Flint Gardner was starting to get frantic. Three weeks. Ruby had been gone three whole weeks and no one in the fae community had so much as gotten a glimpse of her. He checked with everyone he knew. He had been to all the places she normally went. Nothing. He would be in big trouble soon because the deadline he had been given to hand her over was only two weeks away.
He hadn"t told the person who wanted to buy her yet. He was a rich, powerful fae who came over from Europe centuries ago and built up an empire; how was Flint supposed to tell him that his merchandise had run away?
The Gardners were simple fairies. Their ancestors had sprung up on this continent and they had never lived anywhere else. As long as they had some plants around them they were perfectly content.
That was how his older brother had been anyway. Reed loved the nursery with every fiber of his being and never wanted for anything else.
Flint wasn"t content with that. Once the world started shifting and the concrete jungle replaced forests he had realized that what really mattered to get by in an ever-changing world was money.
But what could he do? Reed and his wife Heather died while out delivering plants for the nursery. He was left with both the business and their daughter to take care of.
So when he realized what a hidden goldmine Ruby was it was impossible not to act. Flint had bills to pay and a daughter to support. The nursery barely allowed them to make ends meet with one extra mouth in the house, let alone two. Humans didn"t care about plants anymore.
Then the recession came and the house and land he had owned for hundreds of years had to be reverse mortgaged in order to prevent the nursery from closing. What his benefactor offered was too good to refuse.
Flint had no idea how he found out about Ruby"s powers because it wasn"t like he advertised them anywhere. He had very discreetly asked the oldest fae he knew if she had ever heard of a power like that before and she hadn"t.
He didn"t want anything bad to happen to Ruby but Flora"s well-being was more important. And the contract stipulated that he would only own her for the next hundred years and would split the profits from her powers 50/50. That really wasn"t so bad if you thought about things long-term.
Ruby would be able to leave eventually. Couldn"t she do this much to help her family? They had taken her in when she was a child without being able to afford it out of the goodness of their hearts. She owed it to them!
Flora toddled into the room holding a stuffed animal and dragging her favorite blanket behind her, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Daddy, did Ruby come home yet?"
His chest tightened at the sight of his only child. He had been married to Lily for over a century before they were finally able to conceive this little miracle. Many fae couples he knew weren"t able to have children at all.
He couldn"t let anything happen to her. If he offended the bigshot who had already given him a deposit Flora might be in danger.
��No, baby. But Daddy"s still looking for her. She"ll be home soon," Flint promised.
She had to be. The man he was dealing with was too powerful to offend. His entire family could be wiped out in the blink of an eye. He had already heard rumors about how enemies were dealt with and did not want to go the same way.
It was time to bring out the big guns. Flint knew of a werewolf private investigator who could track anyone down if she had their scent. All of Ruby"s things were still in her room so that wouldn"t be a problem.
He called up Luna Conbolt immediately and she showed up at his house less than an hour later, sniffing around his house as she asked him questions.
"The target is an earth fairy named Ruby Gardner, she"s one hundred fifty-six years old, and you don"t know what she looks like?" she asked incredulously.
Flint sighed. "It"s a bit of a complicated situation. She always wears a human glamour that has curly brown hair that goes halfway down her back, slightly tanned skin, and blue eyes. If her wings are visible, they"re pearlescent and glow like moonstone. I really can"t tell you what she normally looks like."
"Why?"
"You wouldn"t believe me if I told you."
"Try me," the werewolf said firmly.
Well, she had asked. Flint explained the situation to her and her eyes narrowed further and further until they were practically slits the longer he spoke. He didn"t blame her. He wouldn"t have believed it either if he hadn"t seen it for himself. Ruby was a freak of nature.
"So I a.s.sume there are no pictures either," Luna mused dryly. "No matter. Show me something with her smell and I"ll be able to find her no matter what she looks like."
He ended up giving her Ruby"s pillow and she said she would let him know as soon as she found anything. He sincerely hoped it didn"t take long. Time was running out.
The phone call he was waiting for didn"t come until the following morning and it was not good news. Luna had tracked her to the nearest airport and lost the scent once she boarded a plane heading to San Francisco.
Flint"s heart sunk. That was one of the biggest airports in the state. She could fly literally anywhere out of there. And with her ability to make money…
"Find out if she has a pa.s.sport. If she doesn"t that should narrow down the search. I want a list of every flight that went out of San Francisco within six hours of when her plane landed," he barked into the phone.
He had to think back if there were any places she had talked about wanting to visit since coming to live with them…there had to be something. Some clue that he could use to track her down!
They were so close to experiencing true prosperity! Ruby couldn"t be allowed to slip through his fingers a second time.
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