“Some sort of large scale meeting for fraudsters anonymous?”
“Or something more sinister. I can’t risk that they’ll have one of those jammer things, so you need to come with me.”
Mike recoiled. “What if their weird anti-supe mojo works on mortal shifters, too?”
“It latched onto my Other energy, so I don’t think it will affect you, but if it does, I’ll pull you back to safety.” She flashed her teeth at him. See? She could be reassuring when she needed to be.
He grunted.
Okay. There were major holes in that bucket, but they didn’t have time to dawdle. She opened her arms. “Ready?”
“Wait. You’re portalling us there?”
“Come on.” She flapped her outstretched hands at him. Why did he look nervous? “It will be fine. I’ve been practicing.”
Mike hesitated.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. “Hold on.” She dug out her phone. “Hello?”
“He’s missing again.” Sarah’s voice was flat, like a sociopath calmly explaining how they planned to commit their next murder.
A chill ran up Raven’s spine. “Robert?”
“Yes, Robert,” she hissed. “Who else?”
Raven ignored the other woman’s tone. “Have you tracked him using the finding app?”
Sarah cursed and hung up.
Okay, then. Hopefully, Sarah would call Raven back when she had a location. Raven stuffed the phone back in her pocket and turned to Mike.
He scowled at her but stepped into her arms.
“There, there, little brother.” She patted his back and called for her energy. “It will be okay.”
The world disappeared and reformed. Mike pushed away and staggered out of her arms. He lurched to one side and puked into the nearby ditch. After he straightened and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, he glared at her. “Let’s never do that again.”
She raised her eyebrows and desperately tried to ignore the waft of vomit in the air. “You’re going to walk home?”
Mike’s face paled.
Before she could reassure him or compliment herself on successfully transporting another person without losing clothing or limbs, her phone vibrated.
Sarah. Again.
Raven held up her finger at Mike and answered the call.
“I got a location,” Sarah said.
“Let me guess.” Raven scanned the house Kelly had walked into moments ago and prattled off the street address.
Silence met her.
Raven waited.
“How did you know?” Sarah asked finally.
“A hunch.”
“Are you there with him?” Her voice dripped acid.
Oh, wow. Back to the accusations. And here Raven thought they’d moved past that. “Not with him. Your case crossed over with another one of our cases.”
“Explain.”
“I can’t. Not yet. I followed my other target to the same location and suspe—”
“They’re fucking each other?” Her teeth gnashed over the phone.
Raven took a deep breath and relaxed her grip on the phone, so she didn’t crush it. “No, actually. I don’t think Robert is cheating on you with another woman.”
“A man?”
“An organization.” Since witnessing Richard meeting with Kelly’s contact, the thought kept coming back to her over and over to the point she could no longer deny it. Why else would Robert, Kelly and their associates have these frequent secret meetings and an object of power that targeted Other energy? They belonged to an organization of some kind. The only question remaining was which one.
But Raven had an idea about that, too, thanks to Bane. He’d gnawed at her ankles like an attack trained Chihuahua to block non-Others from traveling to the Underworld. In addition to this, he’d voiced dislike and concern for Closers. His behaviour nailed her suspicions home—as she’d noted many times in her life, coincidences didn’t exist for her. The Closers, Richard, Kelly, these meetings and the energy blocker…they had to all be related.
“An organization?” Sarah’s sneer came through in her tone.
“I think Richard and my other case are somehow involved with the Regulators, maybe even the Closers.”
Sarah gasped. She didn’t speak.
Raven glanced at her screen to check the connection. Still good. Her phone provider hadn’t dropped the call.
“That makes no sense,” Sarah whispered.
“I agree. I shouldn’t have said anything without more proof to back it up.” She really shouldn’t have said anything until she knew for certain. Stupid! What a rookie mistake.
Mike shook his head at her.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
“I’m coming,” Sarah said.
“No!” Raven barked. “No, you’re not. Please stay—”
A dial tone replied.
Damn it! That’s all they needed. A hot-headed shifter blowing their cover. They wanted to observe Kelly and Robert before Kelly discovered she’d been investigated and tipped off her co-conspirators they’d been compromised. They held off on reporting their findings to worker’s comp for the possibility of discovering what happened at these meetings.
She cursed again. “We don’t have much time.”
“Willful client?” Mike asked, damn well knowing the answer.
She glared at him.
Mike smirked. “I’m going to walk past the house. If I collapse in agony, please send help.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed him forward. He walked out from behind the car shielding them from view and strolled past the house. She held her breath. Her heart pounded so hard, her hearing was consumed with the thumping and the sound of Mike’s shoes hitting the pavement.
What the hell were they thinking? Sure, Mike was an adult, but he was also her baby brother. Why had she brought him? Why had she put him in danger? They had no idea what was in that house.
Why couldn’t life have a rewind button?
She balled her hands into fists and waited.
Nothing happened.
Mike sauntered past the house and continued down the block. He turned the corner and Raven let out a long breath.
Her phone vibrated again. For fuck’s sake. Trying to work here. What did that crazy lady want now? She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
Mike texted: Easy.
Cocky brat.
An hour later, a number of average-looking people exited the house and casually dispersed to various cars. Raven leaned against a nearby streetlight and pretended to play on her phone. From the reflection off her screen, she watched Kelly get in her car and drive off.
“I don’t see why we have these meetings during the day,” a familiar voice that made all sorts of eye-muscles twitch travelled down the steps and grated her nerves. Robert. “I think she suspects.”
Another man chuckled. A quick glance confirmed Robert spoke to the Mystery Man from the coffee shop. He locked the door and walked down the steps with Robert.
Raven slipped behind the van. Her feet scuffed the pavement. Only one person in that house would recognize her and he headed in her direction.
“She probably thinks you’re banging someone else. You never could keep it in your pants.” Thin and whiny, Mystery Man’s voice fit his face perfectly.
“That’s even worse! You know who her father is. Think of what they’ll do to me.”
Say what now? Who was Sarah’s father? Surely, Dad’s background check would’ve found something. The report he gave them said Sarah’s father was a bank teller.
“They’ll do nothing.” A vehicle door clicked opened and something thumped inside. If only Raven could turn and get the plate number or the make and model. Damn it. She should’ve told Mike to take a video as he strolled down the block. They could’ve reviewed the tape later and pulled vehicle information.
Come on, Mike. Take some pictures. She quickly texted him.
Robert grumbled.
“The supernatural will get what they
deserve and when we’re through with them, they will be too broken to go after you.”
The door shut and the engine turned over. The vehicle travelled away from where Raven hid.
Robert sighed somewhere behind her.
She froze. He hadn’t left with the man. Should she let him go?
After today, they’d know someone followed Kelly. Her ex might go into hiding or have time to get his answers straight. This was her chance. Her only chance. Sarah presumably headed here right now to confront him and blow away any cover Raven had.
Take the chance, Crawford.
It was just her and Robert on this now-empty street. She breathed in deep, straightened and stepped onto the sidewalk from behind the van.
Robert walked away from her on the same side of the road. His dress shoes crunched the loose dirt scattered across the sidewalk. He hunched his broad shoulders and ducked his head down a little against the cold wind. He carried none of the confidence and controlled movement like Cole. What had she seen in this man?
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, Robert,” she said.
Her ex froze. He stood silent, facing away from her as if deciding whether to bolt or talk. Ugh. Please don’t run.
Robert spun around slowly. He reached inside his jacket.
She tensed and grabbed her Other energy. Would he pull a gun on her? Did he even own a gun? Or know how to use one?
From the protective pocket of his jacket, he took out an amulet with a blue stone. He studied it for a few seconds before gripping it in a tight fist.
Okay, then. Weird.
“What do you want, Raven?” His cold voice lacked emotion.
“I guess I want to know why?”
“Why I hate you?”
So, he did despise her. She hadn’t read him wrong a month ago when she ran into him at the hospital and later when he graced her with his presence at the diner. “Yes.”
“I hate all of your kind,” he said.
“My kind? I’m not—”
“Don’t lie to me,” he hissed. “I saw you.”
Her head snapped back as if he slapped her. “What?”
“I liked you. I thought I might’ve loved you. I heard whisperings about your family being shifters, but I initially ignored the rumours because they were so nice to me and I never saw anything to support the gossip. And then I saw you change. Like some freak of nature. You’re worse than a shifter. You’re one of them and you lied about it. Like they all do, you surrounded yourself with lies.”
“Why do you hate Others?” Besides the obvious. Most regs disliked or distrusted Others due to the whole taking over their reality thing and treating them like minions.
“They killed the only woman I truly loved,” he said. “They killed Lenore.”
“My dad read the police reports. The evidence indicates a shifter, not an Other. I don’t understand this misdirected hatred.”
“You’re all the same!” he snapped. “You’re all supernatural. I hate that term. Should be unnatural. Your time is coming. You’ll get what you deserve.”
“What I deserve? One shifter’s actions do not define the whole group. Tell me, Robert. Did you plan to financially ruin me before or after you discovered my dirty secret?”
“After. And I would’ve done more had I the ability back then.” He rose his shaking fist, still clutching the blue amulet. The silver chain dangled in the air and sunlight danced off its shiny surface. Something decorated the side of the stone. “But I have some power now.”
Oooo shiny.
Focus, Crawford.
“You’re going to shake jewelry at me?” Raven crossed her arms.
A van turned the corner down the road and travelled toward them. Good. Witnesses.
“You’re not a warlock, Robert. What exactly do you plan to do?” she asked.
Robert smiled and mouthed a word. Blue light flashed from the amulet. Pain exploded in her head. She crumpled to the cold pavement. Her cheek pressed into the gritty surface. The energy blocker. The potent power crashed against her corvid energy as if trying to crush it in an invisible fist.
Raven curled up in a ball and groped for her power. Too close. She was too close to the source. She couldn’t move.
A door slid open. Feet hit the ground. People yelled.
“How?” Robert snarled.
“I’m not fae, you idiot,” Sarah said. “That shit doesn’t work—” Sarah growled. “Come back here, you coward!”
More car doors popped open and slammed shut. Another engine revved. The more distant the sound of the engine, the more the pain subsided.
Footsteps approached, slapping the sidewalk. Someone kneeled beside her. Fuzzy floral perfume floated around her.
“You’re full of surprises.” Sarah brushed Raven’s hair from her face. “What exactly are you that the fae-looking artifact Robert wielded affected you and not me?”
Raven moaned and rolled over. Little rock pebbles stuck to her skin and drool coated half of her face.
Sarah smirked. “Your secret is safe with me, Other.”
“I think I have enough information to formally close your case.” The air scraped her dry lungs and her mouth filled with the iron taste of blood.
Sarah’s smirk spread into a large, toothy grin. “I can’t wait to hear what you discovered.”
Another van pulled up. Large men jumped out and jogged toward them. Not good.
More fuzzy scents coated the air.
“Yeah.” Raven licked her dry lips. “Let’s set up a meeting for tomorrow and I’ll go over my findings.”
Sarah shook her head, her fluffy hair bouncing off her face. “No. I think not.”
The men closed the distance. Their slightly furry scents familiar. They waited for Sarah’s orders.
Robert’s fiancée turned to them. “Robert fled. He’s long gone, now.”
Not assassins sent to smite either of them, then. That was good news. Maybe?
The bad news was she had no idea what to expect and she hadn’t fully recovered from the energy blocker. The effects still ravaged her body.
“No,” Sarah continued. “You’ll come with me now to make a full report.”
The men helped Raven to her feet and guided her to the van. Raven needed a little more time to recover but fear no longer wracked her body. She’d escape these shifters if needed, but she doubted they meant her harm. She may as well see where this led. Their destination wasn’t the prominent question in her mind, though.
Where in the Underworld was Mike?
Chapter Thirty-One
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
The jostling van ride was uncomfortable and awkward. Eventually, the effects of the energy blocker wore off. Raven could escape her pseudo-captors, but she’d already committed to seeing how this played out. She took a risk, but they hadn’t bound her or taken out the guns stuffed in their waistbands.
The burly non-verbal driver pulled up to a large mansion off West Marine Drive. The palatial building sprawled over a manicured lawn, surrounded by a cultivated garden. Bank teller, my ass.
“Nice house,” Raven said. More than nice. It was a fucking palace.
Dark clouds rolled in and covered the afternoon sun, but the weather did little to diminish the intimidating impression of the mansion.
Sarah flashed teeth at her, not quite a smile. “My father’s place. He acquired it after the last owner got into a vampire territory feud and lost.”
How the hell was she supposed to respond to that? “Nice.”
Rain started to pummel the windshield. It bounced off the metal roof as they clambered out of the van. The guards escorted her into the house. The warm, dry entrance greeted her. Strategically placed antique furnishings and rugs emphasized the size of the room and the owner’s wallet at the same time.
Sarah leaned in. “The place came fully furnished.”
Dead vampire possessions. R
aven shuddered and followed the men through the house. Their feet whispered against the rugs and shiny tiles as they led her to an office bigger than her family’s living room and kitchen combined.
An older man sat behind a pedestal-style desk made of solid oak. Drapes covered two immense windows behind him, leaving a pair of desk lamps with green shades to illuminate his face. The furry scents of the occupants intensified.
The man, presumably Sarah’s father, studied her with his golden, unflinching gaze. The wrinkles lining his face suggested he laughed a lot but right now, he wasn’t smiling. He didn’t stand to greet them, either.
Recognition clicked. She knew this guy. She knew this smell.
She groaned, Tony the Tooth, leader of the powerful, and less-than-law-abiding hyena shifter gang.
She turned to Sarah. “Your last name is Edwards.”
Robert’s fiancée flashed more teeth. “Did nothing come up on your background checks?”
Not a fucking thing and she knew it.
Sarah’s father stood. Though older, the white dress shirt emphasized a muscular build from years of grappling and busting up peoples’ faces. “I spent a lot of money procuring a fake identity for my daughter that would pass the scrutiny of law enforcement. I’m glad it passed the test.”
Fuck that. Raven and her father would’ve dug deep enough, eventually.
“Do you wear something to mask your scent?” Raven asked.
“We all do.”
Raven turned to Sarah. “Yet, you told Robert your background.”
Sarah stiffened. “I told him nothing.”
“He knew,” Raven said. “I overheard a conversation between him and the leader of their organization. They mentioned your father.”
Tony growled. “I think it best that you give me a full report of your investigation and explain exactly what information my money purchased.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, professionals built the Titanic.”
~ Louis Menand
Nevermore Page 17
