On that line, Dr. Daniel’s used the chaos at the precinct to harp on the fact that an officer had been killed only feet from where Pamela had stood. If only the doctor had understood that Milly had been aiming for Pamela, I had no doubt that the kid would have already been whisked away.

As it was, Agent Valley stepped in, surprising the hell out of me yet again.

“Dr. Daniels, was it?”

The red faced, red dressed doctor nodded sharply. “Yes.”

“Agent Adamson,” he said, giving me a full title, and I choked as if something had gone down the wrong tube. Agent Valley just gave me a warning look and continued. “Agent Adamson is one of the best agents we have and has dedicated her life to going after cold cases where children have been abducted. If young Pamela wants to stay with her for a short while, I personally will vouch for her safety.”

The doctor shook her head. “That is not good enough. We have to proceed with the proper procedures and the proper paperwork. This is . . .” their voices trailed off as Agent Valley herded her away from me, Pamela, and Alex, who sat with his chin on Pamela’s knee.

“Pamela, as much as I appreciated your help, this isn’t safe for you. The doctor is right about that,” I said, slumping into a chair beside her.

“You’re going to make me go with her?” She asked, her voice quavering.

“No, I’m not. You have to make up your own mind and I think you’re old enough. But my life isn’t safe. What you saw just now, that sort of shit happens all the time. You could die if you stay with me.” I couldn’t pull any punches here, she had to know the truth before she made a decision to stay or not.

Her blue eyes went thoughtful for a moment before she answered. “But you save kids, right? Kids like me?”

I nodded. “Whenever I can.”

She bowed her head, her face curtained by her raggedy blond hair. After a moment, she lifted her head; her blue eyes were clear, looking far older than her fourteen years.

“I want to help you,” she said. “You need someone like me, someone who can do magic. I want to be her replacement.”

Couldn’t argue with that. But there was one thing bothering me. “You don’t act much like the teenagers I know.”

She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth, sucking at it before speaking. “My parents kept me locked up from a pretty young age, as soon as I was able to . . . do things.”

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how shitty her childhood had been. We had a case to solve, kids to bring home, and then I could go after Berget. And hopefully somewhere in all of that, I could give Pamela some semblance of a life.

*-*-*-*

The cell stunk like fear, piss and vomit, none of it his own; they assailed his now sensitive nose, making him breathe shallowly. The coolness of the lower cells didn’t bother him, but the fact that directly across from him sat Milly, did.

Next to his cell stood two shape shifters, one a werewolf like him, and the other—he drew in a deep breath—smelled like a mountain lion he’d caught wind of once.

The cat shifter had tried talking to him, but had given up when O’Shea hadn’t been able to answer with anything but snarls and a lunge at the cage. Milly glared at him from across the way. Still, he could do nothing without her explicit command and she hadn’t said anything since she’d said, “Kill Alex.”

Seeing Rylee had put him into a tailspin, her tri-coloured eyes staring up at him, and all he’d been able to say was, “I’m here to kill Alex.” Rylee would kill him. She promised him once that if he hurt Alex, she would. And Rylee was, if nothing else, the kind of girl who followed up on her word. Milly had planned this well.

Milly stared hard at him, her lips moving softly as she whispered a command, her eyes flicking to the werewolf. “Kill him.”

Without hesitation, O’Shea reached out and snagged the werewolf by the neck through the bars, snapping it with a sharp twist. The cat shifter whirled around and Milly hit him in the back with a spell.

Two more quick incantations and both cell doors were open. Milly flicked her wrist, slamming the cat shifter into the far wall, where he slid down into a crumpled pile.

“Is he dead?”

O’Shea listened, heard the heartbeat steady on the cat shifter. Milly hadn’t commanded him to tell the truth.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go. We have work to do.”

Unable to fight her, O’Shea followed in Milly’s wake.

*-*-*-*

Within five minutes, the sounds of fighting and the feel of heavy-duty magic floated up to us from the lower cells. Fuck it all to hell and back. Pamela stood, and I put a hand on her shoulder. “No, we wait here.” I knew that if I went down to the cells, she’d be right behind me. I couldn’t risk her. Not even for O’Shea.

A full minute passed and then another. and finally, Will stumbled up, his head bleeding from a gash. “They’re gone.”

I nodded, totally unsurprised. There was no real way to keep Milly from using her magic unless I was right there, holding onto her. Officers ran to the lower levels, but I knew they were too late; it had been too late when they put Milly in a cell and expected her to stay there. The humans always took the longest to learn.

Without a doubt, Milly had O’Shea enthralled, of that much I was certain. There was no way he’d have done what he did, not even as a werewolf. His drive to protect others, to do the right thing, would have only intensified as the wolf in him grew. If we’d only been able to get that f**king torc off him.

I helped Will to a chair, gave him a quick once over after pressing a bandage to his head, then stood back. “You’re lucky she didn’t kill you.”

Will lifted tired eyes to mine. “She asked him if I was dead. He lied to her.”

I wanted to fist pump. I knew it! “She has him under a spell or something. He’s not like this.”

“So we shouldn’t try and kill him?”

I shook my head.

Will stood up. “Then I better tell the other guys that.”

My gut clenched, and I put a hand on his arm. “No, if he comes at them” —I swallowed hard— “he won’t hold back. It won’t be his fault, but he wouldn’t want other people to die just because of what’s happened. Not even to save himself.”

Will’s eyebrows climbed. “You know him that well?” The unasked question, 'You two were a thing?' hovering between us.

I answered both. “Yes.”

Will limped off and I leaned on the table, staring down at the paperwork. As if we could catch the Necromancer that way. This was the problem with the human law, with the rules and regulations that choked the life out of those doing the right thing, and allowed the a**holes to climb through a loophole made up of paperwork and unjust laws. Looking around, I saw officers putting the office back together, watched them quickly settle back into their seats at their desks. Heads down, f**king heads in the goddamned sand. I knew what we were dealing with, knew that it was a Necromancer, so why weren’t we Tracking him, getting this case taken care of? Because someone hadn’t signed a sheet of paper giving me the right to go after him? Because the stupid humans thought they were safe behind their file folders and lists of procedures? Fuck this.

Enough was enough.

“Alex, Pamela. We’ve got to do some Tracking, we’ve got to end this case now, so we can get on to other things.”

Pamela looked up at me, her eyes shrewd. “Like saving that man, that werewolf?”

I touched the top of her head. “Yes.” My list just seemed to keep growing, as if someone was actively trying to keep me from going after Berget. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if that was actually the case.

Pamela took Alex’s leash and the two of them followed me through the chaotic office and out the front door. Yes, I left without telling anyone, and yes, I took a minor that technically I wasn’t guardian of. But shit, when had I ever followed any rules but my own? Besides, not one person even looked up as we left, so mired in their own world that they saw nothing else. Typical humans.

Outside, the crush of fear and swirling emotions subsided, and I locked onto Sophia, the little girl who’d first gone missing. Feeling the pull of her to the north, we headed that way on foot.

“What do you mean we are doing some Tracking?” Pamela asked, her hand buried in the ruff at Alex’s neck as we walked.

“It’s how I find kids. I was brought here to find a bunch that have gone missing over the last couple of years.”

She didn’t ask any more questions, seemingly lost in her own thoughts as we wove our way north, avoiding the main roads where possible. At least it wasn’t raining now, though the clouds hung low and heavy with the threat of it.

After walking for close to an hour, I stopped and Tracked a second kid, Benjamin. He was in the same direction. From what I could tell, we were maybe another hour away by foot. Really, they hadn’t been that far all along. If I’d been here on my own I would have found them within hours of talking to Jack instead of dicking around with reading sheets of papers that did nothing. Okay, to be fair, it was good to know what we were dealing with, but even knowing it was a Necromancer who’d taken the kids didn’t change anything. There was nothing different I would do.

Alex was blessedly quiet through the walk, my orders from earlier to keep his mouth shut finally kicking in. Pamela, on the other hand, started up with the questions again.

Why did I have a werewolf for a pet?

Were vampires real?

Who would train her?

Would she be coming back to the States with me? It seemed like once the questions started, the floodgates were opened and she didn’t want to stop.

I had a werewolf for a pet because his pack would kill him.

Yes, vampires were real.

A Coven would help with her training if she came back to the States with me.

“Am I asking too many questions?” She asked as we crossed the street, merging with the flow of people on the other side.