“How did you know?”

  Molly gave him a sweet smile and rested her head against the seat of the car. “Malek, I have known you a very long time. I’m surprised I didn’t pick up on it sooner, but I have repressed my own abilities for decades. I’m sorry to admit, I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Malek gripped her hand tightly in his. “I haven’t been bound that long.”

  “I figured it out when we cleansed Faye. I had to use far more magic than you did yet you grew far weaker than me.”

  “You had help recovering.”

  A flush tinged Molly’s cheeks. He wasn’t wrong. She did have help, but that still didn’t mean she was wrong either. “Either way, you were not up to your full abilities.”

  “You’re right.”

  “What did you do to deserve your magical binding?”

  Malek drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You know the fold. Any little thing against them and they take it as an affront.”

  “Sometimes.” Molly squeezed his fingers back. “What was it this time?”

  He shook his head. “I’d rather not say.”

  “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

  “They made me a deal.”

  Molly glanced out at the troll before staring into Malek’s cold blue eyes. “Bring me back and receive your magic in return?”

  He nodded.

  Snorting, Molly nodded her chin. “They never took kindly to my leaving.”

  “They didn’t. You could return, but only if you want to. I don’t want to force you into anything for my sake.”

  “Maybe one day you will release him. Until then, he will remain in his prison.” Molly stared out at the troll. Her phone buzzed, but she ignored it. “Tell me how the fold has changed.”

  “They haven’t. At least, not much. We’re smaller.”

  “Reina?”

  “She misses you dearly.”

  “I miss her, too.” Molly’s eyes crinkled at the corners. If anyone was a mentor for her magic outside of Malek, it had been Reina. The two of them had spent hours together as she’d refined her skills. Though when Reina had found out Molly was in turn teaching Pearl, the upset afterward was beyond anything she had expected.

  “What if I help you find who is making this drug, will you release him then?”

  “Why are you so eager for me to release him?”

  Malek didn’t answer right away. He stared across the street at the statue under the bridge. He spoke toward the window, not turning to face her. “I know what it’s like to live in a lifetime prison. You got out, Molly. I stayed in for your sake.”

  She mulled over the comment. There may very well be some truth to what he’d said, but she still knew he held back. The fold had to want her back for a reason. It wasn’t to be matched to him. They had all the time in the universe for that. Something else was happening, something he hadn’t even begun to share.

  “I will consider that.”

  “Then let’s find us a drug lord.”

  Molly smiled at his grin before reaching for her phone. She read the text from Joel and her eyes lit up. “Seems like we may have a lead.”

  “Oh?”

  Handing the phone over to him, Molly put the car into gear and drove toward the club.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  As soon as Ben realized everyone was out of the house, he snuck down to his work area and booted up the computer. He sat on his stool, and he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was just showing back up. After sleeping on and off for the day and a half since his seizure, he couldn’t stand to be in bed any longer.

  Joel had given him the heads up they were leaving, but when Molly had walked by with Malek and talked about taking him out of the house, Ben couldn’t let the opportunity pass up. The computer screen came to life, and he input his passwords to get into the systems. Triple checking to make sure Molly, Faye, and Joel were truly out of the house, Ben let out a sigh of relief. The list of chemicals Molly had left him at least a week ago still sat next to his work station.

  He should have been working on that instead of skittering around the house like a shifter on steroids. He started searching through each and every one of them and was surprised when results popped up within seconds of entering the data. Narrowing his gaze, Ben leaned forward to look up and down the reports.

  “Faye.” He smiled and shook his head.

  The electronic signature she made sure to leave on everything was plain and clear, though he’d be the only other one in the house to know to even look for it. Chuckling, Ben read the reports to get caught up on how far she’d gotten, which hadn’t been that far at all. It had seemed she’d done enough to keep him in Molly’s good graces but no more.

  “Figures.”

  Typing away at the keyboard, Ben started new searches up. He needed to find some answers for Molly, and for Joel. He’d seen the way everything had been weighing on him lately, and he’d been a crap boyfriend in hardly paying attention. Ben had been so wrapped up in his own shifting abilities that he forgot other people had problems too.

  He pulled his feet up onto the middle rung of his stool, leaning over to stare at the computer screen as he made progress on a job he should have already done. He combined some of the chemicals, worked to try and figure out where they could be made and what type of environment would be needed. Molly would have been helpful for those questions, but since he wasn’t supposed to be working on it and she was up to something with Malek, he ignored the easy way out as best he could.

  The grunting over his shoulder scared the shit out of him. Ben jerked with a start and spun around to find Amachon glaring at him.

  “What?” Ben said innocently. “I felt bad. Not bad sick, bad as in guilty.”

  Amachon grunted again. “Find anything?”

  “Found Faye came in here and did some work, which is astounding.” Ben rolled his eyes. “She didn’t do much but enough.”

  “Find anything new?”

  Ben shook his head slowly. “Not yet. Where did Molly go?”

  “Lamek.”

  “Who’s Lamek?”

  Amachon’s large hand clasped over Ben’s shoulder. “Troll.”

  “Oh. He has a name?”

  “Apparently.” Amachon pointed at the computer screen. “What’s that?”

  Ben shifted to look at the screen, his eyes widening. “That, my friend, is a lead.”

  He clicked through several screens, following the search as every muscle in his body tensed with anticipation. Amachon stayed close by as he shifted through the raw data. Chemicals, locations, people. Ben got to one more screen and drew in a sharp breath.

  “Did Molly suspect anyone?” Ben asked.

  “Trolls.”

  “She may be right, still.”

  “She does not suspect them anymore.”

  “Really?” Ben turned with eyes wide. “She may want to reconsider that.”

  “Why?”

  Pointing at the computer screen, Ben nearly bounced out of his chair with excitement. “This right here.”

  “Says what? I don’t read computer.”

  “So this is two of the chemicals she gave me on this list that would make up the basics of the drug. Not the part that makes you crazy, apparently. But combining them together, you get this sort of weird chemical thing. I don’t know what it’s called.”

  “Compound.”

  “Right, chemical compound. That has been purchased recently and sent here.”

  “To where?”

  Ben flushed. “Trolls.”

  “They live underground and are xenophobic.”

  Turning with a sharp glare, Ben shook his head. “They’re not xenophobic. They’re isolationist, which is why this does make sense. They don’t like other Tainted or humans, so it stands to make sense they would want get rid of them.”

  “Humans, not Tainted. They only don’t like witches because of Molly.”

  Ben snorted. “That’s fair.”

  Grunting in Ben’s direction, Amachon got Ben’s attention. “Why trolls? You haven’t answered that.”

  “A few years ago, when Faye told me about her troll friend, whatever his name was, I got curious about trolls and started to put searches out for them. I wanted to know how many more of them we had in the city, well, under the city. Which surprisingly they live in a city of their own, did you know that? It’s like a whole city under this city, like we’re built right on top of it.”

  Amachon squeezed Ben’s shoulder tight.

  “All right, back on topic. They have drop points for supplies they get from the surface. They’re not as isolationist as they make it out to be, but since the troll has been on the surface, they’ve started to emerge from under ground a little more. One of the drop points is where this chemical was sent.”

  “Where is it?”

  “With the troll on the surface.”

  Amachon grunted. “Call Molly.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s there now.”

  “Oh, yeah, right.” Ben grabbed for his phone and fumbled with it for a few seconds before he managed to get it open to Molly’s name. He dialed her and put the phone to his ear but turned to Amachon while he waited for Molly to answer. “I have no idea who’s running the stuff though.”

  “She’ll find out.”

  “You sure? I doubt the trolls are actually coming to the surface, and the one stuck here isn’t going anywhere. So who do they trust to run things to them?” As soon as he asked the question, he knew he had an answer, at least a partial answer. Faye. They would trust her because Lamek trusted her. But she hadn’t mentioned anything about trolls.

  When Molly didn’t answer, he hung up and dialed again. He shook his head at Amachon when he sent her a questioning look.

  “I’ll keep trying.”

  “Good.” Amachon clapped Ben on the shoulder and shifted out of the room silently.

  Ben stared after him as Molly’s phone once again went to voicemail. He tried Joel, and then Faye, and then Molly again, but the result was the same. No one was answering. Pouting at being left behind on a mission again, Ben continued his research, trying Molly’s phone at every opportunity he got.

  ###

  Faye pushed her way through the throng of drugged up people and to the door. Slipping behind it, she locked it tight and let out a sigh of relief when she turned to find it empty. The drug was hitting her system, though it wasn’t near as effective as it had once been, meaning she was building up resistance to it and she hadn’t had that much to drink. She’d never finished hers, and Joel hadn’t even bothered to get one.

  The room she found herself in was a storage room, one she hadn’t been in before. Lights flickered above her, but her superior eyes adjusted rapidly. She was alone, but she swore she had seen Joel go through that door, or rather be half-dragged through it. Fumbling around, Faye moved aside boxes and crates of supplies, trying to find an exit other than the door she hadn’t looked away from as soon as she’d seen it shut.

  Her heart raced with fear. She couldn’t lose him. Ben would kill her. Or try to. Molly would actually kill her. Faye flung aside one more crate and froze. A door in the floor, wooden, like it had been there for centuries. She bent down to the small circular hole in it and dipped her finger inside. Pulling the wooden square up, she dropped it to the side. It was pitch black below, and as much as she wanted to send a shoot of electricity down to see how far down it went, she didn’t want to tell them she was there, whoever they were.

  Faye put her boot through and found the first rung on the ladder. Joel was probably shoved down it, so it couldn’t be that far down. Drawing in a deep breath, Faye lowered herself down. As soon as her head was below the surface of the floor above, silence reverberated as if she was in a bubble. The noises from the club were completely gone, and the only thing she knew of that could cause that was magic.

  Faye kept climbing down, her heart racing and her feet steady on the rungs of the ladder. It was farther than she’d originally thought, but when her boots touched solid ground, she turned around, her eyes adjusting to the dark. She was alone in a long hallway, one she suspected mimicked the sewer lines above her from their length and depth.

  She hadn’t had time to research it, but she suspected the trolls had built their own city mimicked on the one above, one that was a mirror image on a grander scale to accommodate their large size. This would be a sewer line, although it wouldn’t have actual use because trolls weren’t human or disgusting.

  Faye stepped down the long stone hall. She kept her lips closed as she waited to see if she could hear or see anything to indicate where Joel might have been taken. She’d spent more time below the surface of the city than she’d ever wanted to. Following the line of hall, Faye stopped when she came to a door. It was metal, curved like it had been made specifically for that space, or stolen from a similar space.

  With no other sight of a door, Faye gritted her teeth as she twisted the large circular handle in the center of the door and creaked it open. It was anything but silent, and if they were watching and waiting for her, no doubt would she just have given away her position.

  Stepping through, Faye found herself in the heart of what she could only call troll-city. The buildings were huge. She hadn’t realized how far underground she was, but the stonework was magnificent. Faye scrunched her nose as she tried to follow Joel’s scent, but everything was so clean and pure that it was washed away the moment she stepped through.

  She and Malek must have only been on the outskirts of the city or even nowhere near it when they’d been down there. She stared in awe at the world before her she’d never expected to see. Trolls moved easily and confidently as she stayed put and tired to figure out where the hell she was supposed to go next.

  Hiding behind a building, Faye pressed up against the white marble base and looked from side to side. She was just about to step forward after making a decision when she had to press back against the wall as a troll walked by. Crouching, Faye tried to hide, but there was nothing except the wall to conceal her.

  The troll stopped short in its walk, then bent down, sniffing her. The long face eyed her carefully. Faye straightened her spine as she stood up, putting her hands on her hips. If she was going to have to face the trolls, she would do it without looking back. After all, Lamek was her friend, maybe that would get her a bit farther than she’d originally thought.

  The giant troll wrinkled its nose at her, its nose that was at least twice her size. “You are old blood.”

  “I am.” Faye swallowed, the conversation very reminiscent of the first one she’d had with Lamek all those years ago when she was looking for a witch before she met Molly officially. Faye stood her ground, curious as to where this was going and how far it would take her.

  “Come with me.” The troll lowered its large hand out.

  Faye climbed on, sitting cross-legged. She hoped she was making the right decision and wasn’t giving herself up for death. The troll straightened, its hand remaining perfectly even to carry Faye.

  “I am Titsui.”

  “I’m Faye.”

  “Lamek’s friend.”

  “Yeah.” Faye gave a small smile. At least they were still calling her friend. “Have you seen my friend? Joel?”

  Titsui nodded. “I shall take you to him.”

  “Oh good.” The question gnawing at her from the inside out was ready to burst forth. Faye tried to channel Molly and not ask, but she couldn’t resist. “Did you take him?”

  “No. We saved him.”

  “I thought you didn’t like other Tainted.”

  “Humans. Tainted we like.”

  “But not witches?”

  “No.”

  Faye nodded. Titsui walked slowly, but for every step she took, she encompassed at least ten times the distance Faye could manage in her human form with that time. She was brought to the center of the city and from Titsui’s height, she was afforded a beautiful view of the architecture and buildings around her.

  Titsui stopped and settled Faye on the ground. She pointed at a building and opened the door for Faye. Together they walked inside. As soon as Faye saw the light, which she hadn’t been able to figure out where it was coming from, and the corner of the room, she ran. Joel stood up with a start, his eyes wide as he stared at her.

  “Thank God you’re here!” Joel stated as she reached him.

  “You’re okay?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know what happened.”

  Faye drew in a sharp breath and turned to Titsui who followed them in. “Can you tell us what happened?”

  Titsui nodded and moved to sit cross legged in the center of the large floor. Faye grabbed Joel’s hand, and they walked forward together. Faye climbed up Titsui’s leg to sit on her lap, making Joel come with her. The trolls had never been anything but kind to her, and Titsui seemed to be following in that line.

  “Your friend was taken.”

  “I know that.” Faye smiled. “Who took him? Why did they take him? How did you even know about it?”

  Titsui held up a large palm to stop Faye. “Lamek has told us about you and your questions.”

  Flushing, Faye turned her chin up. “Then you know I have a lot of them and I don’t leave without answers.”

  “Yes. Your friend was taken because of the witch.”

  “Because he works for her?” Faye shot Joel a look, hoping he’d stay quiet.

  Titsui nodded. “This drug, it kills.”

  “I know. We’ve seen it.”

  “We are trying to stop it. It takes time and is difficult when we do not dwell on the surface.”

  Faye clenched her jaw. She knew from Lamek that interrupting with another question would only slow down the process, but she wanted answers already. Joel sent her calming waves of emotion, which she silently thanked him for. She had a feeling Titsui was far higher in rank, whatever rank the trolls had, than Lamek or even the last few trolls she’d run into. Titsui’s language was clearer and more precise, though she still spoke slowly.

  “We use Tainted to collect the drug and bring it here.”

  “Then what do you do with it?” Joel asked.