Chapter 37

Leo settled onto the couch next to me and carefully stroked down my back. “Tell us what happened?”

The raven nodded and leaned into Leo as I made the mental connection to Kris in addition to the one I had to Leo.

“On the roof we were trying to look into the building through the hole in the roof but changing over power of the body went wrong and sent us falling into the hole only to get caught in a canopy. He recognized me somehow, I don’t know how and took me to an office where he had the cage. I was knocked out for a time but I don’t know how long. He gave me food and energy before his henchman arrived. He was very kind and it was all really strange. Did you catch him at least?"

Kris ground his teeth together then turned his back to me and Leo to stalk into the kitchen.

"He left us a note that you were being delivered and that we were too slow,” Leo explained.

"He's taunting me," Kris growled as he pounded a fist on the counter.

I flinched and Leo tucked me closer to him as if to protect me from Kris's rage.

"Why is he going around making a scene wherever he can in London? If he had stayed in the United States we could have let them handle his messes, but he had to come back to London and taunt me like we're kids again."

"He's trying to get you to do something," I sent mentally before I even really knew what I was saying.

Both men looked at me and waited for me to explain. The problem was that I didn't know what that something was; only that it had something to do with me.
"I don't know what it is. I don't even know how I know that. It was something that came out of me before I realized that I was saying it."

"We need to get your memories back," Leo sighed.

“We need to catch my brother and figure out what he knows about all of this.”

I hung my head, “I’m sorry that I keep messing it all up. I don’t know how to make it stop.”

Leo scooped me up in his arms and pushed up my chin gently so that I was looking him in the eyes. “This isn’t your fault and I need you to stop thinking that. You’re doing the best you can with the obstacles that have been put in front of you and I am so proud of how you’ve handled all this,” he sent mentally.

If I could have, I would have smiled at him. He made me feel safe and loved. I wanted the feeling to last forever but Kris was still there and he was grouchy about how his brother had gotten past us again.

In my mental space, I bit my lip nervously and made a decision. As long as I stayed near Leo, I could be brave. He would keep me safe and I trusted that.
“Send me out again,” I sent them both. “Not to go near anyone but to survey the city and see if I can find him again.”

“You were just shot. Maybe you should take it easy for a bit,” Leo tried.

“Can we trust you not to go after him this time,” Kris asked seriously. He really had only one thing on his mind.

I nodded. “I swear this would only be an observation. I know what I did wrong last time and I won’t get caught again. I won’t even get that close. I’ll just get you a location.”

Kris moved over to a window and opened it for me. “If I didn’t need him to quit causing me trouble so badly, you wouldn’t be going out at all,” he grumbled. “Don’t go anywhere near him and I expect to hear back from you in an hour or less. Is that understood?”

I flew over and perched on the window ledge so that I could give Kris a firm nod of agreement.

“He probably didn’t go far. Something or someone has him staying in the city,” I responded. “Leave this window open and I’ll come back here in an hour. I swear it.”
I swallowed the fear that had jumped into my throat at the thought of being captured by Kris’s brother again. He made me unsettled and nervous. I didn’t know why but I assumed that it had something to do with the way Kris felt about him. I wasn’t going that close though, I told myself as we hopped out the window and caught a gust of air that shot us into the air.

“Be careful,” Leo sent nervously.

“I can do this,” I returned, pushing the confidence that I was faking with it.

I flew high above the city in wide circles that felt wider still as I got closer to the tops of the buildings. I didn’t see anything out of place right away but I did see something strange going on in witch territory. I flew over the strange gathering and got distracted by the shiny objects that hung in the trees around the gathered witches. I landed in one of the trees and hid among the leaves to listen in on their conversation, thinking that they might be planning an attack of some kind but it was exactly the opposite and it wasn’t really a conversation at all. More like a well prepared and well written speech prepared by one someone I recognized from the group of elders.

“We can’t wait for it to happen here,” she spoke. “Orin already has vampires gathering in hidden locations around the city and our current protection will be no match for a turned witch. We saw what happened to Alizya’s granddaughter. How can we be sure that he doesn’t have more of them hidden somewhere?”

Orin? Like the Russian leader? What would he be doing in London and what did it have to do with the witches? What did she mean about what happened to me?
“If we leave now we might be able to save ourselves,” someone suggested.

“This is our home. I’m not leaving the ancestors!” someone else protested. “How would we practice without having them near?”

“This is not a time to panic, sisters!” the familiar one called above the din of women clucking out their concerns like chickens in a coupe. “We would make plans to unearth our ancestors and take them with us. That requires a vote from the elder council. With your help we could convince enough of the elders to allow this to happen and keep our families safe.”

“What about those who stay? Would you leave them defenseless?”

“They would have a choice to make. We can’t be burdened with those who choose to stay. We must think of our own at this time,” the leader responded with a stern face.

I may not have been a witch for very long but it seemed very out of place for her to be saying those things. Everything I had been taught was about preserving the collective and the community, not some kind of free-for-all because times were scary. The witches began to argue among themselves and I took that as a sign to leave. Alizya needed to know about what I had found but I would be good and go to Leo and Kris before I went to her.