Chapter Twenty.

Lucas tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. He knew the general time Greyson would likely be finished with his dinner, but he was still ready to drive, even though the lesson itself had ended only ten minutes prior.

There were some things he wanted to discuss with his son, and he didn't want to wait. But he had to, in order to earn back his son's trust.

His cell ringing startled the agent, who checked the call. A number was listed, but the name wasn't one he knew.

"Elijah Camden?" Lucas said as he answered the phone. "Who are you, and how did you get my number?"

"That's just the mortal name I used when registering the phone," a voice said. "I am Refari, and our son has been kidnapped. Unfortunately, they used a potent spell to mask their retreat and I am unable to track them."

Lucas stared straight ahead at both the voice and the news. He'd never heard Refari's voice, but if it was him, and he was being honest, then something happened to Greyson.

"Where?" Lucas started his car. "I'm on my way."

"Magic Alley," Refari answered. "You'll see me standing at the entrance to alley where he was taken."

The call ended, and Lucas sighed. Magic Alley was two city blocks. The agent began driving as he called his boss.

"What is it, Lucas?" George answered.

"Refari just called me."

Several seconds passed.

"Shit," George said. "Why is he calling you?"

"I raised his son, don't forget," Lucas answered as he turned on his lights and siren and sped up as cars began moving out of his way. "I'm heading to Magic Alley, according to him, Greyson was kidnapped there. He said he can't trace the tracks – that they used a powerful spell to conceal it. Send a unit out. It could be mortals, but the timing of it – if Greyson's had the same routine for months, it's possible someone figured it out and waited out for this moment. Kidnapping a nephilim takes a lot of work and planning, and doing it right after he finished exhausting himself in a magic lesson is one way to try."

"We'll send two," George responded. "Did he say where in Magic Alley?"

"Just that I'll see him standing at the entrance to the actual alley he was kidnapped in," Lucas answered. "There are only two possible reasons I can think of for kidnapping him, George. The first is to collar him. The second is to use as a bargaining chip against Refari or myself."

"Let's pray it's the latter and not the former," George told him. "Else we may never find him."

"Yeah," Lucas responded as he tried not to think about his son being forced into magical slavery. "I'm hanging up now, I'll update you when I know more."

Lucas ended the call and pressed the accelerator even harder. The drive to Magic Alley seemed to take forever to him, and he drove up and down its streets for almost ten minutes before spotting the angel standing at the entrance to an alley between a false psychic's shop and an herb store.

He pulled up to the curb and stepped out, leaving his lights on but not the siren, so that the units would be able to find him easier.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"He was knocked out from behind," Refari answered. "Five men, all mages. They used an item to scramble magical signatures and disrupt space. As powerful as I may be, I do not possess the power to track through that."

"How did you know he was attacked?" Lucas asked.

"They broke the tracker I had in him."

Lucas stared at Refari.

"You had a tracker in Greyson?"

"Yes," Refari answered. "In one of his teeth. I put it in when it came in, then replaced it when that tooth fell out. When they struck him, something hit him in the cheek – likely the ground or a building – and it broke the tracker. The force needed for that would have to be powerful enough to break a tooth. Luckily, nephilim heal teeth quite nicely. That said, it's not lucky that he was attacked."

"Why did you have a tracker in him?" Lucas asked.

"I put trackers in all of my children," Refari answered. "They're magical, and they're potent enough to be traced through realms. Much more effective than those necklaces you gave your children and those tracking chips made of technology."

"You keep tabs on your children?" Lucas asked.

"I am not a fan of it when they are in danger," Refari responded. "The trackers allow me to view anything around them if they are struck by hostile magic. Since his broke, I am unable to see what happened, specifically, though I can smell the amount of attackers. Five. It also means I cannot locate him. Not promptly, at any rate."

"You can fix it?"

"It will repair itself over time," Refari answered. "While it is doing so, it will drain Greyson's magic to fuel the repair. Once the proper portion of the spell mends, I will be able to locate him once more. However, based on the damage I sensed to it when it broke, that could be one or two months. The spell is powerful, even if fragile, and requires quite the large amount of magic to create. It will leave him enough magic for his self-healing to work, and that is it."

Lucas rubbed his temples. Obviously, he and Refari didn't want to wait that long to find Greyson, but it looked as if something had cleaned out the alley, which meant the only clues would be the spell Refari mentioned was used. Tracking something like that down might take a couple of weeks.

"Hopefully," Refari said. "The Hound of the Line will be able to locate him."

Lucas stiffened at those words.

"Are you referring to Cameron's bodyguard?"

"I am referring to Ambrosius's bodyguard," Refari responded. "I believe he calls himself 'Callum' in this age. I was surprised to have seen him out, Ulrima was quite angry with him when he cast him into that prison. Though I suppose he would free the Hound of the Line if it meant his son had a protector and bodyguard, especially after his kidnapping at the hands of the fae. They should be here shortly."

"We're here," a voice said.

Lucas turned to find Cam, Eden, the twins, and Callum standing there. Cam was holding a bowl with chocolate ice cream coated in chocolate sprinkles and chocolate syrup.

"Why did everyone come?" Lucas asked.

"There's one more to our crew," Cam put a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "And I wasn't letting Callum investigate Greyson's disappearance without me."

"I came because Greyson is Cam's friend," Eden said. "And if Cam is worried, then I feel obligated to help him."

"We came," Jenna cracked her knuckles. "Because no one fucks with our friends. Who's the angel?"

"Refari," Callum dipped his head.

"Hello, Callum," Refari said. "It has been a long time."

"Indeed," Callum said. "Can we hurry? I'd rather not be out here too long."

"As shy as always," Refari smiled. "I devoured the alley in my fury. You will find the magic is still there, however."

Callum nodded, then entered the alley as Lucas looked at the quartet of teens, then at Cam's bowl.

"Eating?" He asked.

"I'm trying to prompt a growth spurt," Cam's face and ears turned red. "I wanna get tall before I stop growing. Or at least, average. Right now, I'm… not there yet. Callum and Eden and the twins say that eating chocolate won't help, but I'm eating dairy, too. Better than that salad Eden tried convincing me to eat earlier."

"It tasted nasty because of how much ranch you put on it," Eden snorted as Callum returned. "Anything?"

"The spell was made by a god," Callum responded, and Refari nodded.

"I suspected as much," he said. "Unfortunately, there's too much magical activity in Tejina to track down any traces of a god-summoning ritual. Leosvar's done four in the last two months, then there's Isulv, who went on a bit of a rampage the last two months and summoned eighteen-"

"Why did he summon so many?" Cam asked, and Refari gave him an odd look. "What? Callum said that Isulv tries to stay out of things."

"He does," Callum snorted. "But the war for you affected him. Several times. God or angel, he doesn't care. I didn't realize so many factions affected him."

"I can think of at least two hundred god summons in the last month alone," Refari said. "And those are just the ones I was able to sense. It's likely there were double them – and the spell could have been forged a long time ago, making it impossible to track. Thank you, Hound of the Line."

"Don't forget the favor you promised," Callum snorted, turning himself into a dog and walking to Cam's side. The young demigod placed a hand on his cousin's head as he handed the empty ice cream bowl to Eden. "I would try a member of the La-Vulis faction."

Callum looked at his cousin, ignoring the stares from the people around him. Only Refari and Cam had known he could talk just fine in that form.

"What is it, Cam?"

"The voices just gave me an idea," Cam said, sighing. "I already knew I was going to have to get involved again. Greyson's my friend, too."

Everyone knew that last part was directed at the voices, based on the distant look in his eyes and the slight downward curve to his lips.

"Cam, please don't go breaking any laws," Lucas said.

"I'm breaking them all the time," Cam snorted. "Let's go, guys. The feds and Refari will do their own investigation. There's something I want to check out."

"What?" Eden asked as Cam started walking.

"I don't like having compulsion serum used on me, and I know someone who's used that and has the resources to summon a god."

Lucas watched as the group of teens and ancient demigod left, then he looked at Refari.

"Should we follow them?"

"The children of three High Gods?" Refari scoffed. "That's asking to be bitten. If they find out a clue, I'm sure the fates will align so that we know. I will check out the La-Vulis faction of gods. The Hound of the Line is rarely wrong. Maybe your agents will find something I missed."

The angel turned and left, leaving Lucas behind just as several DoSS vans and trucks pulled up to the street. He turned his gaze to his son's friend, whose back was disappearing around a corner.

"Oh, good," Cam sighed once they rounded the corner. "He's not following us. I didn't want him to."

"Why not?" Jenna asked.

"Because I hate this chick," Cam grumbled as he made his way to the hated store and entered, his group following behind.

"Welcome back, Cameron," Elaine greeted him with a smile, then frowned. "Why do you look so down?"

"Just having some troubles," Cam said. "We need more of the stuff for the sleeping potion. It takes a lot to knock me out. I don't have the list on me, though. Do you remember the stuff we got last time?"

"Sure do," she said. "We keep a log of all purchases, just let me pull it up."

Elaine opened up her computer and started looking for the information as the twins started looking at some of the trinkets in her shop.

"This is an actual mage shop?" Tyler asked as he inspected an amulet.

"Yeah," Eden said. "She's got some pretty useful stuff here. Personally, I prefer Sabrina's Herbs and Trinkets over on Kerry. It's where I got that salve I used on your lip yesterday."

"Yeah," Tyler rubbed his jaw as he remembered their sparring session the day before. "You throw a wicked punch, Eden."

"Here it is," Elaine printed out the list. "These are the ingredients you purchased here. Beyond that, I can't help you."

"That's fine," Cam said. "While you're getting those, can you get us the stuff needed to summon a god? We're looking specifically for a god of combat, so we can try to get some awesome combat training it."

"Sure," she answered. "But I'd be careful if I were you, summoning a god is a tricky affair, and a risky one. The first impression you make matters. Try to pick a god you're sure will help you and not curse you, then work your way up to their trust."

"Will do," Cam said.

"I'd recommend waiting, though," she said. "There's a lot going on in this city right now. Plenty of gods and angels are warring over a mysterious demigod named Ambrosius, and you might get them involved. A god of combat or war could cause even larger issues for this city."

"I know," Cam sighed. "But see, my friend Greyson got kidnapped just a little bit ago, and we really need the fighting power. Well, not really, since we've got it in us ourselves. And I know that you know what happened to him, Elaine.

"There are a lot of things I don't like," Cam sighed as Elaine masked her confusion at how he knew it was her. "But you hurt someone close to me. Greyson was the first friend I made here in Tejina, and he helped me out a lot. If it weren't for him, I'd still be on the streets. That, or captured and put into a collar.

"So," his expression darkened. "You're going to answer our questions. And don't even think about lying, lady, because I'm still pissed about your compulsion serum, and then you went and had my friend kidnapped for the mage slave trade, and you lack any mind magic at all, meaning that reading your mind is very easy."