“I just got him, but he's a jumper so I put him in my room. Can we make this quick so I can let him out before he gnaws my bedpost in half?” In an award winning performance, I’d almost convinced myself that I had a new pet.
“If his bark is any indication of his size, then you're going to need a bigger place,” Masarelli backed up just a little as the Cwn Annwfn howled.
“Yeah, well, I don't plan on letting him take over my life” That was actually directed at Arawn, whom I assumed was still waiting in my room with his pet.
“Dogs that size usually do. Maybe you should have gotten a min-pin.” He chuckled.
“A what? Never mind. You didn’t come here to talk about dogs. Mahalia tried to—” I stopped, glancing back at my bedroom when I heard scratching on the door. “Okay, I'm just going to sum up here before my dog completely destroys my room. Mahalia knew I would be banished with the demon. She tried to kill me. When she realized her plan didn't work, she tried to escape. I saw her working the spell, grabbed Aidan, and went after her. She worked the magic. We just went along for the ride.”
I didn’t have the time or the energy to try to tackle a conversation about the between and my growing ability to move through it. Mahalia was more than capable of teleportation. I knew he'd believe my tall tale.
“Where is she now?"
“With the Council.” I didn’t elaborate.
We both knew he already knew the answer to that question.
“What are they going to do with her? Why did she want to kill you in the first place? Believe me, I understand the feeling, but I thought that you were tight with the coven. Does this have anything thing to do with your love triangle?” He looked pointedly at Aidan.
Aidan was leaning against the wall at the entrance to the hallway with his arms casually folded across his chest.
Damn! He makes my apartment look good!
He raised a quizzical brow at the mention of a love triangle, but I could see the smile in his eyes. Masarelli’s mundane approach to figuring out Mahalia's motive was no doubt hilarious to him. I knew he was holding back a slew of witty comments that would only encourage Masarelli and his line of questioning.
“Did you come up here to question me about my love life, or to finally close your investigation? There is no love triangle. More like a power struggle that I managed to get caught up in.”
“It's always the same thing. Even with Others. Love, hate, and greed.” Thankfully, he seemed satisfied enough with my explanation.
“Yeah, I guess.” I said, relieved Masarelli seemed to be buying my story.
“I'm going to assume that you don't want to press charges or make an official statement about the events that occurred tonight.” There was a hint of a question in his voice.
“You assume correctly.”
“I thought as much,” This time he was the one who sounded relieved. “Just one more thing. How am I supposed to explain your disappearing act to my team?”
“Tell them that Mahalia used her magic to jump us into the demons realm so that we could bind him there.”.
“They were there when you came back. They know that you killed the demon. They'll notice the coven leader has gone missing.” He sounded disappointed that that was the best response I could come up with.
“Oh, yeah. I don't know, Masarelli. How come I've got to come up with something? Let's just glamour them. Then we don't have to worry about it,” I was only half joking.
“That’s not a bad idea, actually.” He sounded pretty excited about the idea.
“What?” I asked, unable to hide my disbelief.
Aidan's interest was piqued. He left his spot in the hallway and came to join us by the door. “I'll do it,” he volunteered.
“Are you serious? Because I know he is.” I gestured toward Aidan.
I knew it would make things infinitely easier—that's why I had mentioned it. I just didn’t expect anyone to go along with it. Especially Masarelli.
“You saw my team. They’re still cutting teeth. I'm smart enough to know that I don't want to be involved in a power struggle within the Council. They're still young enough to believe that they can change the world.” Masarelli scratched his five o-clock shadow. “I'll set up a meeting and tell them you're coming in to brief them on what happened during the banishing spell and its aftermath.”
“Just let me know when you want me to be there.” Aidan nodded, confirming his commitment to the plan.
“Tomorrow night around six-thirty. We should be able to catch all of them around shift change. I'd prefer that we only do this once.”
I couldn't believe Masarelli was going to let Aidan do it at all. Matthison would never have considered glamour an option. I saw the second thoughts creep across Masarelli’s face. Clearing his throat, he pulled his coat a little tighter around him in an effort to strengthen his resolve.
“Tomorrow night. Don't be late.” That was the last thing he said as he walked out of my apartment.
I shut the door and leaned against it. Aidan moved in, his body pressed against mine.
“You seem disappointed.” He laid a kiss behind my ear.
“Maybe a little. I just feel like we're crossing a line. Matthison would never go along with this.” I sighed.
“Need I remind you that this was your idea? And I wouldn’t be so sure about Matthison if I were you.” He didn’t elaborate.
“You don’t expect me to believe that. Matthison…no way. He wouldn't."
Aidan's mouth was on mine, ending my protests. His hands traced the outline of my body.
My hands slid across his chiseled chest and grazed his neck before finally cupping his face. I wrapped a leg around his.
His hand slid up and down my thigh.
I pushed gently on his face to break our mouths apart, and Aidan busied himself with my neck as I caught my breath. He grabbed my legs and slid me up the door.
I wrapped myself around him, preparing to be carried to my bedroom and dropped my head on his shoulder.
“What is it? What's wrong?” He went rigid, and not in a good way, stopping in the hall when sensed my reservation.
I raised my head to remind him of what was waiting in my room, but Arawn was already in the hallway. I couldn't help it; I jumped and screeched, “Holy shit!”
Aidan put me down and spun around, shielding me with his body. I could feel the tension leave him when he saw who it was. I stepped around to Aidan's side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I slid one around his waist.
“I forgot about him,” Aidan muttered.
“Do you intend to keep me waiting all night, daughter? I come bearing gifts, and this is how you receive me? I was left waiting in your room, rather than being introduced to your friend.” Arawn pretended to be hurt.
“Masarelli isn't my friend. And I was doing you a favor by not introducing you.”
“If you say so.” he said.
“You said that you brought me a gift?” Eyeing him warily, I noted that his hands were empty.
He whistled and the Cwn Annwfn padded out of my room, stopping beside him. The two of them filled the little hallway.
“If you insist on continuing this charade of a mortal existence, then I must insist that you keep one of my pets with you.”
“What? I can’t keep him! I can barely take care of myself, never mind an enormous ethereal dog. What am I supposed to do with him?” Frustrated, I threw my hands up
“He will live here with you, and you will take him with you when the Council sends you on quests. He is your guardian” Arawn rested a hand on the ethereal dog’s head.
“Yeah, because bringing a dog the size of a Shetland pony along everywhere I go is so practical. Maybe now would be a good time to set some boundaries.”
“I'll just give you two a minute.” Aidan started for my bedroom.
I stopped him. I had a feeling that this was going to take a while. The moment was lost anyway. “Maybe we should just call it a night.”
&n
bsp; “Really?” The same disappointment I felt filled Aidan’s eyes.
“It's already late, and I need to take care of this.” I pointed a finger at Arawn.
“Are you sure? I mean, are you sure that you're going to be okay?” Aidan grasped for another reason to stay.
“The Cwn Annwfn is more than capable of keeping her safe, vampire” Arawn rolled his eyes.
I took Aidan by the hand and walked him to the door. “I'm a big girl. I'll be fine.” I got up on tiptoes to give him a kiss good night.
“Call me later.” Aidan deepened the chaste kiss I’d given him, his hand gripping my waist possessively before pulling back to leave.
“I still don’t have my cell phone.”
I heard him sigh from the hallway, before handing me his through the partially closed door. He wasn’t happy with how the night was ending for us. I wasn’t thrilled about it either, but I couldn't put this conversation off any longer.
Arawn made himself comfortable on my couch, even managing to look powerful and confident despite my worn-out furniture. I took a deep breath, pulled my shoulders back, and made my way over to the armchair. I didn’t want to sit next to Arawn for this conversation.
“What is so important that you needed a private audience with me, daughter?” Arawn sounded mildly irritated.
“I just think that we need to set some ground rules. You know, like not showing up in my bedroom unannounced.”
“I am Lord Arawn. I will not be bound by rules. And I do not need permission to speak with my own daughter!”
“Well could you at least use the door?” I threw my hands up.
“I have already conceded to letting you remain here. What more do you want from me?”
The negotiations were not going according to plan. The Cwn Annwfn howled at our raised voices. Desperate for him to see things my way, I ignored the desire to yell about how he wasn’t letting me do anything and moved over to the couch to sit beside him. You can attract more flies with honey than vinegar, after all.
Unless you’re Arawn, that is. It didn’t matter how sweet I was, I couldn’t get him to see things my way. We argued over the semantics of our father/daughter relationship for the rest of the night.
Aidan must have called a dozen times in the midst of our heated discussion. I made the mistake of sending the first four to voicemail. As I should have expected, the remaining eight or so calls came in rapid succession. I finally answered and explained that I was still talking to Arawn. We made plans to meet for coffee around five before heading over to the police station.
I got Arawn to agree to not only knocking on the door, but also waiting for me to answer it about the same time the sun came up. I agreed to keep the Cwn Annwfn, and I consented to more training in the between as well.
I was exhausted. With Arawn gone, I could finally get some sleep. I crawled into bed and curled up with my monstrously large dog instead of my vampire.
Chapter 23
I woke up with my head in a fog and the remnants of a crazy dream still bouncing around inside my skull. A cold, wet nose pressed against my cheek. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and forced them open. Two red eyes peered over the edge of my bed. Okay, so it obviously wasn’t a dream. I stretched like a cat across my bed before throwing off the covers. The Cwn Annwfn waited for me at my bedside like your run of the mill dog, except he totally wasn’t one. I shuffled out to the kitchen with my new pet at my heels and fumbled around until the coffee was finally brewing. It was going on one o’clock. If I hurried, I’d have just enough time to drive out to the hospital to see Matthison before I had to meet up with Aidan.
One shower, one change of clothes, and two cups of coffee later, I was out the door and on my way to Boston in Aidan’s car. Somewhere around the halfway point to the hospital, it hit me. My heart started to race. I knew it was too early in our relationship for me to have feelings like that, but I couldn’t help it. I was in love with this classic Camaro. Traffic was light so I made it to the hospital in record time, even managed to find a parking spot in the Fruit Street garage.
I sat out in the parking garage for ten minutes trying to find the nerve to go inside. I’ve killed demons, followed them into the between, and survived an attempt on my life all in the last couple of days, but I was terrified of seeing Matthison’s wife again. I could take another slap in the face. Hell, I deserved worse. It was the pain in her eyes that had me unable to open the car door. Screw it! I deserved that and more. Matthison was lying in that hospital bed fighting for his life. The least I could do was endure the humiliation of facing his wife again so I could see him.
I stopped at the front desk to get a visitor’s pass. The elderly woman volunteering took my license and handed me a plastic badge. I clipped it to my coat while she informed me Matthison had been moved to a new room. She then described the easiest route to get there. I tried not to get my hopes up over Matthison being moved. A new room didn’t necessarily mean anything. Still, he wasn’t in the ICU anymore.
I sent Aidan a text to let him know I might not make it back in time for coffee and then turned off the cell phone he had given me. I got off of the elevator and made my way to Matthison’s room. I rounded the corner and caught a glimpse of the doctor leaving his room. She must have been a specialist or something, because most doctors don’t wear heels with their white coats. She was headed in the opposite direction at a pace that said she had somewhere more important to be. I was going to have to find a nurse to fill me in after I sat with Matthison for a few minutes.
“Hey kid, where’ve you been?”
I was so lost in my thoughts about the doctor and finding a nurse that I hadn’t even looked at Matthison when I walked into the room.
“Holy shit!” I couldn’t articulate anything better than that.
He wasn’t just awake; he was sitting up in bed watching trash TV and looking better than I’d seen him look in years.
“You just missed the doctor. Apparently, I have made a remarkable recovery.” Matthison pressed the button to raise the hospital bed. “She’s had me on some kind of new IV treatment, and it has done wonders.”
“I’d say that your recovery is remarkable. I didn’t expect you to look so good,”
“I look a hell of a lot better than you. Now tell me how the case is going. I can’t get anyone from SPTF to tell me a damned thing. They keep telling me to focus on my health and getting back to work. So what’s happening with the investigation?” Matthison was as excited as a kid at Christmas.
“It’s just about closed, actually. We’re tying up the last loose end tonight. I’m actually meeting Masarelli and Aidan after I leave here.”
“Aidan? Who’s he?”
Something clicked when he said Aidan’s name. IV treatment, remarkable recovery, the high heels…she wasn’t a doctor. Matthison was calling after me as I ran out into the hall. I looked to my right and then my left, but she was gone. No wonder Matthison looked so good. New IV treatment, my ass!
“Maurin! What the hell’s the matter with you? Get your ass back in here. Don’t make me get out of this bed!”
“I’ll call the nurse if you do.”
“Go ahead. They’re sending me home tomorrow anyway.” He chuckled.
“So soon?” With a hand on my chest, I feigned surprise.
Of course he wouldn’t need to stay longer. He’s been sucking vamp blood through a straw for the last few days. I’m surprised he’s not craving rare meat or gnawing on the nurses. I might have actually been mad Agrona had been tube-feeding Matthison without his consent if I weren’t so relieved to see him alive and well—really well.
“What? You’d rather see me in here than at the station? That reminds me, you said that you were wrapping things up in the investigation. And who’s Aidan?” He gave me his best cop glare, pressing.
“Aidan’s a vampire,” I prayed he’d just leave it there. I really didn’t want to go into detail about what Aidan was or wasn’t.
“Why do I get
the feeling that there’s more there?” He took the hint from my lack of response and moved on. “So you caught the Inquisitors?”
“Um, not really.” I stalled, trying to figure out the quickest way to explain what had happened since he’d been in the hospital.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, we found them, but they were dead when we found them.” I put my hand up to hold off his interruption. “I’m getting to that. The murders stopped after they took us. Cash found us on Winter Island and got you to the hospital.” His eyebrows went up when I said who had come to our rescue. “Yeah, I know, but that’s who found us. After that, Masarelli found the Inquisitors dead in a warehouse down on the wharf and was dead set on pinning the murders on the coven.” The anger in my voice wasn’t just about Masarelli’s blundering police work. I hadn’t exactly had a lot of time to get over the coven’s betrayal and Mahalia’s plan to get rid of me.
“The coven? They definitely had motive. You can’t blame him for going after the most likely suspects, Maurin.” As he had almost every day over the past three years, he walked the line between me and Masarelli.
“I don’t.”
His eyebrows went up again, this time in challenge to my denial.
“I said I don’t. Anyway, I managed to get a clear enough read in the warehouse to know that the Inquisitors had been messing with some serious magic and had managed to unleash a nasty demon in the process. They didn’t know it was a demon.” I tall came out in a rush, trying to explain everything before he could interrupt.
“It wasn’t like I could prove any of that to Masarelli, so he ended up arresting me for tampering with a crime scene. He got on board pretty quickly though, once the demon came after me and destroyed the jail cell.” I smirked.
He sat there slack-jawed as I went on and on about what had happened. I thought I was going to have to hit the ‘call nurse’ button for real by the time I got to the part about Mahalia trying to banish me with the demon so it could kill me. I thought about skipping over the Arawn part, but if he was going to have a heart attack, then he was better off doing so here than in his office. When I was done he looked as exhausted as I felt, but all in all he took it pretty well.
Dark Secrets: A Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 174
