by Joyce Lavene
Sunshine took a deep breath of relief. “Thank the goddess.”
“Briana is quite powerful,” Aine said. “That was a fascinating display.”
“She’s got some mojo happening. But a lot of it is just bells and whistles.” Sunshine grinned and couldn’t resist hugging her companion. “Sorry. I know it’s against the rules, but I’m really happy to be alive. Mr. Bad was right about you. You’re tough.”
Aine shrugged off the hug—now the second time someone had dared touch her in hundreds of years—yet within one day of each.
“But I see you didn’t go all soft and pretty for me,” Sunshine observed. “I think there’s something else going on that you don’t want to share.”
Aine’s gaze was fierce. “Shall we return to finding the harpy now?”
“Yes. Absolutely. Blood trail, right? O’Neill is probably already on it.”
“All the more reason for us to follow. O’Neill does not comprehend what he is facing. He needs protection from his eagerness to find the truth.”
“In other words, you’re not just going to sit back and let him die because you sang his death song. Talk about somebody who has a weird way of saying things.”
It was easy to pick up the blood trail. Sunshine had been ready to use magic to locate it, but Aine was right. It was in plain sight, dotting the sidewalks and the ground as the harpy flew through the city. People walked around or through it, not noticing the red droplets as they continued on their way.
“There’s no way poor Amos survived this in the shape he was in,” Sunshine said.
“It’s curious that she didn’t rip him to pieces where she found him.” Aine kept her sharp eyes on the trail.
“Maybe we disturbed her. Maybe she was afraid of getting caught.”
“This creature has no fear,” Aine told her. “Something here is not as it should be. We don’t understand as yet, but we will.”
It was easy to discover where the harpy had finally left Amos a few blocks away. By the time Aine and Sunshine reached the scene, O’Neill and Malto had already put up a police perimeter around a bloody dumpster in an alley.
“Guess that side trip to Briana’s place cost us some time,” Sunshine said as they watched other police vehicles arrive.
O’Neill looked up sharply before they reached him. His back was turned to them, but he seemed to sense her presence. Aine was pleased. Their relationship was odd, and certainly nothing like she’d experienced in the past with his ancestors, but they were coming to an understanding.
He approached them, leaving Malto behind to deal with the crime scene. “You were right. The harpy didn’t try to hide. We followed it right here where she left Amos torn to pieces in the dumpster. What is this thing, and why is it here?”
Sunshine took out her phone, Googled harpy, and read aloud: “A mythical creature with the head and torso of a woman whose razor-like talons and teeth exacted revenge on wrongdoers.”
“Thanks. I could’ve done that.” He didn’t avoid Aine’s gaze this time. “Let’s say I believe there are witches, beane sidhes, harpies, and other mythical creatures in the city. Why would this thing want to kill a bunch of guys and their customers at a tattoo shop?”
“An excellent question, O’Neill,” Aine said. “We have been assured by the most powerful witch my partner knows that she did not summon the harpy.”
“And you believe her?” he asked.
“I believe her as far as it goes,” Sunshine said. “That doesn’t mean she won’t try to find some way to use the harpy herself now that she knows about it.”
“What about you give me her name and number and I’ll pay her a visit so I can come to my own conclusions on what she knows or doesn’t know.”
Sunshine laughed at him. “I don’t think you really want to do that. Let’s just say I’m not giving you her name for your own benefit. Aine already told me you got one warning. Let’s not go for two.”
O’Neill glanced back at his partner. “I can’t just take your word for these things. I’m not saying you’re wrong—you obviously have some idea what you’re talking about—however crazy that might be. But I need real proof to take back to my captain.”
“You have the harpy’s feather,” Aine told him. “Take that and the Google to him. Let him make of it what he will.”
Chapter Sixteen
Sunshine and Aine spent the rest of the day looking for the shifters the harpy might still be tracking. They followed Sunshine’s locator spells but couldn’t pinpoint them.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Sunshine admitted. “Shifters can be difficult, especially if they don’t want to be found. I guess they’re on their own.”
“What about the wolf?” Aine asked as a damp dusk began falling across the city.
“Marcus was good friends with John. Maybe if we go to some of John’s favorite spots we’ll run into him.”
They went back to the agency to make sure everything was all right. Jane wasn’t answering the phone, and Sunshine was worried about her.
“Are you afraid Briana might do her harm?”
“Not really. She knows where I live but my perimeter wards are strong. If she’s looking for trouble she’ll try to find me away from the agency.”
“Why did she previously attempt to kill you?” Aine wondered.
“It was a miscommunication. Briana thought I was trying to take her man from her. I was with someone else. I could understand why she’d feel insecure—there’s no comparison between us but really—older vampires aren’t my thing. I could hardly believe she was willing to fight over him.”
Aine nodded but didn’t say anything.
“What? Didn’t women fight over men in your time?”
“Frequently. And men fought over them. Many things remain the same throughout the ages.”
They went inside the purple door, and the office was strangely quiet. Usually the instant the door opened, Jane was there with information or just to welcome them back. There was no sign of her.
Sunshine called for her. Aine watched the floor in case the girl was a mouse. She was about to suggest they ask Mr. Bad when Jane came running out of the kitchen area.
“I’m so sorry.” The words were muffled as Jane tried to speak over the enormous amount of cereal she’d shoved in her mouth. “I was really nervous, and that made me really hungry.”
“We talked about hoarding,” Sunshine reminded her. “You don’t have to store reserve food in your cheeks. You won’t ever go hungry here.”
“I know. But it was one of the first things my mother taught me.” Cereal sprayed from her mouth as she continued speaking. A large tear rolled down her cheek.
“It’s all right.” Sunshine hugged her. “You can’t help what you are. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get more cereal.”
“Thank you. Is it all right if I go off duty now?”
“Sure. I’m not expecting anyone else tonight. Just relax. Let your tail out.”
“Oh! One thing. Marcus Fletcher called and said he’d meet you at the club. He didn’t say the name of the club or why he wanted to meet you. Werewolves are so quick to anger.”
“Great. Thanks, Jane.” Sunshine glanced at Aine. “Sounds like our next meetup.”
But Aine felt pulled to be with O’Neill. “I must leave you, but I shall find you after I see to his needs.”
“He’s not dying, is he? You said there would be two more warnings.”
Aine transformed into the hag wearing her burial shroud. “I pray this is not one of them.”
“I can go with you,” Sunshine offered. But Aine was already gone. “Okay then. I guess I’ll change clothes and see what Marcus has to say.”
“Do you need my help?” Jane asked.
“No, sweetie. You just take it easy. I’ll be back soon.”
* * *
Aine let the night breezes carry her across the crowded city. There were thousands of lights illuminating the darkness around her. A million voices were raise
d in conversation, calls for help, or whispered soft words of love. She heard them all as she passed with only one goal in mind—finding O’Neill.
As she felt his presence close at hand, she heard a series of loud pops. She realized it was the sound of weapon fire.
O’Neill was on the ground in a side street where the lights had been shot out. Malto was at his side with a dozen other police officers in uniform. They were firing at a group of men that were hiding behind a burned out car. The men had O’Neill and the officers pinned down with loud gunfire.
“Why are you not heeding my warning, O’Neill?” Aine appeared only to him.
He cringed away when he first saw her and then managed to relax and focus on the men who were firing at him again. “Why are you here? Am I going to die?”
“How the hell should I know?” Malto shouted back at him. “Get yourself a psychic or something. Right now let’s figure out how to get those guys to stop shooting at us.”
“Sorry,” he said to his partner. “Go away,” he told Aine. “I don’t need your help to do my job.”
“You continue to put your life in jeopardy.” Aine looked at the people around him. One of the officers had already been hit and was bleeding from the arm.
“That’s my job,” he explained. “We stop the bad guys. Not all of them are harpies.”
“But these ‘bad guys’ are simple to remove,” she observed.
“Yeah? Well, why don’t you remove them?”
“With great pleasure.”
Aine rose quickly through the night that sheltered the criminals who waited behind the car. She allowed all of them to see her as she sounded a warning to them that she was there to protect O’Neill. The men, who’d recently robbed a jewelry store and shot two security guards, took one look at her, covered their ears, and ran directly into the line of fire between them and the police.
They were shrieking about the flying corpse they’d seen as the police put handcuffs on them. The men were quickly loaded into vehicles as the ambulance arrived for the officer who’d been shot.
Returning to O’Neill’s side, Aine resumed her form as the middle-aged woman. He told Malto he had to take a phone call and let her handle the arrests while he signaled to Aine that she should follow him a short walk away.
“That’s not what I meant,” he whispered with a quick glance at his partner.
Aine was confused. “You said to remove them if I was able.”
“I was being sarcastic.” He shook his head. “Don’t they have sarcasm where you come from?”
“Your life was in danger. It is my job to protect you or guide your way to the underworld.”
“You can’t save me every time someone shoots at me. I know why you’re here, and I appreciate that you’re doing your duty. But if it’s all the same to you, it would be better if you found someone else to do it with.”
“You are refusing my help?”
“Yes. I am refusing your help if that means I can live a normal life again. There must be someone else you can take care of, Aine. I release you from your debt to my family.”
“If only it were that simple.” She smiled sadly. “There is nowhere else for me to go but the grave, O’Neill. I am here for you whether you require it or not. There were others who wanted to do without me. My penance is clear and cannot be avoided.”
“Gun!” Malto yelled out as one of the thieves they were processing grabbed a gun from the officer trying to put him in a car.
The man looked around desperately before plunging through the line of officers and heading in O’Neill’s direction.
“Look out!” O’Neill yell at Aine as the escaped criminal came up behind her. He pushed her to one side and confronted the other man.
“No. I’m not going back in.” He jerked the gun up to fire at O’Neill.
Aine immediately moved between them. The gunman shot her twice before O’Neill knocked him on the ground.
“Are you okay?” Malto asked O’Neill. When he nodded, she turned on him angrily. “What’s so important that you have to deal with it during a bust?”
“I can’t explain. Will you just take him?” O’Neill handed the man off to her and two officers. “I’ll be right there.” He turned back to Aine who’d shown no sign of being hit by the bullets. “Are you okay?”
“I am already of the grave. You do not need to worry about me.” She handed him the bullets.
He stared into her face. “I’m sorry you have to do this. I wish there was another way. But thanks for your help.”
She regally nodded to him. “I am here for you until the end.”
“Yeah. I get it.” He went to help his partner and glanced back, but Aine was gone.
He couldn’t see her. She had camouflaged herself easily hiding in the shadows as the arrest proceeded and was finally over. She followed him as he went off duty and ended the night at Elena’s gallery exhibit and finally in her bed.
Aine left him at that point, refusing to consider that she didn’t want to see their lovemaking. She’d watched many of the O’Neills with their wives and mistresses. She had never felt sorrow or jealousy.
That wasn’t the case with this O’Neill. Perhaps it was because he was the last. It could even be because she had been asleep for so long. She hoped that would change as their relationship continued. It was not her place to have those emotions for him. She wasn’t meant to have feelings at all, not anymore.
Finding Sunshine was simple enough as she sought the witch through the streets of the city. She heard her laugh and smelled her perfume long before she saw her sitting at a table in a crowded room. She wasn’t alone at the table—a wolf sat with her. Loud music and flashing lights surrounded them.
Aine would have left them there but for Sunshine’s demeanor. She might not acknowledge it, but the witch was afraid. As she spoke to the wolf in muted tones, Aine sat in an empty chair at their table.
“Hey!” The wolf glanced up, surprised and wary. “Who are you?”
“This is my new partner. Aine, Marcus. And so forth.” Sunshine frowned. “I’m glad you finally got here. Marcus has an idea where we can find the harpy.”
Chapter Seventeen
Aine glanced around the crowded nightclub. “I can imagine this would be a perfect hiding place. No one would think to look for her here.”
“No, not here. This is where John and I used to hang out. But I think I know where she is.” He explained that he’d seen something odd the night John had died. “It wasn’t just what I saw. It was a weird feeling. I smelled something strange too. I’ve never smelled anything like it.”
“What did it smell like?” Sunshine asked.
“Death. That’s all I can say. I knew someone was gonna die.” He went back through the night John was killed. “We parted on the corner. He said he was going to see you, Sunshine. I was headed to a shifter club across town that stays open all night. As I walked away, I heard the sound, and my whole body shivered. It was like wings in the darkness. I couldn’t see them, but I felt them.”
“Yet you did not see Sunshine’s lover killed by the harpy?” Aine asked.
“Just call him John,” Sunshine muttered.
“No. I heard about it the next day.” Marcus rubbed his hands nervously on his dirty jeans. “I gotta tell you—I’ve been staying out of the way. John was stronger than me. I know what happened to him. I’ve been scared it would happen to me.”
“Can you think of any reason someone would want to hurt you or John?” Sunshine asked.
“Only the obvious,” he said. “Not everyone likes having werewolves around. They don’t like shifters either. But why kill excellent tattoo artists? Was it just because they worked with us? I don’t know.”
“I don’t think the harpy is here to purge Norfolk of shifters and werewolves,” Sunshine said. “There has to be another reason.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t know what it is. I’m thinking about getting out of town until it’s safe again. I heard
about Amos Johnson too.”
“What similarities did these men possess?” Aine asked. “Was there anything between them that could link them to the harpy or the person who controls her?”
“I don’t know.” Marcus appeared to be getting more nervous by the moment as he kept surveying the crowd of dancers in the club. “I hope you’ll let me know if you hear anything.”
“Sure,” Sunshine agreed. “Maybe you should get out of town. If John wouldn’t have been here, he might still be alive.”
“Not a bad idea.” He got slowly to his feet, checking the area around him. “I’ll catch you later. Watch out for that harpy thing. It’s bad.”
After he’d gone, Sunshine finished her drink as though she had nothing else to do.
“I have never encountered such a timid werewolf,” Aine said.
“If they want to live in society, they can’t be as wild as they used to be.”
“A werewolf could at least give a harpy a good fight—not that werewolf, but a fierce one. I have seen one almost conquer.”
“I imagine John gave her a good fight.” Sunshine’s curls were nearly flat against her head, and her eyes held unshed tears. “But he’s dead the same as Amos and the men from the tattoo shop.”
“A good fight only means a fast death sometimes,” Aine said. “I’m sure your werewolf did what he could. Very few creatures can match a harpy for speed and ferocity.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Sunshine got to her feet. “The music sucks.”
Aine followed her without discussion. It was obvious that the witch was in pain. She knew there was no solace for that anguish. Only time could heal that wound.
They circled their way past the dancers and the band to reach the door. Neither one spoke as they reached the cool night air. A murder of crows flew up from the rooftops and screeched across the rising moon.
“Look there!” Aine pointed to a form flying above them.
Sunshine looked up and muttered a spell for sight. The darkness cleared for her. She was able to see a creature the size of a human with a woman’s face and short wings. The top of the body was female with bare breasts, but the bottom was large bird legs that ended in sharp talons. Her hands were clawed as well.
