Stakes and Stones

by Bilinda Sheehan

  “Jenna…”

  “I watched Kypherous kill her,” I said finally, shaking free of the memory. “When I asked him why he murdered her, he said he’d grown bored of her games.”

  I left out the part where he’d told me why he’d grown bored of her, that his desire to prove to me that I would be the only one in his bed from then on, was a memory so dark, I didn’t feel comfortable sharing it.

  “I shouldn’t have let you get involved,” Grey said softly, suddenly unable to meet my gaze, “this isn’t healthy for you.”

  Shrugging, I folded my arms over my chest. “Doesn’t change the fact, that I’m the best lead you’ve got. I know more about Carmine than anyone else.” I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry and scratchy as my memories once more tried to resurface. I’d worked so hard to keep them down and now with this, they were all flooding back so easily, as though everything I’d done to separate myself from the nightmare of my past didn’t exist at all.

  “You can’t seriously think I’ll let you stay on this now, do you?” Grey’s tone jerked me from my inner reflection and I met his eyes defiantly.

  “You can’t seriously think I’ll let you keep me off this case now, do you?” I twisted his words back at him, watching his jaw tighten, the muscle beginning to jump with the tension flowing through his body.

  “Jenna, this isn’t healthy—”

  “Let me be the judge of what is and isn’t healthy,” I said, cutting him off before he could finish. I didn’t want his pity. I’d killed my demon and before I was done, I would kill Simon’s demon, too.

  “Sophia already doesn’t want you anywhere near this,” he said. “She’ll never agree to it.”

  “We’ll just see, then, won’t we?”

  Despite not feeling entirely confident about the situation, I couldn’t let him see my uncertainty. He wanted to side-line me, keep me off a case that was so closely linked with my past, and there wasn’t a chance in hell I would let him. Even if Sophia didn’t agree to me working the case, I would find a way to work it.

  No matter what Grey said about it being a shade of Simon, I couldn’t shake the teenager’s terror. It clung to me like the early morning dew clung to cobwebs, and every time I tried to blot it out, it pushed into my mind stronger than before. I was responsible for his death. If I’d made sure Carmine was dead when I murdered Kypherous, then Simon would still be alive and his mother wouldn’t be at the end of the corridor, her broken sobs filling the hall.

  I couldn’t save him, the least I owed him was vengeance. I would make Carmine pay, and before I was done with her, she would know the true meaning of fear.

  Chapter 6

  Sitting on the thin black plastic chair outside the ward sister’s office, I listened to the raised voices of Grey and Sophia filter into the hall.

  Much to everyone’s surprise, Sophia had sided with me about the situation. She wanted me on the case, I was the best resource Division 6 had for this case. She wanted results fast, and as far as she was concerned, I was going to help her get them.

  Grey’s voice lifted, his anger sending a whisper of power that slid across my exposed skin. Leaning forward on the chair, it creaked ominously beneath me as I rubbed my palm across the back of my neck and closed my eyes.

  “Mom and Dad still fighting?” Alex said cheerfully, plopping into a chair next to me.

  “Do you take anything seriously?”

  “I try not to,” he said. “When you live as long as I have, you learn that serious people end up with faces that look like roadmaps. And Botox is so not my jam, can you imagine me with a permanently surprised expression?” He raised his eyebrows until they disappeared beneath the lock of blond hair that had flopped over onto his brow.

  “I dunno, could be a huge improvement,” I said, cracking a small smile.

  “If anyone needs Botox, it’s Mr. Broody McBroodster in there,” Alex said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the office where Sophia and Grey continued to bicker. “Might help loosen the stick wedged up his—”

  The office door swung open, violently slapping into the wall as he strode out into the hall, his dark eyes snapping with rage.

  “Finish that sentence and I’ll make it so you never get another date ever again,” Grey said as he blew past both of us.

  “You don’t have that kind of power,” Alex called after him. Grey raised his hand dismissively as he pushed open the exit door and disappeared into the stairwell.

  “I wouldn’t push him, he’s not someone I’d want to make an enemy of,” I said softly, climbing to my feet. “I’ll go and talk to him.”

  “Miss Faith,” Sophia’s said, her voice carrying over the hustle of the corridor. I glanced back at Alex but he shrugged. Changing direction, I made my way into the office, only to find Sophia with her back to me as she stared out the window.

  “Grey tells me you know this Carmine,” she said softly with no hint of her true thoughts on the matter in her voice.

  “Knowing her is a strange way of putting it,” I said. “She helped torture me.”

  Sophia turned to face me then, cocking her head to the side, an oddly birdlike movement as she observed me silently. Folding her arms across her chest, the silence stretched between us and I had the urge to fidget with the whip on my belt.

  “Grey does not want you involved in this matter.” She studied my face carefully.

  “But he’s not the one in charge,” I said. “So what he wants doesn’t really matter.”

  “True, but he seems to think working the case will damage you further.”

  I knew she was goading me, deliberately choosing her words for maximum destruction. Grey would never have spoken about me in such a crass manner, but despite knowing all of this, hearing the words leave her mouth still hurt. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my expression neutral. I must have failed, or perhaps she was much more perceptive than I’d first realised, because the slight curling of her lips let me know that she’d picked up on my discomfort.

  “I can handle it,” I said. “I’ve handled worse.”

  Sophia nodded thoughtfully before she turned back to the window. “Luckily for you, Miss Faith, I don’t care one way or the other. If you crack up, then I’ll have you put down. If not, then you’ll be a valuable asset to the team and you’ll live to fight another day. It’s a win-win for Division 6 as far as I can tell.”

  “Clearly you really care about your staff,” I said, managing to keep the acidic note from my words.

  Glancing over her shoulder at me, I noted the way her nose seemed more like a beak than anything else when in profile, further adding to the bird-like appearance I’d decided she had. She smiled but it was far from friendly, a simple stripping of her teeth allowing me to see her particularly sharp canines. What the hell was she?

  “It’s not my job to care about the preternaturals working for Division 6,” she said. “We keep the peace, policing our own, ensuring the humans don’t decide to declare open season on those who wish to live quiet existences among the more fragile of society.” She drew in a deep breath and returned to peering out the window at the slow moving traffic below. “We cannot afford for there to be another war. Too many would lose their lives.”

  “Surely, the preternaturals would come out on top,” I said.

  “Don’t underestimate the humans’ ability to destroy everything they come in contact with. There are some among us who see them as nothing more than a pest to be wiped clean. What they forget is that for many the humans are a valuable food source, without which most would die. Keeping them sweet and unsuspecting as we do keeps the balance in check.”

  My breath caught in the back of my throat and I found myself outrightly staring at her. She turned and met my eyes and I had the unsettling feeling that she could see straight through me to the thoughts whirling in my head. She spoke about the humans as though they meant nothing at all. Most preternaturals who truly believed that to be true had ceased to exist, they were d
eemed far too dangerous and yet…

  “What kind of monster are you?” The question slipped out before I could catch it. That seemed to be happening a lot today. First, the hysterical laughter and now this.

  If she was insulted or even surprised by my question, she never betrayed the emotions, her face remained utterly impassive. But there was a stillness about her that unnerved me and I half expected her to lunge across the space toward me.

  She didn’t move.

  “There aren’t many who would have the gall to ask me that,” she said, her lips curling up at the corners. “Perhaps you and I are going to get along a lot better than I first thought.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Because you’re either crazier than Grey or even I first realised, or you’ve got bigger balls than anyone else working in Division 6.”

  I stared at her, shock keeping my tongue in check, and her smile grew wider.

  “I’m going to say bigger balls,” she said suddenly. “You’ve got plenty of time to prove me wrong.” With that she waved me away, just as she had in the Division 6 office. “You can go now.”

  Without another word, I turned on my heel and stepped back out into the hall.

  “When Grey is done sulking,” Sophia said, speaking to my retreating back, “tell him to interview the mother, I want to know everything she does.”

  “I don’t think she’s in any state to be interviewed,” I said, glancing over my shoulder.

  “Tell that to someone who cares,” Sophia interjected. “Just do as you’re told.”

  Anger boiled in my chest and I turned to confront her but she was suddenly at the door. Her abrupt appearance so close behind me, and the fact that I hadn’t seen her move at all, had me taking a step back. “Shoo, fly,” she said slamming the door in my face.

  “She’s a real peach, isn’t she?” Alex said, leaning against the doorjamb.

  “You heard what she said, right?”

  He nodded. “Every word.”

  “We can’t interview Simon’s mother, not yet at least. She’s barely coherent. If we start questioning her now, she’ll…”

  “We don’t have a choice, Jenna,” Alex said gently. “Without every little piece of the puzzle, how can we hope to find her son’s killer?”

  “We already know who his killer is,” I said angrily. “We don’t need to hurt her further.”

  “You know the job,” he said. “We don’t get to pick and choose who gets hurt.” Whatever he saw in my face softened his expression. “If it helps, I can do this with Grey,” he said. “I don’t think I get as,” he paused, clearly planning his words carefully before he continued, “involved as you do.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but Alex cut me off. “Just think about it. There’ll be plenty of time for you to prove just how tough you are yet, if the bitch that has done all of this is as bad as you say she is…”

  He was right. There would be plenty of time for me to prove myself. Carmine was a nasty piece of work and I’d sworn vengeance. But if he thought I was just going to sit back and twiddle my thumbs while he and Grey destroyed what little else remained of Simon’s mother’s life, then he was wrong.

  I wouldn’t run from this. I owed Simon and his mother that much. I needed to look her in the eye so I could tell her that I would personally end the one responsible for her son’s death. It would be cold comfort but sometimes that was what it took to get you through the next five minutes alive.

  “No. I can do this,” I said, and Alex gave me a sceptical look. “I failed her and her son, Alex, the least I can do is look her in the eye and tell her I’m going to kill the one truly responsible for Simon’s death.”

  Chapter 7

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Grey said, taking the chair opposite Julia Boro and her daughter Keisha. Julia’s eyes were swollen, glassy and unfocused. I’d overhead the doctor in the hall telling Alex that they’d given her something to help calm her and for now at least she had stopped sobbing. She sat in a worn blue armchair in the corner of the cream painted family room, her fingers sliding over and back on a small photograph of Simon. That along with whatever memory she was reliving was all she had left of her boy.

  Her daughter on the other hand sat on a small stool next to her mother’s chair, her back ramrod straight, eyes clear and alight with the kind of rage that would scorch your skin if you idled too long in its reach.

  “We just want to ask you a few questions,” Grey continued, unperturbed by Julia’s silent unseeing stare. “Can you tell me when you last saw Simon?”

  “What does it matter? She’s to blame,” Keisha said, thrusting a finger in my direction.

  One large tear formed on Julia’s lower lash line, wobbling there for a moment before it slipped onto her cheek.

  “What is she doing here?” Julia asked, struggling to meet Grey’s eyes. “You should arrest her…”

  “This is my associate,” Grey said. “Ms. Faith is working your son’s case.”

  “She’s the reason he’s—” Her voice cracked and I knew she couldn’t say the word ‘dead’ aloud.

  “Ms. Faith is not the reason for your son’s passing,” Grey said carefully. He’d obviously noted that she hadn’t used the word dead, too.

  “I nipped out for a cuppa and when I came back my boy was…” Tears dripped faster onto her face and she brushed at them absentmindedly as she glanced down at the picture held tightly in her fingers.

  “We don’t have to stand for this,” Keisha said, pushing to her feet. “If you’re not going to do anything about her, I will.”

  Grey stood, moving between Simon’s sister and me, shielding me from her view. Power stirred in the room, causing the air to thicken.

  “Is that you?”

  Grey shook his head and I turned my attention to Keisha once more. The air continued to thicken, and sparkles lit in the corners of my eyes. She pulled magic from the air, drawing it around her like a mantle she could wear.

  “You killed him, stole him from us and—”

  “I wanted to bring him back,” I said hoarsely, cutting her off mid-sentence, my voice almost failing as she looked down at me. There was such hatred in her gaze. Not that I could blame her. In her position it would be almost impossible to believe anything other than the fact that I was the reason her brother wouldn’t be coming home with her ever again.

  “You murdered him,” she spat the words at me. “You people, you’re all monsters, taking, taking, always taking…”

  “Keisha,” Julia said softly, touching her daughter’s arm.

  “No, they killed him, they need to pay…” Keisha’s voice trembled but it didn’t break.

  “I wanted to give him back to you,” I said. “I tried to help him but the one who took him never planned to let him go. They tricked you, tricked us all.”

  Keisha stared at me for a few seconds more, the currents of magic she’d been pulling in toward her body swirling through her aura.

  When she released it, the tension in the room dropped several notches. Keisha dropped onto the stool next to her mother, taking Julia’s hand in hers.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, dropping her gaze to the floor.

  Julia absentmindedly patted her daughter’s hand as she met my gaze head on.

  “Simon was a good boy, he wouldn’t hurt anyone—” She broke off and stared down at the picture once more. “He only wanted to help, he thought he could use his gift to help others. Why would someone do this to him?”

  “We don’t know,” Grey said, “but you said Simon had a gift? Maybe if you told us about it, it might help us figure out why he was taken.” Grey’s voice was so quiet it took me a moment to realise he’d actually spoken aloud and not inside my head.

  “Little things,” Julia said, “not like Keisha, her power is stronger, more raw.” She drew in a breath. “His was healing cuts, grazes, broken bones. We discovered it when he was a boy and his cousin fell and hit his head on the front step.
Chris was crying and bleeding and Simon didn’t want him to hurt anymore.” She hiccupped a sob out, a sorrowful smile curling her lips. “Took everything out of him to do it, but once he realised what he could do, there was no stopping him. Well, not until his father.”

  “What happened?” Grey asked.

  “Dad got cancer and Simon thought he could cure him…” Keisha shook her head, keeping her gaze low.

  “How did Simon take it?”

  “He was heartbroken, damn near killed himself trying to cure his father of the disease… I nearly lost them both.”

  “And after your husband,” Grey said, “how was Simon then?”

  Fresh tears dripped onto her fingers and she swiped absentmindedly at the picture. “Said he’d failed, that he’d been given this gift from God and he’d failed to use it… I tried to tell him, to explain to him that there were just some things you couldn’t change but… he was more determined than ever to help others.” She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “I begged him to stop but he wouldn’t.”

  “You didn’t want him helping others?” The question seemed mean-spirited coming from Grey, and Julia obviously felt the same way.

  Her head snapped up, her eyes blazing with fury. “Have you any idea what it’s like to find your child half dead on the doorstep because they’ve given so much they forgot to save some for themselves?” She sucked in a deep breath. “To watch them fading before your eyes, getting sicker every day and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it? Do you? Do you know how helpless that makes you feel?”

  Grey had the good grace to drop his gaze to the floor.

  “Do you know who he was involved with?” I asked, drawing Julia’s attention back to me. For a moment she looked completely lost and I could sense her hesitation. “Anything you can tell us would help,” I said. “We want to catch the one who did this to your son.”

  “I don’t but Keisha—” Julia turned to her daughter who was studying the floor so intensely I half expected it to crack open and swallow her whole.