Spell Bound - Kelley Armstrong [52]
I knew Paige and Lucas wouldn’t abandon me if I had no magical powers. They wouldn’t fire me either. But my place in their life would change. And my place in Adam’s life would change.
So why was I letting that happen already? Watching him drift away in anger and doing nothing about it?
I checked my cell phone. Adam had e-mailed me my boarding pass a few minutes ago. That meant he hadn’t given up on me yet. Now I needed to get on that plane. Go to Miami.
I made it as far as the baggage counter when my cell phone rang. “People Are Strange.”
“Hello?” I said.
“Savannah.” It was Roni, breathy with panic. “Thank God. I thought I remembered your number, but I got it wrong the first time and—”
“Where are you?”
“We—we got ambushed. They rammed the taxi. The driver ordered us out. Your friend wouldn’t go—she argued with the driver—so I took off—”
“What? Where’s Elena? Is she okay?”
“They chased me. I twisted my ankle. I—” A deep pained breath. “I lost them, but now it hurts so bad and I can barely walk and they’re still looking for me. I know they’re still looking for me.”
“Where’s Elena?” I said. “Is she hurt?”
“I-I don’t know. There were three of them. My cousin Chrissy, another woman, and a man. Chrissy and the woman chased me. The man stayed behind. I saw him pulling your friend from the car. He had a gun.”
Shit. No. Please tell me I hadn’t screwed up that badly.
“Where did you leave her?” I said.
“I’m at—”
“No, Elena. She could be hurt. Where did you leave her?”
“I-I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I-I’m sorry.”
“Fine, where are you?” That would get me close enough to find Elena.
When she gave me a street address, I told her I’d be right there. Then I called Elena’s number. No one answered. I texted Adam. He called as I raced to a cab outside the terminal.
“Get back inside, Savannah.”
“I can still catch my flight and I will, but Elena—”
“She’s fine. There’s no way she’d let some guy with a gun—”
“She’s not answering her phone. Something happened. I texted you Roni’s location. Meet me there.”
I hung up before he could reply.
seventeen
Roni was holed up in a fast-food joint. It was lunchtime, and the place was packed. I found her in a corner, sipping a soda, shoulders hunched against the glares of families circling past her table as they looked for seats.
When she saw me, her eyes filled with tears. She started to rise, then stopped, looking behind me, eyes wide. She raced over and grabbed my hand—the bandaged one—and I let out a yelp.
“Sorry. D-don’t turn around. J-just—” She stepped in front of me, using me as a shield. “I don’t think they saw me.”
“Is it—?”
“Chrissy. She’s with that man I don’t recognize.”
“Okay, listen. We’re in a very busy public place. Just calm down and tell me how you got here. That will help us backtrack and find Elena. I need to call Adam—”
“They saw me!”
“Calm down. They’ll scope the place out first, and cover the exits. The worst thing you can do is—”
She yanked free of my grasp and bolted.
“—run.”
I went after her.
I caught up with Roni at the back door, which was locked. As she whaled on it, I pulled her back.
“So now you’ve trapped us in a dead end,” I hissed. “Wonderful.”
“It’s only locked,” she said. “You’ve got a spell for that, don’t you?”
“Normally, yes, but I was poisoned recently, which explains why you haven’t seen me cast anything.”
I reached for the door. A prick in the back of my arm made me jump. Roni fell back, clutching a needle.
“You little bitch!” I said.
“It’ll be okay, Savannah. I’d never hurt you. And they’d never let me. You’re too important.”
I swung at her. She tried to duck, but my fist connected and she went down. I spun toward the exit. Even when I stopped moving, though, the hall kept going, around and around. My fingers clasped the handle. It turned. It hadn’t been locked after all. I flung it open, staggering out, the stench of garbage making my stomach churn. I stumbled against a trash can. It took everything I had to stay upright.
“Hello, Savannah.”
I lifted my head