Chapter Twenty
Iz’s heart was poundingso hard that it was all she could feel. The rest of her had gone numb. She couldn’t even move her eyes to scan the room to search for Sebastian’s spy.
She watched Logan read the instructions that were already engraved on her mind:
Someone is watching your every move. Don’t reach for your phone, my dear, and don’t try to call for help. Keep your dog on his leash. This concerns no one but the four of us.
I am bold but not foolhardy, Isabelle, so rest assured: if my agent even suspects that you’re trying to involve anyone else, I’ll bring matters to a swift end. I have endless private magical refuges to vanish into, and I will take your charming mother with me. You have her looks, you know.
But I prefer you, and I also require the return of the beast you stole from me. In any case, he must be yearning for a return to his kennel. If you both return to me, I will let your mother go.
Pay your bill. If you must make some excuse for your abrupt departure, I’ll allow you the honesty of saying that it’s a family emergency.
Leave your phones on your chairs. If my agent does not find them—then, again, our prospective deal is over.
If you talk to anyone unnecessarily, or in any way indicate a plan to involve outsiders or accost my agent, our prospective deal is over.
There is a patch of woodlands a quarter-mile south of your restaurant. Proceed there on foot, and make your way into the depths.
I look forward to the rightful return of my property.
RS
Then, Iz’s stunned mind reminded her, there was a break—a line of clean, uninterrupted parchment—and a postscript.
Should you doubt that I have your mother, allow me to confirm it: She says that your favorite toy as a child was a porcelain doll named Evelyn, which shattered when you were twelve.
It was that last line that shattered all her hopes that Sebastian was lying to them start to finish. This was absolutely a trap, because she couldn’t believe that Sebastian had any intention whatsoever of giving up any gem of his horrid collection, however recently acquired. He planned to keep her mother but swallow her and Logan up again too.
But Iz had wanted to believe he was only using theideaof her kidnapped mother as bait. If he were only lying about really having her in his custody, then they had so many more options.
He wasn’t lying. Not about that.
Logan finished reading, and Iz could see him fighting back the urge to crush the paper in his hands. His eyes were glittering with orange and yellow flames, something she hadn’t even known could come through in his human form. He was ready to go to war for this, and Iz loved him so much that it made her dizzy.
“Didyou have a porcelain doll named Evelyn?”
Iz shook her head. “No. I never liked them—”
The server appeared with their wine before she could finish.