While Anson held the doors in place, I sealed them. The drain was instant. I felt like I could lie down and nap.
Then a loud pop broke the desert’s calm.
Anson looked instantly panicked. He shifted toward the house, where the sound had come from.
I swallowed. “Tell me that wasn’t a gunshot.”
He didn’t answer, just took off running. I was right behind him. Jack came out from one of the storage sheds, saw us, and yelled, “House?”
We both nodded. That got him running too.
I’d left the French doors open, something I was very glad about because it was one less obstacle in our way.
We burst into the house.
“Sin? Are you okay?”
“Yes, in here.”
We came around into the living room, and Jack let out a strangled cry. Birdie was on the floor, blood all over her arm and shoulder.
He rushed to her. “Birdie.”
She smiled weakly up at him. “It’s just a flesh wound. And Sin already called 911. Took the breath out of me, though.”
Tony had the gun and was holding it on Gabrielle, who looked like she very much wanted it back so she could use it.
I went down to my knees beside Birdie, taking the hand Jack wasn’t already holding. “What happened?”
Sin filled me in. “Gabi took a shot at Tony—”
“He insulted me,” Gabi snarled.
Tony gruffed out a breath. “I said you were crazy. It’s only an insult if it’s not true.”
“Enough,” Sin growled.
They shut up.
Sin finished. “Birdie went to shove him out of the way, and the bullet grazed her shoulder.”
I exhaled. That didn’t seem so bad.
“Ruined my good T-shirt,” Birdie sniped.
I laughed to keep from crying. “I’ll buy you another one.”
Sin looked at his dad. “Have you found mom yet?”
“No,” he said softly.
I’d had about as much as I could take. I patted Birdie’s hand. “I’ll be right back. It’s time to end this.” Then I pushed to my feet, walked over to Gabrielle, and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground enough so that only her toes touched the floor. “Where’s Lila?”
She snorted and sputtered. “Get your hands off me, you—”
I pushed a sharp wave of cold through my body and into hers via my hand.
Her words disappeared in a shuddering breath. “I’m so c-cold.”
“And going to get colder if I don’t get an answer now.” To underline my point, I took her down a few more degrees.
Her eyes bulged. “W-wine c-cellar.”
“Where is that? Downstairs?” She didn’t answer me. I looked at Anson. “I thought houses in Vegas didn’t have basements?”
“Most don’t,” he answered. “But it’s a little easier to dig them in the desert.”
Tony gestured with his free hand. “Back through the kitchen. Glass and iron door.”
“Sin, go with your dad. We’ve got this.” I glared at Gabi. “Because you’re certainly not going to try anything, are you?”
She tried to shake her head, but she was shivering too hard. I eased up on the cooldown as Sin and Anson took off for the lower part of the house.
The soft cry of sirens filled the air. In that moment, they were the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.
Chapter Thirty-one
Sinclair
My father and I raced through the kitchen, found the glass and iron door, whipped it open, and plunged down the stairs in the dark.
“Lila, can you hear me? Lila?” My father called for her, but there was no answer.
I found a light switch and flipped it. No mom but rack after rack of wine bottles lined the walls. In the center was a plush little seating area. Very posh, but I couldn’t have cared less.
“There.” My dad pointed to a small room at the end with another wrought-iron and glass door. “Has to be.”
He ran to the door, nodding immediately. “She’s in there. And she doesn’t look good.” He tried the door, but it was locked. He stepped back, turned his body toward the door, and rammed it with his shoulder.
This wasn’t the time for the subtleties of magic.
I joined him as the glass shattered and the metal groaned. He reached through the debris to unlock the door and finally got it open. “Lila, honey, I’m here.”
My mother was tied to a chair in the center of the small room, her head slumped to one side, a gag in her mouth. I was going to kill Gabi. I went to work getting the gag off my mom while my dad untied her arms and legs.
He talked softly to her the whole time. “I’m here, sweetheart. So is Sinclair. We’ve got you now, and we’re going to take you home. You’re going to be all right.”
She mumbled something I couldn’t make out. She was in terrible shape. Her skin was dry and cracked and flaking off in big pieces. The circles under her eyes looked like bruises, and her cheeks were sunken in. I knew her regime of moisturizers and vitamins was important to her, but I never realized just how much.
And this was after barely two days.
I didn’t know how my father was holding it together. I was so angry, I was shaking. The only solace was that Gabrielle was going to pay for this. So would anyone else involved.
We got her untied just as sounds filled the house above us. The EMTs had arrived.
“Anson,” she whispered.
He picked her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest. “I’m here, baby. We’re going home.”
“How are we going to explain this?” I glanced upward, desperate to protect my mother from any more injury or insult. “The EMTs are going to wonder what’s going on with her. Why she looks like this.”
He hesitated. “They don’t need to know she was here. I’ll take her out the back. Straight to the car and straight home. I’ll call Dr. Brewer on the way. You and Jayne can go with Jack and Birdie.”
I nodded. Dr. Brewer was a witch and handled a lot of supernatural clients. She’d been my parents’ doctor for years. Mine too, when I lived with them. “Good. Get her out of here.” I grabbed her hand, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “I love you, mom.”
She managed a tiny half-smile. “Love you, too, Sin.”
I looked at my dad again. “Let me go up first. Make sure it’s clear.”
“Okay.”
I jogged up the steps. There was no one in the kitchen, so I gave him a nod. “All good.”
As they left, I went back to the living room. The EMTs were at Birdie’s side, dealing with her flesh wound. Jayne and Jack had taken a step back to give them room to work, and Tony still had Gabrielle at gunpoint.
The front door was open, and the exterior of the house was lit up like a carnival with all the flashing lights. And it was about to get more interesting. Two cops were walking toward the front door, guns drawn. This wasn’t giving me a good feeling. I glanced at Jayne. But we were out of time.
One of the cops aimed his gun at Tony. “Sir, put the weapon down.”
Jayne and I both lifted our hands.
Tony glanced over his shoulder, saw the police, and dropped the gun, then raised his hands as well. “This woman is my wife. Gabrielle. She shot the woman on the floor.” He looked at me, as if asking whether or not he should say anything about my mother.