Now really alarmed, she picked up her pace, bewildered at how a person could go from glee to terror in ten seconds flat. Be sensible, she told herself. He could have left his phone in a restroom or something. But deep underneath she knew he was in danger.
No, no, no, not when she just found him again . . .
Wishing she’d thought to bring her cane, she hustled faster.
Chapter 18
RIGO
When Godiva left for her assignment, he watched her go, relishing her delight in this covert operation. The mate bond gleamed in his mind, bright with her glee.
“I’m so glad you two worked things out,” Jen said.
He turned as she joined him by the window, out of the way of actual customers coming and going. Jen sipped at her herbal tea, and grimaced slightly.
“Thanks,” he responded, unsure where to go next.
She dipped her head toward the door, then said in an undervoice, “You should probably know that Joey Hu hears a lot more than most do. Even me.” She tapped the side of her head significantly.
Rigo looked around before speaking. Everyone was talking to someone else. He said, “So it wasn’t all that random, him bringing up Godiva’s name when I first contacted him?”
She shrugged a shoulder, sipped, grimaced slightly again, then murmured, “Don’t know. Only that he’s very, very sensitive to mates. Potential mates. Broken mate bonds. He tries to fix the ones that can be fixed. Yours was a tough case as the bond was thinner than a thread. All coming from your direction. We didn’t know if that was a bad thing or a good thing.”
A lot became clearer to him then, and gratitude filled him.
She went on, “Bird and Mikhail thought that it might be better to wait to tell Godiva about Joey’s ability. Let her get used to the shifter world first. But Joey felt that you had to be the one to decide that.”
He was about to thank her, but the words fled from his brain when there was another crash behind them. Mikhail staggered back against a table, sending dishes rattling and one mug falling to the tile floor. Nikos sank slowly into a chair in the opposite corner, his head in his hands.
Joey Hu and two other people Rigo did not know also sat, strangely silent, their faces an unpleasant gray tinged with green.
Rigo followed Jen, who was rushing to Nikos’s side. He said to Jen worriedly, “It’s seven. Aren’t Mikhail and Nikos supposed to be in the air?”
“Yes,” Jen muttered, as Nikos put his head in his hands.
Jen turned to Doris, who was talking urgently on her phone while unhappily eyeing Joey.
“Doris?” Jen said. “What happened?”
Doris held out a hand, talked rapidly into her phone before turning it off. “More zombies on the move,” she said tersely. “When did I ever think zombie was a funny word? Cang’s gang seems to have spent the entire night charming random people. But at least Godiva’s women are so far batting a thousand.”
Jen said, “Okay, but what happened here?” She opened her hand toward Joey, Mikhail, and Nikos.
Joey said weakly, “Shiftsilver.”
“What?” Doris gasped.
Joey closed his eyes as if gathering strength, but before he could speak, Mikhail straightened up with an effort that Rigo could feel. He looked around, and seemed to recognize everyone in the bakery. The owner was still in the back, making more coffee.
Joey visibly gathered his strength to say hoarsely, “The pastries. Were dusted with shiftsilver powder. Probably while the other person. Was knocking over the coffee. And the dishes.”
Everyone looked at each other. Doris said, “Then they were here.”
Mikhail said tightly, “We still have to get to the palisade. But . . .” He pressed a hand to his head.
Jen set down her tea. “I’ll do the flyover.”
Doris shook her head. “You’re queasy. You can’t fly on an upset stomach.”