He cast an irritated glance at him. "My son's no fool. He's got powerful wards in place. You're never going to be able to use magick to discover her presence. You can take your water and pour it down the drain.”

"We can place men at each of his apartments across the country, though he may have taken refuge in his rooms in the Coven. Perhaps while we keep investigating the Minneapolis possibility, we should begin to prepare for an alternate plan to pry her from the Coven?”

Crane stared at him, letting his anger bleed into his eyes. "I admire your initiative, even though you're second-guessing me, David. You do realize that, don't you?" His voice sounded like a whip in the boardroom.

Another half step backward. David would be out the damn door soon. "I'm sorry, sir.”

"Concentrate on Minneapolis. They didn't move her to Chicago yet. They stashed her somewhere close, and it has Jack written all over it. I feel it in my gut. He's got the woman. Bring in the best wardbreakers you can find.”

Crane sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and cursed himself yet again for his bad judgment regarding Jack. His decision to allow Jack's aunt to raise his son had been the biggest mistake of his life.

When Jack had been a child, Crane had assumed his son had inherited all of his mother's sensibilities and none of his. He'd never thought Jack's magick was that strong, or his will, for that matter. He'd assumed his son wouldn't be useful to him in any way.

It turned out Jack had much of his father in him after all. Tenacity. Strength. Resolve. The ability to do whatever had to be done in order to achieve a certain end, and the capability to do it with unparalleled ruthlessness.

Of all the Coven's operatives, Jack was the one who gave them the most trouble.

The regret tasted bitter. If Crane had raised Jack and twisted him just so, Jack would've grown into a fine man. He would've grown into a man like Stefan and would've been his right hand these days. Crane could've used someone like Jack working to further his agenda. As it turned out, Jack was working to hinder it.

It wasn't all bad. Crane had lost Jack, but had gained Stefan, a rare half-breed fire witch with an amazing amount of both power and rage. Crane had discovered him in Paris and taken him under his wing at the tender age of twelve. He'd groomed all that delightful anger and ambition into a dangerous, sharp point.