lipstick, a sweep of mascara and eyeliner, I headed downstairs where I fed the cats and scattered some bird food in Mr. Crumble’s cage, then dashed out the door.

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the office. Dante was getting out of his car as I stepped out of my Jeep. He was carrying a large tray of coffees, along with a couple bags that smelled like food.

“Here, let me take the tray,” I said, relieving him of the coffees.

“You just want dibs on the coffee. They’re all marked,” he said, holding the door open for me.

Instead of taking the stairs, I opted for the elevator. It was easier while carrying enough liquid that could scald me from head to toe, if I dropped it on myself. Dante punched the button for the third floor and then turned to me.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “ Really ?”

I exhaled, realizing I’d been holding my breath.

“How am I? Worried sick over Penn. Angry at the Crystal Court. I’d like to slap Queen Elsabetha upside the head.”

“I can’t believe they’re being so heartless.”

“I have no idea what the hell they’re thinking.

You should have seen Duran’s face. I thought he was going to explode.

” I stared bleakly at the coffee cups. “Seriously, I’m on the bad side of the Crystal Court and they’re on my shit list now.

And what the hell will Penn think when she finds out they threw her to the wolves? ”

“She won’t take it kindly,” Dante said, opening the door to the office for me. There was a small foyer in front of the office proper, but we had the entire third floor. As I swung into the main office, Sophia hurried over to lock the door behind us as we headed toward the breakroom.

I strode in, set the coffee on the table and found the one with my name, and settled in. “I apologize for being late. I crashed before I could even set my alarm last night.”

Dante set the food bags on the counter, then opened them, bringing out pastries, sausage cheese sandwiches, a container of fruit salad, and some hashbrown cakes. Sophia motioned for him to move out of the way.

“I’ll serve,” she said. “Kyann, what do you want?”

“Sausage sandwich, hashbrowns, and a maple bar.”

She handed me a paper plate and a few napkins. Then she went on to serve everybody else, finally settling into her seat with her own plate. Meanwhile, Dante handed out the coffee.

“I assume you’ve all met Duran?” After they nodded, I continued.

“Thanks for meeting us here,” I said. “So, I’m not sure where to begin.

What we know: Penn was abducted from my house yesterday.

We’re pretty sure Brim Fire did it, but we’re not going to be able to get near the portal thanks to the Crystal Court. ”

“Trust me,” Duran said, “once the queen makes up her mind, that’s it.

She’ll never let Penelope back in, or me.

There’s a saying in the Crystal Court: Only the Queen is irreplaceable.

And now that they’ve taken away our access to the portals, we’ll never make it near them.

Which is a good thing—they won’t let Brim Fire near them, either.

But this puts Penelope in serious danger,” he added, staring at the table.

“I don’t like any of this,” I said.

“I don’t either,” Duran replied.

“Carson, did you find out anything on the dark web? That’s probably our first place to look.” I wasn’t hungry, but I forced myself to eat. I needed to think clearly, and hunger could cloud your brain.

Carson had already opened his laptop, and he nodded.

“I think so. I can’t say for sure, but in their forums, there’s a private room used for planning.

You have to have the password to get in, and I haven’t been able to crack it yet.

But I can see who’s used it. The past three days, there were four log ins. ”

“Can you tell who logged in?” Orik asked.

“It’s complicated, but the short answer is yes, for two of them. And thanks to Lazenti, I know they’re both from Seattle. I don’t know about the other pair.” He looked at me. “There’s no guarantee they were discussing the portal and Penn, but my guess is…yes.”

“Who are they? Duran asked.

“I cross-checked their forum IDs with Lazenti.”

“Damn, dude, did you get any sleep at all?” Dante asked.

Carson shook his head. “No, I was up most of the night. Anyway, Lazenti managed to trace two of the handles to actual names.” Carson scribbled the names on a hand-held white board. He shoved it across the table to me.

I read the names. “Terrance Gilbert, and Alona Lionblade. Chaos magicians?”

He nodded. “Yes, both located in Seattle. Once we had the names, I was able to research their backgrounds. They’re both out and proud about being tied to Brim Fire. I looked into their occupations. Alona, I can’t find much about. But this Terrance guy? He works for IonStar Security.”

I jumped. “IonStar? That’s my security company!”

“I know. I immediately thought the same thing you’re thinking.

Terrance works with the inner core of security surveillance.

And there’s more. I did some digging and discover that there’s a flaw in their systems. Inside Hacker, a website for ethical hackers, found it a couple years ago but the company hasn’t done anything about it. ”

“What’s the flaw?” Sophia asked.

“There’s a way to trigger the cameras, so that the footage shows up on the local cameras—like your phone—but the images are blocked and don’t reach the company level, so there’s nothing to alert the police about.

In other words, IonStar surveillance officers won’t see anything happening.

Basically, it continues to show what was happening directly before the trigger was activated. ”

“Let me get this straight: If I call IonStar, they won’t have the same footage of the break-in that I do on my phone?

” I knew there was technology that could do this, but the thought hadn’t even occurred to me when I was watching Penn being captures.

“How does that help them, though? I can show the cops what my camera recorded.”

Orik cleared his throat. “I think I understand. Most people put their phones away during work hours, so they won’t find out anything’s happened until later in the day.

And IonStar won’t notice, so they won’t raise the alarm.

It’s a cheap fix, and safer than cutting the wires, which would alert the company. ”

“Exactly,” Carson said. “If they cut the cameras, that would raise an alarm.”

“Crap. Well, I’m glad I didn’t call IonStar, now that I know Brim Fire has someone on the inside. For all we know, Terrance could be the company pet, or their best worker, and if he intercepted my call, he could make all of this disappear,” I said.

Carson sighed. “I suggest you immediately get rid of the security system, Kyann. You too, Dante. They’re probably keeping tabs on you. We can create one for all of us that’s safer.”

“Well, that’s a definite ick,” I said. At least I didn’t have security cameras in the bedrooms, and definitely not the bathrooms. “But you’re right, I’ll disconnect them tonight. Though I want to put up some wards in its place. Besides Penn, who do we know who’s a strong witch?”

“Her mother,” Dante said.

“No,” I shook my head. “First, Penn and her mother don’t get along very well.

Second, I don’t want to tell Eileen that Penn is missing at this point.

I don’t want her worrying because she would, even with their schisms. Let me think.

” I sorted through names in my mind, but I realized I didn’t know many witches.

Penn was one of the few. I turned to Duran.

“What can you do? I don’t mean to be rude, but this is an emergency and there’s no real room for diplomacy. ”

“I’m a rogue. I don’t work with magic like most witches, and that includes wards and protection.

I can think things into existence, but it’s not easy.

I can ‘see’ answers to mathematical problems without even trying to solve them.

I also work with astral energy.” He shifted in his chair.

“I can go out on the astral and can even touch some of the etherical realms.”

“That could come in handy,” I said. “Given your talents, I’m surprised the queen fired you.”

“I already had a couple strikes against me. I don’t deal well with red tape, and I tend to act before they give me the okay, though I’m not stupid about it.

But I’m basically a problem child when it comes to authority.

” He frowned. “That’s one thing they didn’t like about Penelope, you know.

She has the same tendency to buck authority.

And second, they didn’t like the fact that she was living with you.

The Crystal Court sees Demonkin as problematic. ”

I froze. “Did they try to pressure her against being my friend?”