“Mississippi, huh?” We passed a big green sign announcing we were fifty miles from Abbeville. Mississippi was a long drive from Texas. I recalled what Dell had said and noticed the takeout bags littering the floorboards. “You drove the whole way?”

“You needed rest.” Graeson stroked the inside of my thigh with his thumb. “How much do you remember from yesterday?”

Thinking while he touched me required more mental acuity than I usually had while sleep crusted my eyes, but I didn’t stop him, and I didn’t let his caress unnerve me. Much.

I remembered the lake, the umbras, thinking Graeson had drowned. I recalled the basement, the igel, and almost ripping Harlow to pieces with my bare hands while trapped in a murderous rage. “All of it,” I said quietly.

“Letitia used a teleportation spell to yank you back to Wink with her, in case you were wondering.” He slid his seat belt down his shoulder so it wouldn’t slice into his throat. “She wears a medallion with a piece of her home’s hearthstone inside. A drop of blood, and bam. She’s back home, safe and sound.” A tight grin stretched his lips. “The marshals figured that part out when she vanished from her holding cell prior to her pat down.”

Well that explained how she managed to snatch Harlow and then me. “How long was I out?”

“Twelve hours,” Dell chirped. “Girl, let me tell you. You snore like a freight train. I live with wolves, and I’ve never heard anything like it. You should look into those sticky things you put on your nostrils to open your airways.”

“Dell,” Graeson rumbled.

“Um, I mean, on you it’s cute.” She flashed a smile. “You can totally get away with sounding like a runaway locomotive.”

I cracked a grin at her rambling. For someone so polished on the outside, Dell had no trouble sticking her paw in her mouth once she started talking. “So what’s in Abbeville?”

“The next victim,” Dell answered.

Gorgeous and psychic too? Fate wasn’t that cruel. Oh wait. Yes. It was. “Graeson?”

“I told you my brother-in-law is a witch.” A frown touched his lips. “He’s been casting divinations.” He finally seemed to notice his hand was still on my knee, but he didn’t move it. “We suspected Mississippi would be the next state targeted. Using the scale I found at the Brushy Creek scene as a focal point, he crafted a spell to pinpoint where the kelpie will strike next.”

Not a bad plan, but it made no sense. “If it’s that easy, then why didn’t the conclave try it?”

Dell clicked her tongue. “We were wondering the same thing.”

A chill settled in my bones. “You think they knew some of the locations prior to the attacks?”