Thrall

by Jennifer Blackstream

  “What about the conjoined twins?” I said finally. “Nikolaos had the twins standing by to pick off the goblins when they showed up. Do you really think Stavros called his business partner before he died to tell him about the goblins?”

  Arianne threw up her hands. “Moghadam said it was Nikolaos. He nearly died because telling us it was Nikolaos violated his contract. What more proof do you need?”

  I snapped my mouth shut. I didn’t have an answer to that one.

  Liam looked back and forth between me and Arianne. He didn’t have the same detached analytical look Andy had in these situations. If Andy had been here, he would have had the patient look of a man willing to wait and see how things played out, so he could formulate a plan based on the newest circumstances.

  Liam looked more like someone who was aware any argument had the potential to devolve into violence, and he was debating on how effective he could be trying to stop a fight between two magic users.

  “I’ll call Borvos Springs,” he suggested suddenly. “If they’ve managed to stabilize him, maybe they have someone on staff that can scrape his surface thoughts.”

  “If he already managed to communicate Nikolaos’ name to Iman, then it’s possible,” I agreed. “If you can convince them it’s not too big a risk to both their staff and their patient.”

  Liam nodded and walked away, already digging his phone out of his pocket.

  Arianne continued to stare at me.

  “What was it then?” she asked finally.

  “What was what?”

  “When we were in there. We had the evidence, he was confessing. You looked at him, and suddenly you were sure it was Stavros. What was it?”

  I studied her face for a long minute. Her eyes were still inhumanly dark, and I was certain if my third eye wasn’t out of commission, I’d have seen power glittering in those eyes. But she looked serious. She wasn’t mocking me, she really wanted to know.

  “There were a few little things that nagged at me,” I admitted. “Like the fact that Nikolaos Sideris was so secretive his entire life, then he gets here and suddenly he’s in the public eye. Besides Ms. Piper, there wasn’t anyone in his house to stand between him and any guests that happened to show up. Ms. Piper wasn’t the friendliest person, but I didn’t get a dangerous feeling from her.”

  I snuck a quick peek at Nikolaos. He remained in his chair, perfectly still, his attention straight ahead of him. He might as well have come right out and said, “I’m not listening, go ahead and talk.”

  “It makes more sense that Nikolaos Sideris wasn’t a real person, but a persona Stavros developed. Stavros worked with a lot of dangerous people, and from what I heard, he didn’t treat people with very much respect. Weren’t there rumors that he was accepting bribes to break contracts? The treaties he arranged? That had to have made him some powerful enemies.”

  Arianne tilted her head. “He said he needed a Plan B.”

  “I think the Emperor approached Stavros while the wizard was still alive. I think he wanted his help setting up this new business, but Stavros refused. At the time, he was working with Ian Walsh on top of running Fortuna’s.” I shook my head. “And based on what I’ve seen now, he was a lot more involved in that place than I thought.”

  “So you think the Emperor—the real Emperor—made him an offer. He would craft one of his second-chance artifacts, with the stipulation that if Stavros used it, if the artifact saved his life, then Stavros would work for the Emperor.”

  I nodded. “But I don’t think Stavros ever intended to serve him forever.”

  Arianne’s eyes widened. “You think that’s why he’s confessing.”

  Peasblossom crept out from under my hair. “Clever wizard.”

  “Think about it,” I pressed. “Stavros uses the artifact, he survives. Now he has to obey a master—and he doesn’t like it. But his contract won’t let him turn the Emperor in. So he does the next best thing. He tells us all about the Emperor. He’s a sorcerer, he knows you, he made a deal with Stavros—he tells us all of that while pretending he’s talking about himself.”

  “When really he’s only giving us the information with the hope that we’ll figure out who the Emperor really is,” Arianne finished.

  “When you were threatening him in there, he wasn’t looking at you. He looked at me. Why? He couldn’t possibly think I could save him. Not if he was really the Emperor. We’re in your hotel, even if he believed I could overpower you, even if he believed I would try, he couldn’t really believe I’d succeed here, in your fortress. Especially not when he knows this is personal for you. But he didn’t look at you, didn’t beg, didn’t bargain, didn’t try to deny anything or talk his way out of it. He just looked at me and…waited. With that expectant look on his face.”

  “Waiting for you to recognize him,” Peasblossom murmured.

  Arianne narrowed her eyes. “This is all conjecture. You could be over-complicating your interpretation of events to match some misguided gut instinct—an unfortunate tendency for witches that I’ve bemoaned before. Perhaps he is who he says he is.”

  I hesitated, but only for a second. “There’s also the comment he made. Referring to Liam as my lover.”

  Arianne’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

  My cheeks heated against my will, and I gritted my teeth. “When Liam and I went to Stavros’ office to steal the contract, we…” I trailed off, at a sudden loss for how to explain it. “We were pretending to be at odds, a sort of inter-species conflict that required Stavros’ negotiation treaties. But it—”

  “You don’t have to continue, Ms. Renard, I understand. Stop now before you faint.” Arianne studied me, and I had the sudden hope she believed me now.

  “We have a problem.”

  Arianne and I both turned at Liam’s voice, and my chest tightened at the grim look on his face.

  “What?” Arianne demanded.

  “I just talked to Moghadam’s doctor at Borvos Springs. Moghadam is gone.”

  “Gone?” I sputtered. “How? Who took him?”

  “No one took him. He left.”

  My blood ran cold. “No. That’s not possible. Iman told me what the contract did to him, and I saw the marks on his throat. She had to put him to sleep to keep him alive. There’s no way he could have walked away from that.”

  Liam looked at me, and something changed in his body language. He angled himself slightly, almost imperceptibly, to face Arianne. “According to the doctor I just spoke to, there was no contract,” Liam said.

  I backed up. It wasn’t cowardice, just practicality, a knowledge that I was going to need more space if the sorceress reacted the way I expected.

  And she did.

  Arianne’s eyes burned with sudden fury, and the hairs on the back of my neck and my arms stood straight up as the hallway filled with the rumbling potential of strong magic. “You did not confirm there was a contract?” she snarled at me.

  “You weren’t there,” I shot back. “And if you’ll kindly remember, the Emperor put out my third eye. I couldn’t have confirmed it. But Iman said—”

  I froze. No. Oh, blessed Goddess, no.

  I tried to keep my sudden thought from my face, but it was too late. Arianne had stiffened at the sound of her wife’s name.

  “What?” she demanded.

  Liam abandoned subtlety, facing Arianne with the calm stoicism of someone who knew it was their job to get between danger and possible collateral damage. Arianne didn’t spare him a glance. Her full attention was on me.

  “Iman looked into his mind,” I said softly. “She said she felt the contract.” I tensed, ready to jump out of the way if I had to. “She lied.”

  “No.” Arianne’s voice drove that single word into my brain, hot and sharp like a molten railroad spike. The sorceress drew herself up to her full height and pointed one shaking finger at me. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare accuse her.”

  “Listen to me,” I said, trying to stay calm.

  “I w
ill not,” Arianne seethed. “Nikolaos has confessed. He’s confessed.”

  “I told you why I think—”

  “You have no proof!”

  “Moghadam left Borvos Springs,” Liam reminded her, keeping his voice low and even. “The doctor said there was no evidence he suffered from a violated contract.”

  “If the contract had reacted enough to make him claw his throat, enough for Iman to feel it, then the doctor would have known,” I pointed out.

  “She linked her mind with his!” Arianne protested. “How do you know he wasn’t the one lying? He could have faked being affected by a contract.”

  Liam paused. “She has a point.”

  “And he was at the Cleveland Clinic,” Arianne added, clinging to the idea of a new suspect that wasn’t her wife. “When Aubrey died, he was there. We only have his word that she’d asked him to be there.”

  “But we also have Aubrey’s accusation that Iman is the Emperor,” I said.

  “She could have been lying,” Arianne protested.

  “But why? She was going into witness protection, why lie?”

  “Maybe someone forced her!”

  Arianne’s voice was getting louder with every defensive word out of her mouth. And her magic responded to her temper until it snapped against my skin.

  I straightened my spine and drew in a deep breath. “Let’s look at this logically. If there was no contract on Moghadam, that means either he’s lying, and he was able to fool Iman, or Iman is lying.”

  “Or maybe he did have a contract, neither of them are lying, and the doctor is wrong,” Arianne snapped.

  I threw up my hands and pivoted, stomping into the room. Nikolaos turned to watch me, one eyebrow raised in question.

  “You,” I said, jabbing a finger at him. “What do you know about Charity Moghadam?”

  Nikolaos smiled. “A skilled liar. Oh, I’m sorry, I mean lawyer.”

  I pressed my lips together and closed my hands into fists. Arianne stood behind me, her magic sizzling against my spine in subtle warning. I felt as if I were standing in front of a hissing cobra, and that brief thought brought images of Arianne’s nightmare snakes to the forefront of my brain. “What do you know about Stavros Rosso?”

  There. A twinkle in his eyes, a slight quirk in the corner of his mouth. Goddess, help me.

  “I know he was a very powerful wizard. A man who should not be trifled with. Or underestimated.”

  “I thought so too before he died.” I ignored the fury pulsing through the empathic link between me and Peasblossom, putting aside the pixie’s hatred so I could concentrate. “He had his heart cut out. His body burned.”

  “Overkill,” Nikolaos agreed. “And yet…insufficient?”

  He added the questioning lilt at the end to annoy me.

  “You—”

  “Oh, there is one more thing I know about Stavros.”

  “And that is?” Liam demanded from beside Arianne.

  Nikolaos’ eyes darkened, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. “He enjoyed the show you two put on in his office. He was very sorry he never got you into Fortuna’s.” He leaned forward. “And he’s very hopeful that when he starts a new club—for real this time—he’ll be able to convince Iman to perform her magic with you and the goblin again. Preferably with the shifter as well.”

  “Don’t you ever say her name again.” Arianne raised her hands and approached the circle until she was close enough that a nudge of her toe would have broken it. “Give me a reason not to kill you. You set up my wife, left her in that hospital to be branded a murderer. Give me one reason not to make sure you never have a chance to make that mistake again.” She glared at the artifact around his neck. “You won’t have that to save you this time.”

  “She’s going to kill him before we get anymore answers,” Peasblossom hissed.

  “No she won’t,” I murmured. “Look at him. He’s not done.”

  Stavros gave me a wide smile. “Too true, Ms. Renard. I’m not done.” He met Arianne’s eyes, the smile never wavering from his lips. “You won’t kill me, my dear girl, not after I have given you all you need to catch the real Emperor. And if you agree to release me, if you agree to let me go and never come after me for my minuscule part in this misadventure—I will do you one better.”

  He looked at me and Liam. “I’ll tell you how to catch him.”

  Chapter 23

  “We don’t need your help,” Arianne seethed. “I will find him.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Arianne didn’t wait. She whirled around and stormed out of the room, pausing only long enough outside the door to point at Stavros. “Do not release him. Come with me.”

  Liam looked at me, then at Stavros. “Is he secure?”

  “Oh, he’s secure.” I looked around the room, not needing my third eye to know that it was heavily warded. “Even if he could get out of the circle, I don’t like his chance of leaving the room.”

  “Don’t forget to close the door behind us,” Peasblossom warned.

  Liam took a few steps toward the door, but I stayed by Stavros. The wizard looked entirely too pleased with himself. It was an affront to my sensibilities to leave him smiling.

  “You know,” I said thoughtfully. “I expected more.”

  Stavros arched an eyebrow. “Oh? How is that?”

  I shrugged. “Well, correct me if I’m wrong, of course, but you made a deal with a powerful sorcerer to save your life. Yes?”

  “I did.”

  “And the result of that is you are now under contract to said powerful sorcerer. Bound to do anything he says?”

  Stavros tsked and shook his head. “I can’t speak to that. But hypothetically, I can’t help but note that a contract is only relevant while both parties are alive. At least, that’s the clause I always liked to add to my contracts. If I were a party, that is.”

  “Mmm.” I twisted the zipper on my waist pouch back and forth. “And can I assume you have deliberately been attracting people to this case? Arianne, Liam, myself? Drawing attention as much as possible to increase the chance your master would be found out?”

  “I would never!”

  It would have been more believable if he weren’t smiling so big he could scarcely get the words out.

  “See, that’s what I don’t understand. You involved me.”

  Stavros barked out a laugh. “Oh, my dear witch, are you saying I should be worried about you? That the downfall of my plan will be a village witch from Dresden?”

  Peasblossom poked her head out from under my hair, wings buzzing furiously as she shot up to hover in front of me. “Why you—”

  “It’s all right, Peasblossom.” I held up a hand. I wagged a finger at Stavros. “I’m not surprised you involved me because of my power, Mr. Rosso. Though you’ve most certainly underestimated me—again. No, what perturbs me is the fact that you would involve me when I’m privy to certain information gleaned from circumstances surrounding a previous case.”

  The wizard’s smile faltered, but only a little. “I’m afraid I don’t see what you’re getting at.”

  “Obviously. You survived Ian Walsh’s attempt on your life because the sidhe was unaware of your little arrangement,” I said, pointing at his medallion. “But if he were to find out you’re alive—if someone were to tell him, and perhaps clue him in to how you survived—do you think you would survive a second attempt? Do you think he wouldn’t make sure to return and finish what he started—if only to save his reputation?”

  Stavros narrowed his eyes, but then his smile returned. “If I remember correctly, Ian Walsh is in hiding himself. Even if he were to learn of my little deceit, what makes you think he’d come out of hiding?”

  “And who is he hiding from?”

  Stavros shifted and his weight caused the chair to fall to the side where one leg was shorter than the others. His stiffened at the sharp falling sensation, but recovered quickly. Interesting that he’d forgotten about the shorter leg.
r />   “The vampire,” he answered finally.

  I spread my fingers in the air in a “There you have it” gesture. “Ah, yes, that’s right. The vampire. The one who was forced to make significant changes to his business and political relationships…because of you.” I tapped my chin. “I wonder if he would be interested to hear of your miraculous survival?”

  The smile fell from the wizard’s face, washed away as the blood drained from his complexion and left him as pale as the vampire he feared. Mission accomplished, I turned and left him sitting there, stewing in the possibility that he might find himself facing the vampiric crime lord of Cleveland sooner rather than later.

  Liam gave me an amused grin as I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

  “You really think Anton Winters will come after him?” he asked.

  “I think it’s likely enough that he believes me.” I glared back at the door. “I hate cocky wizards.”

  Arianne appeared in the doorway to the conference room Liam had led me to earlier today. “If you are finished flirting in the hallway, perhaps you’d like to join me to stop a murderer?”

  Liam and I held our tongues and did as the angry sorceress said. We filed into the room to find Arianne standing near the table, tapping her foot on the floor with all the patience of a mother trying to get her last child to bed so she could have some time to herself.

  “Detective, take this.”

  Liam looked down at the piece of paper Arianne shoved at him. “What is it?”

  “Notes. I want you to call Moghadam.”

  I blinked. “That’s…very direct.”

  “What makes you think he’s going to answer?” Liam asked.

  Arianne paced the room. “The last time he was here, he accused Nikolaos. He must know by now that we have him. Right now, he needs to know if we believe Nikolaos to be the Emperor, or if we’re still looking.” She stopped and faced Liam. “Moghadam has a life here, contacts, money, property. If he can salvage that, he will.”

  Liam glanced over the notes. “You want me to tell him Nikolaos has confessed to being the Emperor—”