That wasn’t the only thing that was missing.
Evangeline was gone.
Magic. He couldn’t track magic.
Maddox felt a wrench in his chest, like his heart was being ripped in half. That was his bond being tested. Priscilla had stolen into the Bumptown like a thief in the night, cleaving Maddox in two as she grabbed Evangeline and disappeared with her.
Her last mocking taunt rang in his ears. You want her? Come and get her.
It was fucking impossible. His nose could follow Evangeline’s scent through time itself, but not when magic was involved. With Cilla placing a spell over their bond, dampening it, he couldn’t even rely on his connection to Evangeline to follow her.
It was like the night of the crash all over again. Only, this time, he knew Evangeline was still alive.
But for how long?
Beneath the sickly sweet baby powder stink that warned of Cilla’s inherent paranormal power, Maddox caught a whiff of another underlying stench. It was dark and viscous, like hot tar, and he recognized it from a few of the inmates he crossed paths with in the Cage. The demented, the disturbed, the Paras who crossed over to the bad side, who gave up on their instincts and did as their cold, empty hearts demanded.
Those were the dangerous Paras who were locked up, not because they were unstable due to a lost bond, but because they were incapable of bonding with anyone. Sociopaths who had unbelievable power, whether it was shifter strength, vampiric abilities, or magical powers. They were the true danger to society, humans and paranormals both.
Evil. That’s what Maddox used to call that stench. Pure evil.
And it clung to every inch of his childhood friend.
Maddox knew then that it wasn’t as simple as Cilla being jealous. She might think that she was doing this because Evangeline was the one thing standing between her happily-ever-after with Maddox, but there was more to it than that. She had somehow fixated on his mate, using her as an excuse to indulge in the darkest of magics, all in the name of a long ago crush.
And now Cilla had Evangeline.
He burst through the Bumptown, dashing past shifters who knew better than to stop him while he was on the verge of rampaging. Every Para sensed his urgency, moving out of the way before he ran them down. His wolf clawed at the inside of his chest, eager to break out, convinced it could find its mate.
Maddox just managed to stay in his human form. He needed to. No way could he dial a phone with claws, or get his message across with yips and snarls.
He bolted toward the truck he left parked in front of Colt’s house. As he raced, he yanked out his phone, jabbed his thumb into the redial button. Wind whistled through his ears, the echo of the phone ringing dulled as he poured on the speed.
Answer, answer, answer—
A click.
“Colt?” Despite his speed, he wasn’t out of breath at all. “Where the fuck are you?”
An annoyed huff. “Hello to you, too, Mad.”
“Cut the shit. I’m not fucking kidding. Where are you? And don’t tell me you’re in the Bumptown ‘cause I’m here and you’re not.”
“I had to go out of town. Didn’t think I needed permission—”
Maddox cut off Colt’s smart ass answer with a roar that reverberated through the cell phone.
“O-kay. You’ve got my attention, bro. What’s up?”
The truck was about ten feet away. Maddox leaped for it, nearly ripping the door off the hinge with the grip of his yank. “She’s got my mate, Colt. She fucking took her.”
“What? Who?”
“Priscilla. Now, don’t make me ask again: Where. Are. You?”
“I’m in Grayson,” Colt said hurriedly. “What can I do to help?”
Grayson. That worked. Quickly, he rattled off Evangeline’s address. “That’s Angie’s apartment building. Sixth floor. It’s the eastern most window if you’re looking up from the street. I don’t know if Cilla would bring her there, but it’s worth a shot. Cilla said to come and get her. It means she’s going somewhere I know. I’m about an hour out of Grayson, half that to Woodbridge. Cilla used to live there. I’ll check that out, you check Angie’s place. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go back to Wolf’s Creek.”