Page 46 of Fae Devoted
“Thanks again for everything.” Johnnie forced a bright smile and moved to stand next to Jacob, taking his hand. The less anyone knew about Charlotte’s unique abilities, the better. She wasn’t even sure the patriarch and his consort realized what type of fire the witchling cast as none of the witnesses mentioned blue flames.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more to help.” The vampire pushed away from her desk and stood, her posture stiff.
Jacob nodded without commenting, but Johnnie could feel the tension in his fingers.
“There is one other thing,” Angelica added as they turned to leave. “But it might mean nothing.”
“We’d still like to hear it,” Johnnie spoke for them both. No matter how minor, any information could make the difference in waylaying Jeremiah before he found Charlotte—or help them understand his true motives for hunting her down.
“A female shifter was jogging near the park and noticed two adult men in baseball caps sitting in an all-terrain type vehicle in the street across from the playground.”
“It could have been a child’s parents waiting to pick them up.”
“I think that’s what she originally assumed. But when she looped back to get her car, she spotted another set of men wearing the same dark hats and waiting in an identical vehicle a block from the first one. She didn’t think to call the Guard until after hearing about the strange fire on the news.”
“Plate numbers?” Jacob’s fingers flexed in Johnnie’s hand.
“Unfortunately, no.” Angelica shook her head. “But both of the vehicles’ plates had the Pure Michigan motto, and one of them had a UP sticker on its windshield.”
Upper Michigan’s largely forested landmass was too vast to cover without a specific area or destination to narrow it down. It was also the chosen seat of the Ferwyn king for a large portion of the year and where most shifter packs in Michigan made permanent homes.
“If any new information surfaces concerning either search,” she continued, “I’ll call you immediately.”
“Appreciated,” Jacob clipped in response, attention pulled to his cellphone vibrating with an incoming text.
Johnnie waited until they were outdoors and far beyond Angelica’s vampire hearing to ask, “So, we’re heading to the Upper Peninsula next?”
“We are.” He slid his phone into his jean pocket and walked toward their truck.
“Now that I carry your Mark, we can go back to my original plan. We’ll still need to be careful, but if you wait on the outskirts of town while I visit the shifter compound and local hangouts, I’m positive we can avoid the Guard’s notice.” She shivered and told herself it was the evening’s cool breeze and not trepidation sending a chill up her spine.
“We’re setting up a meeting with King Alexander.”
“What? Why?” She came to an abrupt stop. “You’re not even supposed to be here. The king would have every right to throw you into a cage and demand an outrageous bounty for your release. It could take months to work through all the formalities.”
And dammit, they’d just started the Dance.
“Jo—”
“No, I won’t stand for it,” she all but yelled, putting her foot down. Johnnie refused to be separated from Jacob due to his bravado, or whatever the hell was going on in that stubborn male head. She pulled her palm from his and smacked it above hisdark brows, checking for fever. Ludicrous since shifters didn’t get sick.
She sighed and dropped her hand to her side, then her forehead to his chest, and mumbled, “You’re going to get yourself locked up, and we haven’t even had sex yet.”
Jacob chuckled, wrapped her in a gentle hold, and set his chin on the crown of her head. “Samuel’s coming.”
“I don’t care if…” Heat hit her cheeks. “Oh.”
“Yeah,oh,” Tucker echoed with amusement. “We’ll join the Alpha in less than forty-eight hours at a private airport a little farther north of here, then fly into Chippewa International and drive from there to Sault Ste. Marie to meet with the king.”
“I take it Samuel obtained official permission to enter Remington’s territory with a small entourage in tow?” The king would assume she and Jacob were on the initial flight from Memphis and a part of Príoh Walker’s retinue. Once Jacob was in the ENC legally, he wouldn’t need Johnnie’s help any longer and try to send her home.
She held in a snort.Over my dead body.
“Yeah,” he replied, breaking away to continue to the truck. “We have to find a safe place to stay until then.”
“Mater Russo offered—”
“If Daimhín knows Jeremiah came here…”
