Lukas and I step out of the bar with Roxy trotting faithfully at our heels, her ears flicking in every direction like she’s ready to take off the moment we do. The street’s quiet, unusually still, like the city is holding its breath. And parked right out front, clearly waiting for us to come out, is Cole in his ghostly taxi. He leans out the window the moment he sees us, brows drawn low in suspicion.
“Why is everyone meeting here all of a sudden?” He asks, eyes scanning the groups of people leaving the bar.
“What’s going on?” He demands. I fight the urge to wince. I REALLY don’t want to be the one to tell him we lost his nephew. Lukas, thankfully, is better with delivering bad news, he even phrases it better.
“Wren escaped the bar.” He says evenly.
“Everyone here is part of the search party to find him.” He adds. Okay, technically not a lie. Just… A much nicer way to present reality. Cole stares at him, then at me, and his expression darkens. His face goes pale, well, paler, and for a moment I think he might vanish entirely.
“He got out!?” He repeats, horrified. I nod, wincing.
“That demon deal magic is no joke. He figured out a way to slip past the wards… And he took it.” I can’t help but sigh. Frustration twists in my gut. Damn it Wren! Okay so I’m not actually mad at Wren, not really. At Solem. At us for not catching the signs sooner. For letting this happen.
“I want to help.” Cole says quickly.
“I NEED to help. But I can’t go far from the taxi. You know how it is…” His voice trails off and he glances away, clearly irritated by his limitations. It’s not like he doesn’t want to do more, he just can’t. I soften.
“Do you have any idea where Solem might be?” I ask.
“Anywhere you’ve tailed him or his men to before?” I say hopefully. Cole shakes his head slowly, his expression crumpling.
“No… I don’t,” he says miserably. I nod, already flipping through alternate options.
“Okay. Then see if any of the teams heading out need a ride. You can partner up with someone, stick with the car and be their getaway driver if things go sideways.” I tell him. Just as I say it, another voice cuts in from the side.
“Is there someone else here looking for a buddy?” Someone asks. I turn and spot Jackson, the werewolf from earlier, approaching with his vaguely pissed off expression. He doesn’t exactly look super approachable, but the fact that he came at all tells me everything I need to know about him. He might be gruff, but he’s here. He showed up, and he doesn’t even KNOW Wren.
“Yeah.” I say, gesturing to Cole.
“This is Wren’s uncle, Cole. He’s got to stick close to the taxi, long story, but he needs a partner who can actually check the properties in person. He is a great getaway driver though. I can vouch for that.” I explain. Jackson glances between us, then nods.
“Alright. Guess I’m with you then.” He says, addressing Cole directly. Cole perks up, visibly relieved to be included in the effort. I should’ve messaged him earlier. I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe because he just appears when we need him, I suppose I forget that he doesn’t know everything, most of what he learns is by giving people rides and eavesdropping on their conversations. It didn’t occur to me that he might be waiting for the invitation. I quickly run Cole through the plan.
“Check the locations you’re assigned. If anything looks weird, don’t go in alone. Don’t confront anyone. Just call Rina. She’s coordinating from the bar.” I say firmly.
“Got it. Check for signs of Wren or Solem. Don’t let anyone die. Call Rina.” Cole nods.
“Exactly.” I say, and flash him a faint smile. We don’t have much time. But at least now we have numbers. And momentum. And maybe… Just maybe… That’ll be enough.
Usually, driving around with Lukas and Roxy would be fairly relaxing. This late at night, it would normally just knock me straight out. But this isn’t fun. The radio isn’t playing, and instead of helping me relax, the vibrations of the car just have me on edge. Lukas and I check off our first few addresses with quiet efficiency. Roxy sniffs around each site while Lukas scans thoughts and impressions of anyone we come across. A lot of the businesses are closed since it’s late, but enough of them are open or occupied that I have to do some quick talking occasionally. It’s slow and frustrating. Every building we check off the list feels like another failure. But we keep going. Because we have to. Every now and then, we check in with Rina. She forwards me a few of the messages she’s gotten from other teams. The check ins are all very different. Julian and Uncle Lance are all calm logic, just reporting that they didn’t find anything useful, while Laura declares that the building they searched smells like vampire piss and leftover curses. I don’t even WANT to ask how she knows that. Eli’s check ins are even more ridiculous. I don’t know if he’s actually finding anything or if he’s too busy flirting with Damien, but his texts are pure chaos. If I didn’t know how reliable and capable he is, I would seriously be questioning his capabilities and how seriously he is taking this search. The updates from the vampires, surprisingly, are pretty professional. Isaiah’s group found a few buildings with protective wards, but none that looked like they had been recently disturbed. Harold’s team got chased off a property by what he swears was a cursed peacock. I don’t even know what to do with that. Kyle reports back that one of the bakeries Solem apparently owns has some kind of hidden basement and he is very offended that it is not full of flour and dreams but instead contains cages. He and Laura broke in and confirmed that there’s no one in the building currently though, it looks like that basement has been out of use for a while. Steph and Anat, the valkyrie and the sphinx, are still out, working methodically. Rina says that Anat’s started asking riddles at every location, which might actually be helping because it’s giving Steph plenty of time to look around while Anat keeps everyone occupied. And then there’s Rowen. Every time she texts, it’s just a photo. No commentary. Just visual proof of scorched runes, broken walls, and one absolutely wrecked summoning circle with what looks like blood everywhere. That picture looks like someone got very mad and very stabby. But it also looks abandoned. Back at the bar, Rina and Lindy are keeping things running efficiently. I think I might need to hire the two of them full time to manage my life for me. I’m a good ideas person, but I’m way better at big picture things than at managing details. So I’m super grateful that Rina’s basically become mission control, tracking every check in, cross referencing the map, and assigning backup where needed if a location seems extra sketchy. Lindy has also been on the second phone, routing messages between groups like she was born to do this. Which, for a selkie who hates confrontation, is actually kind of incredible. I glance over at Lukas, who’s now watching me with that quiet, careful expression he always wears when I start drifting inside my own head.
“Still with me?” He asks softly. I nod.
“Barely. But yeah.” I sigh. This search feels pretty hopeless. I know that it was my plan, but just because some of my on the fly plans have worked before, that doesn’t mean that this plan will definitely work now. I think that everyone has WAY too much faith in me. Most of these people don’t even KNOW me, but they’re running around following my directions. But like I told Lukas earlier, unless someone comes up with a better plan, this is still better than doing nothing at all. So we just have to push on and hope for the best.