Thrall

by Jennifer Blackstream

  “An excellent idea,” Arianne said finally, her tone sharply contradicting her words.

  I looked at Iman to see how the psychic was feeling. The sorceress’ wife looked ready to cry, her gaze sliding from Aubrey to the patient in the bed. My heart ached for her in that moment. If she was as innocent as Arianne was so desperate to believe, then this must be torture for her. To be found in a room with two dead bodies, unable to remember what happened. And then to be accused of killing them, or at the very least being part of their death.

  Iman noticed me watching. She tried and failed to smile.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I wish I could remember what happened.”

  “We will find out what happened,” Arianne said, taking Iman’s hands in hers. “I promise. I will have answers for you by nightfall.”

  It was a bold promise to make considering we didn’t yet know the full extent of what we were up against. But I was smart enough not to point that out.

  A thought occurred to me, and I looked at Liam. “Can you send someone to Foundations?”

  Liam nodded. “Good thinking. I’ll make the call now, and we’ll head out after Kylie gets here.”

  Moghadam sat down next to Aubrey, smoothing her hair behind her ear with one hand. “I’ll wait here, if that’s all right? Just long enough to make sure she’s taken care of?”

  I looked around the room, studying the sorceress, the psychic, the alpha, the lawyer, the sidhe, the chaos kitten, and the two dead bodies.

  And the day wasn’t even half over.

  Chapter 14

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t keep looking for Nikolaos and Stafford?”

  Peasblossom clung to the rearview mirror, trying to catch Liam’s eye. Liam kept his eyes on the road.

  Arianne kept hers on Peasblossom.

  “This is the smarter plan,” the sorceress said evenly.

  Peasblossom scowled. “Smarter? Going to a fight club full of goblins and worse things? There’s a pile of dead bodies in the corner, you know. Did we mention that? Dead. Bodies. That’s plural.”

  “And one of those dead bodies is Connor Reeves,” Arianne snapped. “The wolf who killed Jamila Samaha.”

  “Well he’s not going to tell you anything new, is he?” Peasblossom shouted back. “You’re a dream sorceress, not a necromancer!” She huffed out a breath. “Not that being a necromancer would help you, mind. Try raising a murder victim, see what you get. Nightmares that’s what. Not as much fun getting them as giving them, I promise you that.”

  “Peasblossom,” I said, using a calm, quiet voice so as to encourage the other people in the car to do the same. “Nikolaos wasn’t home. We checked Foundations, and he wasn’t there either. He’s not answering his phone. And Stafford is also apparently MIA. It is impractical to search the entire city of Cleveland—especially when it’s always possible one or both of them have left the city. Arianne is right, going to Fortuna’s—”

  “But Connor is dead!” Peasblossom argued.

  “But his brothers aren’t,” I said, regretting my raised voice immediately. I took a breath, then groped for the zipper of my waist pouch.

  “I thought you had people at Fortuna’s that were going to call if they showed up?” Scath spoke up from the backseat.

  “I do, but Toby and Kurt are former Underhill operatives,” Liam explained. “It’s not impossible that they’d have some way to avoid detection. And I’ve had my people there since we found Connor’s body, so they wouldn’t have had a chance to claim it yet.”

  “And you think they’ll be feeling more cooperative now that you’ve been keeping them from their dead brother?” Peasblossom asked doubtfully.

  I held up a finger. “I think whatever inclination they might have had to withhold any evidence or knowledge of what their brother did for the Emperor died with Connor.”

  Arianne leaned forward. “Tell me again what the goblin said. About how Connor died.”

  I stared out my window, counting orange traffic cones for a few heartbeats while I waited for my thoughts to settle before I responded. I’d already caught Arianne up on the investigation, including the state in which we’d found Connor’s body. I hadn’t really taken the time to let myself dwell on the circumstances of Connor’s death. The werewolf had eviscerated a young woman. A woman whose only crime was the desire for a better life, for her and her sister. It had been easy to think of him as evil, deserving of suffering. But if what Asher said was true, maybe things weren’t so black and white.

  “He said Connor wanted to die,” I said quietly. “He was rambling about how Jamila hadn’t moved. Hadn’t screamed.”

  Arianne put a hand on the arm rest of the front seat and leaned even farther forward. Her dark eyes fixed on mine, a slight furrow between her brows. “You used that same tone the first time you told me. I thought you meant Connor hadn’t enjoyed it enough because she didn’t scream or fight. But that’s not it, is it?”

  Liam answered this time. “If Connor was struggling with violent urges, it could have been a combination of PTSD from his military and mercenary work, and the fact that he was a werewolf with no pack. You only have to give into those wild urges a few times before it becomes harder to come back. Killing a woman who’s not moving would feel wrong. Aside from the small bite taken out of her shoulder to hide the tattoo, Connor didn’t eat her. His wolf would know it wasn’t for food, and it wasn’t for self-defense. Connor wouldn’t have been able to just shrug that off.”

  Arianne sat back, considering what we’d said.

  “From what Asher said,” I added, “Connor’s brothers had to come to Fortuna’s to get him more than once. Hopefully someone there will have an idea where to find them.”

  “Like Asher?”

  Liam’s voice had taken on a strange tone. Not exactly disapproving, but I definitely got the feeling Asher had earned himself a place on the alpha’s watch list.

  “Maybe,” I agreed. “But I’d ask Katie and Rafe first. One thing everyone agrees on is that Katie is setting herself up as the ultimate source of information. If anyone will know where to find Connor’s brothers, it’ll be her.”

  Liam flicked on his turn signal, and I realized with a start that we’d arrived. I was pleased that this time we were going to be entering the fight club during the day instead of after nightfall. Not that there wouldn’t still be a lot of dangerous creatures in the club—a lot of the ones who couldn’t be out in the daylight might very well choose to spend the day in the underground hellhole. But it was hard to be nervous when the sun was shining overhead in a clear sky, fooling anyone who wasn’t outside into thinking it was eighty degrees instead of fifty.

  No one could say Ohio weather didn’t have a sense of humor.

  This time we avoided the parking garage’s main entrance. I didn’t think Katie and Rafe had to bother with an entrance that featured teleportation holes, so there had to be a different way in.

  “Look,” Liam said, pointing. “Where are they going?”

  Two women were circling the parking garage. One of them had blue hair, and the other was wearing what looked like an honest-to-Goddess bearskin, complete with head and tooth-filled maw. The one with the blue hair swung a sword at her side, watching the play of light over the blade. The other one had a mace strapped to her fur-covered back.

  “I think they’re going inside,” I guessed.

  Liam parked the truck and we all got out, taking a moment to stretch. I didn’t know about Arianne, but I also spared a second to call my magic, wanting to be ready in case there was an ambush. I’d decided that in the future, when it came to Fortuna’s, I would always expect an ambush.

  Peasblossom took the initiative. Using her invisibility to avoid detection, she flew ahead to follow the women walking with the confident stride that suggested they knew a safe way in. Or the misplaced confidence of someone about to fall into a trap. Either way, Peasblossom could let us know.

  Fortunately, when we got to the back of the par
king garage, it turned out to be the former.

  “There’s a door between the chalk marks,” Peasblossom whispered, hovering near my right shoulder.

  “We’ll talk to Katie first,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  “Won’t your goblin be upset if you don’t go to him first?” Arianne asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Really? You’re going to make jokes?”

  “Oh, that wasn’t a joke,” Arianne said with deadly calm. “That was an observation. One of many I’ve made that lead me to believe hiring you was a mistake.”

  I didn’t argue. Not because Arianne intimidated me, but because she was a woman scared that her wife was about to take the fall for a heinous crime. I’d be scared too. And anger was always better than fear.

  “You should count your blessings she was willing to work for you at all, considering the stunts you’ve pulled,” Peasblossom hissed back.

  I held up a hand for her to be quiet, and she stuck her tongue out at Arianne before fading from sight. I felt the air from her passing as she flew ahead of me to join Liam.

  Liam and Scath scented the air as we moved forward. Liam went first, then me, then Arianne, and Scath brought up the rear. As soon as we passed through the wall, we found ourselves in a short hallway. The smell of wet stone and mold almost made me sneeze. It was so much darker inside, we all stopped to let our eyes adjust.

  Sounds trickled past us from up ahead. Roars and screams, the rattle of chain link cages, and the unmistakable sound of flesh striking flesh. Scath and Liam tilted their heads up. I wrinkled my nose. I wasn’t a shifter, and even I could smell the blood.

  Arianne lost patience with Liam’s slow pace down the hallway and quickly overtook him. He looked back at me and I shrugged. If she wanted to go first, that was fine with me. Though as she flowed down the hallway like a specter of death, it occurred to me that it might be better if she weren’t recognized.

  I opened my mouth to tell her so, and perhaps point out that she needed me to identify Katie and Rafe, but before I could say anything, Arianne’s form changed. Her skin darkened several shades, and her hair curled and grew shorter. She lowered her height by a good three inches, and said inches seemed to swell in her hips and stomach. I couldn’t see her face, but I assumed there’d been changes there too.

  “Follow me,” Liam said in a low voice, overtaking Arianne again.

  The dream sorceress said nothing, but she did fall into step beside the alpha. I was willing to hang back beside Scath, using my own magic to make small changes to my appearance. It was a difficult balance. I wanted Katie to recognize me, mostly because no disguise would fool her shifter lover and it was best not to seem like I was hiding when I wanted information. But I didn’t want to be spotted by goblins straight off either. So I lightened my hair and made it curly, and gave myself an inch or two in height. I kept my face down instead of staring everyone in the eye—very un-witch-like.

  “I’ll look for our mercenaries,” Scath said under her breath.

  I nodded. “Peasblossom, have a look around, will you? Stay high, don’t engage anyone.”

  “Right,” she said, from somewhere above me.

  The sounds grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo as we entered the main room. I immediately started scanning the place for the witch and her shifter mate.

  It didn’t take long to find them.

  Apparently, Katie and Rafe had no need for subtlety now. They sat at a table on a raised platform that allowed them to see every arena. Theirs looked to be a VIP section, right down to the velvet ropes that separated them from the rest of the room. I didn’t need magic or my third eye to know that the ropes were enchanted.

  Liam pointed them out to Arianne and the sorceress wasted no time approaching the velvet rope.

  “Are you Katie?” she asked.

  “I am.”

  The red-headed witch barely glanced up, but Rafe, her partner, stared hard at Arianne. His hair was cut too close to his head for me to tell what color it was, but I remembered his body. He worked hard to make sure he’d survive any fight he chose to start. Or finish. Apparently, he’d kept the discipline to maintain his fighting trim even though he no longer had to get in the ring himself.

  Maybe he had to stay strong for the kidnappings.

  “What do you want?” he asked.

  “I want information.” Arianne’s tone remained smooth and even. Very reasonable.

  “You’ll have to pay for it like everyone else,” Katie said without taking her eyes from the right-most arena. “It’ll cost you five hundred to continue this conversation.”

  “Fine. I want to know where to find Toby and Kurt Reeves. Shifters, former employees of Underhill. If you can’t tell me that, I’ll settle for the location of Detective Stafford.”

  Again, Katie didn’t react. Rafe did. The veins in his temples bulged, and he crossed his arms. “We can’t help you.”

  Arianne ignored him. Her attention was all for Katie. “Well?”

  “You heard him. There’s a compartment in the pole holding the rope. You can leave the five hundred there.”

  I took a small step back as Arianne tilted her head. I’d known it would only be a matter of time before someone tried the sorceress’ patience and made themselves the target for all that anger she was fighting to keep inside.

  I was just pleased it hadn’t been me.

  “It is dangerous to sit as you do where everyone can see you,” Arianne said softly, her voice almost lost to the roar of the club. “Considering everyone knows who you are, what you do.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Katie said.

  “Of course not. Because I’m certain a woman in your position has taken precautions. A nice, powerful spell to keep out the undesirables.” Arianne leaned closer. “Tell me, what would happen if this impressive little warding spell in your little velvet rope were to suddenly…stop?”

  Katie glanced at Arianne then, but she looked annoyed, not scared. “Get out. This will be your only warning.”

  Arianne smiled. “And that was yours.”

  Rafe stood, his eyes warming from brown to gold. “I’ll see you out.”

  Liam stepped forward, but didn’t try to enter the VIP section. Rafe’s glance flicked to him, and I saw recognition there. His jaw tightened.

  “5…4…” Arianne counted slowly.

  Katie ignored her.

  “3…2…”

  Katie still didn’t look at her, but the pulse in her throat picked up, the skin jumping as her heartbeat rose. I didn’t need my third eye to know that she was mentally boosting her spells, bracing for whatever Arianne was about to do.

  “1,” Arianne whispered.

  I hadn’t seen anything in her hand, but suddenly the sorceress dropped a small stone. It looked like a piece of coal, ashy and so dark it seemed to swallow the light as it fell.

  Then it hit the floor. I felt a jerk in the air, as if someone had sucked the oxygen out of the room. It only lasted a second, but it made me gasp a little as I tried to convince my lungs I wasn’t suffocating.

  Katie choked and dropped the pen she’d been taking notes with. Before I could blink, she was on her feet, hands rising, no doubt to salvage her wards.

  Arianne didn’t give her the chance.

  “Etiam!” Arianne snapped.

  Katie and Rafe froze, bodies stiffening, muscles growing tight. Their eyes widened.

  “Tell me where the wolves are,” Arianne ground out. “Or die here. Now.”

  “Who are you?” Katie croaked. It was hard to make out the words since she was forcing them through still lips.

  “Where?” Arianne demanded.

  “The redcaps at the table in the corner,” Rafe rasped.

  Without another word, Arianne scooped up the stone, then turned on her heel and left, heading for the table in question. She didn’t drop the spell holding Katie and Rafe, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. The witch and her wolf could fend for themselves.

 
; “They’ll recognize us,” I told Liam. “We should hang back.”

  Scath stood near the table in question, but she wasn’t giving the redcaps a second glance. They were trying to look casual, but it was impossible to miss the tension in their bodies, or the wild-eyed looks of fury they occasionally cast toward the corner where their brother’s remains lay guarded by Liam’s men. I hadn’t noticed them when we came in, but it made sense they’d be in plain clothes, since they’d been waiting for the brothers to show up.

  If I hadn’t been looking at them, I wouldn’t have noticed the way they stared at Scath. I wanted to shout a warning, but I held my tongue. They wouldn’t attack her. They were hiding, using magical disguises. Not just visual disguises, but some sort of magic strong enough to hide their scent.

  But we had nothing hiding ours.

  Toby scented us first. Nostrils flaring, he raised his face, the barest tilt of his head. Then his eyes slid to the side and landed on Liam. He elbowed the “redcap” next to him. Without a word, both of them slid off their stools and melted into the crowd.

  “Scath!” I shouted.

  Her head jerked toward me, eyes sharp. I pointed at the fleeing shifters. “The redcaps!”

  There was no time for subtlety. Scath bolted after them, and Arianne, Liam, and I were right on her heels. The club wasn’t as busy as it had been the last time I’d been here, but there were enough people to make the chase between the large fighting arenas a challenge.

  At one point I thought we lost them, but Peasblossom called out from above us, telling us where to go. We exited the building in time to see them flee into the main casino building.

  “Be ready,” I warned her. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

  Arianne ignored me, speaking to Scath and Liam instead. “You two, make sure they don’t get out. Witch, come with me.”

  I didn’t like her barking orders, but it was a small step forward that she didn’t call me witchling, so I let it go. Liam didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue either.

  “I’ll take the upstairs,” I said.

  Arianne frowned. “Why?”