Every time she heard of another murder, her stomach tightened with sharp, fresh guilt. Maybe if she hadn’t let that kid go, he could have told them something that might have helped, that might have stopped the murders. Her only chance of helping to stop the Esri was to find those stones. With the help of Kade’s dream, she fully intended to succeed.
Even if her relationship with Kade himself seemed destined to go down as just another failure.
Twenty-four hours later, Autumn’s mood was soaring as she drove through the busy streets of D.C. Kade still hadn’t called, but she could almost forgive him for his lack of interest in her because of what he had given her. He’d made her believe in herself. He’d told her that, if anyone could find the Esri stones, she could.
And maybe, just maybe, she had.
Nervous excitement had her tapping the steering wheel as she waited for the stoplight to turn green. Jerry Robertson had returned her call last night and confirmed he’d bought the cup and used the stones from it in his creations. Junk art, he called them.
She was on her way to his house now.
Autumn rolled her gaze to the roof and back even as the butterflies beat at the insides of her stomach. She’d all but promised the man a showing of his collection at the Smithsonian if he let her come see his work. Her boss was going to kill her.
Despite the hope firing her excitement, she knew finding the Esri stones was a long shot. Jerry Robertson was a crafter who sold his work at shows and fairs around the city. Crafters rarely kept records of their customers. Those stones could be long gone by now with no way to track them.
She’d know soon enough.
The street came into view and she started searching for the row house. Autumn spied the address she was looking for and parked. The house, like many in this neighborhood, was ill kempt. Weeds had long overtaken whatever grass had once blanketed the yard and the door badly needed paint. Overgrown holly bushes lined the front of the house, half-covering the windows.
As Autumn approached, the front door opened to reveal a man who was the antithesis of the yard. He looked like a lawyer in his suit and tie, his thinning hair brushed carefully to one side. No, she realized. He looked like a man on his way to an interview. She groaned. Of course he was dressed for an interview—an interview with a Smithsonian official. Her.
“Mr. Robertson? I’m Autumn McGinn with the Smithsonian.” At least she was wearing nice slacks and a blazer.
“How do you do, Ms. McGinn? Please, come in, won’t you?” He led her into a small, neat living room lined with shelves overflowing with sculptures. There must be more than a hundred of them! Junk art, he called them, and the description couldn’t be more accurate. The works all stood about six inches tall and included everything from a spray of bottle-cap daisies to the Empire State Building made from gum wrappers and paperclips. Most of the sculptures were made from a hodge-podge of cast-off components—a lightbulb base, an old toothbrush, the glass from a pair of spectacles. Strange and yet fascinating in an odd sort of way.
Her stomach churned. Even if the Esri stones were here, how was she ever going to find them in this mess? There were too many!
She forced herself to calm down, to take a deep breath. There was only one way to do this, she decided.
“I love them, Mr. Robertson,” she enthused, hoping he mistook the edge of panic for excitement. “How many would you allow me to take for the exhibit?”
The man’s eyes lit with excitement. “You’re going to accept them?”
Autumn smiled, swallowing her guilt. “Yes, of course. I’d like to take twenty, if that’s okay, but it may take me a little while to decide which ones.”
“Of course, of course. The only one I can’t part with is this,” he said, and pulled a floppy-eared dog sculpture from the top shelf.
The sculpture was different from the rest. Instead of junk, the dog was made from pieces of silver, or silver plate, and semiprecious stones. And his stone ear was pale green.
Her heart skipped a beat. “May I see it, please?”
The man hesitated only a moment before handing it to her. At once she saw the faint etching of a seven-pointed star on the surface of the stone. Her heart began to pound. She’d found one of the Esri stones! Without screwing up one single thing.
Yet.
Perspiration broke out on the back of her neck beneath her thick braid. She had to get this sculpture without making him suspicious.
“I can see why you wouldn’t want to give it up, Mr. Robertson. It’s beautiful.”
“Well, that’s not exactly why I can’t let you have it. It’s for my latest grandchild. I’ve made special sculptures for each of the other ten. Number eleven is on the way and it’s going to be her baby gift when she’s born.”
Eleven special sculptures. Six of which she’d bet money, possessed pale green stones. The trick was getting her hands on them. She should probably tell Jack and let the police confiscate them, but the thought made her ill. The man was so excited about this exhibition and so proud of these sculptures, she couldn’t do that to him if she could find another way. Besides, she wanted to do this on her own. She had to prove to Larsen and the others that she was good for more than just research. That she could be counted on to come through when it mattered.
Kade’s words came back to her, as they had two dozen times this week. You’re an amazing woman, Autumn McGinn. If anyone can find those stones, you can.
And she had. She could do this, too.
“Mr. Robertson, this is spectacular. Truly a work of art. Couldn’t we borrow the sculptures from your grandchildren?”
“Oh, dear. Oh, no, I don’t think so.”
Autumn’s stomach clutched with panic. She had to get that stone.
She tried a different tactic and waved her hand airily. “You don’t have to give me an answer today, but why don’t you talk to your children about it? Your grandchildren might be thrilled to see their gifts on display in the Smithsonian.”
Mr. Robertson’s head began to nod and as it did, he started to smile. “You’re right. Why, I can take them there myself and show them my art. My art, in the Smithsonian.”
Oh, she was going to have to make this happen.
“I’ll have my daughter bring her kids’ sculptures to me tomorrow,” he said. “None of my boys live in the area anymore, but they could overnight them directly to the museum.”
“Better yet,” Autumn said. “Have them mail them to me at home. That way I won’t have to hunt them down.” The truth was, she didn’t want to have to explain these pieces to anyone at the museum. Especially when she still had some removing and replacing of stones to do. She took out one of her business cards, wrote the marina address on the back, and handed it to him. “I’ll take this one with me today.”
“Yes, indeed.” The older man grinned. “This is such a proud day.”
Autumn smiled and shook his hand. “You should be proud, Mr. Robertson. You have an amazing talent.” She said goodbye and started down the walk with a grin that just wouldn’t be contained. One of the most powerful stones in the world—in two worlds—was safe in her hands.
A giddy euphoria bubbled up inside her, making her want to laugh. She should call Kade and tell him what he’d helped her accomplish by sharing his dream. He’d want to know. Even if he wasn’t interested in her romantically.
And it was the perfect excuse to hear his voice again.
“Here,” Ustanis said. “This is the area where I keep smelling the stone.”
“Park the car,” Zander ordered the enchanted driver. With a scowl he turned to Ustanis. “I’m disappointed in you, Ustanis, as the king will be when we return with only half the stones.”
Ustanis met his scowl with one of his own. “This world is too large, Zander. If the king knew the impossibility of his demand…”
“If you are not up to the task, Rith will find one who is.”
Dismay pulled at Ustanis’s expression. “One of the stones is nearby. I’ve
smelled it for days, but can’t find it. I fear something’s blocking it. I had hoped you could tell me if there’s a Sitheen in the area causing the disturbance.”
Zander opened his own senses. “No Sitheen. Holly. The plant dampens the magic that would pass through it.” He searched the houses on both sides of the street and found holly bushes in abundance. “You’ll have to enter the dwellings.”
“The task could take me days.”
“Then you had best begin.”
Ustanis released a frustrated breath. But as he reached for the door handle, he froze. “I smell it clearly.” He pointed to a dwelling three houses down from which a tall, red-haired woman emerged. In her hand she carried some kind of object.
“There! The stone’s power follows her path.”
His hand closed around the door’s handle, but Zander stopped him.
“That deadness of energy follows her, as well. She’s wearing holly and will see through your glamour. Best to approach her where she cannot escape. We’ll follow. When the time and place are right, we’ll retrieve what is ours.”
Autumn climbed into her car, set the sculpture carefully on the seat beside her, then locked the doors. She pulled her phone from her purse and pressed the speed-dial number she’d foolishly thought she’d be calling often. Kade’s. As the phone rang, she pressed her head back against the seat, listening to her pulse pound as she waited for him to pick up.
“Hello?”
The sound of his deep, rich voice brought such a rush of longing she nearly couldn’t talk around it. Every minute of the past week, she’d longed to hear his voice.
“Kade? It’s Autumn.” Terrified he’d think she was stalking him and hang up, she rushed forward. “I found one of the Esri stones. I thought…I thought you’d like to know. Because you helped me.”
The silence on the other end was deafening.
She was an idiot for thinking he’d want to talk to her. “I shouldn’t have called. ’Bye—”
“Autumn, wait. What do you mean, you found one of the Esri stones?” His voice was harder than she remembered, but hearing her name on his lips again sharpened the ache in her heart.
“I have one of them with me right now. And I think I know where the others are.”
He made a sound of disbelief. “I didn’t think you’d manage the impossible quite so quickly.” After a moment’s silence, he added, “I’d like to see it. Where are you?”
“On my way to the houseboat.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay.” She hung up then stared, unseeing, at the kids playing on the sidewalk. Slowly, she tucked the phone in her purse and started the car. Kade was coming over. But not to see her. To see the stones.
What had she done?
She was going to have to pretend to be completely uninterested in him, or she’d send him running for cover. Yes, she was dying to see him again, but he wasn’t interested in her. And by inviting him over, she’d guaranteed her heart was in for another pounding.
“Can’t you drive any faster?” Kaderil’s feet tapped an urgent rhythm as the taxi crept through the city traffic.
“No. No tickets,” the man said in a heavily accented version of the local human tongue.
Kaderil’s fists pressed against his knees. If it were night, he might risk a run through the city streets, for his natural speed was far faster than this vehicle was able to move through the creeping traffic. But that might draw attention to what he was.
Still, the thought of the danger Autumn had placed herself in, the danger he’d placed her in by giving her that hint, made him consider the risk. It amazed him that she’d found not one, but all six stones this fast. He continued to underestimate the humans—a mistake that would be the death of him. Or the death of Autumn. He didn’t know why Ustanis hadn’t found the stone before now, but if it was truly one of the six, whatever had blocked Ustanis’s power to find it would likely disappear now that Autumn had removed it from its resting place. Ustanis would follow the stone’s scent to Autumn. Kaderil could only hope Zander wasn’t with him when he did.
He shouldn’t care. A simple human shouldn’t matter to him one way or the other. But there was nothing simple about Autumn McGinn. She’d enchanted him. Somehow, with her feminine ways, she’d cast a spell that had made him unable to forget her. That had caused her to matter to him in ways no woman ever had. For a week, now, he’d thought of her night and day, wondering what she was doing, if she was safe.
A dozen times he’d nearly broken and gone back to her. For a single smile. A single kiss. But he’d recognized the weakness and refused to give in.
Now, he hoped he wasn’t too late.
Finally, the taxi pulled up in front of the marina. Kaderil handed the driver bills that more than covered the fare, then unfolded himself from the vehicle and strode with barely restrained speed down the path to the dock. But as Autumn’s houseboat came into view, he knew he was too late.
Zander and Ustanis were on the deck of her boat, their silver tunics shining in the sun’s afternoon glare. As he broke into a run, they opened the sliding glass door and slipped inside. Zander would know Autumn wasn’t Sitheen, but the holly would protect her from their enchantment.
Unable to control her, Zander would kill her.
With a surge of pure fear, Kaderil sprinted down the dock, leaped onto the deck of the houseboat and wrenched open the door. Autumn was holding some sort of rock pile, backing away as Zander advanced on her.
“Leave her alone!” he shouted.
Autumn speared him with fearful eyes. “Kade!”
Zander glanced at him with surprise. “Kade, is it?” A gleam entered his eyes that sent fear spearing through him. If Zander poured his pain energy into her, he’d kill her.
“She’s not Sitheen,” Kaderil said.
Zander scowled. “She’s human.”
Using the speed and strength that had earned him the position of the Punisher, Kaderil leaped, knocking Zander away from her. He grabbed Zander’s wrists, immobilizing those deadly hands, then with a satisfying snap, broke them.
Zander yelled with pain, nearly drowning Autumn’s cry of outrage. Kaderil looked over his shoulder to find Ustanis now had the odd pile of stones. Autumn was trying to block the shorter man’s escape. “Kade, he has the stone!” Beneath his hands, he felt Zander’s bones reknit, so he broke them again.
“Autumn, let him go!”
“No.”
“Autumn…” His words strangled in his throat as fiery pain seared his skin and poured through his body. While he’d been distracted by Autumn, Zander had twisted his hands until he was able to touch Kaderil’s skin, attacking him with mind-numbing, strength-stealing pain.
“Autumn,” he gasped. “Run!”
“I’m not leaving you!”
Loyalty. So precious. So ill-timed.
“Ustanis, take her bracelet. Holly.” Enchanted, she’d remember nothing more that she saw or heard. If Ustanis touched her quickly, she might never realize Kaderil was in league with her attackers. He fell to his knees. Out of the corner of his wavering vision, he saw Ustanis drop the stone pile back on the counter and face Autumn. The stricken look on her face tore his heart from his chest. She’d heard him. She understood he was one of them.
Autumn fought Ustanis valiantly and managed to get past him, but as she ran for the door, the Esri grabbed her from behind and wrenched the band from her wrist. Instantly, she stilled.
Enchanted.
Kaderil pushed Zander away from him, freeing himself from the source of pain. But even with the source removed, the pain itself continued to scorch his body. He stumbled to his feet, gasping for breath. His gaze leaped between Zander’s scowl and Ustanis, who was watching him with wide-eyed disbelief. The Punisher driven to his knees was not something most Esri expected to see.
Kaderil tried to glare at him, but Zander started for Autumn and all he could manage was a grimace as he lurched forward to cut him off. He stood in front
of Autumn and turned to face Zander.
His enemy chuckled, an ugly sound. “So the Punisher has fallen for a human.”
“I haven’t…fallen for anyone.” He must talk fast to convince Zander she was important to their mission or her life was over. Zander, who had killed so many humans already, would destroy her just for the pleasure of hurting Kaderil. “We need her, Zander. She’s located the other stones.”
Ustanis’s eyes widened. “Where?”
“I’m not sure,” Kaderil admitted. “How many have you found?”
“Only two other than this one. The others are too far away, their scent too faint to follow. I had despaired of finding them, but if she can get them for us…”
“Enough!” Zander looked from one to the other of them in disgust, then speared Kaderil with that yellow gaze. “Get them and bring them to us. Ustanis, take the one here.”
“No,” Kaderil said. “Leave it. It must be here when she wakes from the enchantment.”
Zander scoffed. “She already knows you’re Esri, Punisher. I saw the knowledge on her face as clearly as you did.”
He glowered at the pair, pulling himself back into the role of Punisher. Between clenched teeth, he growled, “I will find a way to convince her otherwise. But that stone must be here!”
He took a threatening step toward Ustanis. The smaller man thrust the stone into Kaderil’s hand.
Zander scowled. “If you fail, dark blood, we all fail. Beware your loyalties. I fear you identify a little too closely with the Sitheen. You are, after all, both mixed bloods.”
Kaderil glared at the captain of the royal guard. “Sitheen are mortals, human but for a small trace of Esri blood. I am the oppostie. Immortal. Esri but for an unfortunate trace of human. You needn’t question my loyalties, Zander. She’s critical to my mission, nothing else.” If only that were true. If only he’d been able to stop thinking about her for a single moment over the past eight days. “When the gate opens at the full moon, I’ll have the remaining stones, including the draggon.”
Dark Deceiver Page 8
