Fate: California Obscura

Tinder changed lanes suddenly, which made me grab the seat in front of me. “I assume this car’s warded,” I said. “Otherwise, they probably would have already disabled our engine or thrown a truck at us or something.”

“Yup. Carter thought to ward both cars before we left your house,” Tinder said. The Chevelle’s powerful engine revved, and he switched gears again as he wove through traffic. The fact that he was grinning and clearly enjoying this told me a lot about him.

I asked, “Did you know what I was doing because you spotted me on Desiree’s video feed?”

“Yes,” Carter said, “and it was a terrible idea to attempt this without us. You need to learn it’s okay to rely on someone other than yourself.”

He was right. My rescue mission had almost ended in disaster. It was terrifying to think about what might have happened if my friends hadn’t shown up when they did.

My mate stirred in my arms just then, raising his eyelids partway as he murmured, “Mateo.”

“Hi.” I caressed his cheek and asked, “How do you feel?”

Elias sat up and looked around. “Groggy, but aside from that I feel good. Did you heal me?”

“Carter did. I didn’t have any juice left after my nearly catastrophic attempt at smuggling you out of the compound.”

He squeezed his friend’s shoulder as he said, “Thanks, Carter.” Then he asked me, “What happened after you put me under?”

After I told him the story and introduced him to Tinder, Elias frowned at me and muttered, “You’re getting such a spanking for endangering yourself like that.” My cock twitched, and of course everyone in the car sensed my arousal. Tinder chuckled, and Carter glanced at us, then quickly looked away. Who knew it was that easy to embarrass a demon?

We all braced ourselves as Tinder took a wild left through a red light. Horns blared and brakes squealed, but somehow no one collided. That was followed by an almost immediate right. A few seconds later, he slowed down and glanced in the rearview mirror. “I lost them,” he said with a smirk. “Amateurs.”

Carter sent a text and got one in return moments later. “Desiree and August got away without incident.” He put his phone down and murmured, “I suppose this could have gone far worse.”

“It’s not over, though,” I said. “We have to stop the brothers. I don’t know how, but it has to be done, and not just because they’re after Elias. I saw one of them as we were leaving. He and I locked eyes, and it was absolutely chilling. Evil just radiated from him. Also, there are all these humans working at the compound, and I think they’re bespelled and being kept there against their will.”

Elias asked, “Which brother did you see?”

“I don’t know. He had white hair.”

“That’s Cain. I’m surprised you got away, if he was close enough to make eye contact.”

“Actually, we weren’t close at all,” I said. “I was in the car, just outside the gate, and he stepped out of one of the buildings a moment before we sped off. Somehow though, he let me know he saw me, really saw me, and it was disturbing.”

Elias sighed. “I’m sure you’re as high up on their hit list as I am now. They won’t take someone breaking into their home lightly.”

“I would have ended up on their list anyway, as soon as they figured out you had a mate.”

“This is different, though. Now they’ll actively be gunning for you.”

After a pause, I asked, “Since the brothers just tracked Elias to a tiny island on the east coast, what’s to prevent them from showing up at Tinder’s house?”

“I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how they found him in Maine,” Carter said, “and it had to come down to tracking me. Until today, I don’t think they knew you existed, so I’m the only explanation. I’ve already strengthened and recast the concealment spells I had on myself and Elias. The brothers shouldn’t be able to track us, at least not by any means I can think of.”

“Good idea,” I said. “But even if they can’t track us using magic, they can still use more conventional methods, like hacking into traffic cams.”

Carter nodded. “The protection spell I cast on both cars also renders them invisible to any cameras they pass.” He really was remarkably thorough.

After a pause, I said, “I owe a company called Filly’s Flowers a new delivery van, plus some money for all the arrangements I ruined today. I need—”

Carter picked up his phone and started composing a text as he said, “Consider it done.”

“No, you don’t have to do anything. I was just saying I’ll need to get to my money, which is mostly cash, so—”

He cut me off again as he put the phone in his pocket. “It’s already taken care of. They’ll be receiving a huge check this afternoon, which will more than cover the damages.”