Stronger Together chapter 161 (Patreon)

Barb's call came as we were walking out of the field museum. I had  been a bit worried about not seeing her earlier so I was happy to hear  from my redhead. I picked up the call with a smile "Hey babe, we missed  you at the house earlier. Big day on our side. How goes the exciting  world of big business?" I was expecting plenty of ribbing about how  badly I'd been mishandling things but I was ready for it. I told you so  sex was Barb's specialty. I didn't mind a little smugness if it came  with a little snugness.

The lusty direction of my  thought's didn't sat long, the mood was shattered almost as fast as it  would have been if she'd thrown cold water in my face "She's gone!" Kara  and Raven's heads both snapped up as the words came out of the speaker,  both on alert and with heads on a swivel just in case whatever this  threat was hit us on multiple fronts. It was jarring to hear Barb so  upset. I could hear fear and guilt and rage all mixed together in a  cocktail of wrath that did not bode well for whoever had caused it.

She  didn't elaborate exactly, just started talking much too fast about too  many small details. Some people can't focus when they're upset, Barb  hyperfocuses. Her observation goes into overdrive and you have to drag  her back down to normal person speed. "Whoa! Slow down love. Deep  breaths. Who is gone? Did something happen to Yang, or Cinder?" She  sounded so frantic I just knew it had to be someone we were close to. I  felt the cold pit of despair settle in my stomach as I tried to figure  out who could be in danger.

Barb exhaled slowly, trying to  calm herself down. "Andi is gone. She vanished on the way back from the  store. I hacked into the local traffic cams and...well I didn't catch  who did it exactly, but judging by the animalistic blur that followed  her into the alley she got grabbed from I'm guessing it was a certain  french fuck." Her voice was seething with rage and I wasn't far behind.  The Beast finally made his move. I was afraid for Andi but going by his  MO he would probably do something a bit less direct than a head in a  box.

Barb cursed "This is all my fault. I was supposed to  be spending time with her after what happened to KIrby. She stayed with  us so she would be safe. How did we not assume the sick son of a bitch  would go after Kirby's girlfriend next?" She was right, it was a huge  oversight. We kept Andi close of course but once we figured out about  the prophecy we assumed everything was going to be aimed at finding  Tera. At this point I wasn't even sure The Beast cared about Connor. The  kid might have just been a pretext to unleash his inner psycho.

Despite  that this wasn't on her, or me, or any of us "Enough of that. Chastel  is a fucking nutcase. We can't be expected to predict the actions of the  bugfuckeringly insane. Andi will be fine for a while I'm sure. He seems  like the gloat-y type. I bet he won't even touch her for a few days so  he can find us and rub it in. We can rescue her before he has a chance  to do anything at all okay?" I desperately hoped he didn't amuse himself  first by eating her fingers in a sandwich or something but I wasn't  bullshitting Barb, he probably would try to torment us with his prize  before he hurt her.

A heavily accented voice answered me,  but not over the phone. "What a wonderful plan mon ami. It sounds very  heroic. I should not wish to be this...Chastel you speak of. What a fool  he must be to have made such an enemy as you." My whole body locked up,  and not just mine, I saw Raven and Kara both spin to regard the smug  werewolf sitting cross legged on the roof of one of the few cars in the  parking lot. He had just appeared out of nowhere, one second nothing and  the next second he was there.

Chastel was...not what I  expected. He looked like one of those romance novel covers. Chiselled  good looks, sea green eyes, cascading black curls, and a thin mustache  and goatee to frame his unusually delicate jaw. His voice was sickening  but pleasant. Like listening to poison honey. I could hear the core of  malice and sadism under the suave french accent. I glared at the man  shaped abomination "Gotta call you back babe. Fill you in in a bit but  it's kind of urgent." I hung up and slipped the phone into my pocket.  "Give Andi back and I won't rip out your spine and whip you to death  with it."

My tone was flat and brooked no argument, but  Chastel just laughed "Oui, mon frere. But of course, I would be happy to  return your lost puppy. But alas, all of this talk of violence has  frightened me out of my wits. I cannot seem to remember where I've left  her. I hope nothing untoward befalls me, the poor thing might remain  lost forever." His smile was sad and gentle, but his eyes were flat and  deep like the waters of an ocean with no bottom, and I could see fucking  sharks in there. I glanced at Kara who shook her head.

Chastel  laughed again "Non, I am afraid the game will not be so simple. I have  watched you Cameron of Beddows. I have studied you and learned your  truths. The blonde one is some sort of demigod, her senses are so mighty  that even my own stealth was barely enough to be their match. I have  hidden your puppy somewhere beyond the veil of this world. If you wish  to recover her you must play a game with me. Does this not sound like  great fun?" The facade of sadness was long gone now, having melted away  under the burning intensity of the madness flickering in his eyes.

Kara  tensed up but didn't move. This fucker had us by the short hairs and he  knew it. I grit my teeth and forced my rising anger down "What exactly  did you have in mind." I hated when we couldn't just hulk smash the bad  guy. Fucking crazy supernatural predators and their bullshit hostage  tactics. "Because as much as we love Andi we aren't going to kill some  random innocent to free her. She wouldn't want us to do that anyway. She  would rather die." I truly believed that. Andi would rather be killed  than let us kill an innocent for the asshole who murdered Kirby in her  name.

The Beast snickered "People, they always say this,  'she would rather die' but you know? I have found it is never the case.  High minded morals and rhetoric only lasts until the screaming begins.  Your friend would cheer you on with gusto after but a few days in my  care, regardless of the 'innocence' of your prey. But fear not. It is so  much more fun to play with a handicap. I accept your condition. You  will not be forced to harm a soul." He hopped down from the car  strolling over to me and pulling out a phone.

He pressed  it into my hand leaning in way too close and invading my personal space  "You will take this phone. I go now to begin our game, in a few hours I  will call. If you do not answer on my first call, your puppy will be put  down. If you take more than two rings to answer, your puppy will be put  down. If you do not obey my instructions to the letter...well, I am  sure you can see where this is going. One more thing. You will stay in  this parking lot for five minutes once I leave. If I feel I am being  followed...you know how this goes."

He turned to grin  lasciviously at Raven and Kara "Mon belle, parting is such sweet sorrow.  I am afraid that the two of you may not participate in tonight's  festivities. Your abilities are hardly sporting. I will face only the  leader of the pack in tonight's challenge." He dropped into a low  courtly bow and then stood, that manic grin splitting his face as he  faced me again "Wait by the phone for my call mon ami. I am excited for  our game. We will have so much fun together." And with that one last  ominous statement...he was gone.

Wait. That wasn't true. I  retreated back a few seconds into my memory. I saw him turn and walk  away, but while it was happening I saw nothing. He just wasn't anymore. I  furrowed my brow, turning to give Raven a quizzical look. "Ok, you have  any clue what the actual fuck he just did? Because if I'm going on a  psycho scavenger hunt chasing after this bastard I can't have him able  to do whatever the hell that was to me any time he feels like it." It  was a strange thing to witness. Unlike normal stealth I didn't think he  was actually disappearing, he was just making himself impossible to  focus on.

Raven frowned at the  empty parking lot "It's similar to what the twins did but on a smaller  scale. They twisted the time stream to make themselves faster, it looks  like he's twisting it so that your perception of him is a few seconds in  the future. Not only does it let him move unseen in the present, your  mind automatically shunts the memory down in favor of what it perceives  as the current one creating a sort of stealth loop. It's a fragile bit  of magic though, he can't use it to attack you, survival would shatter  the spell. For stalking and escaping though it's effective as hell."

I  winced "He didn't feel as strong as the twins, but I'm guessing he's  powerful enough to use demigod tricks on a technicality. If he can only  manage a knock off version I assume he's weaker than they are, which  considering the situation is honestly not that comforting. He seems like  he's harder to deal with than the asshole kings." I looked around then  down at my phone "Has it been five minutes yet. I want to get home and  load my gun for the game tonight. I might need to wait to shoot him but I  want the option."

Raven  smiled at that, Kara seemed to stressing her senses to try to pick up  any traces of the beast. My girlfriend let her face smooth into  seriousness. "Ok while you play his game we can look for Andi. I doubt  he can hide here from all of us, we have some serious hitters on our  team magically speaking. Just string him along and try to keep him  distracted. If you do have to shoot him just do it. We can find Andi  after he's dead if need be, but no amount of tracking spells are going  to bring you back if he kills you. Keep yourself safe."

That  would be easier said than done, I was nearly certain, but I knew she  was right "Just do your best to find her. Worst case we can contact  Calliope, wherever he took her is probably somewhere connected the city.  Other than that I'd say if we can find some kind of image or location  Harry can use his moms research to help us find her. Either way Andi  will be fine as long as we keep that asshole busy tormenting us. So do  you think promising I wouldn't have to kill anyone means this game of  his won't be gruesome and horrible?" Neither of them responded and I  winced "Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that."