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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Morning came and once again, I felt the loss of Penn from the house.

“I miss you,” I said, feeling lonely. As I entered the living room, Mr. Crumbles let out a mournful “Mommy?” which was his name for Penn.

I walked over to his cage, which took up the end of the living room, about four feet high and three feet wide and long.

Since Mr. Crumbles couldn’t fly, it didn’t make sense for his cage to be floor to ceiling.

He’d fall off his perch if he tried to fly, but this way, he had several perches to hop around on, and he was an excellent climber.

Penn had provided him with enough space to jump from perch to perch, and she spent time with him every day on physical therapy the vet had suggested.

She’d put a little harness on him, then take him outside and run around the yard as Mr. Crumbles flapped his wings.

He didn’t have enough muscle tone or feathers to fly, but he was making his way back to better health.

Whether his wings would regrow enough for him to ever fly, we didn’t know, but she was doing her best.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Crumbles, but Mommy’s not here.”

“Mommy!” The squawk sounded frantic, and he shifted from foot to foot on his perch, agitated.

“Treat?” I asked. Penn had taught him what treats meant.

“Treat!”

I brought him some of the treats Penn gave him, thinking of Jangles and Murdoch, and how upset they’d be if I disappeared. “I’m sorry, Mr. Crumbles. We’re trying to find her,” I said.

After feeding the bird and the cats, I settled at the kitchen bar, pouring myself a bowl of Oat-Ohs, and splashing milk on them. The house was too quiet and I thought about Penn, trying to block out all the things that could be happening to her.

Jiles Smithson was going to be on the short end of the stick when we found him. I still didn’t know what we were going to do with Terrance, but right now, the focus was on rescuing Penn, and that was consuming my thoughts.

Finally, I grabbed my backpack, kissed the cats and made sure Mr. Crumbles cage was closed, and headed out the door. It felt odd not arming the security system, but until we dealt with this mess, I didn’t want IonStar having any access to seeing what was in my house.

* * *

As I jogged up the steps to the office, my mind was racing, although maybe it was the quad shot latte I’d bought and already half-inhaled. I waved to Sophia as I entered the office. “Breakroom, everybody, as soon as they’re in,” I said.

She nodded. She looked a little tired, but otherwise no worse for the wear. “Duran is already there,” she said. “He rode in with me.”

I backed up a couple steps, giving her a pointed look. “Say what?”

“Not that,” she said, laughing. “He’s too young for me, in so many ways. He was worried about me and volunteered to sleep on the sofa. By the way, Coco is doing fine—she’s loving being around my pair.”

“Good, and…good about Coco.” I still wasn’t sure what to think about Duran, but he was part of this whole mess, like it or not. I shifted my backpack, then headed for the breakroom.

Orik was there, and Dante—early for once. Duran was reading something on his tablet.

My phone rang. Frowning, I glanced at it. Seton. Damn. I’d been so focused on Penn’s disappearance that I had forgotten.

“Hey,” I said, answering. “I’m sorry, but I need to reschedule. Stuff’s going down over here, and I’m going to need your help but I’m also knee-deep in figuring out what our next move is.”

“How’s your inner demon?”

“Ready to cause hell, I’ll tell you that. But so far, I’m keeping her under control. I know that I need to talk to you, though. I’ll call you after this morning. I’ll know more by then.” I hung up, then turned to the others. “Have you told him?” I asked Duran.

“I didn’t feel it was my place,” he said.

“Okay, I’ll fill everybody in when they get here.” I opened the cupboards and pulled out a box of donut holes, arranging them on a plate. I returned to the table as Carson, Orik, and Sophia entered the room. “Morning, all. Gather ‘round. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“I thought you were off today,” I said, turning to Carson. “Your sister?”

“We’re in the middle of an emergency. My sister’s staying the weekend, so I’ll have time with her. She might drop by later, if everything’s okay.”

“Shall we get started?” Sophia asked.

I looked down at my tablet, where I’d written out an agenda. “We need to pay a visit to Jiles Smithson, and find out which restaurant he owns. Preferably in the reverse order. We need to figure out what to do with Terrance. And then we have to talk about last night. When I was at Sophia’s?—”

A noise interrupted me, like a spark and sizzle, and the next thing we knew, there was a woman standing there.

Around five-seven, she was cloaked in shadows, wearing a long dark robe made of shimmering webs. Beneath the robe, she was clad in a silky gown, black as night, with silver embroidery. Around her head sat a silver circlet, with the triple goddess moons.

Her hair was long, the color of the night sky, and her eyes were a deep, ocean gray. She carried a staff made of ebony wood, with silver wire wound around the top half of the staff, and a sparkling Herkimer diamond on the top.

But even more than her looks, the energy that filled the room held me enthralled. I couldn’t look away, couldn’t speak, could barely think.

Sophia gasped. “Hecate.”

Orik, Dante, and Duran said nothing, just sat there, staring. Carson jumped as his phone rang.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’ll be right back.” He slipped out of the room, still looking startled.

I looked at Hecate and finally croaked out, “Welcome.”

She turned to me, staring at me for a moment. Then, she said, “I suppose you know who I am?”

I nodded. “Hecate.” Then, I froze. “I’m not sure how to address you…”

“Hecate will do. It’s my name. I’m here to offer you some help for my priestess, Penelope. But in return, you must do something for me.”

She got right to the point, that was for sure.

I glanced around. The others were still staring at her, with Orik looking pale, like he’d seen a ghost. Duran was silent, but he looked a little scared. Sophia was smiling. She stood and curtseyed.

“Lady Hecate, welcome to our office. Thank you for the visit.” Her voice had just the right mixture of respect and humility.

Hecate glanced at her, then she laughed. “I never fail to find these meetings amusing. Sit, everyone. And Sophia, Pythia speaks highly of you. Zeus will never know about my visit, I give you my word.”

Sophia let out a long breath and sheepishly said, “Thank you, I appreciate that, and I won’t forget it.”

Hecate laughed again. “The Lightning-Father doesn’t need to know everything.”

She took a seat at the table next to me, and I swallowed my latte, trying not to choke on it. Just sitting next to her was like sitting next to a live wire and my skin twitched.

“I’m not sure what you know, but Penn has been kidnapped—Penelope Fircrest. She’s?—”

“My priestess. Yes. I didn’t know until last night when Pythia told me. I haven’t received any pleas from her. What do you know?” Her expression was impossible to read, but the tone of her voice told me I wouldn’t want to make an enemy out of her.

“We found out that someone named Jiles Smithson ordered her kidnapping. He’s working for Brim Fire as an undercover agent, infiltrating the Crystal Court.

We’re not entirely sure why they wanted Penn, but given the Crystal Court has now expelled her, she’s useless to Brim Fire.

I’m afraid if they find out, they’ll kill her.

” I took a deep breath. “We also have one of the people who kidnapped her, or rather—he was told to hire the thugs. We’ve locked him away and we’re not sure what to do with him. ”

“You seem to be in a situation. There are things I can’t interfere in, but Penelope is my priestess, and she’s been loyal to me since I first called her in. I’ll give you what help I can at this point, but you must—as a group—make a promise to me.” Hecate’s gaze was laser fixed on mine.

I took a deep breath. “I can only answer for myself, even though I own this organization. I can’t make a promise for others to a goddess, not without their consent.”

Orik spoke up. “I can’t promise anything that would compromise my service to Odin,” he said. “But if there’s no conflict, I will give my oath.”

“Nor I, to Pythia. But, barring that, I also give my promise,” Sophia said.

“You have my vow,” Dante said. He looked at me. “What about Lazenti?”

“If he doesn’t want to agree, he can leave the company,” I said.

Hecate turned to Duran. “And you?”

He shifted. “I’m not part of Shadow Blade, but I’ll help.”

“You’ll have to ask Carson when he returns,” I said.

Before anyone could say another word, the breakroom door opened and Carson entered, accompanied by a woman who looked a great deal like him.

“My sister decided to visit,” he said.

His sister took one look around and froze in her tracks.

“Maya, you’ve come at quite the time,” I said. “Please say hello to Hecate, Lady of the Crossroads and Magic.”

“What?” his sister said, blinking. Then, she blurted out, “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” She took a step toward Hecate.

“Thank you,” Hecate said, her voice reverberating in the room.

“Carson, why don’t you introduce your sister,” I said.

Carson nodded. “This is Maya, everyone. My twin sister.”

Maya squeaked out a hello. She was gorgeous, obviously Carson’s twin.

“Maya, I’m sorry things seem so chaotic right now,” I said. “We’re in the middle of an emergency.”

“I can go for now, if you need Carson,” she said, her voice lilting. She shrugged off Carson’s protest. “There’s a gorgeous park or something out there,” she said. “I saw it on the way in.” But something in her voice told me she didn’t want to go trudging through the rain.