Page 40 of Beautiful Madness

He frowned. “How do you knowthat?”

“Because there was anotherspirit stuck down there. I got him out, but it wasn’t easy. She can’t get outif there’s no one to get her out.”

“Maybe she possessed one ofyou,” he said, taking a small step back. “Maybe she’s inside you right now.”

I shook my head. “The three ofus took precautions against possession long ago. She’s not going to get insideus.” I hesitated. “Just keep the wolves away from the dungeon.”

The expression on his facechanged just a little, and he shivered. Some part of Wyatt felt that he’d beentaken over by the witchwolf, though he wasn’t consciously aware.

“I’ll order the dungeon off-limits,”he said. “And I’ll lock up the two traitors until Jared’s return. Afterward,I’ll join you to search the caves.”

I smiled at him then, pleasedwith his unflagging confidence in his alpha. “I’ll call the detective and lethim know the location of the human.”

“Kait.” He hesitated. “Let mespeak to the woman first. I’ll kill the human who holds her, and though it willbe delayed, the wolf will also die. There will be no bodies to find, I swearthat to you. Ben can tend her physical wounds and we will get her all the helpshe needs. If she agrees, of course. Also, there are witches we can engage tohelp her forget.”

Rick did what he could toprotect the pack—as well as a world that was not ready to see them—but I knewthis would be difficult to hide, even for him.

So finally, I gave Wyatt a nod.“If she agrees.”

I didn’t call the detective. Iwould later, once I discovered what the human agreed to do. Even if she wantedto forget, I would tell Rick what had happened.

I blew out a tired breath andit hit me hard how much I missed talking to spirits who’d lead me to abductedchildren and tormented humans. I missed getting people out of their hell andback to their families. I missed helping spirits find their afterlives. And Iwas sick to death of traitors.

I also missed my mother. “Let’sbounce,” I murmured.

As I drove toward the city, Ismelled daywalkers everywhere.Every-fucking-where. That was going tomake tracking them difficult, but if I didn’t destroy them and their chargersoon, I would likely be overwhelmed by the sheer number of them—which seemed tohave grown overnight.

After I’d left the riverbankwith Rick, I hadn’t managed to pick up Jared’s scent again. I couldn’t havesaid why it’d been so strong after the remaining daywalkers had fled, but I wasafraid of what it meant.

Every beat of my heart sent athrob of pain and fear through my body. God, I missed him. I was terrified forhim. And buried beneath the determination was the fear that I would never findhim. Or that I would be too late when I did.

I grew angrier with each secondthat passed. Anger was better than fear, at least to me. I put down my window,hoping the cold air would clear my mind and float to me a hint of my alpha.

My entire world was explodingaround me, and I’d never felt so helpless in my life. Daywalker scents wereclogging my brain, and I couldn’t seem to gather the concentration I needed toseparate them out. I would have to tease out a single scent, a single thread,and grab onto it.

I barely heard Remy’s phonewhen his ringtone sounded, and his voice was dim, his words floating past mewhen he answered. There was too much noise in my head for me to concentrate onanything else.

But finally, he yanked me outof my turmoil. “Pull over, Kait. I’ll drive. You rest. You’ve had no sleep, nofood, and your brain is on fire right now. Pull over.”

I did, because he was right. Iwas a dangerous driver right then. A few minutes earlier I’d run my car througha spirit and only after the fact realized it could just as easily have been aliving person. My reflexes were slowed, my thoughts were fuzzy, and my bodyneeded fuel.

Only when he was under the steeringwheel and I was in the passenger seat did he speak again. “You’re to take ashort nap to reset. I’m going to pull into a drive-thru and get you a dozen burgers,and once you eat them, we’ll go to the river and track the daywalkers andJared.”

I blinked. “That was Joe on thephone?”

He grinned. “Yeah, and he’s abossy fucker. He can’t be here to take care of you, so he’s doing it from hisbed. He also threatened to cut my head off with pepper if I didn’t take care ofyou. Whatever that means.”

And finally, I found a smile.“He named his machete.”

“That’s fucked up.”

I lifted an eyebrow and lookedpointedly at the gleaming stake in his belt. “Really? How’s Dolly doing thesedays?” Then I slid down in my seat, closed my eyes, and went immediately tosleep. My mind was beyond exhausted, and I was happy to shut down. Just for afew minutes.

I awakened to the temptingscent of hot, juicy meat, and by the time I’d finished my meal, I was better.Stronger. I’d needed that break, short though it had been.

I was ready to face what wasleft of the night—no matter what it held.

Chapter Twenty-One