Page 86 of Shadow's End

“Why did it take the guides so long if he’s only a few minutes away?”

“Because he’s only just driven back into town. They felt his resonance when he telepathically stepped into the mind of the hotel’s receptionist and altered her memories, making her believe a couple had registered into his room rather than a solo.”

“Why would he do that when no one here knows who he is?”

“Marie does.”

“Yeah, but if he was afraid of her, he wouldn’t have come back here.”

“I guess it depends onwhyhe’s back and how much he’s actually being paid.” She finished her sandwich and reached for another. “I’m thinking we need to go talk to him.”

“I’m thinking you’re right.” I paused to lick the excess pickle spread from my fingers then reached for another sandwich. “I wonder if he’s been brought back in an attempt to take you out?”

“My guides suggested the very same thing, and then laughed at his gall.”

Well, at least we finally agreed on something. “Are we going to confront him directly or hit him from a distance?”

She hesitated. “Probably best to maintain a distance until we’ve got him snared and are sure it’s not a trap.”

“Given we’re dealing with vampires who use magic to step from one place to another, it’s probably safer to just presume every situation from now on could be a trap.”

“There has to be a limit to how often they can use their transport spells, though. It’s not an easy magic to perform, and Marie, at the very least, has to be running out of blood donors.”

“She had two with her last night,” I said.

“Two is better than ten.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like she needs human blood for blood spells, and the roos are almost in plague numbers in the reservation at the moment.”

“I still think that, with all the fireballs she threw last night, she has to be riding low on the energy scale. Hopefully, thisdamn telepath might give us some information so we can capitalize on that.”

“Hopefully.” I finished the last bit of my sandwich. “Where’s Monty?”

“He, Ashworth, and Eli are researching a means of tracing the mage balls back to the point of origin.”

“How, given the mage balls and their fires are both out?”

“The ranger station one is, but the one at the house burned into the morning, and Monty was able to snare a lingering bit of flame and keep it activated.”

It was worth giving it a go, I guess, although I personally hoped we’d seen the last of those goddamn mage balls.

Belle dug her phone from her pocket and brought up Google Maps. “The motel is here on Barker Street, with an exit into Campbell, and it basically sits between two old churches. Our telepath has the room situated at the back of the lot, right next to this church.” She pointed to the red brick building in Campbell Street. “According to my guides, the church sits higher than the hotel, so there are no fences between the two. We just have to scoot through the church grounds and drop down into the service walkway that divides the two properties.”

“He’ll sense us coming though, won’t he?”

Belle smiled. “You forget just how good a telepathic range I have these days. That man will be under my control before he knows what has hit him.”

“Excellent.” I rose. “Shall we go?”

She hesitated, her expression slightly unfocused as she talked to her spirit guides. “He’s there, so yes.”

I walked into my bedroom to grab my phone, then followed Belle downstairs and out to the rear parking area. Ashworth had returned the SUV a few hours earlier, as promised, and had even cleaned the thing, which, considering all the bullet holes, wouldn’t have been an easy job.

The hotel was only three blocks away, but in the afternoon heat, it was way too far to walk. Belle parked several houses up from the red brick church and then climbed out and raised a hand, shading her eyes as she studied the motel’s rooftop.

I walked around the back of the SUV and stopped beside her. “He still there?”

She nodded. “According to my guides, lounging on the bed in his underwear drinking a beer.”

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