Midnight Poison (Paranormal Poisons Saga Book 1)

by A and E Kirk

  “I can’t believe you snuck out again,” Frankie growled, blood from a cut lip spattering Kiara’s forearm. “Help me find the phone so I can call someone to remove these corpses before they smell.”

  Kiara set the vampire down and tried to smooth Frankie’s frazzled hair, most of which had come out of the bun. “What happened? Why aren’t you healing?”

  Jaeger slid into the room, panting. “Where’s Giselle?!”

  Frankie swallowed. “The multi-shifter took her.”

  “No.” Jaeger shook his head, tawny eyes blinking shock, his tan face now as pale as any vampire. “She can’t be gone.”

  “We’ll get her back, I promise.” Frankie reached for Jaeger, but he stumbled back and steadied himself on the nearest table, knuckles white. “We’ve been searching the grounds, and the queen will do everything to find her.”

  “For all the good it will do. This is Fauxleander. The deathbringer.” Jaw clenched, muscles working overtime, Jaeger put a hand over his mouth when it trembled. “She’s probably already dead.”

  The last word cracked with emotion that seemed ready to shatter Jaeger into a million pieces. His Adam’s apple bobbed like a buoy in a raging sea.

  “She’s not dead,” Kiara assured him. “Maybe a little scared, but she’s scrappy. She’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t know that.” Jaeger turned haggard eyes on Kiara. “He’s a damn psycho!”

  “Yes, she does know that.” Leontes filled the doorway, his expression grave but hopeful as he looked at Kiara. “Death curse?”

  “Of course.” Kiara shrugged, pleased with herself.

  Frankie collapsed onto one of her many footstools. “Oh, thank God.”

  Jaeger’s worried gaze bounced from over the trio. “She’s been cursed?”

  Leontes nodded at Kiara. “Tell him.”

  Kiara folded her arms. “The Blackwood death curse. My death curse. If anyone tries to harm or kill her, they will suffer or die by the very means they inflict upon her, while Giselle remains unharmed.”

  Jaeger wiped a shaky hand down his face. “A death curse is good?”

  “For Giselle it is.” Kiara smile turned so cold it dropped the room’s temperature. “For anyone who tries to hurt her, not so much. I added a charm so any creature in her presence is compelled to protect and care for her.”

  “That is new,” Leontes said, impressed. “How long?”

  Kiara lost a shade of her enthusiasm. “Only about two days. She was too little. If I’d tried anything longer, the amount of magic necessary might’ve injured her. But if I get close, I can sense my spell.”

  “When did you do this death curse?” Jaeger asked.

  “Before we left for the club. You were right there.”

  Jaeger tittered a laugh and gave Leontes a shaky look. “Hear that? I was right there when she cursed my niece.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And it really works? I thought you couldn’t do magic anymore.”

  Leontes clapped Jaeger on the back. “Let us focus on finding Giselle.”

  Jaeger nodded, chest heaving. His hands raked through his hair, then cradled the back of his head as he slid to sit on the floor. Right next to one of the dead vampires. He scooched a few inches away from her ravaged body.

  Frankie narrowed a look at each of them. “What kind of club did you go to?”

  Leontes glanced down at this shirtless torso and grumbled an unintelligible response as he snatched one of Frankie’s lab coats. When he shoved an arm through the mini sleeve, the fabric ripped apart. He flung the coat aside, and asked in a frustrated tone, “How did the assassin get in?”

  “Could have walked through the front doors for all I know. He smelled all wrong, but looked exactly like Kiara.” Frankie touched the wound at her neck. “I fought back, but after Fauxleander cut me, I didn’t have the strength. He could’ve killed me.”

  Leontes knelt and gently caught Frankie’s chin to better study her wounds.

  “Relax.” Frankie swatted him away. “A few cuts, bruises, a broken arm. I’m just healing slowly, almost as bad as a mortal for some reason. He must have drugged me. I’ll be fine.” When Leontes continued to stare, she said, “What?”

  He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I feel that I have seen this before.”

  As he and Frankie discussed the possibilities, a prickling heat washed over Kiara’s skull, stinging slightly. Each blink blurred her surroundings until…

  CHAPTER 51

  The room was cast in flickering shadows from dozens of candles, some freshly lit, some with the flame desperately hanging on to a shred of wick. Worn, roughhewn tables of stained wood cluttered the space. Piles of yellowing parchment and notebooks were filled to the edges with written notes and elaborate drawings. Flasks bubbled atop several more candles. Acrid smells permeated the air.

  Kiara paced the large room. Her fingers twisted around the long braid that hung over her shoulder, a pink ribbon woven within and tied at the end. Her white blouse billowed from underneath a tight leather corset cut low across her breasts. Leather breeches hugged her legs and disappeared into high boots, silver buckles clattering with each step. An array of knives, some still bloody, was sheathed all over her body.

  “...too many,” she was saying. “And they healed faster than I could maim. I cannot fail. You promised results.”

  A man, his face in shadows, held up a flask. “This should bend the odds in your favor.”

  Kiara took it gingerly. The liquid twinkled in the flickering light. “How?”

  His voice rasped, tired from long nights and no rest. “Upon exposure to the blood, supernaturals revert to a weaker state of healing. Not entirely mortal, but close. It only lasts a short while, but long enough for—”

  “Me to kill them. Excellent.” She smiled with satisfaction.

  “Or show mercy. Or even run away.”

  “Oh, yes. That sounds like me.” Kiara laughed without humor. “Has it a name?”

  “I am calling it—”

  The sound of Kiara’s own voice faded her vision.

  “Kiara?” Leontes waved a hand in front of her face. “What did you say?”

  “It’s called Retro.” Kiara sounded far away as she blinked to focus.

  “That is it.” Leontes’ eyes flashed a clear lagoon blue. A smile broke out and he bracketed her face in his hands. “You remembered. And you are all right?”

  Her head felt full of sludge as she reached for the memory. She could almost taste the bitter anger and frustration in her old self. A coldness. As if her bones were made of ice. “I always soaked my weapons in it.”

  “Yes! It was an elixir you loved because it gave you an upper hand in battle. But…” His euphoria faded. He released her and swore under his breath, eyes closing as a frightening truth dawned. “It means that the assassin has your old formula.”

  Kiara’s heart dropped. “And he’s using my own weapon against me.”

  “Good God.” Frankie caught her broken glasses as they fell off her nose. “How does he know so much of you? First the dagger, now this? No one has had that formula for centuries. It’s a da Vinci exclusive. I’ve tried to recreate it, but have never come close. If Fauxleander has sold it on the black market, it will be a disaster.”

  “We would have heard something by now.” Leontes tapped a fist to his forehead, as if trying to shake loose some dazzling deduction. “No, somehow this is about Kiara. Not money, not power. Whatever he wants, we must catch him before he gets it.”

  “Or hurts Giselle,” Kiara added.

  "We know Nicolette hired him.” Jaeger jerked to his feet. “Let’s go visit the witch. She’ll know where Giselle is.”

  “Whoa, slow down, puppy.” Frankie folded her arms. “Ambassador Nicolette is part of Mai’s coven. On an island. Hidden by a cloaking spell. You couldn’t find it even if you wanted to violate their laws and arrive unannounced. It’s worse than the Bermuda Triangle. You’ll need Rusila or Alpha to get you an official invite.”


  “In the current political climate, that could take days. Even weeks,” Leontes said.

  “I can find it.” At their incredulous looks, Kiara cracked a grin. “Oh, come on. You think I don’t know that when we play hide-and-seek you put cloaking spells on the things you hide? I’m willing to bet that seeing past the cloaking spells was something my witch-self used to do and that ‘game’,” she used finger quotes, “is your way of checking what kind of powers I still have.”

  Leontes folded his arms and rocked back on his heels, looking down at her. “Perhaps. But Rusila will never allow you to go.”

  The vampire corpse beside Jaeger gasped a deep, ragged breath. Jaeger flinched away with a yelp. Frankie and Kiara jumped. Leontes raised his eyebrows.

  “Vampires don’t sleep! She was dead!” Jaeger scrambled to his feet and away from the body. “Not undead dead, real dead! Right?!"

  The woman groaned, fingers twitching.

  Frankie and Leontes both gasped. “Sandman!”

  “Oleander’s knock-out potion?” Jaeger backed up behind the group, warily eyeing the suddenly animated corpse.

  “You’ve heard if it?” Frankie said.

  “The one thing on earth that can knock out our never-sleeping, immortal enemies for longer than one minute? Oh yeah. Shifters know about it. We just thought it was as real as the Easter Bunny.”

  “He’s got two of my potions?” Kiara said.

  “Oh, God!” Frankie frantically kicked through debris. “I need a phone! We thought everyone was dead dead. We started burning the bodies in the caves!” She fled from the room.

  Kiara scurried over to push aside lace curtains and open the window.

  “And where are you going?” Leontes said.

  “Witch’s isle!” She somersaulted out the window.

  “Rusila will never let you go!”

  CHAPTER 52

  “For the last time,” Rusila said, “I refuse to risk forfeiting you from these grounds yet again, Kiara.”

  They had found Rusila and Bane in the Institute’s main control center, which housed a myriad of state-of-the-art computers. Dozens of highly trained technicians worked the equipment with single-minded intensity.

  Rusila gestured around the room. “We have our vast resources tracking Giselle. What you can do is tell me where you have hidden Elliot.”

  “I don’t know why you think I took your driver.” Kiara huffed. “Jeez, you snatch a vampire and lock him up for a few days one time—”

  “Fifty-three times,” Rusila said.

  “That you know of.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Fifty-three times and everyone blames you when a guy goes missing,” Kiara said. “And if you can’t find your own driver, Giselle doesn’t have a chance.”

  Rusila narrowed her eyes, then shook her head with a heavy sigh. “What makes you think you could do any better? Leontes, certainly you cannot be on board with this.”

  Leontes clasped his hands behind his back. “A child’s life is at stake. Kiara has a plan which I think could—”

  “Kiara?!” Spittle nearly flew from Rusila’s bright red lips. “It is her plans that have gotten us into this mess!”

  Bane let out a deep-throated chuckle. “Rittenhause, I’m not sure who’s crazier, you or our teeny, tiny loon. My queen, surely you now see that I should take over her care.”

  In a low commanding voice, Jaeger said, “Both of you shut the hell up.”

  Bane’s laughter died immediately. With a flash of anger, he started toward Jaeger.

  Rusila stopped him with a flick of her wrist, and turned a lethal glare on the werewolf prince. “What did you say to me?”

  “We don’t have time for your bull.” Jaeger’s golden eyes glittered with rage. “So, you’re going to give us exactly what we want or else I’m going to tell my father you put his granddaughter in danger when you neglected to mention Oleander had already bypassed your security. He will not be pleased. Neither will the witches, or even the fey.”

  Rusila’s eyes narrowed to black slits. “Are you threatening me?”

  “It’s called an incentive program.” Kiara grinned and raised her hand. “It was my idea.”

  Leontes made a small, pained noise and closed his eyes.

  “It is called blackmail,” Rusila said, keeping beady eyes on Jaeger. “And I do not take kindly to it.”

  “And I don’t take kindly to my niece at the mercy of some psychopath, thanks to you.”

  Rusila and Jaeger stared each other down. Other than the hum of machinery, the room was eerily quiet. The computer technicians had stopped working. It seemed everyone was holding their breath.

  “Time’s up.” Jaeger took out his phone and dialed, setting it to speaker. “You’re worried about losing your link to the Midnight Poison, but you should be worried starting a war.”

  Alpha picked up before the first ring ended, his voice breathless and worried. “Did you find her? Is Giselle all right?”

  “We haven’t found her yet, Father. But we’ve got a plan, right Rusila?”

  The corner of the queen’s mouth twitched. “Yes, Alpha. I cannot give you all the details just yet, but rest assured Jaeger will be dealing with it and keeping you informed.”

  “Fine,” Alpha said. “I’ll keep working things from my end. Good luck, Son.”

  After the call ended, Kiara smiled. “So, glad that’s settled. We’d better get going.”

  “Not so fast,” Rusila said, pausing Kiara in her tracks. The queen folded her arms. One hand drummed red polished nails on her elbow. “I will allow this on the condition that you attend more frequent sessions with Dr. Lyons, actively pursuing knowledge of the Midnight Poison.”

  Jaeger glared at the queen. “That wasn’t part of the deal. Kiara, you don’t have to—”

  “Done.” Kiara turned and opened the door.

  “And,” the queen said.

  The door jerked out of Kiara’s grip and slammed shut. Kiara twirled to find a fast-fading spell dancing around Rusila’s crooked finger.

  “You will share any acquired knowledge of the potion with me alone,” she said.

  Kiara gave a deep bow. “As you wish. And, oh, I almost forgot. We need your helicopter.”

  Rusila eyed the three of them, then sighed. “Very well. And since I am allowing this only to avoid a war, try not to start one.”

  Leontes inclined his head. “Of course, my queen.”

  “Yay!” Kiara twirled in excitement. “You won’t regret this, Queeny.”

  Rusila rubbed her temples. “I already do.”

  CHAPTER 53

  The helicopter descended through a bank of clouds.

  “You’re sure this is it?” Jaeger asked into the headset.

  Shortly after blackmailing the queen, Kiara, Leontes, and Jaeger had jogged onto the Institute’s helipad where the helicopter’s propellers were already spinning. At their approach, the pilot had exited and Leontes had taken his place, putting on a headset and immediately flipping switches.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Jaeger had asked Leontes. “You can fly this thing?” When Leontes had lifted a shoulder in a ‘doesn’t everyone?’ shrug, Jaeger had rolled his eyes. “Of course you can.” He’d climbed into a backseat and put on his own headset. “Aren’t you taking the whole ‘Renaissance man’ thing a little too seriously?”

  “Frankie and I both pilot. Da Vinci would haunt us from the grave if we didn’t know how to fly one of his most treasured inventions. Besides, I have eternity. Why waste it?”

  “Yeah, well, I was planning on taking lessons.”

  “I am sure you were, puppy.”

  Jaeger had not appreciated the smile in Leontes’ voice.

  After hours of Kiara giving directions, they currently hovered over the water with miles of ocean spanning out in all directions. Despite Kiara’s insistence, there was no island below to land on.

  Kiara gave Jaeger a tired look. “I told you, that’s why they call it a
cloaking spell. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”

  Her memory of magic was limited. Some “unfortunate incidents” during her “crazy” time kept Leontes and Frankie from having her practice any spells or incantations, but the feel of such strong enchantments awakened an energy that reverberated through her veins as they got closer, making her downright giddy.

  The gauzy haze of clouds suddenly broke. Instead of an island below, there was just more ocean, dark blue except for the whitecaps on the choppy surface.

  Jaeger squirmed in his seat, his forehead shiny with sweat as they lowered. “I don’t see anything. And this chopper doesn’t float.”

  “Worst case,” Leontes said, clicking switches with unruffled calm. “The helicopter crashes, and we fly out of here ourselves.”

  After a beat, Jaeger said, “I can’t fly.”

  “Oh, right,” Leontes said with mock dismay. “I keep forgetting. Can you swim? Or does the wet fur weigh you down too much?”

  “Funny,” Jaeger deadpanned.

  Inside the cockpit, lights flashed on the control panel. Alarms screeched. Orange comets of light shot up from below.

  “What’s that?” Jaeger shouted.

  “They are trying to shoot us down with magic.” Leontes frantically fought for control as the comets whooshed close by, then surrounded them and sizzled brighter. The helicopter rocked violently. “Hold on!”

  One after another, the orbs exploded. Concussions of shockwaves slammed against the chopper. As it spun out of control and plummeted toward the open ocean, Kiara ripped off her headset, grabbed Jaeger, and leapt out.

  CHAPTER 54

  “For the last time, please sit down,” Leontes yelled above the roar of the jeep.

  He kept glancing worried looks over his shoulder while navigating the winding road. Thick tropical jungle on one side, pristine sandy beach giving way to sparkling blue water on the other.