Page 33 of Magic Betrayed

So they hadn’t been met by any other cars.

“We’ve had a significant amount of rain,” Callum said thoughtfully, “and the waterways in the refuge connect to the Canadian River. They could theoretically have moved by water and been met by another vehicle.”

We were looking at a dead end. Maybe. But better than nothing if we could get to that van and look for clues.

“Thank you.” I suppressed the bizarre urge to curtsey to Grandma Pearl before I backed away. “This is helpful.”

“Even if it wasn’t, I don’t do refunds.” She removed her glasses and let them hang from the cord around her neck. “And don’t thank me, dearie, thank your wealthy benefactor over there.”

I wondered anew just how much this had cost Callum.

“Then we’ll be going,” I said, with what I hoped was a polite smile and not a terrified grimace. “That is…”

“Oh, never fear,” Grandma Pearl assured me with a cheeky wink. “I never maim a lucrative client. Bad for business. You’ve been quite lovely to work with, so you’ll find that all security measures have been disabled on your way out. I hope you’ll consider me again should you have any tracking or surveillance needs.”

“Of course,” Callum agreed, coming up behind me and nudging me surreptitiously towards the door. “A pleasure doing business with you as well.”

We retreated, with an itch between my shoulder blades that made me want to move faster, but I didn’t want Grandma to know how nervous I was. And we were almost to the door before she spoke again.

“I don’t normally do this, but I’m feeling quite generous today.”

I turned to see her regarding us over the gold rim of her glasses, the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips.

“It appears you have a friend hoping to discuss something with you in the parking lot.”

The dragon beside me reacted in an instant, his frame shifting to hover closer to me, every muscle coiled in anticipation. “I see. And is this friend here because he followed us, or because he happened to learn of our whereabouts in some other way?”

Those genial blue eyes turned to flint in the space of a heartbeat. “I live by my reputation, Dragon King, just as you do. And I do not care for the implication that I would betray a contract.”

So she knew who he was.

“Then you also know that I needed to ask.”

Her nod was slow to come. “As do I.”

“We value your services,” he stated promptly. “There is no benefit to us in betraying your location.”

“I agree,” she replied unexpectedly, followed by a toothy smile. “If I did not, you would find that the way out can be considerably more difficult than the way in.”

I was so ready to be out of this scary old lady’s underground lair, even if it meant confronting more enemies above ground.

“Then, until next time.” Callum tilted his head respectfully, opened the door, and pulled me through it into the darkened basement.

The moment the door closed behind us, he stopped abruptly, and I collided with his warm bulk. It was a measure of how freaked out I was that I didn’t step away immediately.

“You okay?”

“I may never sleep again,” I admitted, producing a flare of fae light and holding it aloft. “Does Draven know his hacker friend is a horror movie grandma with an attack bunny and a teacup obsession?”

“If not, then I’m not going to tell him,” Callum said, in a dark tone that promised eventual retribution. “He deserves to find out the same way we did.”

Fair enough. “So who do we think is waiting outside? Also, what time is it and how long was I asleep? I feel like we stumbled into an alternate dimension.”

He consulted his phone. “It’s a little after six-thirty. Which means it’s already dark. No idea who’s out there, but they will have had time to set up a trap, and we won’t be able to see them easily.”

My heart sank as I realized we might have to fight our way out of here. Grandma Pearl’s magnanimity hadn’t extended to telling us who or what might be lurking in the parking lot. She was probably inside right now, watching her monitors, petting her bunny, and drinking tea while waiting for the show to start.

“Do you have a plan?”

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