“Why are you going back there, I thought you had nixed the idea of me jumping inside your head?” She couldn’t mask the panic in her voice.
“No, baby, that’s not why I need you.” I pounded my fist against the steering wheel and sighed. “I’m missing something, it’s right in front of my face. I think someone is messing with my head on purpose, or maybe some type of spell.”
Irulan smiled; she knew exactly where I was heading. “You want me to see if I can get any traces of magic.”
“Yup, and if you can, I’m hoping you can tell me what flavor it is.”
“Not a problem, this is right up my alley.”
I spent the remainder of the ten minute ride filling her in on what happened in Tamerlane’s office and how Constantine reacted. “He’s hurting, Valeria, mourning Fee’s loss just as much as William is. Are you surprised he's not acting like himself?”
“I don't begrudge him for hurting,” I replied as I got out of the car. “What pisses me off is the lying. If he had suspicions there was an Extra behind this, he should have told me.”
Irulan nodded. I was right and she knew it. “So which one of these is the house?”
“It’s about three blocks over. No need to let the neighbors know we’re there by parking out front.” Irulan looked down at the heels she was wearing and scowled.
“Do you realize these are a nine hundred dollar pair of Manolo Blahnik’s? These shoes are not made for scaling fences and doing Recon.” She must have been in a client meeting before I called her. She likes to dress to impress.
“So leave them in the car; you're Fae, all into nature and shit. Walking barefoot shouldn’t bother you.” I laughed and ducked the energy bolt that came flying toward me. It hit a nearby stop sign and bent the metal in half.
I flashed behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I’m kidding, baby.” She half-heartedly tried to pull away from me.
“I don't play when it comes to my shoes,” she pouted.
“How about you fly us over,” I suggested and pulled my body closer. I could fly myself, but this way is quieter. Flapping twelve foot wings can get kind of noisy.
“That’s the only way we're going to get there, because there was no way I was going to walk in these shoes.” The air around us stirred as Irulan powered up. Her powers were Earth based...whatever the hell that means. So far, I haven't seen anything she wasn’t capable of, because she puts it, ‘the earth is a vast space with infinite possibilities’.
The air beneath our feet became solid as Irulan manipulated the molecules into doing her bidding. “Hold on tight, baby.” As if I wasn’t already. I looked down as the ground got farther and farther away from us.
“You know a fall at this distance probably wouldn’t hurt me.” I mused.
“I’m not ready to test that theory, just hold on.” Irulan pushed us forward on the solidified air until we were over the house I was pointing at.
“That’s it baby, bring us down a little more and I’m going to jump. When I get the door open, you just glamour yourself into looking like a security guard or something.”
As soon as we were low enough for Irulan’s taste, I tilted my body forward and slipped off the column of air. I dropped the short fifty feet to the ground and landed near the shrubs next to the door, with barely a thump.
I pushed my body into a flash, moving so fast that there wasn’t any way a human could pick up on my actions. The damn door had been repaired. Popping the lock slowed me down a few seconds, but I don't think anyone saw me. Irulan landed and waltzed through the door as if she owned the place. All I saw was my gorgeous wife in a grey and pink, pin-striped business suit, and her precious pumps, but I’m sure if someone happened to catch a glimpse of her that isn’t what they saw.
Once she was safely inside, I closed the door and focused on our surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the smell of bleach and fresh paint. Someone had finally cleaned the place up. But who?
I went directly to the bedroom and paused outside the door. “This is it. Let me look before you go in.” I know she had years on me, but I still felt the need to shield Irulan from some of the harsher aspects of life. I didn’t want her seeing walls that were possibly covered in blood.
I cracked the door and looked inside, the biting smell of paint knocked me in the face and I jerked my head backward. “It’s good,” I wheezed as I blew my nose trying to clear the offensive odor from my head.
Irulan pointed to the carpet near the door. “This is where your first picked up the scent?” I nodded yes and pointed toward a spot inside the room. “It stopped right about there, nowhere near the bed. Once I caught it; I followed it back through the house.”
Irulan flexed her fingers and her palms began to glow. “I need you out of this area; your energy might throw me off. Go see if you can find any traces of the scent left. When I’m done in here, I’ll search wherever you find anything.”
I left my wife to her work and made my way back through the house. I moved to the living room and took a deep breath. There was nothing there but the overwhelming scent of cleaning supplies and of course me and Irulan's scents. I moved to a built in bookshelf and ran my finger along one of the shelves, scanning the spines out of curiosity. Charles Dickens…Mark Twain…Poe…Constantine. What the fuck?
I turned and pulled a thin, navy-colored book from the shelf; ‘Tales of Star Crossed Lovers’ circa nineteen twenty three. I held the book to my face, and my brother's scent filled my nose. I opened the book and scanned the index. Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere, Venus and Adonis…Geez, someone was a glutton for punishment.
You've been in this house, Constantine, recently, but how many more times? I held the book upside down and shook. Nothing fell out, but as I was turning it over in my hand I noticed the back page was blank but full of indentions.
I sniffed and smelled lead. I ripped the page from the book, carefully folded it, and put it in my back pocket. I know who had the house cleaned; it was my brother, it had to be. I moved toward a window and inhaled.
There was another scent, completely different from the first scent I’d caught here, but hauntingly familiar somehow. Another scent that I’d smelled earlier today as I pulled out of our garage bay. There were two of them. Whatever they were, there were two.
I flashed through the house back to Irulan. When I found her, she was glued to the spot where I left her. Her hands were still glowing with power, outstretched over the carpet.
I moved to stand in front of her and looked into her face. “Ire, what’s wrong?” Her face was frozen in fear. My baby was scared of whatever she'd found. Nothing scared her. She didn’t get scared; she got pissed. Double fuck.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a firm shook. “Irulan baby, what is it?!”
She looked up at me, her green eyes storming with emotion. “I don't know, Val,” her voice sounded distant and hollow, nothing like herself at all.
“What do you mean, you don't know? Whatever you found has scared the shit out of you. What is it?”
She shook her head and laughed nervously. “I don't know Valeria, but whatever it is, it’s Fae and it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
I grabbed her by the shoulder and hooked my arm under her knees in one movement. I flashed through the house and out the door before she could say a word. I pushed myself as hard as I could and traveled the three blocks in a manner of seconds.
I slipped Irulan into the car and jumped in my side, gunning the engine and jerking the car onto the road. “Where’s David?”
Irulan didn’t answer me; she just sat there staring at the road as we flew by red lights and stop signs. “Irulan! Where’s David?”
She turned her head and looked at me like she didn’t even recognize my face. “He’s home, why?” I reached over and pulled her phone from her breast pocket. I flipped it open and hit David’s quick dial number. He answered on the first ring.
“Yeah, talk to me.”
I didn’t have the time to reprimand him on his phone etiquette, especially when he got it from me.
“David, where are you?”
“I’m home, Ma, with Dante. What’s up?”
I took a turn on two wheels, heading for the freeway and Trumaine Complex. “I want you to get the keys to Irulan’s car and leave the house now, do you hear me?”
A groan drifted through the line. “Ma, come on, I’m right in the middle of something.”
I hit the freeway and punched the accelerator, sending the speedometer past ninety. “I could give a shit right now. Whatever you're doing can wait. No, you know what, bring it with you. Get in the car and go. I want you to meet me at Trumaine Complex; you have my permission to drive as fast as you want.”
David whooped, and I heard the jingle of keys in the background. “I’ll be at the Complex in ten minutes.”
“David, Dante is part Roma, right. He said he has his mother’s magic?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Put Dante on the phone.” David’s muffled yell was accompanied by the slamming of car doors and the purr of an engine. They had already left the house. That was one good thing.
“Yes, Ms. Trumaine, David said you wanted to talk with me.”
“Dante are you capable of casting a protection spell?”
“Yes, Ms. Trumaine, I am able.”
“Good. Cast a spell around the entire car and don’t break it until you get to Trumaine Complex, and see me. Am I clear?”
“Yes, crystal.”
By the time I hung up the phone, Irulan was herself and clutching her seatbelt as if her life depended on it. “Would you mind slowing down and tell me what the hell is wrong with you?”
“No, I won't slow down, and yeah, I'll tell you. Something spooked the hell out of you back at the Baker house. You went all zombie on me.” I jerked the car onto the turnoff that led to the main entrance to the main tower and tore down the driveway.
Irulan shook her head and frowned. “I don't remember any of that.”
“I didn’t think, you would,” I flipped a switch on the dashboard and my headlights began to glow red. The guards at the gatehouse would know I was coming in hot. Whoever was on monitor duty would also let Tamerlane know. He'd be in the parking deck by the time I pulled in.
“You didn’t even sound like yourself, Ire, I never want to hear your voice with that much fear in it again.” I tore past the gatehouse and into the parking deck. Only then did I start to slow down. I got within fifteen feet of a wall, jerked the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes, sending the car into a tailspin.
When the car stopped, Irulan fell out of the car kissing the pavement. “I don't have time for you to play, Irulan,” I hissed.
“Who’s playing?” OKAY maybe my driving left a lot to be desired, but I was justified. Tamerlane came running up to me; his fingers shifted into talons and his face fully feral.
“What’s going on Val; I saw your headlights.”
I pointed to Irulan. “Get my wife inside where it’s safe, I’m waiting for David.”
He helped Irulan up and handed her off to one of the guards that were behind him. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on, and don't think I’m going to let you get away with lying to me this time.”
I saw headlights heading toward us and rushed forward to meet David and Dante. “I’m done keeping things from you, Tam. I promise, just let me get my son and his friend.”
I felt the shimmer of magic as David pulled Irulan's car into the deck. Dante squinted through the windshield and let it drop the second he saw me. I didn’t wait for David to get out and come to me. Instead, I strode forward and pulled the car door clean off its hinges. “What the hell, Ma?!”
I pulled my son from the car and into my arms. “I’m just glad you're here that’s all.” He pulled out of my hug and rolled his eyes as he looked back at Dante.
“Told you she was overprotective,” David chuckled and leaned toward me. He took a deep breath and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Oh geez, Ma, it’s you.”
“What’s me?”
“The smell, you reek. I caught your scent in the alley next to the house today. It totally slipped my mind until just now. The smell is all through the house.”
It wasn’t me; whatever, whoever it was, the fucker has been in my house, near my son. My vision changed and I knew my eyes had gone black. I called Tamerlane just as I heard the click of a car door opening. I turned back to the car expecting Dante, but that’s not who it was. Dante was already out of the car and standing near the hood. The door-clicker was none other than Rowan Meriwether. Fuck me silly, this was the last thing I needed.
“David, care to explain.”
He dropped his head to the ground and sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. “Well, you told me to bring whatever I was doing with me. Rowan and I were talking. She took the gate at Thorston’s to come and see me.”
Everything in me was screaming to send her packing, but she'd been in my home, and if that thing had her scent she was a target now, also. I pushed David into his uncle’s arms.
“We need to get them inside, Tamerlane. I’ll explain everything, but I’m only going to do it once. Get Ballistic and Gridlock to bring Constantine here, now, like ten minutes ago now. I don't care if they have to drag him kicking and screaming. Lock him in a pine box covered in stakes if they have to, just get him here.”
My brother didn’t question me. He just pulled out his phone and sent the text. “Anything else?” He asked as we boarded the elevator.
“Yeah, send a set of guards for Valerian, at this point he's in as much danger as Constantine, hell we all could be, and get Daddy to a conference room. He needs to hear this.”
Tam cursed as he sent out the set of texts that would get Valerian an envoy and Daddy to the conference room. It was time to let the cat out of the bag.
Chapter 11
Constantine was on his way to Charleston when Ballistic got Tamerlane’s text. Apparently he was going to try to sweet talk more blood samples out of Sophie Blackmon. We had to wait two hours for them to get back with him.
I spent those two hours explaining my theories and fears to Valerian. I made him see the full scope of the mess Constantine had gotten us into and why I couldn’t keep his secret anymore. He agreed with me. If we were dealing with the Fae, it was too dangerous to keep everyone in the dark.
My cell buzzed, and I flicked my finger across the screen. It was a text letting me know that Constantine was in the building. Showtime. “Come on, twin, let’s get this over with.”
We walked into the large conference room. Everyone was there. David, Dante, and Rowan were gathered in a far corner talking among themselves. Tamerlane and Thade were poring over the files that contained the info on the Atlanta break in and the Russian fire.
Irulan was curled up in a chair with her eyes closed. She looked like she was sleeping soundly, but I knew better. She was concentrating. Her attention was focused on me and the conversation I was had in my office with Vedo.
When I walked in, Tamerlane jumped up. “About damn time, Valeria. We've been waiting for you for two hours. You've got some nerve flying in here like all hell was about to break loose, then keeping us waiting for so long.”
“I was waiting for Constantine, Tam, I told you that.”
“I could give a shit,” he retorted. “I’m sick of your bull, Val, you’ve known…” He didn’t get a chance to finish what he was saying. Our father walked into the room and took his seat at the head of the table.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk to your sister that way.” His voice was calm and cold as steel. He didn’t have to raise it to get what he wanted. The bite in his tone was enough.
Tamerlane hissed and jabbed his finger in my direction. “Valeria knows something father. She has for days, and she's been keeping quiet about it.”
Daddy cocked his eyebrow and laced his fingers together. “And? She had to have her reasons. Wha
tever they were, I trust her judgment. Sit down.”
If looks could kill. Tam shot daggers in my direction, but he sat down without another word. As Valerian and I took our seats, Ballistic and Gridlock came into the room, dragging Constantine behind them.
“Get your fucking hands off of me,” he yelled as he struggled with the two imposing bears.
“Gladly,” they muttered together as the shoved him down into a chair. Free of their less-than-grateful charge, they turned and went to stand by the wall behind him.
Constantine’s eyes were black as he leaned forward and slapped his hands on the table. “Fuck you, Tamerlane. This was uncalled for.”
Tamerlane jerked a thumb in my direction. “Thank woolybooger over there. This is her show tonight.”
That was Tamerlane’s way of taking a jab at me. He knows I hate that nickname. I ignored it and looked down at Irulan as she righted herself in her seat. She nodded at me, and with her reassurance that I was finally doing the right thing, I began.
I pulled the torn book page from my pocket and held it up for Constantine to see. His eyes began to tear up, and he covered his face, trying to hide behind his hands.
Daddy was taken aback at the sight. He hissed and looked at me. “Start explaining, Valeria.”
“The fire in Russia, the break in in Atlanta, Daddy they're all connected.”
He nodded his head in an ‘I already know that’ manner. “I was informed that’s why he has guards, no.”
“What you don't know is that Constantine asked Valerian to take on a murder client a few days ago.”
Daddy and Tamerlane’s heads jerked toward Valerian who clasped his eyes shut and shook his head yes, as if he was confirming what I just said.
Tamerlane growled. “The escort you requested. That was for an outside job.”
Valerian shook his head yes. “I figured since it was for a family member it didn’t classify as an outside job.”
Tam rolled his eyes, “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
Daddy looked at me and I started talking again. “It’s a human case, Daddy, or at least I thought it was, but after investigating, I’ve found out the murderer is an Extra.”
Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) Page 9
