Read Motor City Witch for Free Online Page A

was entirely locked on Dina. She didn’t say anything because she had no idea what to say. Her toes tapped restlessly against the floor mat.
    “I’m surprised you didn’t give her the malachite,” Aidan said finally, about fifteen minutes into the silence. “That would be handy about now. Though I probably never thanked you for loaning it to Meagan. Shocked the living hell out of me when it went off. After five years, I figured you’d probably tossed it.”
    Elise reached up and wrapped her hand around the green stone amulet Aidan had given her when they were dating. Sort of a magical GPS beacon, it was keyed to Aidan and she supposed she’d held onto it as one lingering way of keeping him close even after their split, though when her friend had been in danger, she’d loaned it to Meagan.
    “She told me.” Elise grimaced. She didn’t want to think nice things about Aidan right now. “Dina has one of her own. It’s pink quartz and it’s keyed to me and Des. It was lying on her floor tonight. Whoever took her must have recognized the magic and taken it off.” She pulled it out of the pocket of her jeans and studied the broken necklace. The silver chain Dina wore it on had been snapped and Elise cringed to think of her baby being subjected to even that much pain and brutality. What were they doing to her now?
    “Stop it.” Aidan took one hand off the gearshift for a moment to squeeze hers. “She’ll be fine. There shouldn’t be any reason to hurt a hostage. Whatever they want is from you, or more likely, me. In order to bargain, they need to keep Dina in one piece.”
    “You’re right.” It had always been uncanny, how he’d known what she was thinking and feeling. Reading surface thoughts was a common Fae ability, but most of them couldn’t get past Wyndewin shields. That immunity was one of the things that made Wyndewin enforcers effective against the Fae. With her and Aidan, though, the shields hadn’t mattered. They’d been that attuned to one another.
    “We’re going to get her back, Elise.” She was surprised at the rough emotion in Aidan’s normally steady tone. “I promise you that, on my life and honor. Whatever it takes.”
    “She’s not yours, Aidan.” How often did she have to remind him? She couldn’t have him getting too attached, not even to the idea of Dina.
    “She could have been,” he muttered in the gruffest tone she’d ever heard him use. “She should have been. Even if there’s no biological link, if you’d told me, I’d have accepted her.”
    “I know.” Deep inside, she had, she realized. She simply hadn’t allowed herself to think about it. “But it still wouldn’t have worked. The problems between us—they were just too overwhelming.” She’d been telling herself that for almost five years. The mantra had helped keep her sane.
    “It doesn’t matter anyway.” Aidan pulled his hand away to shift gears. “We’re still going to find her. Nobody should ever get away with abducting a child, no matter who her parents are or aren’t.”
    They reached the mansion that housed the portal into Faerie, usually called Underhill by the Fae. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Elise found herself ensconced in a chair in Aidan’s library, though this time it was in the larger room, not his private den. For a pirate-turned-corporate raider, the man sure appreciated books. She’d always loved that about him—the complexity that kept him from being merely another soulless suit.
    The ruthless pirate face was back in evidence, however, as he paced back and forth in front of his assembled household staff. Pictures of Dina and a description of her pajamas had been printed off and passed around the table. Wallis and Greg guarded the double doors to the rest of the house, while Toby, Aidan’s most faithful retainer, stood beside the unobtrusive wooden doorway that led to the inner sanctum where she’d chatted with Aidan earlier. That room also, she guessed,