Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) Bridgette O'Hare (ebook offline .txt) 📖

I began to reorient just as we hit another off-roader’s dream that tossed me against the door. But hey, at least they had the decency to fasten my seatbelt. Safety first, right? If my eyes had been working properly, I would have rolled them.

“Ugh. That’s goin’ t’ leave a bruise,” I mumbled.

Doppelgänger Cian glanced back at me then to the driver. “She’s awake.”

“Nice job, Captain Obvious,” I whispered. Yeah, he was a genius, that one.

A cold stare met me in the rearview, but the person it belonged to didn’t speak. Between the limited view the mirror offered and my head still being fuzzy, I wasn’t sure if there was something familiar about him or I was still groggy from the toxic magic.

Light peeked over a range of mountains to my right, so I gathered we were heading north. The angle of the light told me it was just before noon which meant I’d been out for quite some time. Whatever they had hit me with, it was some seriously powerful magic.

“So, what’s our next stop, guys?”

Doppelgänger Cian side-eyed the driver then shot me a quick look, otherwise ignoring me. He was clearly not in charge here. He was also blocked from my Soul Sight. So, I had to assume he, too, was a member of the Davar Magén team—second string. Whatever artifact he was using to change his appearance, it clearly didn’t duplicate any of Cian’s other qualities.

I glanced down and realized Grams’ pendant was gone, just as it had been in my dream, and I immediately began my accusation. “If anything happens to my grandmother’s necklace, you will both wish you’d never touched it.” I admit it was big talk from someone tied up and unable to even wag an accusatory finger.

The cold stare of the driver narrowed in the rearview, and Doppelgänger Cian jerked his head to glare at me. “I don’t know anything about a necklace. You?” He’d directed his question to the driver. Driver shook his head and Doppelgänger Cian returned his attention to me. “Ain’t nobody got your necklace. Pipe down.” Libby was right, as usual; this guy definitely wasn’t Irish.

I refocused and mentally retraced my steps from the night before. I’d taken it off to read the pages, and it was in my hand when I opened the front door . . . which meant I’d probably dropped it somewhere between where I stood when I blacked out and the SUV. I said a silent prayer that Cian had found it.

Cian.

He was probably worried. Between him and Uncle Lachlan, they had likely organized an all-out manhunt by now. But judging from the scenery passing by, I didn’t know how they would be able to track me if Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum up there had been smart enough to leave my phone at the cottage or, even smarter, and dumped it somewhere.

When we hit the next rough patch, I noticed the sound of something bouncing around in the back of the SUV. Glancing awkwardly over my shoulder, I saw all of the research books Cian and I had checked out of the Keeper archives strewn throughout the cargo area along with a backpack filled with who knew what, a cooler, some rope, a shovel, and . . . a camera bag. A camera bag that I had seen in the archives. I shifted my focus back to the man in the driver’s seat and began to weave the information together.

“So, Kage, pal” I started, staring in the rearview to judge his reaction. “Ya know, I might have been up for a road trip if ya had jus’ asked nicely.”

Despite some reservations, I had trusted Cian and thought Kage was one of the good guys. For a split second, the skeptic within wondered if I’d read Cian wrong and he was actually playing for the other team. But I dismissed the thought as quickly as it had arrived.

Kage was smarter than Doppelgänger Cian, that was evident by the lack of speaking up to that point. But apparently not smart enough that he could do whatever it was he had planned without my help.

“Didn’t really think I was your type, blondie,” he shot back.

“First of all, white and blonde are not the same. Second, is that why ya brought him along?” I jarred my head toward the passenger peeling a label from a drink bottle like an eight-year-old. “I prefer my men with a lit’l more upstairs. Most women do. In case ya need t’ know for the next time ya try this surprise blind date thing.”

He actually snickered. At least he had a sense of humor.

“For real though, what is so important that ya had t’ give me a slammin’ headache? You have access to the same information in the archives I do. What gives? Also . . . I’m hungry. Not gonna be any good if I don’t have my strength. And I could use a bathroom break.” I had no idea what Kage had in store for me, but one of my first trainings at Natra taught the different tactics for dealing with hostage situations. One tactic came instantly to mind—be friendly, try to establish a relationship. They’re less likely to kill you if they kind of like you or respect you. Hopefully, killing me wasn’t part of the end game, but I preferred to increase my odds of survival however possible.

Doppelgänger Cian piped in before Kage could reply. “I’m a little hungry too. We still have about an hour and there’s snacks in the cooler.”

Annoyance. That’s the only word to describe the expression Kage shot sideways at Doppelgänger Cian. I pulled my lips tightly into my mouth to stifle my amusement.

“If you want a snack, climb in the back and get it. Otherwise, you can both hold out an hour until we get there.” Kage never took his eyes off the twisting gravel road.

Doppelgänger Cian moved a map from his lap to the dashboard. When he did, I saw the notes Cian