Page 8 of The Magic of Destiny
“Just tell me what I need to do, CJ.”
“We need to find Fischer.”
* * *
I’d leftHunter with Fish after Faris had healed the wound from his tracker. They’d decided to do the questioning in the guest room, away from the noise of the rest of the house. Fish had explained the process of what he’d do during the session, assuring my brother that he wouldn’t mess with his memories, or even look at them. Essentially, he’d just be conducting a lie detector test by asking yes or no questions. Thankfully, Hunt had been receptive to everything Fish told him.
When I let myself out of the room to give them some privacy, the creak of a floorboard was all the warning I got before Saige launched herself at me. I chuckled, holding her against me and dropping a kiss to the top of her head.
“What’s this for, baby girl?”
“Just wanted to hug you. I’m so happy for you,” she mumbled into my chest, squeezing me tighter. Backing her up against the wall, I tilted her face up so I could see her. The way she focused on me when it was just the two of us was one of my favorite things. Her lips would part, her cheeks would redden, and her eyes sparkled like emeralds.
“My pretty baby,” I said, my voice deeper than normal. “Thank you.” She rewarded me with a smile that men would start wars over. But there were no other men—she was mine.Ours.
“Kiss me, sexy man,” she teased, and then squealed when I gripped her ass roughly, hoisting her up against the wall. “Ohhh, you’re a nasty daddy, aren’t you?”
I couldn’t help it. I tossed my head back and a laugh broke free.
“What? Too much?” Saige asked, wiping tears from her own eyes as we both laughed our asses off.
“You’re just too much sometimes, little witch. I never know what you’re going to say.” I leaned forward, giving her the kisses she’d requested. Breaking from her mouth, I traced her juicy bottom lip with my thumb. “Maybe next time don’t call me nasty daddy, though.”
Saige’s bedroom door creaked open, getting our attention. I heard Kai call, “Get downstairs, we have work to do today…” I could practically hear him smiling from here.Don’t say it. Don’t say it. “NASTY DADDY!” he shouted and tore out of the room, fleeing for the stairs.
I put Saige down quickly. “Sorry. Gotta go,” I told her, gesturing to the stairs.
“Get him.” She grinned, and I took off after Kai.
* * *
We wereall gathered outside on the patio, ready to work. Laptops, phones, books—everything we'd need to launch our own investigation into where Sloane might be. First up, tracking the vehicle. It had been a rental, but we always tried to be prepared, adding our own subtle tracking devices to new vehicles if we were working apart, just to cover our bases.
Khol had shown up about half an hour ago, looking like he'd crawled out of a hell hole to get here. His facial hair was longer than I'd ever seen it, his normally perfectly styled hair all over the place, and maybe the weirdest thing? He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Gone was the powerful businessman that we’d always known, and it was hard not to stare.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” he snapped at Kai.
“Hey now, I'm sorry. You just look so different than... basically every other time I've seen you over the past ten years,” Kai said, flipping open his iPad cover and focusing on the screen with a small smile tugging on his lips.
Saige spoke up. “Let's try to work together and be nice, okay?” Her gaze met each of ours, including Khol’s. He huffed and dropped his ass into a chair. I smiled to myself at how wrapped around Saige's finger he already was. I couldn't be too smug, though—we all were.
“How’s Miranda? I called earlier and she didn't answer,” my little witch asked Khol, and I frowned at the disappointment in her voice. She loved with every fiber of her being, and I hated seeing her sad.
“She's not great. But I wouldn't have expected anything less,” Khol replied, tapping his fingers against his knee. “Her mom is with her at the apartment right now. She refused to get out of bed and I refused to leave her by herself. So that was the compromise.”
“I just wish there was something I could do for her,” Saige whispered.
At that moment, Fischer and Hunter stepped through the door to join us. “We're going to do everything we can, sweetheart. The best thing we can do is get her daughter back as soon as possible, and that’ll be our focus,” Fish assured her. I caught his eye, and he gave me a discreet thumbs up. Shit, I hadn’t even realized how on edge I’d been about Hunter working for Montague until I’d been given the all clear. He apparently had no intention of deceiving us, and knowing that took a weight off my shoulders.
“He's right, child. The pain of losing a child is a personal journey, and everybody would react differently in such a situation. She's doing what she feels she must to survive, so we will respect that. In the meantime, we will bust our hineys to get Annie back. There's also the matter of the missing dragon,” Gran added.
“Dragon?” Hunter asked, his eyebrows reaching for his hairline.
“Sloane. He had what we've been calling a power boost,” Kai explained.
We'd filled Hunter in on the majority of what we'd been through to get him up to speed. I’d also told the others about the tracker.
“Damn. You guys are a weird bunch,” Hunter mused, and Faris grinned, showing a hint of fang.
