Page 22 of Ulune's Daughter

“Yeah.”

“Is Carter in Liverpool now?” Arch asks.

“Hard to tell,” Dan responds. “He proxies all his communications, so his IP address bounces around. But I got facial recognition off cameras at Liverpool One. That’s the big shopping center in Liverpool. And there’s a Hilton right there, and we know Carter likes his Hiltons.”

He does. Carter is based in New York, but whenever he travels, he stays in the nearest Hilton. It’s the Presidential Suite only for Carter. Evidently, it’s the views. Carter’s an Air-mage like me. He likes to be high up. The lord of all he surveys.

Prick.

“Can you hack into the Hilton’s security cameras?” I ask.

Dan blows out a long breath. “Not likely. Their security is top-notch. I’ll have better luck trying to hack into the cameras for the restaurant down the street and hope Carter walks in that direction.”

“Not good enough,” Arch says. “Fifty-fifty shot of not knowing where Carter is? We need better than that.”

“I’m not being a dick, man. Carter’s no fool. Hiltons are known for having good security. The hotels are set apart from anything around them. I don’t have a fucking prayer of hacking into the city street cams. The best I’m going to be able to do is get into one of the smaller restaurants or stores nearby, same as I did with Bobbie’s Cookies.”

Arch grumbles, his noises broken by static.

“Do the best you can, Danny,” I say, to move things along. “Let’s plan to get boots on the ground in Liverpool by seven o’clock local time tomorrow. Arch, María José, Val, Viv, is that doable for you? Cami, I don’t think we need you there as long as you’ve got an open comm line with Danny. Unless you want to be there?”

There’s a moment of silence while everyone waits for someone else to speak. Finally, Cami breaks the quiet.

“I would l-l-like to come,” she says. “I can be there by seven.”

I don’t want to traumatize our Seer, but it might do her good to confront whatever lingering fears she has about the Wepwawet.

“Sounds good. Danny, send us the coordinates for a rendezvous point. If anyone gets hung up, put it in the chat.”

I say the last for Arch’s benefit, since he’s the one who is most often delayed. He also persists in the belief that we all need to wait around until he arrives.

After everyone confirms, we say our goodbyes. I end the call and give Whitey a too-vigorous squeeze. He retaliates by gently biting my chin.

“I’m back in the hunt,” I tell him. “I wish I could take you with me, gorgeous boy, but Jane will look after you. And I’ll bring you something from England. What would you like? A real English mouse? Probably not much different from a real Massachusetts mouse. A Scottish salmon? That sounds better, doesn’t it? I’ll see if I can cage some salmon off Teddy.”

Thinking of my friends, I pick up my phone and thumb over to our group chat.

Me: Hunt in England. I’ll be in Liverpool from 7pm tomorrow. Not sure what my schedule will be, but I’ll stop by. Got any fresh salmon?

Teddy’s husband Gabe responds immediately.

Gabe: We’re at Thistlemist. Guest room’s always ready for you. Salmon, Charlie?

Charlie: On it.

Teddy: Girls’ night!

I send back a row of blowing kisses emojis, smiling at the phone, before I put it away and go back to cuddling my cat.

Chapter8

A Madness of Women

LAW

My mate is a madwoman.

She’s mad if she thinks she’s leaving me behind while she runs around England unsupervised, doing something that sounds extremely dangerous.

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