May took the items out of the bag—the tincture, the sage spray, the Merkabah quartz, and then a porcelain urn that had a lovely green dragonette painted on the front. She set the urn on the coffee table as Faron wandered in. I glanced at him, but by his expression, he had been listening in. He took the bag from May when she finished, then retreated to the kitchen.

  May motioned for me to sit beside her. “This won’t be pleasant, but it will allow you to focus.” She picked up the Merkabah stone—spraying it with the sage spray. “Now stretch your arms out to the side and hold them steady.”

  I did as she asked, closing my eyes. “I’m ready.”

  May sprayed me down with the sage spray, then said, “Open your mouth. I need to drop this tincture on your tongue.”

  I did as she asked. As the tincture hit my tongue, it was as though I’d been supercharged with rocket fuel. I spiraled up, soaring as though I’d taken a hit of acid that immediately hit my core. I kept my hands out, but felt like one of those pictures of a meditator sitting there, in the lotus position, half out of their body.

  I started to speak but the words that came out of my mouth sounded a million miles away and I wasn’t sure if I’d actually said anything.

  “Can you hear me?” May asked, from a million miles away.

  I tried to nod, not trusting my tongue to actually behave and follow instructions.

  “Listen to me carefully. You’re experiencing the power of the tincture. It’s helping you to connect to your oversoul. From there, you’ll be able to work out on the web. I’m going to place a crystal in your hand. I want you to try to keep grounded when I do—it’s imperative you not let yourself fly until I give you the go-ahead.” Her voice was commanding, and once again, I nodded, hoping that I had actually done so.

  The next moment, she placed a crystal in my hand and I knew it was the Merkabah stone. It felt pointy, and a cold, ethereal beam of energy began to emanate from every point on the star-carved stone. The force surged through me, lifting me even further away from my body and the world around me. I was sitting in the middle of a star-studded field, swirling round and round as though I were on some crazy carnival ride, like the Octopus or the Spider. I wanted to let go, to allow the energy to send me wherever it wanted, but May’s instructions were still in my thoughts, so I held on, doing my best to keep still as the field of stars spun around me.

  “I’m now going to place a counter stone in your other hand. This will help guide the quest. When you feel it, you can let go and let the journey take you.” May’s voice sounded so far away now, but she still echoed in my ears and I grabbed her words before they flew by unheard.

  The next moment, she placed a smooth palm stone in my other hand. This one felt heavy, weighing me down to allow me to focus. I felt my body begin to ground at a midpoint between flying off and crashing back to earth.

  I took a deep breath and realized I could hear the sounds in the room again. “I’m grounded.”

  “Good,” May said. “Keep your eyes closed.”

  I knew from experience that I was in a very suggestible state, but I trusted May and Bran, and my Grams was here to watch over me.

  “I want you to find the thread that bonds you to Fancypants. Can you see it?”

  I looked around—on the astral—and realized I could see thousands of strands connecting people, connecting events, connecting everything in the universe. A handful shimmered with a familiar sparkle. As I reached out to touch them, I discovered they were mine. And among those that stood out as belonging to me, one in particular had a reddish hue. I touched it and immediately Fancypants flooded to mind. This was my bond with him.

  “I found it,” I whispered. “I found our bond. Please don’t make me cut it.”

  “I’m not going to—but I need you to take the energy that I’m going to filter through you, and coat the strand. It will quiet the energy and you’ll be able to focus.”

  I licked my lips, nodding, as May connected to my aura and began streaming in a pale gray cloud of mist. I didn’t want to accept it, but I knew she was just trying to help both Fancypants and me. As I accepted the energy and began to coat the strand with it, the connection to my dragonette started to fade into the background. Heartsick, I continued on, dampening the connection until—after a few minutes—I no longer felt him. I could see the thread binding us together, but the bond was thoroughly suppressed.

  A moment later, I let out a long sigh and May withdrew her energy. She talked me out of trance, and as I opened my eyes, I realized that my face was covered with tears.

  “I miss him,” I said, bereft.

  “Well, now we focus on rescuing him. They’ll be keeping him sedated, so it will be hard to follow his energy signature, anyway,” she said.

  Grams crossed to sit beside me. She gave me a hug. “We’ll find him, Elphyra. We’ll do everything we can.”

  I pressed my lips together, unable to say anything.

  “What next?” Bran asked.

  “Can you call Bree?” I asked. “I’d like her here.”

  “I’m on it,” he said.

  “Let’s have some tea while we wait for Daisy and Bree.” Grams helped me to my feet and led me toward the kitchen.

  “I’ll be right there,” May said, packing up her things again.

  As we gathered in the kitchen, Faron set the table with tea mugs, and a plate of cookies.

  Bran returned. “Daisy will be right out. She said that there have been a couple of other disappearances in the area that are worrying her.” He sat down. “You want me to call Bree?”

  I nodded. Bree was my best friend. “Please. She’s good at tracking, given her job.” Bree owned a wilderness tour guide company, leading people into the Olympics on all levels of expeditions.

  “How are you doing?” Faron asked, sitting beside me. He took my hand.

  I shook my head. “I can’t talk about it. I’ll break down.” The lack of Fancypants’s gentle mind touch made the loss seem even harder, though I did have to admit that my head had cleared. But the loss felt even more keen. I turned to May. “How did you get through losing Melda?”

  She let out a long sigh, staring at her mug. “I’m not sure how to answer that. How do you get through any loss that cuts bone deep? You never fully do, but you learn how to live with it.” She paused, then gave me a long look. “You understand what I’m talking about.”

  I nodded. “The Butcher…” A wave of sadness swept over me. Rian had been my fiancé, and a vampire who dined on inflicting pain, who lived for destroying lives, had forced me to watch him torture and murder my love. In a way, I had envied Rian. He had died in pain, but he had escaped. I had been locked in a prison, doomed to remember that night, doomed to relive it whenever my brain decided to drag it out in front of me.

  “You learn to let it go, though it never truly vanishes. But in time, the loss becomes a bittersweet memory, and you cry and then you go on with life.” May stood, kissing me on the top of the head. “But we’ll do our best to make sure Fancypants comes home.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered. She was right. Rian would forever haunt my dreams, but I managed to make it through the nights now, with fewer nightmares. And I’d found love again with two men who doted on me.

  At that moment, the doorbell rang, and Bran answered. Daisy was here, and I hoped to hell she’d be able to help us figure out what was going on.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Daisy Parker, a puma shifter, was tall, and she moved with the grace of a big cat—sure-footed and with conscious intent. She had blonde hair with tiger stripes, caught back in a braid, and hazel eyes. She was built for speed and strength, and she made a good leader. Daisy wasn’t ever going to fall for a bribe.

  She entered the kitchen behind Bran, giving me a little wave. “Hey, folks. What have we got going on tonight?”

  “Sit,” I said, motioning to the chair opposite me.

  Daisy settled into the chair and pulled out her notebook. “What’s going on? I know I’m not here for a dinner party.” She was also very down-to-business.

  “Fancypants has been kidnapped,” I said. “Somebody broke in and stole him away today.”

  Daisy sighed. “So Bran said. Crap. Here’s the thing, Elphyra. We’ve had several disappearances in the past week. I’m scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow about them. Two wolf-shifter women were snatched off the streets, several familiars have been catnapped, and now Fancypants.”

  I blinked. “Someone kidnapped two shifters and several familiars as well? Do you think it’s the same person?”

  “Possibly. And the familiars were definitely magical—they weren’t just ordinary cats. I’ve talked to several of the surrounding towns. It looks like we may have a group of poachers coming through.” She frowned. “Damned assholes. They’re getting more and more brazen.”

  “Does this happen often?” Grams asked.

  “Too often. I’m sure it happens over in Scotland, as well. There’s a worldwide demand for exotic sex slaves and animals. And your dragonette,” Daisy said to me, “fits that category.”

  “Do you think they’re still around?” I asked.

  “They usually don’t move on until they have a full catalog, but it depends on the group. I’m expecting a few more attempts, unless they suspect we’re onto them.” She motioned to Grams’s tea mug. “Mind if I have a cup? It’s been a long day.”

  “Of course,” Faron said, hopping up to make more tea.

  “I managed to talk to Fancypants before they sedated him,” I said. “He mentioned two men and a green van.”

  “Green van?” Daisy straightened. “One of the shifter women’s family mentioned they saw a green van hanging around for a couple days before she vanished. They noticed it after it had parked near their house for several days in a row.”

  “Are you telling the public about that?” Bran asked.

  Daisy shook her head. “No. I don’t want to alert the poachers. Okay, tell me what happened. Mind if I record this?”

  I shook my head, and after she set up the digital recorder, I told her everything that had happened. I also told her about the bond and how poachers often tried to sever it, to re-bond the dragonette to a new owner.

  “People can be so fucking cruel.” Daisy shook her head. “We’ll do our best to find whoever did it,” she added, turning off the recorder. “I’ll be in touch. I’d say don’t put yourself in danger by hunting for him, but I know you. Just be cautious and try not to tip them off.” She gathered her things. “I’ll talk to you as soon as I hear anything. Stay strong.”

  As May saw her to the door, I glanced at Bran. “Green van…any contacts at the DMV?”

  He shook his head. “No, and it wouldn’t help. There must be thousands of green vans in the country, and chances are They’re not from this area. I’ve heard of these gangs before. They travel through smaller towns, grabbed their victims, and move on before they can be caught. They tend to have their headquarters in much bigger cities. Usually, international ones. Like Seattle, which is an international hub.”

  The doorbell rang again, and this time Grams went. She returned with Bree, who hurried over to give me a hug.

  “I came as soon as I heard. Are you all right? Have you talked to the sheriff?” With Bree, the questions came fierce and fast.

  “Yeah, we just finished talking to Daisy. Apparently, several shifter women and familiars have also been kidnapped. It sounds like a gang of poachers.” I shivered. I knew what was going to happen to those women. There were any number of depraved men — and some depraved women — out there, willing to pay good money to feed their fantasies.

  “Well, whatever you need me to do, I’m here.” Bree was such a good friend. We didn’t always have a lot of time to hang out, but we did our best. And she had seen me through Rian’s death, helping to convince me to move to Starlight Hollow from Port Townsend.

  “I just want to go out and start hunting down green vans,” I said. “If they’re not locals, then won’t it be more obvious? They’re bound to have a license plate that isn’t from around here.” I hated just sitting around, it always made me feel so helpless.

  “That’s not the best idea,” Grams said.

  “Have you got any better?” I challenged her.

  With an exasperated sigh, she set down her mug. “I know very well that you’re stronger than you used to be. You have my insistence on good food and the gym to thank for that. But there are lots of bigger and badder people in the world, and they aren’t going to be swayed by your tears or your loneliness. Fancypants’s best chance is for us to let the police do what they need to do.”

  “I’m not sure I agree with that,” Faron said. “Too often, the cops come along too late and don’t get there until something tragic has happened. I’ll tell you what. I’ll go out and scout out the bars and hotel parking lots. Starlight Hollow isn’t that big of a town. We only have a handful of taverns and a couple of hotels.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Bran said. “I’ll go with you. We won’t stay out too late.”

  “I can’t. I have a new job and I can’t stay out to early morning like I used to.” Faron pushed back his chair and stood. “Do you want to come with me?” He asked, turning to me. “If Bree wants to come along, she can ride with Bran.”

  Despite Grams and May interjecting with their disapproval, Bree and I headed out toward the cars. I settled in the passenger seat with Faron, while Bree rode with Bran. As we pulled out of the driveway, all I could focus on was that Fancypants couldn’t feel me with him, and I was terrified that he’d think I’d abandoned him.

  Starlight Hollow was far from even a good size small town. With about 3000 inhabitants, the stores tended to roll up the sidewalks at night, and except for the supermarkets, restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, most of the town was closed by 7 PM. There may have been one or two big-box stores that were open past then, but I wasn’t going to bet my savings on it.

  As Faron drove, I tried to sit back and relax. While he had an SUV, he liked to drive his 1977 Ford Mustang. I didn’t care much about cars, except whether the vehicle could get me from one point to another, but Faron had a passion for old cars and he belonged to a car club that met once a month to discuss rebuilding scrap vehicles. He had grown a lot since being kicked out of his position as king a month ago. Now, he was no longer stifled by the title.

  While he dressed the same, he had modified his spending, and had dropped just about every required meeting that he had had with the pack. “If they’re not going to let me be their king, I’m not about to be their lackey,” he had said. After resigning from the Pack, he’d been more relaxed than I had ever seen him.

  I knew he still missed his brother, and he regretted failing his ex-wife, as he saw it. But she was dead now, and there was nothing he could do to resolve the issue. Unfortunately, I doubted his brother would ever revive their relationship. He hadn’t wanted to be king in the first place, but once he took over from Faron, he seemed to take his responsibilities on as deep of a level as Faron had taken them. And that meant going no contact with his brother.

  “We will find him,” Faron said.

  “I wish I felt as confident as you sound,” I said. “Knowing that he could be auctioned off to the highest bidder makes me sick to my stomach. It will kill him, Faron. Dragonette’s can’t be re-bonded, not if their original witch is still alive. This will drive Fancypants mad.”

  “Don’t give up so easy,” he said. “You’ve never been a quitter. And I’m not going to let you give up on Fancypants now.”

  I nodded, staring out the window as we came to the Blackened Kettle Tavern. It wasn’t a place that I’d ever go willingly. For one thing, it attracted a lot of lowlifes. For another, it reminded me of the tavern in which Rian and I had gotten drunk before we staggered home and had met the Butcher. As we pulled into the parking lot, I began to scan the cars. There were several vans, but none of them were green under the glow of our headlights. There was one that was silver, but it had a company name printed on it and I recognized the business. It belonged to a cleaning company. Another was white, and another red. But neither of them could be mistaken for green. The rest of the vehicles were cars or motorcycles.

  “Who the hell rides a motorcycle in snow?” I asked.

  Faron shrugged. “An idiot, I suppose.”

  “There aren’t any vans here that look even remotely the one Fancypants described.”

  After a few minutes, we had scoured the parking lot and the one next to it. Finding nothing, we pulled back onto the street and moved on.

  Bran called me half an hour later to report that he and Bree had no better luck than we had been having. We agreed to meet at a new diner that had opened up — Elsie’s. It was near the north end of town, leading out toward the highway on the peninsula. As we parked, I glanced over the outside of the structure.

  The diner seemed bright and sparkly, compared to a lot of the buildings around. As we entered the door, the light almost hurt my eyes. I blinked, my eyes trying to adapt.

  Elsie met us herself, or so it seemed by her nametag. She seemed to be around 30, with tidy brunette hair tucked back in a braid. She was pretty, in a simple way, but her eyes were bright and she seemed pleased to see us.

  “Would you folks like a booth or a table? We’re pretty open tonight.”

  “A booth, please,” Bran said.

  Elsie let us to a booth in the corner, where I scooted in to sit at the back, while Bran sat to my left, and Faron and Bree sat to my right. Elsie brought over four menus and poured our water as we open to them.

  “Everything looks good,” I said, scanning over the menu. It was one of those menus with pictures of the food on it, but the pictures were well done and everything looked mouthwatering. It was standard diner fair, but Elsie had a sparkle about her, and I predicted she was going to do well with her restaurant.