42 You And Your Obsession With Power! (1/2)

It took a few days but Luna Conbolt was able to find the information Flint wanted regarding those flights. He scanned the list until he reached Las Vegas. It rang a dim bell.

Hadn't Ruby expressed a desire to go there and have the chance to meet the fire fairies that settled in that area once before? He didn't want to pay for a flight down there only to have his time wasted. It would be better to have Luna do it; if his niece was there, she would be able to sniff her out.

So he told the werewolf to go there on his behalf and got the confirmation as soon as Luna arrived in the airport that Ruby's scent was faintly there. She had gone to Las Vegas after all.

”I can't bring her back for you but I know where she's staying,” she informed him over the phone a few hours later.

”That's fine; I'll take care of her myself,” Flint said impatiently. ”Thank you for your work. Our contract is done.”

”I expect my check as soon as I get back for the amount we agreed on before.”

The dial tone buzzed in his ear and he huffed. Private investigators were expensive; he used up almost the entire deposit the man who bought Ruby had left him. The remainder would go toward the plane ticket he needed to get there.

Flint began packing immediately and his wife came up behind him with a frown. ”Where are you going?”

”Las Vegas. Ruby has been staying there and I need to go get her back before the deadline is up or we're toast.”

Lily crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. ”I knew this was a bad idea from the start but did you listen to me? No! We could have manipulated her into using her powers for us because she adores Flora but you just had to go and sell her to a vampire of all things!”

Flint suddenly got defensive. He hadn't actively gone looking to sell Ruby or anything; that vampire approached him first! ”He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse! We'll make more this way than we would from Ruby alone and have a powerful ally in our pocket to make our way up in the world.”

She rolled her eyes. ”You and your obsession with power! Isn't money enough for you? Why did you have to drag the rest of us into this? If you can't find Ruby we're all dead. Your good intentions to give Flora a better life will all be for naught if she isn't alive to reap the reward.”

”Nothing will happen to Flora,” he said sharply. ”Don't you dare jinx her by talking like that.”

”Flint, she isn't the only one I'm worried about. Shouldn't you have said something to them by now about how Ruby ran away? If you don't catch her in time and they find out…”

”I will catch her in time. Don't worry.”

Lily let the matter drop but reluctantly. She flitted over and parked herself on his lap, holding his face between her hands very seriously. ”You better. Take a break from packing for a while and pay attention to me while the baby is still asleep.”

He wouldn't let anything happen to them. He would bring Ruby back and make sure that she got safely delivered to that imposing brute.