Page 59 of The Shade of Things
I loosened my grip on the pen and stretched out my cramping hand, ordering myself to take it one problem at a time.
“Little explosive,” Mateo said, shaking his head because he hadn’t found the right word. “Much light and noise. She works in movies.”
“Like a stun grenade,” Eli said. He gave Daw an apologetic smile when the liquid bandage he applied made her hiss from its sting. “I wonder if she has more?”
“A woman who knows her way around a bomb.” The golem’s eyebrows rose. “Intriguing.”
“It drew them away and we got in,” Mateo said in approval.
I consulted the notebook. “Including Teresa, we’ve now accounted for seven of the twelve with three confirmed dead and Shriyan missing.” The presumed dead was implied. “Unfortunately, no one knows who the twelfth abductee is, other than it was a Caucasian man.”
Eli gave Daw a thumbs-up before examining Felix. “I wish we had names and countries for the deceased and the white guy,” Eli said with a bleak shake of his head.
Given how twitchy these three were, I tensed when Mateo asked how we got in, but he accepted Eli’s explanation that we’d broken a side window. I didn’t want to share the fact of my magic and wished that I’d sworn everyone to secrecy before we’d arrived.
I wasn’t worried about my safety, but seeing my magic, or more likely Laurent’s, might push these other players over the edge.
My ex proclaimed that Felix was good to go, but gave him an electrolyte pill from the kit.
Isla and Laurent finally joined us, though he trailed behind her in a melancholic fog.
“You’ve had quite the journey,” Isla said. I was right about her being Scottish.
I glanced at Laurent, concerned about his state of mind, but he was caught up in his thoughts.
“Hi.” I stuck out my hand to shake. “I’m Miri and this is Emmett and Eli.”
“Isla.” She had a firm grip.
“How do you know Laurent?” I said, taking the bull by the horns.
“I was married to an old friend of his.” Isla didn’t offer anything else. She’d either been told not to or was as infuriatingly tight-lipped as the shifter. Also, what did “was married” mean? Divorced? Widowed?
“Henri,” Laurent said softly.
My heart dropped into my toes. Not divorced.
“I’m delighted to see you again, lass,” Isla said to Teresa. “You cut it close. Anyone not here had two more hours to present themselves then we’re off.”
I checked my watch. Isla’s deadline was Saturday noon Vancouver time.
“How are you getting past the mob?” Teresa said.
Isla rooted around in a pack and triumphantly pulled out a box of Snapz.
“What’s that?” Emmett said.
I leaned forward because I didn’t know either.
She opened the lid to display a bunch of small paper-wrapped nubs. “Inside the paper is gravel and sand with a tiny explosive. Does feck all in terms of real damage, but they’re pure, dead brilliant as noisemakers.”
“You just happened to have all this on you?” Eli said. I could have kissed my lovely paranoid baby daddy.
“Aye. I was in London going from our trailer to set with the stun grenade and these darlings to use as practical effects when I was taken.”
“You think a bang or two is going to scare them off?” Ah. There was the contemptuous shifter I knew and, well, knew.
“No, but combined with the ropes we’ll set on fire, it should buy us a path out the back door. There are less of them there.”
