Marriage is Murder

"Just get Brian back," Michael said. "Quietly. As quietly as you can. Khaat, where were you, specifically?"

"Behind the Leaky," she said. "We were going to go out through the Leaky and go finish the errand we started. It wasn't supposed to take us more than a few minutes, and then we were coming home--together..."

"They'll find him," Marcus said, reassuring her.

"And what if they can't! What if..." she began.

"We are not going to leave him behind," Edward said. "We are not going to come back here and sunbathe on the beach while he's missing. We'll find him." He turned to Jack and Steven. "How about one of you go to the estate and find Escobar? I'll go with the other one to the alley behind the Leaky, and we'll look for clues."

"If this safehouse has been compromised," Michael said, "You let us know immediately so we can leave. We'll let you know where Robert moves us to, if that should happen."

"I know my job," Edward said. "We are not going to willingly compromise anything." He looked at Jack and Steven. "Who's going to find Escobar, then?"

"Alright," Edward said, agreeing they weren't going to leave Brian behind--not if they could find him. "To Diagon Alley, then. Khaat, if Escobar has left England, how do I find him?"

"He'll come," she said. "He'll know. He's got some sort of seers' skills. I don't know how he knows, but he'll know. If he's left England, he'll find you."

"You're sure you didn't see this werewolf?"

"Just a glance. It was a male. A sort of a big male."

"We'll do what we can," Edward said. Robert nodded. He wanted Brian home. Edward drew his wand and his port key for Diagon Alley. "Let's go." He activated the port key and headed for Diagon Alley.

"Not so fast," Edward said to Jack. "There's a mix of clues here." He was looking in the opposite direction from Jack and saw some footprints in the slush--footprints from Brian's tennis shoes. Brian had apparently tried to go the other direction. "If the werewolf went that way, and Brian went the other way, then perhaps he got away. Odd."

Escobar came calmly walking out of the trees in the melting March snow, wearing his long charcoal grey winter cloak, with his hands shoved in his pants pockets.

"Lord, you're noisy," he scowled. "I am undead. Not dead. I'm also, mostly, bat. In other words, I have quite keen hearing. Bellowing is not required.

"However," he continued. "I heard Khaat's SOS a few moments ago. She is in quite a panic, isn't she? So what is it this time? James again? He's annoying as hell. I need to just kill him and get it overwith.

"Let's not get off on the wrong trail," Edward said. "Or we'll be chasing the wrong werewolf. There as more than one here but I don't know when. There's different footprints, some different colors of fur." He picked up a few tufts of fur of different colors. "And...here's blood. Fresh. Still warm. Not a lot, but somebody got hurt."

"Things have been quiet," Escobar said. "Until now. So, we're hunting a werewolf and rescuing Khaat's groom. I'm always up for a good monster hunt. Two questions. Where are we starting, and can I kill him when I find him?"

"Let's go, then," Escobar said. He drew his wand and his portkey and ported to Diagon Alley.

"Well, the good thing in it," Edward said, "that if they're still moving, so was, presumably the wounded person. And since there are no bodies, I refuse to presume Brian is dead."

Escobar found his way to Edward and Jack. "Do please keep from presuming anyone is dead with that little bit of blood. Let me see it. If there's anyone here who knows blood, it would be the vampire, would it not?" He went over and examined the blood and tasted it. "Very fresh. Very male. Human. Werewolf is disgusting, actually. It's not from a deep vein. There's not enough oxygen to it."

He started following the trail. "He's running. "I don't know if he's running from the werewolf or running to chase him. Its hard to tell." He kept following the trail and then quickly stopped and doubled back.

"Definitely Brian. Look. The blood trail doubles back. And...goes...where does it go?" He looked closer, looking to find where the trail suddenly disappeared to.

"Here," Edward said, pointing to the top of a fence.

"What?" Escobar frowned. "What self respecting wizard jumps a fence when he can apparate?"

"One who's running," Edward said dryly. Escobar rolled his eyes at Edward.