Anya Bast - Witch Heart

Adam fought mot to punch the wall. Long gone was the lighthearted man the Coven had known. For years he was the one who joked around with everyone, even under the direst of circumstances.

He could find nothing light within him at the moment, not even a speck. Every moment they spent not finding Claire was another moment the demons had to kill her.

If, indeed, she still lived.

"You need to calm down, Adam."

"I really fucking wish people would stop saying that." Adam turned on his heel and paced away from Jack McAllister. "Easy for you to say; it's not someone you care about trapped with a couple demons who are ready to rip her limb from limb."

"You're right. In your position, if it were Mira in the hands of the demons, I'd be crazed, too."

"And don't fucking tell me that Micah and the others are doing all they can. If one more fucking witch tells me that, I'm going rip their fucking head off."

"Yeah," Jack said, eyebrows rising. He stood and went to the kitchen, took two short, fat glasses from the cabinet, and poured whiskey into them both. He turned. "Do you want a fucking drink?"

Adam started toward him. "Fuck, yeah." He took the glass from Jack, downed it in one swallow and then poured another.

"So, it finally happened, then. Adam Tyrell finally fell in love."

He rolled his eyes at Jack and drank down another glass. "Hell, have a baby and get married, and you start going all soft and talking about love."

"You wouldn't be like this if it was anything less. Anyway, what's wrong with love?"

Plenty.

Adam turned and stalked away from him, back into the living room of his Coven apartment. "I was married before, Jack. I'm not unacquainted with love."

Jack went totally silent.

Adam glanced at him. "Yeah, I know. Shocking, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Thomas knows. Isabelle knows, but not the details. A few others know. Not many."

"Did you get divorced?"

He collapsed into a recliner with a heavy sigh. Why'd he even bring this up? "No, man, she died."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, fuck."

Jack set his glass down and moved into the living room to sit in the other recliner. "I'm sorry."

Adam tipped his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. "Why do people always say that when they hear someone's died?"

"Because they don't know what else to say." He paused. "How did she die?"

"I was a cop. I bet you didn't know that, either. My dad was a cop, too. I followed in his footsteps, just like he wanted. My dad, both my uncles, all of them were Chicago cops. It was in my blood."

"No, I didn't know."

Adam tipped his head forward and looked at Jack. "I was a good cop, too. Never took bribes, never confiscated shit from crime scenes. I wasn't corrupt. Anyway, one night after my shift I got home and a thief broke into our house and killed her." He laughed, a harsh sound. "I was still wearing my holster."

Jack just stared at him. Adam was thankful he didn't say he was sorry again.

"I fried the guy on the spot, right where he stood. You can guess what I had to do after that. Thomas came in, cleaned up my mess, and I started working for him."

Jack just blinked. "I always wondered how you came to the Coven."

"I loved my wife, Jack."

"I know. I can hear it in your voice and see it on your face."

Adam got up and poured himself and Jack another drink. He needed it. He bet wherever Claire was, she needed one, too. His hand clenched around the bottle as he poured.

If he could confront Tevan and Kai right now he would make fire hot enough to rival the sun, hot enough to get through their shields. When he finally met them again, they were going to taste it.

He finished pouring the amber liquid into the glasses, then braced his hands on the counter and bowed his head as a wave of emotion swamped his mind and body. A trickle of fire jumped down his arm from his seat and sparked harmlessly on the counter. "We have to get Claire back."

Jack, thankfully, said nothing.

Jack had shown up, sent by Thomas, no doubt, to keep him from doing something rash while Micah worked up possible places the demons might have taken Claire. Something about spots in the world where demon magick was likely to be most effective. It had to do with the flux and flow of energy, ley lines, and the basic geographical lay of the land.

Truth was, the demons could have jumped her anywhere, anywhere in the world. Their only chance in finding her was divine intervention. Since Adam didn't believe in the divine, they were probably shit out of luck.

After a moment, Adam picked up the glasses and walked back into the living room.

"It wasn't your fault Claire was taken, you know," said Jack as he handed the glass to him.

Fuck it all . "Don't, Jack."

He moved to sit at the edge of his chair. "I mean it, Adam," he snapped. "You and Claire staved off Tevan and Kai against incredible odds. We're dealing with magicks and beings we know little about. There was no way to know they'd be able to track her so fast and pick her up during the five-minute stop you made at the gas station."

Truth was. he did feel responsible for Claire's abduction. "It was like they were just playing with us up until then."

"Yeah, well, Claire pulled the elium on them and then she did something no other elemental witch has ever managed to do and used all four elements on them together." He took a long drink. "You'd better believe they were done fucking around by that time."

"Claire is amazing."

"And she might have already escaped. Don't count her out of this yet."

"We shared dreams." His voice sounded a little slurred to his own ears. The alcohol was sending him to a place where he could drift a little.

"What?"

"After I first met her, we had this chemistry—"

"You have chemistry with every woman."

"No. It was different with Claire. It was a shared thing, that spark." Adam snapped his fingers in the air and a flame appeared. "And we shared dreams."

"What do you mean, share ?"

"We dreamt the same dream. A couple times. The exact same dream on the same night, probably at the same time."

Jack was quiet for a long moment. "Huh." He said finally. "That's really strange."

"Claire thought maybe it was magickical bleed through."

"Like her magick affected yours while she slept, drew your astral self into her mind or something? Mira can let her consciousness walk about without her body. It's something air witches can do. Claire is an air witch, in a way."

"Claire is an everything witch." Adam mulled it over for a moment. "I guess that's what happened. I don't know."

Jack sat forward so fast he sloshed his drink over the rim of the glass and onto the carpet. "That's it, you fucking bastard."

"What's it?"

"You can find Claire that way. You can use the connection you two shared in your dreams to find out where she is."

Adam sat forward. "Are you drunk?"

Jack stood up. "Mira is really into this, Adam. She can tell you more than I can, but I know it's kind of like remote viewing. If you can connect with Claire, you can see out of her eyes and maybe we can tell where she's being held."

Hope flickered to life inside him and then crunched to his toes. "Claire's the one with the air magick, Jack, not me. Didn't you hear a word Micah said? No way do the demons have Claire anywhere unwarded. Wherever she is, she can't access her air magick or any kind of elemental magick."

But Jack was already striding to the door. "We don't know that for sure. Anything's worth a shot at this point. The only other thing to do is get drunk; this is time better spent. I'm sending Mira here right now." He turned and pointed a finger at him. Fucking make some coffee, Adam. She'll need you sober."