The High Priestess (The Darkest Desires Series Book 1)

by N. M. Brown

  “None of your fucking business.” She glared at him. She wiggled her fingers checking that they worked. Muscles protested, and tendons stretched causing more blood to pool, but they moved. At least Sydney wasn’t so stupid to render her hand useless but damn it hurt.

  Hale just shrugged. Bastard. He raised the megaphone to his lips. “This is a police intervention. We will be asking important questions which if you refuse to answer with be met with great suspicion. We'll be questioning each and every one of you before allowing you to leave. With any luck and if you’ve all been good, you’ll be home before breakfast." Hale was really enjoying himself. He must have really hunted for a judge who wasn’t in Archers pocket to get a warrant. Echo could see Jacob looking over it now, checking the formatting and wording to see if it was all legal.

  Strangled gasps and cries swept the club and a number of men quickly adjusted their pants while others began placing down any and all drinks they’d been consuming. No one wanted to be drunk for this.

  "Detective Hale,” Archer had slowly made his way down the stairs at the sound of the ruckus with not only Sam at his back, but also Mara, Nic and Twilight. As expected Gala wouldn’t make it, but Echo breathed a sigh of relief. A cold, cruel smile worked on her lips. Detective Hale had no idea what he was dealing with. “I cannot not believe that myself, my staff or my patrons had warranted anything like this callous attack. I have been most accommodating during these past events and have offered my services where ever you should have needed them. I have answered a lot of questions, some which I found to be quite bias and prejudice. Surly you don't need more?"

  Stood at the bottom of the stair, Archer and his family looked fierce. No one was smiling; no one was enjoying this. The Detective before them was stealing their fun. Their feast. Sam didn’t even try to flirt with the Detective as she passed, collecting the warrant from Jacob and bringing it to Archer. She was all rage.

  "You did help this morning Mr. Hellion, though probably unintentionally. Finding your property transcripts was crucial to finding a number of other properties in your family name.” Walking forward, full of swagger, Hale nodded at his fellow officers who spread about the room pulling patrons to their feet and patting them down. A few of the customers panicked as their 'treats' for later were being pulled from pockets. One woman tried to express how she didn't know how the little pills in the little baggie had found their way into her bra but they, of course, were not hers. “Due to the discovery of your holdings Mr. Hellion, we were able to fit some puzzle pieces together.” Hale allowed some of the customers to leave, no drugs or illegal items found on them. Others were being put in cuffs and walked out to a line of squad cars waiting. Everything was moving so fast. When an officer approached Echo, she snarled at him, moving back towards Archer. She wasn’t going to manhandled by them. Her hand throbbed and her chest felt tight. She was trying to remember what she’d last cut with the knife, but her head was becoming blurry. Wolfbane? Belladonna?

  “And what puzzle is that Detective?” Archer asked. “So far, I haven’t been impressed with the police work on this case, so I am really intrigued.”

  “For this current case, I’m not at liberty to say. I can say however, that it was brought to our attention that the victims of our case frequented your House.” Hale checked an ID that an officer passed to him, looking at the face of the boy they’d taken it from, before shaking his head. The officer walked the boy out who was sobbing hysterically. Echo watched the other cops work, moving systematically around the room, checking for drugs, weapons and checking all I. D’s. It took Echo a moment until she saw it. They were checking the men’s I. D’s with more intensity than any other. One officer just kept waving away the woman, only patting them down for a quick feel up. One short, dark haired woman looked partially pleased when she and her friend were waved off, ushering them out quickly. Who were they looking for? “Because of this, we are investigating your customers and staff under a microscope.” Hale explained.

  “A lot of people frequent this humble abode,” Sam spoke up. She was still naked, but she didn’t flaunt it. With so many badges in the House it wasn’t a time to push the wrong buttons. “If that is all you have? It could be any number of people and it’s not necessarily someone from inside. We have a number of stalkers who watch the club from the outside.”

  “I appreciate you may think you know how we work Ms. Hellion, but we know what we are doing.” Hale dismissed her.

  What a pompous dick., Echo thought, but a snigger from the few remaining drunks made Echo think she might have said it out loud. Whatever was on the knife was fucking her head up.

  “We will be searching this House, your customers, speaking to your staff and your family individually.” Hale commanded, watching the last of the guests be walked out of the club. Any VIP’s would have long ago scarpered, using the back stairs, down into the kitchen and out the back door. Any cops met outside the door would have left the back garden considerably richer. Anyone who was considered a VIP was always given the ‘what-to-do-in-an-emergency’ talk.

  Echo, unable to stand on her own any more, leant against the wall. Her body was tired, and she could only process watching Archer. Watching her whole family in fact. None of them seemed bothered by Hale’s demands, in fact they were quite bored. Archer held the deeds of the club for the sake of human necessity, but every single one of them had a stake in the place. They wouldn’t allow it to fall. She wouldn’t either.

  “You can take that warrant and sh-,” Echo began to say, feeling that she might have been slurring her words. But a manicured hand gave her a sharp slap to the back of her head and she fell to the floor at the base of the stairs. Looking up, Echo saw Twilight use the same manicured hand to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear and shoot her a tight shut-the-fuck-up smile.

  Prone of the floor as all feeling had gone from her legs, Echo couldn’t move, so Archer flexed his long legs out and walked right over her, not even giving her a glance. Much to Hales shock, he smiled, all charm and pleasantries. “What my defected charge means Detective, is that your requests won’t be a problem.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Echo’s fingers trailed gentle over the spot where Twi and hit her. There wasn’t a lump, but it sure as hell hurt. Instead, ignoring the pain the woozy feeling she still had, she took in the details of the painting hung in the Library. It was of a dead raven on its back, feet crooked in the air, surrounded by odd objects. A broken chandelier on a black background glinting on the canvas while an apple had been tucked behind the bird. Cracked shards of glass from a mirror scattered the surface, as well as an old fashion comb and brush. It was creepy, and Echo loved it. After all the customers had been ferried to where they needed to go, Echo and her family were placed in the Library to wait.

  As to why it was called a library, Echo guessed was only because of the bookcases, as there were almost no books to speak of. Instead some shelves held tiny antiques, while some held empty bowls. Echo never really read, only when she forced to at school and she never seen anyone in her family read. When she had perused the titles at the curious age of seven, she’d laughed. They were all history books, each on a different significant historical event, which translated as a noteworthy triumph in time for each sin.

  The Wall Street Crash of 1922 and the Eldorado Myth: Archer had told wild tales of moving across Spain speaking nothing but of a city of gold. Humans had been so easy to damn back then, he would sigh whimsically. Samantha was particularly proud of her time with Shakespeare, urging him to write the greatest love story of all time. How the humans missed that it was a tragedy, damning the two lover’s souls to eternal suffering, always made Echo smile. As her eyes moved across the shelves, she saw more: The Great Irish Potato Famine 1845, Gala’s vacation years. The Wrath of Attila The Hun, 434; Mara’s of course. Then there were the others, Jack the Ripper; 1888, The Growth and Expanse of World War Two; 1939, The Flight and Death of Amelia Earhart; 1923, Building the Great Pyramids; 2560 BC, The Fal
l of Troy; 1200. Some of them had been co-driven between two or more of the Sins, but each one was deadly and momentous. They had been Echo’s bedtime stories. Each night she had to identify the cause of the event and how her family had committed and influenced events, and then explain how she would have done it differently.

  “How much longer do we have to be in here for?” Sydney whined. Her hair looked like it had been dragged through a bush backwards, and her eye makeup, once perfect, was now starting to smear down her face. She was hopping for one foot to the other and her gazed flicked from the officers, to the door before they would land on Echo. She looked afraid, or perhaps nervous. It was amusing to watch. Echo could see the anxious tapping of her fingers and how she twitched at every noise. It was like watching a rabbit in the claws of a wolf.

  Only Twilight, Mara, Nic and Sam had been detained, while Archer was currently beginning proceedings with Hale. Echo had overheard an Officer say that the fat bastard upstairs – Gala, couldn’t be moved and had fallen promptly asleep. Lucky bastard, Echo had thought. Wouldn’t it be nice just to up and walk away from this shit-show? Her bed sounded awfully good right now. However, with her mind and vision spinning, Echo had watch for ques from her family instead.

  Each sin was bored and starved thus, each was being intimidating in their own way. Mara was fighting an invisible opponent, her harsh breaths filling the room, while Sam lounged like a cat, showing her naked body for all to see, running her fingers up and down her curve. Nic had fallen asleep which was no help but at least the cops knew they were being boring. Twilight, however, was discussing to the room in a loud voice the pros and cons of the latest fall collection and how he might fly to New York to collect it. He couldn’t decide if he should take it before or after the show. Obviously, the cops didn’t think he was serious, but Echo knew Twilight would steal a gorgeous handbag off a woman before setting her alight for crimes against fashion.

  “Calm down Miss Summer’s.” The officer replied in a low, bored tone. “We’ll all out of here promptly should you give us the answers we need.” When they were told there would be a raid, they probably hadn’t been told about babysitting duty.

  What poor, unsuspecting saps, Echo laughed.

  “There is to be no talking also Ms. Headly.” Echo frowned before her brain caught up. Oops, her mouth must be still running away without her, Echo chuckled.

  After that, her mind drifted and for a while she wondered why McQueen wasn’t here to babysit. That could have been exciting. But then again, she had dropped an anvil on his head with Detective Hale, so maybe he was on a time out. What a nasty stain on his perfect shining halo.

  The soft sound of shoes on the stairs announced the arrival of Archer as he walked towards them, but Echo could sense Hale’s anger long before anyone entered. “Well, that was a pleasure. Thank you, Detective,” Archer smiled, sitting gracefully into a chair, his suit glowing gold under the light of the lamp on the table beside him.

  Hale just grunted, clearly not getting what he wanted. His eyes roamed over Sam for only a brief second, the quickly dismissed her. Echo was lying down on another couch, curled in the fetal position. Her head was spinning, and her legs had turned to rubber. She guessed she’d been cutting Devils Eyes and Monkshood because she was numb and dizzy. Thankfully, Hale dismissed her too; guess he’d spoken to her enough. Eventually his eyes landed on Sydney.

  “Ms. Summers. If you would follow me?” Sydney’s face went strangely calm as she walked out the room towards Archers Winter Wing on the second floor that was currently being used as the questioning room. Why they weren’t at the station Echo wasn’t sure, but she guessed they didn’t have anything to charge them with and there was no way the Sins would willingly go down there.

  They were an odd family. Echo knew she wasn’t born to them - she was just a human - but they had raised her. A family such as theirs was dysfunctional, grossly competitive and broken. But it was strong. Strong enough that it scared Echo to think what could happen if they banded together against one common foe. The most she’d ever seen them play nice together was when Adin’s school had excluded him for setting the school cat on fire. Two weeks later: the Governors were broke, the head teacher was going through an ugly divorce, the school was closed for serving rats guts in the Bolognese and half the parents had pulls their kids out for the neighbouring school which was now all the rage. It had all played out like a well organised, strategic team. Echo had tried to produce a similar result at her school but didn’t quite meet the mark. Nuns didn’t suspend, only made you pray for longer hours.

  Time passed slowly in the library again and the grandfather clock ticked by loudly. Echo had started to doze off, falling in and out of darkness when a loud thump on the wooden floor woke her from her slumber. Eyes darting around the room, Echo saw Archer watching her with sharp eyes and he thumped his cane down again.

  “Well, isn’t this pleasant.” Archer smiled, looking around the room. As he spoke, each of his siblings arose like great beasts, slowly stopping whatever they had been doing to pay full attention. Nic rose from his nap and Mara stood behind his coach, arms spread wide and intimidating.

  “No talking.” One officer snapped but Archer flicked his wrist and suddenly Sam was on her feet and slinking across to the room. Her hands quickly roamed across the officer’s chest and he quivered in stunned silence.

  “Hay… Now what-... hay, you can’t do that…” The other Officer jittered trying to divide them, but all it took was a single finger to slide down his cheek and they were both on their knees.

  “I can hardly believe this is happening.” Archer continued to say, ignoring the gruff moans that came from the archway; Sam was keeping them occupied. “Can you believe we are here Echo?”

  Cold pins pricked Echo’s skin and she blinked hard as she rose to a more upright position. “Well… I mean-,” Echo tripped over her words. “I didn’t know they were coming.” But even as Echo said it, she knew it wasn’t the right answer.

  Archer was rolling his clenched hands over the top of his cane. None of the Sins showed their emotions, ever, but over the years Echo had seen a few … ‘ticks’. This one was Archers. “Ah, you didn’t know…didn’t know.” He repeated. Echo opened her mouth to say more but Archer slammed his cane down hard sending vibrations through the floor boards. No one jumped accept Echo and she cursed herself for it. She should be better, more like them, but her head pounded, and she felt like she was going to be sick. “You should have known!” He snapped. His gold eyes blazed at her and Echo tried not to cower in her seat.

  “Isn’t that what we sent you to do?” Mara questioned. She was running a curl from atop Nic’s head around and around her finger while keeping her gaze on Echo. Looking around the room, they were all looking at her.

  “I did-… I mean, I’ve been keeping close to the case. You saw Nic, tell them, I had Detective McQueen in between my thighs last night.” She protested.

  Nic slowly shook his head. “I didn’t see anything.” Echo could have throttled him, but Sam spoke up from where she was leant against the archway.

  She had one officer on his knees in front of her, her leg hooked onto his back while he gave her the attention she needed. The other officer was also on his knees enjoying himself. “But he didn’t stay between your thighs now, did he?”

  “He-… I…” Echo’s words fell flat. She couldn’t lie. The Sins felt everything in this house and there was no strong emotion they couldn’t feel. After Echo’s lust as well as McQueen's, then a drastic change to wrath and relief, they knew what had happened.

  Archer closed his eyes and frozen on the couch. He wouldn’t look at Echo and composed in his perfect, pristine suit, Echo could only see him as the poised viper he was. “Sam?” He said. Uncurling herself from the officers, she left them in a daze, sitting back where she had been before. Echo watched as the men crawled up from their feet and wiped at their mouths, suddenly wondering what had happened. When she turned back to Archer, he was
looking at her through cold eyes. “I feel a detachment between us Echo. You have been-… drifting from us. I asked you to simply keep close to the case, and even that you can’t do.” Archer made a point of picking his nails.

  “I’m not!” Echo cried in earnest. “I am loyal to you. To you all. I’m close to the case… I-” But Echo couldn’t finish. In all that lust, all that heat, she actually hadn’t gotten anything out of the Detective.

  Archer didn’t nod, or even acknowledge what she’d said. He just rolled his neck like he was tired. “Just to think about all that hard work we put into raising you?”

  Echo felt a cold fist thunder through her rib cage, but before she could answer, the heavy foot falls sounded from the stairs again. Archer must have felt something because everyone was back in their place, doing as they were before. Even the Officers, though looking a little lost, were stood back in their positions. Echo wasn’t at all ready to let this matter drop but it wasn’t Sydney that stepped through the archway, but Detective Hale. Sydney was nowhere in sight and he looked very pleased.

  “Echo Headly, please stand.” Hale said to the room.