Matt and Kyle led them to a door marked “Private,” then behind that to the stockroom, and to where the refrigerated goods were stored.
Both cubs sat down and started whimpering.
“They’re saying the ley line comes out here,” Dougal said to Misty. “In the back of a convenience store?”
“Probably the convenience store was built over it.” Misty looked around. A stockroom was a stockroom—shelves of things to replace what was bought, door to a small office, door to a bathroom, large back door for deliveries. “Does the ley line automatically work, or do you have to do something to activate it? I can’t believe it’s automatic. I think people would have started noticing employees disappearing from the convenience store stockroom over the years.”
“You have to do something,” a new voice said. Ben was standing in the shadows, the man’s short, broad appearance making him look like a creature from fairy stories. Which, in the circumstances, wasn’t comforting. “This is why you need me.”
Xavier had his Taser at the ready, and Dougal growled and stepped protectively in front of Misty. Ben came out of the shadows, regarding Dougal and Xav fearlessly. The cubs echoed Dougal’s snarls and rushed at Ben, not holding back.
Ben took a step away and raised his hands. “It’s all right, little guys. I’m not going to hurt her.”
Kyle and Matt eased off, though they kept up little growls as they sniffed Ben’s running shoes.
Xav didn’t back down. “The cubs might believe you, but I don’t,” he said. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Ben. Misty called me. She needs my help.”
“You smell wrong,” Dougal’s nose wrinkled. “In fact, you stink.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot, but only from Shifters.” Ben grinned. “Humans like the way I smell.”
“Not exactly,” Xavier said.
“You’re not human,” Dougal said, looking at Ben’s tight, flat face, scarred from whatever fights he’d had.
“No kidding,” Ben said, but let that interesting answer hang. “Misty, do you want to save Graham or not?”
“Of course I want to save him.” Misty tried to push past Dougal and Xav, but couldn’t. Dougal stood fast, his body almost as solidly strong as Graham’s. “You said on the phone he was in Faerie. How do you know that?”
“I know when a gate opens. And one did, early this morning. Then you called and said your boyfriend was missing—I put two and two together. The Fae must have compelled him to come. Only you can get him away.”
“Me? How? I have no idea what do to.”Ben gestured to the book she’d brought with her. “It’s in there. Everything you need to know.”
Misty glanced at it then back at Ben, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know what’s in the book? I didn’t have it with me when I talked to you.”
“Because I wrote it.”
Misty looked Ben over again, the feeling of wrongness about him increasing. Xav made a noise of disbelief.
“You wrote it,” Misty said, “back in 1907?”
Ben nodded. “Yep. I’ve been around. The Fae have tried to return to the human world before . . . the last time was early in the twentieth century. They used interest in the standing stones, the growing popularity of the occult, Ouija boards, mediums, whatever they could, to try to find a way back in. I wrote these spells for humans, so they could counteract coercive Fae magic if necessary. The book was very popular at the time, though most humans didn’t realize how magical it was.”
Misty ran her hands over the leather cover and opened to the frontispiece and the color plate of an heirloom rose. “Did you do the pictures?”
“Nah, don’t have the talent. I hired an artist. He did a good job.”
Misty closed the book again. “I’m still stuck on the part where you wrote it in 1907.”
Dougal broke in, his voice fierce. “Means he has something other than human blood in him. He’s not Shifter, though. Are you Fae?”
Ben laughed. “No way. Ask your dokk alfar. I’m not dokk alfar either, but he knows.”
Misty listened to the exchange in impatience. “What in this book lets me open the ley line, so I can find Graham?”
“It opens a path along the ley line. Page forty-six.”
Misty flipped to it and read the words printed in a fancy typeface, surrounded by line drawings of flowers. Violets, forget-me-nots, yellow roses, and a sprinkle of rosemary, scattered in a swirl. Call the blessings of the Goddess, turn thrice clockwise, and chant the letters of your name in reverse.
Misty looked up at Ben. “Seriously?”
Ben shrugged. “Turning in circles and saying things backward was popular at the time. The important part is the type of flowers and the pattern, which you lay directly on a ley line. And call to the Goddess, because you will need her protection. Don’t do this without her.” Ben paused, his dark eyes in this dim light like pools of blackness. “Seriously.”
“Misty,” Xav said. “Who is this guy, and why are you listening to him?”
Misty faced Xav, her chest tight. She’d been holding herself clenched so that her worry for Graham wouldn’t reduce her to a puddle of ineffectual nothing. “Someone who might help me get to Graham. I’m willing to do anything, no matter how crazy, to help him. Understand?”