Page 57 of The Maestro's Mates
“I don’t see?—”
Sebastian kissed his temple. “Because I am her brother. Because I am my mother’s son. Because thisisfamily business, and I’m the only one who can go. And because I won’t risk anyone else.”
At that moment, Justin’s resolve cracked, and he buried his face in Sebastian’s chest. “Let me go with you, at least. If I’m your mate, I should be by your side.”
“That makes it worse, don’t you see? I couldn’t bear if anything happened to you. If it was my fault.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Sebastian’s arms tightened around him, the pressure both grounding and restrictive. “I’ll end this. And I’ll come back to you. I promise.”
Chapter 21
Sebastian
Sebastian gathered his tools and spell elements into the large working room on the first floor of the house. He’d sent Justin home with his coven master. He didn’t want the vampire to get any ideas about tagging along. Veronica was a dangerous witch, but Sebastian was fairly certain she wouldn’t kill her own brother. Justin, on the other hand, she would have no qualms about.
The casting circle was etched into the wood floor, a deep groove from almost a century of use by the witches of Bayonne, now painted white. Because of the nature of his magic, Sebastian seldom set up a circle—his chaos spirits didn’t particularly care for such structured spells—but for this, he’d need the power amplification. After all, he wasn’t sure exactly how far away Veronica was. She could be as close as the island of Manhattan, and as far away as somewhere in Canada.
She would be well hidden. He was sure of that.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor at the center of the circle, Sebastian picked up one of the nearby silver bowlsand dumped several large oregano leaves from a plastic baggie into it. He placed it in front of him with a little bit of room between for him to work. From his pocket, he pulled out a necklace Linda had given him.
Although Sebastian had several items Veronica had given him over the years, birthday presents and the like, Linda’s affinity for bonds meant anything she owned with a connection to his sister would be more effective. Placing it down on a square of unadorned black fabric, Sebastian admired the gold necklace. A simple chain, the links were fine and well-made, and a single small sapphire hung from it.
Sapphire was Linda’s stone. If Sebastian remembered correctly, this had been a Mother’s Day present. How things had changed.
Sebastian folded the black fabric around the necklace, then took a thin silver cord and wrapped it twice around the small packet, tying it in a simple bow. Fetching a book of matches from his pocket, he lit the oregano aflame, the smoky, herby smell filling his nostrils. He wafted the ensuing smoke toward him with his hand, directing it to envelop the silver-bound fabric packet.
Closing his eyes, he placed one hand on the encased necklace and reached out with his senses, enticing the spirits to help him find his sister.
With the power of the casting circle behind him, it was but moments before they were swirling around him, bouncing around and jostling to get his attention like a pack of impatient toddlers.
For this, he would need all of them.
Sebastian reached out with his mind, sending the spirits a visual of his sister and encouraging them to follow thebonds entrenched in the gold necklace. With a vibrating pulse, the chaos spirits shook and wiggled as one, caressing the fabric package under his fingers with their incorporeal bodies.
Then they were off, spinning out in a million different directions, heading on their journeys to find Veronica.
Breathing deeply, Sebastian attempted to relax his shoulders and get comfortable. He would be here for at least three hours. Longer, if she was further away than he thought. There was no way she was physically in Bayonne. Everything that happened the night before could have been managed from a distance. From whatever hole she was hiding in.
He hoped she was holed up, at least. Tracking a moving target would be much more difficult.
Settling in, Sebastian waited for the first pull.
The sun was peekingthrough the art deco stained glass in the old, converted dining room when the pull manifested.
It was from the north, and it was weak. Sebastian grumbled in annoyance as he opened his eyes. She was miles away, possibly even out of the country. He hoped not, since that would complicate things. Although if his senses were serving him, he didn’t believe she’d gone that far. Shewasseveral hundred miles away, though.
Great.
He didn’t bother packing beyond shoving a few spell supplies in his backpack before jumping in the beat-up old junker the Circle used for the rare occasions when they needed to drive. It was early morning on a Saturday, and ifhe got on the road now, he’d be out of town before the Manhattan tourist traffic built up.
The sedan must have been from the 1980s. The exterior was a wood grain, which looked insane on the road amongst more modern cars. Sebastian had no doubt that, without the help of magic, the thing would have fallen apart years ago. But his mother was nostalgic sometimes, and she was willing to expend power to keep the favorite car of her twenties still running.
At first, Sebastian drove vaguely north, checking in sporadically to make sure the necklace continued to pull in that direction. After he’d been on the road a few hours, and the trees around the highway had grown taller and denser, he opened up a map on his phone. The pull was stronger now, strong enough to do some guesswork.
Stopping for gas, he leaned against the side of the car, the sickly-sweet fumes filling his nostrils. Doing some directional math in his head, it was clear Veronica was somewhere in the Adirondack Park. The only question was, had she holed up in one of the tourist towns? Or was she somewhere in the wilderness?
