Of Water and Madness by Katie Jennings Page B

town. Though it wasn’t as busy as New York City had been, there was still enough of a crowd to grace the sidewalks and enough cars to populate the streets. But Rhiannon saw none of it, could process none of it. All she could do was scan the faces of the crowd, and hope she’d see Liam among them, smiling at her.
    “If he’s been on the move, the sensor won’t pick up on him. He’d have to stay in place for at least five minutes for it to detect his signature,” Jax said, his eyes still focused on the sensor.
    “I’m sure he wouldn’t have gone that far,” Lucian said out loud, glancing around at the people walking the streets, at the bustling night clubs and noisy restaurants.
    “We’ll find him, Lucian. Don’t worry.” Blythe rubbed his back as much to comfort herself as to comfort him as she stared around anxiously, her entire body thrumming with nerves and adrenaline.
    Rhiannon walked beside them, feeling oddly alone and out of place. Without Liam with her, she didn’t feel right being with Lucian and Blythe, much less Jax. But they were here because they loved Liam as much as she did, and were committed to finding him. So, she supposed that in some small way, perhaps she did belong with them…
    “I should call the local hospitals, see if he’s been admitted. There could have been an accident,” Rhiannon said suddenly, unearthing the cell phone from her bag that Thea had given her days before.
    “Good idea.” Jax nodded at her, turning his eyes back to the sensor.
    While Rhiannon spoke on the phone with the hospital staff, Blythe distanced herself from Lucian and went to Jax, lowering her voice so only he could hear her.
    “Have you been checking for demons, too?” she asked, brushing against people walking on the sidewalk with them.
    “I have. Nothing so far,” Jax solemnly replied, glancing down at her sympathetically. Wrapping an arm over her shoulders, he planted a quick kiss on the top of her head. “He’s around here somewhere. And when we find him, think of how much fun you’ll have yelling at him for making you worry.”
    “True.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t fight back the uneasiness she felt. “Why do I have a feeling that Dante is behind this somehow?”
    “Believe me, I’ve thought about it.” Jax released her and looked back down at the device, which had begun to beep again. “It’s picking up a strong signal from over there.”
    He pointed across the street to a rowdy nightclub, with sultry jazz and blues pouring out into the heavy summer night air. Blazing neon signs glowed in vivid blues and greens over the door, declaring the club as The Holler.
    “Let’s go.” Blythe grabbed his hand and sprinted across the street, not waiting for Lucian and Rhiannon to get the hint and follow. She didn’t have time for that; she had to find her brother…
    They had to show ID’s at the door, and thankfully Rhiannon had thought to bring not only hers but Blythe’s as well, which handily labeled Blythe as twenty two year old Blythe Collier from California. Anyone who spotted them would simply see two anxious young women, a rough and tumble looking Texan, and a harried looking older man with a shock of white hair and weary eyes.
    After the usual questioning looks from the bouncers, they managed to get inside.
    They let Jax lead the way into the club, which was packed to the brim with people of all flavors…sultry looking women with gypsy faces, businessmen, gamblers, drunkards, pert college blondes…and the list went on and on. They maneuvered their way through the crowd, Jax glancing from the sensor and up again to the scan the room, hoping to spot Liam in what he had a hunch would be the back corner of the lounge area.
    Rhiannon walked behind the others, chewing on her bottom lip anxiously and wringing her hands, uncomfortable with the environment and worried that the little ball of hope that had blossomed in her chest would burn out if they somehow had not found