Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) (28 page)

Let's worry about that when things are more stable.
I watched as Bill pulled Breanne against him and leaned in for a kiss.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

Bill asked me to go to bed with him. I wasn't going to turn him down. He had a lot on his plate and definitely needed a distraction. Did I mind being that distraction? Hell no. Bill always treated me like the most important thing in existence when I went to bed with him, and I was completely comfortable going to sleep and waking up in his arms. We had a long day scheduled for tomorrow, and Bill's bed might be the best place for both of us.

* * *

"This will be quite simple. We know where she'll be and when she'll be there. All we have to do is incapacitate her and bring her to Saxom and Moxas."

"Her child's school will be the perfect place for the abduction. V'ili, have you placed your obsessions?" Calhoun turned to the Sirenali.

"I have. If things go wrong, all you have to do is transport yourself away from the vehicle and leave the human driver and passenger to answer questions and take the blame."

"The Saa Thalarr all have an abnormally strong desire to save those who are weaker. V'ili, have the vehicle's driver aim for a child. You know she'll intervene, making this ridiculously simple for us," Acrimus said. "Our power is greater. Kiarra cannot resist when we pull her in."

* * *

Breanne's Journal

Two of Bill's extra agents brought in breakfast for us as we gathered around a huge kitchen island to eat. "Where are we going first?" I asked Bill. He and I rubbed elbows at the island as we ate a hurried meal and drank coffee from a local restaurant.

"There's a new school being built on the east side of Fresno," Bill said. "The only people there will be construction workers, and we've seen how they've been obsessed in the past. Easy enough to do and the enemy moves right in. The school swimming pool is already built, it just needs water."

I could see that Bill and Dan Kelsey had put a lot of thought into our search. A few old motels were also on the list, because they had swimming pools. Several very large homes with pools, which were empty and listed for sale were also targeted. Others were on the list, too—anything that might be big enough to hold part of Acrimus' army.

Somehow, I guessed that the General wasn't involved in this mission—he didn't care that Saxom or his brother might get what they wanted out of this. He only cared about having everything under his control. Acrimus realized that pacifying the Khos'Mirai and his brother might result in better information in the long term, and that was a frightening prospect.

* * *

Construction workers stood aside as we walked through the school an hour later. I put it to the sniff test, too. It was free of any scent of Sirenali or Janine. I shook my head at Bill as we stared at the empty swimming pool—the school moving into the new facility had a championship swim team, so the pool was regulation length to hold swim meets.

"Nothing here," Bill sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

"Slave," V'ili snapped, "test the water for me."

Janine stepped into the water at Shaver Lake and shuddered. "Cold," she said, closing her eyes and shivering.

"Then come in with me. You can keep me warm," V'ili said.

"Can't swim," Janine's voice was flat.

"Too bad. Perhaps I'll keep you alive if you endeavor to keep me warm."

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"We're coming up empty everywhere," Bill placed his cellphone on the table and shook his head at me. He was worried, that was plain enough to see. He'd gotten off the phone with Dan Kelsey after we'd stopped for lunch at a local restaurant.

"We're basing this on what we've seen in the past," Opal offered. She sat opposite me in the booth where we'd been seated by the restaurant hostess. Jayson sat beside her while I was seated next to Bill. The two extra agents had a table near the door so they could watch who came and went and guard Bill at the same time.

"What are you saying?" Bill turned to Opal.

"That we're assuming the Sirenali wants warm, clean saltwater to flex his gills. What if they want to throw us off? There are a couple of lakes near the mountains."

"What do you know about the Sirenali? Do they require saltwater?" Bill turned to me.

"I don't know," I shook my head. "But how hard would it be for a rogue god to add salt to a body of water? Especially if they wanted to mislead us?"

Bill lifted his phone and dialed Dan Kelsey. He answered right away. "Dan," Bill said, "How difficult would it be to get area lakes tested for salinity?"

"No problem," I heard Dan's reply. "I can get someone on it right away."

"Thanks, Dan," Bill said and ended the call. "I don't like this," he raked fingers through his hair in frustration.

* * *

Hank's Journal

"He asked Dan to get his people to check the salinity of area lakes," Trajan said. We'd watched as Dan answered a call from Bill. He'd walked away from us as he talked, but that didn't prevent Trajan from hearing the conversation. A werewolf could detect cellphone conversations from yards away.

"Then they're not finding anything either, and we're widening the search," I said.

"If they're camped at a local lake, that's an even bigger problem," Trajan said. "I wish we had more wolves—we could sniff around. Maybe pick up a trail."

"Would the Grand Master consider contacting the local Packs?" I turned to Trajan.

"Yeah. Let me get Winkler on the phone. I'll see what we can do."

In less than an hour, Weldon Harper had called for volunteers from the Fresno and Sacramento Packs and werewolves living in the lake areas were already on their way. Dan Kelsey blinked at the efficiency of the Grand Master and offered his thanks as soon as Trajan gave him the information.

* * *

Fresno, California

Adam's Journal

I was supervising a local construction job, so I'd gone home for lunch. When Kiarra's cellphone rang, I looked up from the chicken tetrazzini she'd made to listen in. She seldom got calls and hated the phone. She only kept it because I asked.

"Hi, Martin, what's up?" she said when Martin Walters identified himself.

"Can you pick Mack up from school when you go for Justin?" Martin asked. "I have an emergency job up at Shaver Lake this afternoon."

Martin built custom cabinets for businesses and wealthy clients. He was good with his hands and his work was excellent. It didn't surprise me that someone might be calling from that area—there were plenty of nice cabins on Shaver Lake.

"Sure, Martin. Justin will love it if Mack comes home with us."

"I'll pick him up later, after this job is done," Martin said. "Thanks, Anna. I owe you."

Everybody in Fresno knew Kiarra as Anna. She'd used that name when we first met, and it was a good disguise while we lived in Fresno. I'd changed my last name to match that of my alter ego—Griffin. It was one of the disadvantages of being Saa Thalarr—you had to hide behind a mask most of the time.

"I'll pick up fried chicken for dinner—Mack loves fried chicken," Kiarra sighed as she placed the cell back in her purse.

"Have I told you lately how much I appreciate the fact that you'll cook or serve meat for the rest of us, when you don't eat it?" I asked.

"Adam, it's a choice. I'm not gonna lose it if you, Justin and Mack have fried chicken for dinner."

"What if other vegetarians picket our house?" I grinned at her.

"Don't even start," she held up a hand.

"Come here, sweetheart." I reached for her.

"After you finish your lunch," she said.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

The Grand Master was sending werewolves to the area lakes to sniff around and report anything unusual back to him. Dan had experts on the way to test the water for salt. We had an old motel to visit in the Fresno heat.

"That looks unsanitary," Jayson muttered as we walked up to the abandoned motel. It looked as if it had melted and rusted shortly after it was built in the 1960s. The sign bore an arrow beneath the word "Motel," which pointed toward the building. All the bulbs were broken or missing in the arrow's lights, and parts of it had rusted away.

The office was tiny; the glass walls making up a corner of it were so scratched and filthy you could barely see through them. The inside was impossibly worse. I couldn't imagine anyone hiding inside—except perhaps rodents, cockroaches and crickets.

Nevertheless, we went through each of the sixteen rooms attached, plus the pool area. "They can't possibly hope to renovate this; their only hope is to bulldoze it," Opal grumbled as we stared at the bottom of the pool, where weeds struggled to survive between narrow cracks and only a hint of peeling blue paint remained.

"It's been on the market for four years," Bill said, consulting the notes on his cellphone. "No offers."

"I can see why," Jayson said. He wore expensive sunglasses to protect his eyes, but the shake of his head reflected my feelings about this one—it was an eyesore and needed to be destroyed immediately.

"Do you think it'll petrify if they leave it?" Bill joked.

"It's there already," Opal said.

* * *

"I will go to the school and wait in disguise," Ferrigar informed Connegar. "If you will monitor the microscopic cameras in the vehicle from here, I will protect the child while you watch Kiarra."

"Of course," Connegar inclined his head. The other two Larentii had left to feed so they could take the evening shift. So far, the work had been uneventful. Ferrigar folded away.

* * *

Ashe's Journal

Up to now, we'd found nothing. There was no word from the werewolves searching the area lakes and Dan Kelsey's people were on their way to test for water salinity. Everything was taking time, and I felt in my heart that time had somehow slipped away from us. A heavy weight settled on my mind and I couldn't shake the feeling that something could go horribly wrong at any moment.

"I'm getting a bad feeling all of a sudden," Sali walked up beside me and spoke softly.

"Me, too, Sal," I nodded. "I just don't know what it might mean. Too much is shielded or hidden by that weird talent the Sirenali have, and that worries me. It tells me they're here, and I'm afraid our time may be running out to find them."

"Have we heard anything from the Larentii? They're still guarding Kiarra, aren't they?"

"Yeah. No word yet, so I'll assume that means nothing is happening on that front. Who knows what may happen? It could all be a trap, and we just haven't realized it, yet."

* * *

Hank's Journal

Something sounded an internal alarm in my mind, and I couldn't determine what it might be. I sent mindspeech to Ashe, who replied immediately.

Something's wrong
, he agreed.
I just can't get to the root of it.

Sirenali and rogue gods
, I returned. My mental voice sounded as angry as I felt. The feeling became stronger that we were all in danger and I didn't like it. I had the urge to find Breanne and carry her away to the farthest habitable reaches of the universes.

We can't back down, now
, Ashe cautioned. Somehow, he'd known how I might react to extreme danger—especially if Breanne were involved. I never wanted to feel her broken, unresponsive body beneath my hand again.

I won't back down
, I said. Smoke curled away from my nostrils at the sending.
I only worry for Breanne.

I worry for her, too—and all the others. What can we do? We can't run every time things get dangerous
.

Breanne didn't run last time. You know how that ended.

I know
.
We weren't with her—remember that.

I remember that all too well
, I snarled mentally while more smoke floated away.

* * *

Father, where are you?
Kalenegar sent mindspeech to Ferrigar.

I am at the child's school in disguise, waiting for Kiarra to arrive,
Ferrigar replied.

How are you disguised, father?

As a child. It seems appropriate, as this is a school for young humans. Why do you ask?

The Mighty Hand grows agitated.
That cannot be a good sign
, Kalenegar replied.

Can you determine a reason? All seems calm here at the moment.

Father, we cannot read the Mighty. Unless I ask, there is no way to determine a cause.

Then keep watching for further signs and keep me informed, unless you wish to ask questions.

Father, I care for you. You make that extremely difficult at times.