Page 39 of Shadow Spirit

“And the little girl?”

“Adriana persuaded her to get out and meet us on the beach. Adriana seems to think Erin will be able to give us helpful information.”

“I’ll get to searching the non-electronic sources and put as many IT people as we can spare to searching the data that’s recorded and stored within our system.”

“Thank you. Anything you can do will be appreciated.”

Wordsworth nodded. “Once you’re there, reach out. I will give you everything we know.”

Greg left the library and sprinted towards the docks where the boats were being prepared.

“Any word on Decker?” Greg asked Colby.

The lynx-shifter nodded. “They’ve arrived and he’s sent a couple of scouts to reconnoiter the fortress.”

“Adriana let me know that Erin had followed Decker’s instructions and was chock full of useful information.”

Colby grinned at him. “You know, you three may end up having to be her guardians.”

Greg shook his head. “We kind of talked about it. We won’t be her guardians. Unless Erin has family who come for her and she wants to be with them, we will be adopting her. She will be our daughter.”

Colby shook his head. “You are a glutton for punishment. A wolf-shifter mate who is also a witch, and then a human witch-child.”

“We’ll figure it out. I know we’re all committed to ensuring Erin has as good a life as we can make it, and when she comes of age, she can choose to remain human or become whatever brand of shifter she wants.”

Colby clapped Greg on the shoulder. “She might have had a rough start, but I think Erin is going to have an amazing life with three amazing parents. We should all be so lucky.”

“Yeah, we just have to survive the next couple of hours.”

“With Decker on point, our team coming in to get Adriana out, and the Shadow Sisters looking for blood, that poor bastard O’Shea doesn’t stand a chance. Any idea how we’re going to get her out of those magical bonds?”

“None whatsoever, but Wordsworth is on it.”

“If anybody can get it figured out, he can.”

“Colby? Greg?” called Brie. “We’re ready to go.”

Once they were on their way, Greg reached out to Decker. He was going to use the developing link between them when Brie handed him a sat phone, rolling her eyes.

“Greg? How the fuck did you let her get into this mess?” growled Decker into the phone. “Forget I said that. What do you know? Not long physician answers. Short and succinct.”

Decker was scared, not for himself or even for Greg, but for their mate. Truth to tell, so was Greg.

“Adriana slipped away from the abbey and established a link with O’Shea so she could find Erin. She hoped O’Shea would trade her for Erin. He didn’t. He chained her to a wall. He used silver, Decker; she’s going to get burned…”

“Good thing for her she’s mated to a physician. What else?”

“Right. O’Shea also bound her by magic. Erin tried to free her, and when she couldn’t, Adriana sent her to meet us on the beach. By the way, we’re going to transmit what we know about the fortifications. Information we know, by the way, because apparently our daughter pays closer attention to instructions than our mate.”

Decker chuckled in spite of himself. “I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

“Me, either. But Colby seemed to think…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. My unit will make a frontal assault, drawing Eoghan and his thugs towards the front of the main keep. If we can get them outside, so much the better. You, Colby, and your people go in after Adriana, but what are you going to do about the magic?”

“Not sure yet, but I have Wordsworth working on it. Don’t kill Eoghan until we know what’s involved.”

“I won’t. If Wordsworth doesn’t have any answers, I’ll get Eoghan to tell us.”

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