Her Rockin' Shifter (Shifter World - Book Twelve) (Series of 13 Short Stories)
Chapter Nine: Scavenger Hunt

Shar covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no. Who do you think did this?”

“Whoever it was, will regret it.” Dylan said as he walked up to them, a crying Ruby in his arms.

“Come here, little one.” Shar said as she took her niece from her brother. “I think you could use some cub and pup time, don’t you?”

Ruby nodded as she held onto Shar. Shar nodded to the men and carried her niece to the little clan her daughter leads around.

“PEARL!”

The men turned to the Demon, who was Pearl’s brother.

“What do you know about this, Demon?!” Dylan demanded.

Kota stared at everyone. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t you know?” Dustin asked the man.

Kota snarled. “If I did, do you think I would have asked?”

“Then why did you call out Pearl’s name when you landed here?” Dylan demanded of his brother-in-law.

Kota looked at the Shifter. “Linkin is missing; I was hoping she could help.”

Dylan groaned as he fell to the ground on his ass.

“Pearl is missing too.” Dustin informed the Demon.

“What the fuck!” Kota hollered.

“So is my mate and our new Witch.” Sebastian said as he watched the half Demon’s face.

“What is going on?” Daryl asked as he joined them.

“Something isn’t right.” Raj said as he stood behind Dylan, who was still sitting on the ground.

“Why are the four of them missing? Lucifer has no connection with my mate or the Witch. There has to be something. And why would they take Pearl?” Sebastian asked as he clenched his fist.

“Kota! Where is your sister?!”

Everyone turned to Kristoph.

“They took her in the middle of the night.” Dylan informed his father-in-law as he got to his feet.

“Someone has taken four members of our family.” Dustin said as he looked at the Elder. “Do we have yours and the Elder Council’s permission to search for them? Even if it means killing humans?”

Kristoph growled. “I just received a note that there was a disturbance on Earth, and my daughter caused it.”

“I think that was her way of showing us something is wrong.” Kota said.

“Find her, and replace my grandson, and any other Fated Mate who has gone missing. You have the blessings of the Elder Council to kill anyone, Human or Supernatural, who get in your way.” Kristoph said with a growl, then vanished.

“We’ll help.”

The group turned to the double voice of Tate’s brothers.

“Great, we can use all the help we can get.” Daryl said with a nod.

They gathered the Fated Mates and their guardians, to discuss how they will replace and retrieve the four members of their family. Now to figure out who took them, The Dark Coven, or the Dark Prince himself.

~🎸~

Pearl opened her eyes with a groan. Where the hell is she? The last thing she remembered was waking in the middle of the night to someone pressing a cloth against her face. The scream of a baby had her sitting up.

“Shut the fuck up!” A man hollered as he raised his hand to hit the bundle on the table.

“Don’t you dare touch that baby!” Pearl hollered at the man.

The man stopped and looked at her. The smirk on his face made her want to slap him.

“Then you shut him up, or I swear to Lucifer, I will kill him, even if he is a bargaining chip.”

“What?” Pearl whispered as she made her way to the table.

“That’s right.” A man said as he moved out of the shadows. “We will trade you and the brat for the Witch we want.”

Pearl grumbled as she looked at the baby on the table. “Linkin.” She whispered as she lifted him into her arms.

The moment she held him, her nephew stopped crying.

“Thank Lucifer.” The man growled as he moved away from her and Linkin.

“How long do we have to hold them for?” The other man asked as he moved over to the table and placed a plate of food and a bottle of formula.

“Lucifer will send one of his men to tell us where we will meet for the tradeoff.”

“Let me get this straight.” Pearl said as she looked at the men surrounding her. “You kidnapped my nephew and me, to trade us to Lucifer for Ember?”

A man snorted. “And that sexy piece of ass who we promised to the Wolves. They will tear that bitch apart.”

Pearl held back a laugh. Don’t they realize that Sebastian already claimed Winter?

“Eat, Witch. We don’t want you passing out before the Dark Prince kills you.”

She snorted as she picked up the plate of food and bottle, then moved across the room from them. Lucifer doesn’t plan to kill her or her nephew. He needs them for something. What…her father hasn’t been able to figure out.

~🎸~

“Winter, wake up.”

Winter moaned as she opened her eyes. Where is she?

“Come on; they kidnapped us.”

Winter sat up straight and stared around at the compact room. Were they in a broom closet?

“We are.” Ember said as she helped Winter to her feet.

The blanket around Winter fell to the floor, and she realized that she was naked.

“Ah, shit.” She mumbled as Ember picked up the blanket and covered her with it.

“I told them to get you some clothes.” Ember said as she helped Winter situate the blanket around her.

“Who are they?” Winter asked.

Ember sighed. “I think they’re Demons.”

Winter blinked. “Demons?”

Ember nodded. “Lucifer’s henchmen, I believe.”

A noise outside the closet had them both turning to the door. The door opened, and a man stood there with a wicked grin as he held a pile of clothes out towards Winter.

Ember took the clothes from the man before Winter could move. The Demon laughed as he pushed the door closed.

“Hurry, get dressed.” Ember said as she pulled the blanket off Winter and unfolded the clothes, then handed them to her.

Winter dressed as fast as she could. Once she changed into the clothes, Ember tapped on the door.

“Let us out, you foul creatures!” Ember hollered.

“Not until we’re ready to leave, Witch!” One of the Demons shouted back.

Winter sighed as she and Ember leaned against the wall and waited.

~🎸~

“How the fuck are we going to replace them?!” Sebastian hollered as he slammed his fist on the table at The Dive. “No one seems to give a fuck…”

Kota took Sebastian by the collar and lifted him off his feet. “Look here.” He growled into the Shifter’s face. “My son and sister are missing too. All we know is that Lucifer needs them to replace something, we don’t even know if he needs them alive to replace what he’s looking for. My father has been hiding my sister for almost a thousand years!”

Sebastian sucked in a deep breath. He’s not afraid of Kota, but he didn’t want to fight him either.

“What do you have in mind?” Sebastian asked as calmly as he could muster.

Kota smirked as he dropped the Shifter. “I have no fucking clue.”

Sebastian laughed a hollow laugh.

“Sebastian!”

Everyone turned as Sharissa and Lyvia ran towards them.

“What’s wrong?” Dustin asked as he and Raj ran to their mates.

“An owl is outside, and he won’t give us the piece of paper he’s holding in his claws.” Shar said, out of breath.

“He’s under a spell.” Lyvia said as she pulled away from her mate. “We think he can only release the letter to Sebastian.”

Sebastian ran to the door, everyone behind him.

They found the owl sitting on a post across the street from The Dive. Sebastian took a deep breath and walked across the street. When he stopped at the owl, the bird hooted, then dropped the paper and flew away. Everyone rushed across the street, and Sebastian leaned down to pick up the note. He opened it and read it out loud.

“The nearest thing to heaven is my girl. Every time she kisses me, I hear the church bell ring. Well, the nearest thing to heaven, she’s like a star.” Sebastian looked up at everyone once he finished reading the note.

“What does that mean?” Shar asked as she tried to look at the note.

“Hey, isn’t that from one of those old songs you used to sing?” Dustin asked.

Sebastian nodded. “It is one of the original Runarounds’ songs. The nearest thing to Heaven / Lover’s Lane.”

“What is she trying to say with that?” Dylan asked.

Sebastian chuckled. “She’s telling me it’s her. And I should expect another. But we need to replace it.”

“How the fuck did you get all of that from those lyrics?” Dustin asked.

Sebastian grinned. “She likes me to sing to her when we fuck.”

“Holy fuck.” Lyvia said with a giggle.

“Looks like you have found the right woman for you.” Dustin said as he slapped Sebastian on the back.

Sebastian nodded. “I haven’t sung this song to her, but her grandmother had records of the original Runarounds, so she knows the lyrics to most of their songs.”

“Looks like we have a musical scavenger hunt to follow.” Daryl said as he gestured for everyone to head to their cars.

“What about the children?” Shar asked.

“I already called Mom. She and Dad have it covered.” Dominic said as he led his mate towards his car.

“Wait.” Shar said as she stopped, forcing everyone to stop with her. She turned to Sebastian and pointed to the note in his hand. “What do the lyrics mean, other than proof that it is from Winter?”

Sebastian reread the lyrics to himself, then looked up at his family. “She could have just said the first lyrics, and I’d have known it was her. But she skipped some pieces between church bells and being like a star. Ah, crap.” He said as he shoved the note into his pocket.

“What? What is it?” Maddy asked as she moved closer to Sebastian.

Sebastian sighed. “There’s a church on a hill where you can see the stars.”

“I remember that church.” Lyvia said.

“But she had sent the note during the day; there’re no stars…” Shar started to say, then paused when she saw the smile on Sebastian’s face.

“She’s not at the church. They wouldn’t stay in one place for long, but that is where we will replace the next clue. Because of the position of the church, they built a statue in the garden. Guess what the statue is of.”

“A star.” The others said at the same time.

“Let’s get moving.” Dustin said as he pulled his mate towards their car.

~🎸~

-Two Hours Earlier-

“Let’s go, ladies!” The man who had brought Winter her clothes said as he opened the door and motioned for them to come out of the closet.

“We’re in a church?” Winter asked as she looked around.

The man snorted. “Yeah, the rumors that Demons can’t go into a church are false.”

“Yeah, I knew that.” Ember said as she pulled Winter closer.

“Don’t try it, Witch.” The second man said as he walked up to them. “If you use your magic on us, I have permission to kill you and your charge here.”

Ember glared at him. “Don’t you know anything about Fated Mates?”

The Demon laughed. “Yes, Witch, we know. But don’t you know anything about Lucifer? He can capture your soul and keep you from resurrecting until we get you where we need you.” He said as he leaned forward, his face in Embers.

Ember growled, and the Demon laughed. “Let’s go.” He said, then turned and left the church.

“Come on, you two.” The other man said as he turned and followed his partner.

“How do we get a message to the others?” Winter asked as they followed the two Demons out the back door of the church.

Ember looked around the garden. She knows this church, and she’s sure the others do too. She spotted the star statue and smiled. “We’ll leave them a note.”

“But how will they know where to look, and what should the note say?”

Ember flipped her wrist, and a piece of paper and pen appeared in her palm. “I will send an owl with a note…”

“But, anyone can read it…”

“Not if I make sure that only Sebastian can receive it…”

“But how will he know for sure it’s from us?”

Ember looked at her charge. “How about a scavenger hunt?”

Winter snorted. “This isn’t a game…”

“No, but it will make it so no one will know but your mate…”

“And I have an idea that should work.” Winter said with a grin as she took the paper from her guardian and wrote a few lyrics to an old song, then folded it and handed it to the Witch.

Ember took the note and whispered a spell. An owl swooped down and took the note from her hand, then flew away.

“What the fuck was that?” A Demon demanded.

The two women smiled. “Just an owl.” Ember said.

The Demon snorted, then turned back around.

“Now, how do we get a message into that star?” Winter asked.

“Easy.” Ember whispered. “What do you want it to say?”

Winter whispered into her ear, and Ember smiled as she flicked her wrist at the base of the statue. The words appeared, then vanished.

~🎸~

-Present Time-

“This is a beautiful church.” Sharissa said as they walked through the church.

“The statue is in the back garden.” Sebastian said as he led his friends outside.

“Wow.” Josie said as they stepped outside.

“There’s the statue.” Mara said as she ran up to the beautiful star statue.

“Search it for another note.” Daryl said as he joined them at the statue.

They looked through the garden, around the statue, through the statue, in the bushes, and under rocks. An hour later, they all sat down on benches or stood around the statue, staring at it as if it was their worst enemy.

“You would think twenty-six Supernatural beings; could replace a simple note.” Daryl said with a growl.

“Wait, what if it’s not a letter this time?” Shar said as she stood up from the bench, she was sitting on. Everyone looked at her, and she pointed at Sebastian. “You had to be the one to go to the owl. What if you have to be the one to search for it here?”

“How? I’ve been searching.” Sebastian said with a bit of agitation.

“Have you touched the statue?” Lyvia asked as she moved to stand next to Shar.

Sebastian looked at the statue. He hadn’t touched it yet. He moved over to the statue and touched a point of the star. Nothing happened.

Everyone frowned as they watched Sebastian’s face fall.

“Touch the base.” Shar said as she pointed to the square base of the statue.

Sebastian looked at her, then at the base. He took a deep breath and let it out.

Here goes nothing. Sebastian thought as he moved his hand to the base of the statue and touched it.