Wining Celeste (Book 4) Jacobs Broken Mercenaries

chapter 24

Grayson 

“It’s been two days, and she hasn’t picked up any of my calls.”
I tell Jacob, who’s sitting behind the morning paper. The first night was hell, being the full moon. I had Jacob lock me up, but I chewed through the industrial grade chain, breaking a dozen teeth, and woke up in Celeste’s house. Poor Beth was terrified, hiding in a closet and Celeste’s house? Let’s just say I spent the day repairing and replacing. Beth joined her original coven back home and live with her grandpa. I called the kid today to apologize again, and she sounded... happy.
“Give it time. If she doesn’t answer by this evening, stop at her house again.”
I growl, and Jacob peeks up at me past the paper.
“What?” he says with annoyance.
“She always shoots me a text if she doesn’t want to talk... something’s wrong.”
Jacob sets his paper down, letting out a long sigh.
“Fine. I’ll go feed and water, peter and well ask around, happy?”
I nod, stepping aside to clear the way. It’s literally just me and Jacob. With everyone else busy and tally sleeping, he had to call Wrath over. I get in Jacobs Vette, and he cranks the engine.
“Where to?” he asks. 
I look blankly back at him. I have no idea. I thought he would know how to find her.
“You don’t know, do you?” he says irritably.
I shake my head admittedly. 
“No, I don’t know, but what I do know is this is unlike her. My gut is telling me something’s wrong.”
Jacob hits the switch for the door, pulling out of the garage. 
“Where have you been so far?” he asks
“Her house. I sniffed around the coven with no luck, and I may have called her parents. That was a mistake.”
Jacob looks confused at the last bit but doesn’t pry.
“Have you tried tracking her cell?”
Fuck! Of course, why didn’t I think of that. I’m not used to tracking humans. Not a lot of species carry cells unless they inhabit earth like us, but then they rarely get into trouble. The only problem with that is...
“I have no idea how to track them. I’m not a real whiz with technology.”
Jacob glances at me with a quick smile.
“Let me guess, you know someone?”
“Of course, I do.” he replies. And Celeste says my egos big. I think back to the intense pain he let me glimpse and decide to leave his ego unchecked. The little joys he gets in life are nothing when compared to the torture he endures on a daily.
“Don’t pity me, Grayson. That was never my intention.”
I startle, looking over at Jacob. How did he know what I was thinking?
“Are you ever going to tell me what you are?” I ask.
Jacob keeps his attention on the road. When I look away, convinced, he’s ignoring me, he says:
“One day.”
It’s so low that I wonder if he said anything at all or it was just my imagination.
We pull up in a residential high-income area across town. I follow Jacob to the door and wait for the knock to be answered. A little old lady opens the door with a fat tabby in her arms and a smile on her face.
“Well, I’ll be damned, Jacob! It’s been so long, and you brought a friend. Come in, come in.”
She grabs his arm, pulling him inside. I follow, staring at Jacob’s genuine smile. 
“I’m afraid this is more of a business visit, Greta. Although it’s always a pleasure, I really need to speak to your son. Is he here?”
Greta makes her way to the kitchen and fills her kettle.
“Oh, Poppycock. There’s always time for tea. Andy! Jacobs here. You boys go on downstairs to play with Andy, and I’ll call you up in a few for biscuits and tea.”
Play? How on earth did Jacob acquire this connection? The more I learn about him, the more questions I have. The day I find out what he is... actually, no. I don’t think there is an explanation that could ever clear this up.
As I make my way downstairs, I’m expecting a little boy or teenager at best. What I find is a middle-aged man with a Star Wars obsession playing call of duty in his long underwear. Just when I think things couldn’t get any weirder; surprise.
“Jacob! Did my mom’s let you in?”
The man pauses his game, jumping up to greet us. I look around at the place. It looks like a twelve-year-old’s dream. There’re enough toys in her to stalk a store.
“Yes, she did. Sorry to bother your ah... activities, but I’ve got a favor to ask you.”
“Sure, anything for you, Jacob.”
Okay? I push past the awkwardness and follow them behind a door made with neon hanging beads. The small room is filled with high-tech gadgets I couldn’t even name and probably never seen.
“I need a cell trace.”
I hand Jacob my cell with Celeste’s number pulled up on the screen. Jacob jots it down on a piece of paper handing the phone back to me.
“That’s all? No problem.” Andy comments. I watch him open various screens and punch the number in. They talk while the computer thinks, and I zone out on thoughts of Celeste. What if I’m wrong and she wants nothing to do with me? I’ve been going crazy without her. These last two days feel like years. I should have followed her.
“Grayson.” 
I snap out of my daze at Jacob’s voice and look at the screen. A map is pulled up with a little red circle. It can’t be.
“Thank you, Andy. You’ve been a tremendous help, as always. I’m afraid the news is bad; we have to go.” 
I follow Jacob in a daze, vaguely hearing the screech of the kettle and seeing Greta and Jacob’s blurry forms embrace in a hug. 
My heart is pounding in my chest. How could he have her when he’s supposed to be pursuing Estevan and Amber? Why would he stop? How would he know?
“Grayson! Get your shit together!”
We’re barreling down the highway, pushing the old Vette to its limits, when I realize he’s worried about me. My anger and desperation get the better of me, and I snap at him.
“You should have let me stop her! If she’s... if anything happens, it’s on you!”
Jacob says nothing for a few miles.
“We don’t know yet. Just keep it together... she needs you whole.” 
Her car is the first thing I see, but it’s empty. I jump out at the familiar location and look towards the cave I found her in when something catches my eye. The sun is glaring off an object about twenty feet ahead. It’s her cell. Next to it is a pendant. I pocket her things, looking around. Jacob hangs up the phone and comes over to me.
“It’s not Mica. She must have come here looking for him. I just got off the phone with Estevan, and Mica hasn’t left.”
“I thought there was no cell service where they are?”
“There isn’t, its magic.”
What the hell kind of magic can replace a tower. Jacobs' secrets are really starting to get to me, and I’m about to say as much when He shrugs his shoulders. I know what he’s about to say before, even takes a breath, and I say it for him.
“You’ve got connections, I know.” 
Jacob looks at me with sympathetic eyes. His origin isn’t important at the moment. Finding out what happened to celeste is the only thing I care about. Who would take her? Who would want to hurt-... Lucifer!