Priceless (5 page)

“
Hey. What
’
s going on?
”
I didn
’
t ask her how she was
;
it was obvious. Upset, scared, uncertain. Which for Milly was odd. She was the one who was organized, always knew how to lay out a difficult
salvage
;
rarely did her emotions get the better of her. Except the horny ones
,
that is.

“
I can
’
t help her
,
Rylee.
”
Her
green
eyes flicked away from mine.
“
I can
’
t be here for long, but I had to tell you in person.
”

Shock filtered through me. This wasn
’
t like Milly, not at all. What the hell was going on?
I didn
’
t get a chance to ask
before she rushed on and answered my unspoken question
.

“
The
Coven
wants me to break ties with all people who aren
’
t witches. That includes you and Giselle. This is what I
’
ve always wanted. I
’
m so sorry.
”

Her eyes were swollen, her lips trembled
,
and her slight frame shook. I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched as though I
’
d hit her.

“
Do you mean like forever?
”
My voice came through on a whisper
, my heart breaking at the thought of losing one more person in my life.

Her hiccupping sobs were all the answer I needed.
I looked away from her, stared into the coffee shop
,
with the empty seats and the cashier staring out at me.

“
What about the salvages? Can you walk away from them?
”
What I was
really
asking, what
we both knew
I meant was
,
could she walk away from kids who
’
d been like us
: alone
, searching for a home, for a safe haven
, broken souls who would need mending
.

She covered her face with her hands.
“
I can
’
t have
”
—
she hiccupped another sob
—
“
both. I can
’
t have the
Coven
and . . . you and Giselle.
This is hard for me. They offered me this spot a month ago.
”

That would explain her
absence
lately.

I would beg if I had to.
On this
case
,
more than any other
,
I needed her and I would fight to keep her as my friend.
“
This girl was taken from
Dearborn
Park. Just like Berget
, even the same day as her
. Milly, please.
”
I stepped closer to her
.
A
gain she flinched.
“
Please help me this one last time.
”

Tears tracked down her face and her eyes lifted to meet mine, only to drop again. Shoulders slumped,
and
she continued to cry.
“
I
’
m . . .sorry. I know how hard it is for you to face this . . . now. But
–
”
She
twitched as I stepped closer.

That was enough of that. If she was going to be afraid of me
,
then I
’
d give her a reason. I grabbed her arms and shook her
.
“
You took an oath, the same as I did
,
to find t
hese missing kids. You promised
,
you selfish
bitch!
”
I bit the words, anger making me mean.

“
You
’
re hurting me
,
”
she
said, but didn
’
t try to pull away.

“
Good, that makes two of us.
”
Still,
I dropped my hands and backed up, shaking my head. A slow deep breath calmed my racing heart.
“
They shouldn
’
t try to take you away, that isn
’
t right.
”

“
It
’
s how they do things
,
”
she
said, rubbing her arms.
“
I
’
ve got to go. They can
’
t know that I
’
ve seen
you.
”

Milly turned her back and walked away from me, pausing at the edge of the building.
“
Goodbye
,
Rylee.
”
The tears in her voice did me in.

“
You can always come home
,
Milly. No matter what, you know that right? I
’
ll always look out for you.
”
It was the best I could do. My own emotions were choking me. I didn
’
t want to be left behind again.

Her words hitched into sobs
.
I couldn
’
t be
truly
angry with her. We both had wanted only one thing growing up
: to
fit in. And now she had a chance
,
and I couldn
’
t begrudge her that, no matter how much it hurt. Swallowing the pain back
,
I
slipped into the Jeep.
“
You
’
ll always be my witch
,
Milly
.
”
I pulled the door closed, shutting out the wind and my best friend.
Only then did I let the tears fall and
allow myself to
feel the
pain
of being abandoned once again.

5

I didn
’
t have time to relocate my mentor if I was to save India. But there was no way I was going to let Giselle stay in her house with what felt like an early winter coming on
, and I didn
’
t have the funds to put her up in a care home
;
they were too expensive and the wait to get in was long. Maybe after this job I would move her out to my place
;
but then I immediately dismissed th
e
thought. Giselle didn
’
t like to leave her home, never had
,
even when her mind had been mostly intact. This was about to get difficult.

I wove back through the subdivision to Giselle
’
s house and parked out front for the second time that day.

Bundling her up in a threadbare lightweight jacket, I tucked her into the passenger seat of the Jeep and cranked the heat up.

Her eyes followed me, a silent question in them, as I walked around to my side of the vehicle.

“
We
’
re going for a ride,
”
I said, as I put on my seatbelt and pulled away from the curb. She huddled in her seat, lost in her mind
’
s abyss, somewhere far beyond my reach.

She
’
d been the one to name me, name my abilities. I was an Immune and a Tracker all bundled up into one. My tracking abilities had
n
’
t come on
line
until after Berget went missing. Since then
,
I could pinpoint
anyone I was close with,
friends and even strangers
,
when I worked at it.
All I needed was their name and a picture of them
,
and I was off and running.
Could lead you right to them, no matter the distance.
M
ore than that, I knew if they were hurt, happy, sad, alive
,
or dead. With the kids I hunted for, this ability was priceless. It only failed me if the kids weren
’
t on this side of the veil, which
from time to time was the case
. If they
’
d
been
taken by supernaturals interested in the kid
’
s powers and abilities, they weren
’
t kept where I could find them easily.
Even if they were dead, I could still track them,
to
at least give the parents some sense of closure.
Unfortunately
,
that was
all too
often the case. The only one I
’
d never been able to find was Berget. I reached for her
,
even as I thought of this
anomaly
, finding only an empty spot inside my skull where she should have been. Even if she was dead, I should have been able to find her,
to
bring her home.

My thoughts flickered as I glanced over at Giselle, sound asleep and snoring lightly, a blush of color on her cheeks. I reached over and brushed my hand over her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief.
“
No fever
.
”

I took a left turn and
my mind
went back to the day I
’
d been bitten by a large rattlesnake, not long after moving in with Giselle and Milly. We
’
d been in the backyard, me practicing my tracking on the neighborhood children, pinpointing them for Giselle, while Milly practiced her incantations under her breath. I
’
d stepped back into a large bush and felt a sharp jab into my left leg. Looking down
,
a massive diamond shaped head h
ung
off my left calf, venom pumping into my system. Its eyes transfixed me as it worked its teeth deeper into my flesh, trying to get a better grip on my calf.

Giselle shouted, but I was too frozen by shock to move.
A large part of me thought it was my time to die
;
the guilt over losing Berget
still sat
heav
il
y on me,
my inability to track the one child I loved more than any other,
the depression it invoked
was
something I couldn
’
t escape. However, it wasn
’
t yet my time to die.

That was the day Giselle told me I was an Immune
, something she
’
d been suspecting, but hadn
’
t known for sure until I
’
d been bit
.
I was I
mmune not just to
the
supernatural bites that could turn me furry or sunlight hating, but immune to poisons of all kinds.
I was also
immune to most
, but not all,
magic and
was
invisible to most psychic probing. It was a sweet deal and not a part of my nature many people knew about.
It was
an
ace up my sleeve when hunting for kids. The supernaturals who
’
d taken them didn
’
t know I wouldn
’
t be affected by their spells, bites
,
and incantation
s
. Y
ay for genetic throwbacks
.

We pulled up to the hospital and I parked on the curb
,
getting Giselle as close to the door as possible.

“
Here we are
.
”
I opened the passenger door.

At first
,
she looked surprised to see me. Then she smiled and said,
“
Did you find your blue socks
,
dear?
”