“You said yourself that you expected the calls like clockwork. The conclave moves fast to cover fae tracks, but this would be record speed. The locations are remote, the search areas broad, and there aren’t enough eyes on the ground to find the bodies on any type of schedule.”

“It sounds like you don’t trust the conclave,” I said slowly, “so what am I doing here?”

Graeson withdrew his hand but left his fingers dangling over the console between the front seats while he watched my thoughts churn.

Lori. He still wanted to use her—me—to lure the kelpie.

I pressed my back against the seat. The absence of his hand left a chilly outline of his broad fingers through the fabric of my pants. “Does Vause know where I am?”

“Nope,” Dell answered for him. “The less she knows the better.”

I touched my pocket and found it empty. They had taken my phone. “Does that mean I can’t check in?”

Graeson’s mouth pinched. “We would prefer if you stayed out of touch for the next couple of days.”

I pegged him with a glare. “You kidnapped me.”

“We need your help.”

“What about my family?” Pressure built behind my breastbone. “If the conclave can’t locate me, they’ll call my aunt.” I gripped his wrist. “After what my family went through with Lori, I can’t—I won’t—let them think they’ve lost me too.”

“Cut the girl a break,” Dell murmured. “I mean, you did abduct her while she was unconscious.”

“I brought her carry-on and laptop. I even grabbed that bag thing with the makeup in it.” He made it sound like he’d done me some huge favor by not leaving my belongings to get stolen from my hotel room.

“Cord.” Dell sounded pained.

“I’ll let you call your aunt if you can keep a lid on your location,” he agreed with reluctance.

“Great. I’m glad we got that settled. Any other orders you’d like me to follow? No, don’t answer that. Of course there are.” I resisted the urge to cross my legs in the confines of the backseat. “Does this mean I have to ask for permission to use the restroom too, ’cause I have to tell you, I’m about to pop.”

“No.” His gaze tagged Dell. “We have that covered.”

“I inherited your babysitter.” I huffed. “Great.”

“Sorry.” Dell hunched her shoulders. “For all of this.”

“We have reinforcements meeting us in Abbeville,” Graeson pressed. “You won’t be operating alone. We won’t let you get hurt.”

“Reinforcements.” It was too much to hope he would reach over Vause’s head to ask the conclave for support. “I assume you mean your pack.”

“Six of my best wolves.” Pride warmed Graeson’s voice. “You couldn’t ask for better backup.”

Eight wargs against one spellworking kelpie. “Your alpha doesn’t mind that you’re all off playing vigilante?”