In Shadow - Ch 26 - Or Not

"You were supposed to go with Orange and Corrie," Genie said softly.

"I couldn't leave you alone," Jenny replied simply.

The plan, already on the edge of collapse, had fallen completely apart when the guy with the gun arrived. The best martial arts moves Genie knew weren't much use against a ruthless gangster with a gun, especially one who was more than twenty feet away. Genie had had no choice but to surrender. She just hoped that she'd bought Orange and Corrie enough time to reach the subway entrance and make good their escape.

"OK, I have a plan," Jenny said with undeserved certainty.

"Please don't," Genie sighed. After the past week, she had come to very firm the conclusion that, if they got out of this, Jenny was never allowed to plan anything ever again.

"When the guard comes in to check on us, I'll flash my boobs. While he's distracted, you kick him in the head," Jenny continued, undeterred.

"Why does every single one of your plans basically come down to showing some guy your boobs?" Genie wondered aloud.

"They're my best feature," Jenny smiled.

"Jenny, you're a talented actress, a good friend and a caring person," Genie said. "You are a lot more than just a pair of boobs."

"That's what Miranda always says," Jenny said.

"Well, she's right," Genie said.

They sat together in silence for a long moment. Finally, Jenny said, "They are nice boobs though."

"You have lovely breasts," Genie said. "I'm sure, under other circumstances, like if I was more gay and less captured by gangsters, I would be all over your breasts."

"Thanks," Jenny smiled.

"We still need an escape plan," Genie sighed.

"You could flash the guard," Jenny suggested.

"Are you kidding? Did you see how high I was kicking... and in this skirt?!" Genie said emphatically. "That guy owes me dinner and a movie, or at least a few drinks." 

"So true," Jenny laughed. 

"Anyway, I'd rather we came up with an escape plan where we keep our clothes on," Genie pointed out.

They still hadn't come up with a plan (dressed or otherwise) when the door to the room clicked open. The guard Genie had fought came in followed by a man in a grey suit, the one who had had the gun. 

The man in the grey suit gave them both a cold, considering look. It was a look that seemed to take them in completely, but at the same time, did not linger even for a moment on their bodies. Genie felt that they could have both been completely naked and the man would have looked at them with the same dispassionate consideration.

"Ms. Elderberry. Ms. Poole. I am Mr. Grey," the man said, his voice as coldly dispassionate as his eyes. "I do not wish to waste time. I know your associates have taken a certain ledger from Mr. Tenari's offices. You will tell me where they have taken it."

"Look, buddy, I'm Jenny Poole. I am the star of the Urbz," Jenny said with every ounce of a star's pride. "So, let's not pretend you're going to do anything to me or my friend here. I mean, if anything happens to me, millions of viewers are going to be following the police investigation."

"I am aware of your celebrity, Ms. Poole," Grey said scornfully. "Of course I am also aware, as are your millions of viewers, of your unsavory past associations and your struggles with addiction. I am sure, once people learn of your recent meetings with some of those same unsavory associates... like Mr. Stone and Mr. Tobar... they will be saddened, but hardly shocked, by your unfortunately fatal drug overdose."

"Oh," Jenny whimpered weakly.

"Leave her alone," Genie said curtly.

"Yes, you do represent more of a challenge, Ms. Elderberry," Mr. Grey smile grudgingly. "Despite your family drama, I have no doubt your mother would object to your sudden demise... at least without consulting her first. Still, there are ways around every challenge."

"I know she's here," Genie pointed out. "All I have to do is scream and she'll know I'm here... if she doesn't already."

"Perhaps," Mr. Grey mused. "Though, you may find it is difficult for even a mother to recognize a voice through a soundproofed wall."

"Do your worst," Genie snapped defiantly.

"Um, Genie..." Jenny said weakly.

"Little girl, you have no concept of what my worst is," Mr. Grey snarled. "Tell me where the ledger is."

"I said no interruptions, Candi," Mr. Grey snapped at the women who had come into the room.

"Sorry, Mr. Grey," Candi replied in what seemed to Genie to be a real version of Jenny's hooker voice.

"What. Do. You. Want," Mr. Grey snarled.

"Marco said you wanted to talk to Max and George as soon as they could leave the big meeting," Candi answered shyly. "And they're just leaving the meeting so..."

"I am surrounded by incompetence," Mr. Grey sighed. "You," he added pointed at the guard, "make sure they don't go anywhere."

Frustration plainly breaking through his cold facade, Mr. Grey stalked out of the room.

----------------

"Marco said you needed to talk to us," George T said.

"Is there a problem?" Max V added. 

"Is there a problem?" Mr. Grey sighed. "Let me think. Is the arrival of your niece, an actress you once associated with, an unknown man and a third woman who sounds very much like George's most recent pet, a problem?"

"Corrie's here?" George replied, startled.

"Corrie was here," Mr. Grey said. "She is gone. So is the Alto ledger. So, all in all, yes... I think there is a problem."

"Genie and Corrie stole the ledger? With some actress and some guy?" Max asked, clearly feeling it was important to catch up quickly.

"Jenny Poole," George groaned, "and the guy was probably Orange Bailey-Moon."

"You seem remarkably well informed about this," Mr. Grey snarled.

"I just..." George started.

"I. Don't. Care," Mr. Grey cut him off. "You will find your little pet. You will recover the ledger. You will bring them both to me. Now."

"Right," George said.

"And you," Mr. Grey said, turning to Max, "will bring me Mariah Basso and Miranda Silveroak-Goth. No more stalling. No more games. Bring them to me or know that there will be no hole deep enough for you to hide in this time."

"Consider it done," Max said with false bravado.

"I will consider it done when it is done," Mr. Grey snarled.

----------------

"Dude, you sure about this?" Anthony asked. 

"Absolutely," Orange lied. "You up for it?"

"We got the easy part, bro," Anthony said. "Here are the tickets you asked for."

"Thanks," Orange said. "I owe you... big time." 

"Forget it, dude," Anthony said, fist bumping Orange. "UBrite Dragons forever."

"I still don't see them," Corrie said. "They should be here by now."

"Yeah, they should be," Orange agreed. 

If Genie and Jenny had gotten out, they should be here by now. He was just as worried as Corrie... or maybe not. Corrie had a better idea what guys like George T were capable of. It was a thought that did not make Orange feel better.

"What are we going to do?" Corrie asked.

"We stick to the plan," Orange said, trying to sound confident. "They'll catch up... but we have to go. The last train's leaving any minute."

"Boss," Damien said. "I've got them. Central train station." 

In Shadow - Ch 25 - We Got This

"Can we talk about the aspects of this plan that I am still uncomfortable with?" Orange asked.

It seemed a little late to bring it up, Genie thought, since they were standing outside of the Alto Towers (and what does it say about us as a nation that a notorious crime family openly puts their name on a skyscraper in the middle of town, she wondered). 

"You mean the part where we're disguised as hookers, the part where half the guys up there might recognize us anyway, or the part where that jacket is way too small for you?" she asked. 

"They won't recognize us," Jenny said confidently. "Trust me, people see what they expect. They expect hookers. They'll see hookers."

"...and the jacket was all I had," Jenny continued. "Some ex left it behind. It's not my fault Orange is bigger than most guys I've dated."

"I bet he is," Corrie breathed.

"That's not what I meant," Jenny chuckled, smiling.

"Anyway," Orange said, blushing. "What do we do if they recognize us?"

"We run," Genie said simply. With more confidence than she felt, she added, "But Jenny's right. People see what they expect. We stick to the plan."

It wasn't a horrible plan, Genie thought. At least, she hoped it wasn't. 

Of course, it had been Jenny who had proposed they sneak into the gathering of crime bosses disguised as hookers. Orange hadn't been happy with that part from the start. Actually, Jenny had proposed that she sneak in, alone. Genie had the feeling she had been trying to redeem herself after the near disaster of her meeting with George T. 

Genie had suggested that she should be the one to go in instead. That was until Corrie had pointed out that she was the only one where knew exactly where the hidden safe was. More importantly, she was the only one who understood the formula to figure out the combination. The obviously terrified woman had volunteered to be the one to go. Genie thought that might have been one of the bravest things she'd ever seen. 

In the end, they'd all agreed to go in together or not at all. Once they'd settled that, they worked on fleshing out the rest of the plan. It wasn't a horrible plan.

We've got this, Genie thought and offered a silent prayer that she was right.

"Hi, handsome," Jenny positively bubbled in a high-pitched, giggly voice that sounded nothing like her own. "Terry sent us... Terry Stone. You... like... know Terry, right. He said to tell you that we're... like... the entertainment."

"Damn," the goon guarding the penthouse door chuckled. "Terry always sends over the best girls."

"Oh, you're... like... so sweet," Hooker-Jenny beamed, giving him a little bounce that threatened to pop her out of her top. 

This poor guy never stood a chance, Genie thought. 

The inside of the spacious penthouse apartment looked just like Corrie had described it. Genie was impressed. Most people didn't pay that much attention to their surroundings. 

Glancing quickly around, they spotted another Alto goon standing guard over what Corrie had said was the entrance to the dining room where the meeting of the criminal Families was likely getting started. For a moment Genie wondered what she might overhear in that room, but she reminded herself that the Alto's ledger held far more secrets. Stick to the plan, she thought.

Orange split off and confidently walked up to the goon.

"Hey, Terry Stone sent me over with some girls for the party," Orange said in his best Bro voice.

"Have 'em take a seat on the couches over there, watch some TV," the goon nodded. "The bosses gonna be talkin' for a while."

"Can do," Orange nodded. "The girls are just gonna go freshen up a bit first. Hey, you catch the game last night?"

Was it just luck that Marco's office, with the hidden safe containing the Alto's ledger, was in the opposite direction from the meeting? Was it Miranda's wyrd-fate thing that a bathroom for them to "freshen up" in was right next to it? 

Stick to the plan, Genie breathed.

While Orange distracted the guard, talking about last night's game, the three of them headed for the office.

"You're sure you can get us in if it's locked, right?" Jenny whispered.

"Yes," Genie lied. She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to be. This was going to work. It had to. "Mariah showed me how to pick locks."

"You know, we have to take down the Altos just so I can hang out with Mariah more," Jenny mused.

"I still can't believe you guys know Miranda and Mariah too," Corrie whispered. "They're like famous."

"Hey, I'm famous," Jenny hissed.

"Eyes on the prize, ladies," Genie said. "We just need to... oh SHIT!"

"Don't look, don't look, don't look," Genie whispered, half turning to face the bathroom door.

Luna Elderberry strode purposefully out of the office, the gold buttons on her pristine white dress gleaming in the hall lights. Her hand-made Amorosan leather stilettos clicked against the penthouse's hardwood floors, steady and relentless as Death herself.

If she sees me, we're sunk, Genie thought, pretending very hard that she was invisible. Pretending that she was just a hooker, one of the evening's entertainment for powerful and dangerous men, so far beneath the notice of the wealthy Luna Elderberry that she didn't even merit contempt.

"Quick, before it closes," Jenny hissed. 

Mindful of the guard Orange was hopefully still distracting, they quick-marched through the office door as it swung slowly shut behind Luna. 

"We made it," Genie said with a shuddering, near-hysterical grin. She'd never been happier to be the object of her mother's indifference. "She didn't recognize us."

"Who was that?" Corrie asked, clearly responding to how shaken Genie obviously was. 

"Genie's mom," Jenny said. "Big time banker, money launderer and all around evil bitch... but she got us into the office." 

"OK," Corrie breathed. "OK, we're in the office."

"Yup," Jenny smiled. "Now we just grab the ledger and walk right back out. It's all you, Corrie."

"All me," Corrie nodded. "All down to me." Panic edged her voice as her eyes started to turn wild. "Everything depends on me." 

"Corrie," Jenny said, taking her by the shoulders and looking deep into her panicked eyes. "We're with you. We believe in you. You're a genius. You've got this."

"I've got this?" Corrie's voice shook.

"You've got this," Genie smiled.

"We've got this," Jenny said firmly.

"We've got this," Corrie said with a shuddering breath. "It's just math. Math's easy."

With another deep breath, Corrie stepped behind the office's big desk and pushed aside a painting on the wall to reveal the hidden safe behind it.

"OK, just give me a minute think this through," she said, concentrating.

"You've got this," Jenny said. Quietly, she added to Genie, "You know, I'm not bad at math. I mean, I can balance my checkbook. My mom even taught me a little double-entry bookkeeping... she keeps the books for dad's hardware store... but I couldn't make heads or tails of Corrie's formula. Could you?"

"I took Algebra for Football Players as my math requirement," Genie whispered. "You balance your checkbook?"

"Got it," Corrie said after a few minutes. 

With an upbeat nod, she stepped forward and punched a code into the safe's keypad. Without any fanfare, the safe clicked and swung open. Smiling, Corrie reached inside and pulled out a dark, leather bound book.

"I thought it would more... impressive... somehow," Jenny mused.

"The Alto Families' ledger," Genie smiled. "Every dirty deal. Every bribed official. Every secret... or enough to send the whole lousy bunch of them to jail for a long time. Probably enough pull down the other Families too."

"OK, I'm impressed," Jenny nodded. "Let's get out 'a here."

"Hey, those girls gonna be much longer?" the Alto's guard asked.

Orange had taken a position in front of the bathroom door, playing what he imagined was the part of the dutiful bodyguard for a trio of hookers. Unfortunately, the guard hadn't been willing to spend the whole time talking sports. The guy seemed pretty serious about his job.

"Phft, women, right?" Orange ventured.

"Well, tell 'em... hey!" The guard lurched back, eyes hard.

Glancing behind him, Orange saw the office door swinging open, the ladies coming out. 

"What the Hell!? You're not allowed back there!" The guard barked.

Luck, it seemed, had finally abandoned them.

"Get them out of here!" Genie snapped. 

"Genie?" Orange blinked.

"Go, I've got this," Genie said, fists raised, squaring off against the guard. "Stick to the plan."

Stick to the plan, Orange thought. I hate this part of the plan... the part where, if they got caught, their best fighter would distract the guard while they made a break for it.

Still, as Corrie rushed past him toward the apartment door, he had to admit Genie had really taken to those kung fu moves Mariah had showed her. The guard didn't know what he was in for.

After the whole business with Ms. H and Johnny Pretty, Mariah has insisted on showing her friends a few self-defense moves. At first, Genie hadn't thought it was really her thing. She'd discovered she was wrong about that, discovered she actually enjoyed it. 

In the end Mariah had shown her more than just a few moves... and she'd picked up more on her own. Even in the damn, tight little skirt, she could handle herself. 

I've got this, she thought.

"That is quite enough of that," Mr. Grey said coldly.

In Shadow - Ch 24 - The Pack Looks Out For Its Own

Moonwood Mill was Jake's home, but Mill Lane still held a special place in his heart.

Smiling, he breathed in the scents of the farmhouse... the green smell of the hedge, the sweet smell of flowers, the deep scents of old wood and stone, the pong of the chicken coop. He caught trails of honey and herb (a particular body wash Aadi and Jordan shared), the red, she-wolf scent of Demarco and the shimmering aura not quite hidden under Etta's homemade herbal soup. Over everything, he caught the heavy, wet smell of the fog clinging to mountains and the hint of rain that always seemed just over the horizon in Henford-on-Bagely.

As the farmhouse's back door swung open, a wave of herb and flowers rolled out, almost hiding the rising scent of honey and herb that announced Jordan and Aadi before the lovers stepped out onto the back porch.

"So, clothes, cash, water bottle, granola bars... what else did she say?" Aadi was saying.

"Matches, knife, string," Jordan replied. "It's like camping."

"Boo, I grew up in the City," Aadi laughed. "The closest I got to camping was crashing on a friend's couch."

"Etta has you two putting together escape kits," Jake observed. 

It wasn't really a question. Etta never went anywhere without an escape plan, never entered a room without looking for all the exits, never walked down a street without looking for threats. When other girls were playing with dolls, the quiet woman had been learning how to be a spy and assassin, among her other talents. Jake would have called it child abuse, but he had to confess it had given her some frighteningly useful skills. Skills she gently encouraged others to learn. The pack looked out for its own, even those without the Wolf.

"Hey, puppy. That she does," Aadi said, clearly a little amused. "We're setting up packs in the barn. She has a whole escape route planned."

"Hopefully you won't need to use it," Jake said, "but it's still good to have in case of trouble."

"I know," Aadi sighed, a little more serious.

"I don't like the idea of running," Jordan added, a little hotly. "This is my home. I shouldn't be run off by a bunch street toughs from the City, or a bunch of monsters." Suddenly abashed, they shot Jake an apologetic look. "I didn't mean..."

Jake smiled, dismissing the unintentional insult. Living with Demarco, Jordan had finally been forced to confront the reality behind Aadi's stories about werewolves and, by implication, vampires and witches too. They were actually handling the revelation of the monsters that lurked in the shadows pretty well.

"Well, we'll do what we have to, to keep you both safe," he said simply. The pack looks out for its own, he thought again. "Hopefully, that won't mean running." 

"Anyway, you're not just here to be social," Jordan said. 

"Your friend Genie called me," Jake said.

"Us too," Aadi said. "They have A Plan. So, Etta has us finishing up our escape kits... just in case Armageddon comes a'knocking."

"That's what I thought," Jake nodded. "Well, while you do that, I'm going to check in with Etta and Demarco. Then we should all talk."

"We'll be back," Jordan said in their best Terminator impression.

The farmhouse kitchen smelled heavily of herbs and flowers, over the scents of cooking - eggs, peppers, onions and greens - that had long ago sunk into the wood. Mixed within those, Jake smelled Etta's shimmering scent and Demarco's strong wolf musk. 

Strangely, he only saw Etta.

"Brewing up another potion?" he said.

"Herbal tincture," Etta corrected. She adamantly denied anything she did involved more than a common, everyday kind of magic that Jake knew was neither common nor everyday. "A little something for energy. Might be helpful."

"Getting ready for trouble," Jake observed.

"Always," Etta said ruefully. "I take it you heard... Aadi's friends have A Plan. I hope this one goes better than their last one."

"So do I," Jake sighed. "Any news on the neighbors." 

They'd been aware for a while that the farmhouse was being watched.

"Demarco's checking on them," Etta said.

"Where is she?" Jake asked, a little confused. He could smell her, as if she was right in front of him.

"Behind you," Demarco said, chuckling.

With a snarl, Jake jumped, ready for the ambush that didn't come. With the ease of long practice, he took a deep breath, calming his Wolf.

"Sorry," Demarco said, lowering her head in a gesture of deference but not the submission she might show her own pack leader.

Jake inclined his own head, wordlessly accepting her apology. 

"I was checking out the abandoned house in the woods," Demarco continued. "We were right. They've been using it as a base. Kiril is there, but there was no sign of Bianca or Wolfgang."

Jake suppressed another snarl. Kiril and Bianca Barov were renegade werewolves, former packmates of Demarco's, who had betrayed the Wildfangs and endangered all of Moonwood Mill. Now, they were clearly working with Max V and his henchman Wolfgang.

"It was dangerous scouting the house alone," Jake pointed out sternly. "What if Kiril caught your scent?"

"He couldn't," Demarco replied with a defiant grin. "Just like you couldn't... because Etta is brilliant."

"The poppet," Etta said, gesturing at a crude doll on the kitchen counter. "I enchanted it to hold Demarco's scent instead of her. As long as she doesn't get too close," Etta added, clearly repeating a warning, "the charm should hide her scent."

"Brilliant," Demarco repeated, proudly.

"That is truly brilliant," Jake agreed. 

"Well, it was just an experiment," Etta said, clearly proud in spite of herself. 

He sniffed the air again. They were right. This close he could catch Demarco's scent coming faintly from her body but more strongly from the crude doll a few feet behind her. At a distance, she would be hidden, provided she wasn't seen. More, he thought, another Wolf scouting the farmhouse would think she was here, in the kitchen.

"Etta," Jake said slowly. "Could you do that charm for someone else?"

"Probably," Etta nodded. "Provided I had their scent to imbue into the poppet."

"I'll see what I can arrange," Jake smiled.

"What are you thinking," Demarco said, puzzled. 

Etta just looked at him, suspicions clearly forming behind her dark eyes.

This might be the solution to another problem, Jake thought. Out loud, he simply said, "Later."

A moment later, the back door rattled open and, heralded by honey and herbs, Aadi and Jordan burst in.

"Jake, I just got a text from Genie," Aadi said excitedly. "More details about The Plan. Look."

Letting himself get caught up in Aadi's enthusiasm, Jake looked down at their phone. Slowly, as he wasn't the strongest reader, he read through Genie's text. Then, while Aadi practically vibrated with excitement, he read it again just to make sure he'd understood it.

"OK," Jake said at last. "Let's talk about what we need to do for our part."

In Shadow - Ch 23 - Weakness

"Of course I have a plan," Max V grinned. "I always have a plan."

The glass and steel spire of Landgraab Tower, with its magnificent views of the City, was a world away from the Spice District apartment. Not that Max considered that much. He didn't give a passing thought to his niece, Genie Elderberry, or even particularly remember Jenny Poole, an actress he had used and discarded years ago. Certainly, he wasn't overly concerned that either of them might interfere. 

"Does this plan involve capturing Mariah Basso before the meeting of the Families?" Mr. Grey asked coldly.

To Max's mind, Mr. Grey was someone to be concerned about. In a long life of criminal associates, Max considered the Alto Family's consigliere the single most dangerous mortal he'd ever dealt with.

"You questioning my loyalty?" Max said.

"Of course not," Mr. Grey replied coldly. "I have no doubt whatsoever that you are loyal to no one but yourself."

Loyalty, Max thought, was for fools. It was Grey's one weakness - his absolute loyalty to the Alto Family. No matter how smart and ruthless the man was, it would always be a lever Max could exploit.

"Gentlemen, this squabbling helps nothing," Luna Elderberry put in. "Max, you will find the girls. Yes?"

Max smiled inwardly. Luna, his dear big sister, was always playing her role of hostess and mediator, the role she'd adopted, when they were still children, after maman's sudden death. That was Luna's weakness - her need to be always in control.

"I’m close," Max said out loud. "I can’t promise when I’ll bring them in though. There are certain risks to consider."

"Yes, you have said several times that confronting a witch like Miranda Silveroak-Goth is dangerous," Mr. Grey said. "One might wonder how you intend to accomplish it at all." 

"I have no intention of confronting her… not head on anyway," Max smiled again. "I got her last time by blindsiding her…"

"You lost her last time," Mr. Grey pointed out.

Max bristled even as he recognized the barb for the poke at his pride that it was. Everyone has a weakness, he admitted, if only to himself.

"I told you, I had unreliable help," he said curtly. If only that stupid girl hadn't betrayed him... and for what? Lust? Love? Friendship? What had Claudette's weakness been?  "Won’t be a problem this time. Will it, big guy?"

"It will not," Crowe snarled. 

"Miranda is secondary to our interests anyway," Luna said. "It’s Mariah Basso the Families want."

Of course they did, Max thought. Mariah had broken the Code of Silence and given evidence against Nick Alto - who was now rotting in jail. She'd cut the head off the Alto Family, and the infighting that followed had damn near brought the whole thing down.

"It is," Mr. Grey nodded. "If you do not have her soon, that will leave Marco in a… difficult… position with the other Families."

"There may come a time when we have to consider whether our loyalty lies with Marco or with the Alto Family," Luna mused. 

Big sister understood weakness too, Max thought.

"Marco is Nick’s chosen successor," Mr. Grey pointed out.

Family. That had been Nick's weakness, Max thought. That was why he'd trusted Mariah, daughter of his favorite cousin and previous heir-apparent, Big Tony Basso. That's why he'd named Marco, another cousin, now son-in-law and father of Nick's grandson, as his heir after Big Tony's untimely but necessary assassination.

"Yes, he is," Luna said. "Of course, you’ve disagreed with Nick’s decisions before. His involving the Family in the intrigues of the Dark Court for instance… which brings us back to Miranda. I imagine handing her over to the Court would go a long way toward gaining their favor."

 "Possibly," a soft voice purred. 

"Lady Bow." Max inclined his head in a gesture that carried genuine respect.

Betty Bow may have gotten a title through marriage, but she held her position in the Dark Court by Right of Conquest, having defeated and destroyed the master vampire who had turned her. As far as Max was concerned, when someone could reasonably be considered the most dangerous person in a room that also included Mr. Grey, respect was due.

 "The Dark Court is in some… disarray," Lady Bow continued. "Count Straud’s absence from the Court has left him vulnerable. A vulnerability Lady Hel, or Ms. H as you knew her, and her allies were poised to exploit before her… mysterious… destruction." 

"Mariah Basso defeated her," Crowe growled.

Loyalty again, Max mused. That was Crowe's weakness, his loyalty to the memory of his late mistress. 

"Did you see it happen?" Lady Bow replied.

"I know Ms. H lured Mariah into a confrontation," Crowe snarled. "I know that Mariah survived, and Ms. H did not. It’s obvious what happened."

"Unless Miranda defeated her, like they say she defeated Count Straud," Lady Bow smiled coldly. "The Court wants Miranda for that outrage. They aren’t interested in Mariah… unless she did defeat Ms. H. Then her allies would be very interested. Wouldn’t they, Crowe?"

"The Families want Mariah," Grey said firmly. "The Court can have Ms. Silveroak-Goth. We have no interest in her."

"George T wants Miranda," Max said offhandedly. George T's weakness had always been obvious, Max mused. Women. "Oh, he’s good with handing her over when he’s done. Assuming the Court doesn’t mind if she’s a bit roughed up and… sticky."

"Such an unpleasant man, your George T," Lady Bow grimaced. 

"We can discuss who does what to them after we get them," Luna snapped.

"No hint of sympathy for your old college sweetheart’s daughter?" Max asked Luna, his voice edged with acid.

"Cassie Goth was never my sweetheart," Luna snarled.

"Gwen Silveroak was," Max countered cuttingly. 

Love. Another weakness.

"Gwen made her choice," Luna huffed. 

For all she played the polite hostess and the charming socialite, Max knew Luna's pains. Among them, he knew that, under her smiling facade, his sister had never forgiven Gwen Silveroak for picking Cassie Goth over her, leaving Luna with Rohan. 

"Now go, find the girls," Luna continued. "And Max, I want you at that meeting… either with them or with a damn good explanation why not."

-------------

"You cannot give Miranda Silveroak-Goth to George T," Crowe said.

It wasn't a question, Max mused. It wasn't even a demand. The way Crowe said it, it was an immutable fact as irresistible as gravity and with the same possibility of danger. It was an attitude that, frankly, Max appreciated about Crowe.

"Don't worry about it. I've got this," Max said easily, pulling out his phone. "Wolfgang, give me good news."

"No sign of them yet," Wolfgang replied. "Bianca hasn't caught their scent yet either. You sure about this?"

"I'm sure," Max said. "I should have worked it out from the start. Evergreen Harbor is within easy reach of Moonwood Mill, Glimmerbrook and Mill Lane... and it's big enough for them to disappear in. They're there. Find them."

"We're looking, but like you said, this town is big enough to hide them," Wolfgang replied. "Unless we get lucky, it's going to take a while."

"Stick close to the she-wolf," Max smiled. "She'll get their scent eventually. And don't use George's people anymore. I don't want him getting there first."

"That could be a problem," Wolfgang said cautiously.

"Make it not a problem. Do whatever it takes," Max said firmly. "Now, you remember what to do when you do find them?"

"Look, don't touch," Wolfgang said. 

"That's right," Max said. "No one moves on them without orders from me."

"You brought George T into this. Now you’re pushing him out?" Crowe said, mildly puzzled.

"He was useful for a while," Max said. "Now he's becoming a liability. I always knew he would. I'll handle him. Sometimes you've got to sacrifice a pawn to take a queen."

"You will take the queen?" Crowe asked.

"I will," Max smiled. "And when I do, we will bring both Miranda and Mariah before the Dark Court. Don't worry, we'll get our rewards."

"I don't care about rewards," Crowe snarled. "I want Mariah's blood." 

Weaknesses, Max smiled. We all have them.