Soulless at Sunset

by Deanna Chase

  The door opened and Harrison walked in with a ceramic mortar and pestle.

  “Thank you,” I said as he handed it to me.

  “No problem, Phoebe.” He winked and strode back out. Harrison had been one of Willow’s bodyguards at one time. He’d proven to be a decent guy even though he worked for Allcot.

  I walked over to Bandu and met his tired gaze. “This isn’t going to feel good.”

  “I didn’t expect it would,” he rasped.

  “There’s one thing I don’t get.” I tapped his chest right over his heart. “If you have such a hard-on for justice, why did you put your entire pack in danger? Why expose most of them to kidnapping and attempted murder charges? That holier-than-thou crap is really tired, Leader Bandu.”

  He sucked in a deep breath and glanced away, no longer willing to meet my eyes.

  “Pathetic.” Then, without warning, I jabbed my uncursed blade into his shoulder and twisted, sat down on the tile floor, and gestured for Imogen to join me.

  He howled with pain and bucked, trying to jerk away from the knife, but it was no use. His wrists and ankles were bound. He wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

  Imogen handed me the mortar without comment, and I held it up to the wound to collect his blood. When the trickle slowed, I twisted the knife harder and got a perverse pleasure in listening to his agony. Good—let him suffer.

  Footsteps caught my attention, and as I was yanking the tip of the knife out of Bandu’s flesh, Leo appeared in front of the shifter leader. There were tears standing in his innocent eyes as he clenched his fists and tightened his jaw. “Why, Bandu? That’s all I want to know. Why?”

  The leader slowly closed his eyes, his shame at being called to the carpet by one of his wolves appearing to break him.

  “I thought you stood for something. You’re just another liar. A user out to further your agenda,” Leo continued. “You made me party to something that goes against everything I believe in. You make me sick.” Leo started to walk away but then turned abruptly and rammed his fist into the leader’s gut.

  Bandu let out a whoosh of air and grunted but never said a word and never looked Leo in the eye.

  When Leo returned to his spot in our makeshift circle, Link sat next to him and rested his big wolf head on Leo’s knee. Leo glanced down at him and smiled. “Thanks, wolf. I needed that.”

  “He can stay silent, but he can’t keep his secrets.” I sprinkled a bit of the memory herbs into the mortar and sat down on the floor across from Imogen. “Ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  I grabbed the pestle and mixed the herbs with Bandu’s blood, then placed it between Imogen and me. Holding my hands out to her, I smiled. “Let’s do this.”

  Her hands were warm in mine as I closed my eyes and called up my power. Hers instantly sprang to life, mixing with mine. I started to feel light-headed, almost drugged with the sensation. My skin tingled and my blood hummed.

  Euphoria.

  “Phoebe?” Her sweet voice filled my senses, only fueling my ecstasy, and when I opened my eyes the room was bright with brilliant white light and everything else had disappeared.

  “Hey,” I said.

  Her lips curved into a shy smile. “Hey.”

  “This isn’t so bad, is it?” I rubbed my thumbs over the backs of her hands, reveling in our joined energies.

  She chuckled. “No, not at all, but…” Imogen glanced around the room, leaned in, and whispered, “But I think we might be putting on a bit of a show.”

  “We are?” I blinked. I saw nothing but Imogen and the brilliant white light. It was as if everyone had faded away.

  “Yes, and they’re getting a little impatient.” She cut a sideways glance to where Pandora had been standing. “Allcot said we can get a room later.”

  I laughed. What was happening didn’t have anything to do with romance. It was… an intoxicating drug that took me out of the present and into a place I’d be happy to never leave. Except… Willow and Talisen needed me.

  “Right,” I said, focusing on her, then the mortar between us. “Let’s finish the memory spell.”

  She nodded. I let go of one of her hands and dipped my fingers into Bandu’s blood. Immediately the blood turned to a fine mist and rose up around us, obscuring her face from my view.

  Then the scene opened up, revealing the memories for the entire room to see.

  For me it was like I was plunged into an alternate reality and was standing off to the side as I watched Allcot and Pandora hand over a handful of drug bottles to Imogen. The memory was a surprise. I shouldn’t have been in Imogen’s memory, but I supposed our connection had been so strong that my curiosity about her had brought me to her memories first.

  The three of them were in Allcot’s office at the Red Door. Pandora was her usual sleek, sexy self, hanging on Allcot’s arm while he peered at the healer. “These should help within the week. But you’ll need to be available for the next month so the researcher can study your reaction.”

  “Can I work?” she asked, her voice heavy with fatigue. She had dark smudges under her eyes and looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

  “Yes. Just set up a schedule with the head of research. Some nights you’ll have to stay here as your sleep patterns will be monitored.”

  “All right.” Imogen stuffed unmarked pill bottles into her bag and turned to go.

  “We’ll help you kick this curse, Imogen. Don’t worry. You’ll be back to seeing patients in no time.”

  The scene shifted and it was another day. Imogen was in Allcot’s office, beaming and shaking his hand. “I can’t thank you enough, Eadric. I thought I’d never see the day I could practice healing again. Your drugs brought me back.”

  He nodded and made her sign a document that said she would be available for further testing until the drug was approved by the government.

  Holy shit. That’s why Imogen owed them. They’d found a drug to help kick a curse that she hadn’t been able to heal herself—the kiss of death for a healer. If she was infected with a random curse that was zapping all her strength, she couldn’t see patients and her livelihood would be threatened. The drugs must’ve worked, because the Imogen I knew was powerful and full of light.

  And Allcot was responsible for bringing her back to life. Of course, now she owed them that life, which was no doubt why she was in her pajamas in their mansion in the middle of the night. They either had her on staff or were doing more testing.

  Damn Allcot. Him and his drug company. There was no denying he was doing something great for the community with miracle drugs, but he was also a manipulative bastard. And that was the rub. He was neither all good nor all bad. The only question was did his good outweigh the bad?

  Sitting on the floor in Allcot’s house, basking in Imogen’s beautiful power while we extracted a memory we needed to save Willow and Talisen, I was saying yes. Yes, his good outweighed his bad.

  The scene shifted again, and this time I was where I was supposed to be—in the purple Gothic house where Bandu had held Pandora.

  The pack leader strode through the parlor on the main floor and into a library filled ceiling to floor with old leather-bound books.

  “Is it done?” The raspy voice of the sorceress came from the corner of the room.

  “Yes, Morena, the fairy and her spouse are being held at Mizer House until tomorrow night when we can complete the ritual,” he said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone.

  The sorceress uncurled from her position on the velvet chaise and floated over to him. As her scarred, distorted face came into the light, Bandu shrank back from her. “Your life is extended because of me, wolf. What do you think you’d look like if I hadn’t given so much of my power to you?”

  “Nothing,” he said, staring out the window. “I’d be dust by now.”

  “That’s right. You’d be ash and your pack wouldn’t have their righteous leader to keep them on their moral path. Though I daresay the knowledge tha
t you steal the youth of a fae or two every four years would make them rethink their loyalty, don’t you?”

  He spun around, hatred flashing in his eyes. “You’re the devil.”

  “Not quite, my darling.” She ran an arthritic finger along his jawline. “But close enough.”

  The scene distorted and when the mist parted, I found myself in the room where Willow was being held captive. Only she wasn’t there. Not in this memory. The cell was empty and Bandu was pacing the floors. The redheaded vampire was sitting in a recliner, his left foot propped on his knee as he watched Bandu fidget with his keys.

  “Calm down. I’ve got this covered,” Carter said. “You need to relax.”

  “How can I relax when you’re telling me our only option is to abduct the fae under Allcot’s protection?” The shifter ran both hands through his dark hair. “This is going to blow up in our faces.”

  Carter rose from his chair and walked over to Bandu. He gently placed his hands on Bandu’s cheeks, leaned in, and whispered, “You need to relax. I’ve got a plan to deal with him. All we need to do is keep him busy looking for that bitch Pandora and he won’t give a shit about the fae. Pandora is his only weakness. We’ll carry out the ritual, you and I will get another four years together, and our followers will become all the more dedicated. You know how powerful it is when the young ones think their souls are saved. Four years from now, we’ll have an army of loyalists. Allcot will never survive this war.”

  “Only if we can get the city to believe his people are behind all the fabricated attacks,” Bandu said.

  “Oh, we will. Didn’t I tell you? Five of the city council members have reached out to me after my invitation. They feel it’s time to turn in order to have a fighting chance at pushing Allcot out of the city. I named my price and they gladly agreed. Once they get an indictment on the entire Cryrique organization and install me on his board of directors, we’ll push him out and I’ll be in charge of everything that bastard has built. Even if the charges never stick to Allcot, he’ll be out of the city forever and the council will be in my pocket.”

  Bandu closed his eyes, clearly troubled by the plan.

  “Come on, baby. You know this is how it has to be if we want to clean up this city. Make it safe for humans, shifters, and vampires alike. I know it seems unethical, but it’s for the greater good. Once we get past this, we’ll make a stronger, more equitable New Orleans. One where everyone matters. You’re with me on this, right?”

  “You know how I feel about the sanctity of life,” Bandu said, trying to take a step back. “It’s not right to take a life just so I can keep living a stolen one.”

  Carter let out a huff of frustration. “How many times have we been over this? Your life, the good you do, it’s worth a hell of a lot more than two fae who do Allcot’s bidding. You care about people. Not money. You make their lives better. You make my damned life better.” Carter brushed his thumb over Bandu’s cheekbone and leaned in, giving him a soft kiss. “Tell me you’re with me on this, love. Say yes and I’ll put it all in motion.”

  Bandu stared up at the tall redhead, eyes searching. “How are we going to keep Allcot from finding Pandora exactly?”

  Carter’s lips curved into something too sinister to be called a smile. “I summoned our sorceress, Morena. She helped us once, she’ll help us again.”

  Bandu let out a tortured sigh and glanced away. Then when he turned his attention back to Carter, he returned the kiss and whispered, “Yes.”

  I glanced away, always a bit uncomfortable with public displays of affection, and found my eyes locking on someone spying on them through their window—someone I hadn’t seen in eight years.

  I let out an audible gasp.

  Seth.

  23

  The visions cleared and I sat on Allcot’s tile floor, stunned. The only thing I could focus on was Seth’s face peering at Bandu and Carter through the window. What had he been doing there? Had I imagined it? Was he undercover, tracking their movements and trying to stop this just as much as we were? But if so, how come he’d been missing for so many years? The questions would not stop running through my head and I reached up, grabbing fistfuls of my hair, trying to stop my mind from spinning.

  “Holy shit. I think we just entered the fourth dimension of crazy,” Imogen said, her voice bringing me back to the matter at hand.

  I glanced around the room, taking in the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces. And it wasn’t because they’d seen Seth. It was the insane plan of the shifter and his vampire lover that had them all frozen with shock. All of them but one.

  Bandu.

  His head was bowed and silent tears were streaming down his face.

  “You’re a disgrace,” I said quietly.

  The shifter nodded his agreement.

  “Weak. Selfish. A complete and total fraud,” I continued.

  “People looked up to you,” Leo called from across the room. “We believed we were called to be better people. But you… You used us, lied, and—” Leo shook his head, too outraged to continue.

  Pandora moved slowly, taking her time, eyeing the trussed-up shifter. “So all that was to get to Willow and Talisen? I was just a distraction?”

  The defeated shifter nodded.

  “What a grave mistake you made, shifter,” she hissed. “You and your vampire lover are both going to die tonight. And those plans you made, they’ll die right along with you. By tomorrow morning, all your followers will know what a hypocrite you are. All that shit about how evil vampires are and this whole time you’ve been fucking a vampire of your own.” She tsked. “Why is it always the hateful ones who are so hypocritical?”

  Bandu didn’t acknowledge her words. He just continued to stare at the ground, his tears falling.

  “You make me sick.” Then she reached down, grabbing my cursed blade off my belt. But before she could strike, Allcot was there, his hand wrapping around hers, stopping her fatal blow.

  “Not yet, love,” he whispered tenderly. “We need him a bit longer.”

  “Why?” she asked incredulously. “We know where Mizer House is.”

  I was glad someone did, because I’d never heard of it.

  “The sorceress,” he said. “They are connected. If we end him now, she’ll end up here to avenge him, and we don’t have time to deal with that just yet.” He walked over and opened the door. “Harrison?”

  “Yes, boss,” the tall man said.

  “I need you to gather a team and get this shifter down. Keep him restrained—he’s highly dangerous. We’re taking him with us. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Harrison pulled out his phone and began to punch in a message.

  Allcot turned to us. “Be ready in ten minutes. We have a couple of fae to retrieve.”

  By the time we rolled up to Mizer House, I was convinced I’d hallucinated Seth’s face in Bandu’s memory. I’d asked Dax and Imogen if either of them had seen someone in the window, but neither had noticed. I’d decided I was half delirious with lack of sleep and was grateful when Imogen supplied me with an herb to keep me upright a little longer.

  I glanced over at the French-inspired château as we rolled by and grimaced. Of course a shitty vampire would be holed up there with my best friend, waiting to sacrifice her for his lover’s eternal life. Wolves couldn’t be turned into vampires, so Carter had done what he had to in order for Bandu to live alongside him. If the pair hadn’t resorted to killing innocent people to keep Bandu alive, I might’ve actually had sympathy for their situation. As it was, they could both burn in hell.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked Dax. He was driving the Trooper. I was in the passenger seat and Imogen, Leo, and Link were in the back seat. I’d wanted to leave Imogen back at the house, but she’d insisted she tag along just in case she was needed. Considering we were going to be trying to take down the one vampire that was immune to my cursed blade, she was probably right to insist on joining us. We were going to need her.

  “Allcot�
�s mission is to basically storm the castle,” Dax said. “He’s recruited about a half dozen of his vampires, all the daywalkers, to help us apprehend Carter.”

  “You mean take him out,” I said.

  “Yeah, that. He’s just going to walk up to the door with Bandu and force Carter to open up. Considering all the lengths that vampire has gone to in order to keep Bandu on this earth, there is no way he’s going to leave him on his own when Allcot has him. That will easily get us in the door.”

  “Seems risky,” I said, already getting my blade and dagger ready.

  “Got a better solution?” he asked, parking the Trooper four blocks away on another street.

  “Nope. I’m ready to kick some serious vampire ass.” I glanced back at Link. “Ready for Willow to come home?”

  The wolf let out a high-pitched whine, and I took that as a yes.

  “What’s going to happen to Bandu?” Leo asked.

  Dax and I shared a glance. Then I cleared my throat and said, “Allcot’s going to end him.”

  “Not if I get to him first,” Leo cried, then pushed the door open and jumped out of the vehicle.

  “Damn,” I muttered and slipped from the SUV. Dax and Link joined me. I poked my head back into the Trooper. “You gonna be okay in here?” I asked Imogen.

  “Do I have a choice?” she said, obviously annoyed.

  I let out a sad chuckle. “Of course you do. Eadric thinks it’s safer if you stay here. But then you’ll be by yourself and… Well, it’s probably safer, but we never know for sure.”

  “Then I’m coming with you.” She scrambled out. “I’m not helpless, you know.”

  “No one thinks you are,” Dax said, smiling at her. “Now let’s go get us a couple of fae.”

  Up ahead, I barely made out Leo as he leaped forward and shifted into his wolf form. Then he was gone, off like a rocket into the night. “Does he have any idea what he’s getting into?” I asked Dax.

  My partner shook his head. “But we have to let him do this. It’s a terrible thing to have your idealism ripped from you so suddenly. And, Phoebs, I gotta tell you, Bandu talked a good game. I was even falling for his scheme.”