“Will it hurt—like it did with Damon and Nelson?” She took a sip from her glass, her ice blue eyes on his. She was trying to be strong, but after the pain she’d been through, he could see the fear creep into her eyes.
He resisted the urge to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close, the investigation be damned. Yet he could not. As she was always fond of reminding him, he was chancellor and had a responsibility to uphold the law, even if it meant he and everyone around him suffered the consequences. One did not become chancellor if you could not make the sacrifice.
Mason took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll do my best to be as gentle as possible, but it will still likely cause you discomfort.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed over shimmering ponds, while she took a ragged breath. He should hold her, comfort her. Instead he stood there, frozen to the spot, waiting for her to come around. She was strong—stronger than anyone gave her credit for.
He saw her steel herself with determination, her gaze locked on his. “Will you be able to find the information you need if I am intoxicated?”
Mason gave it some thought. “I should still be able to access the memory and details. However, there may be a better option than brandy.”
Mason took her hand and led her upstairs to his sleeping chambers. Once there, he went to the side table where he kept a tray with a few different spirits and a couple of glasses. He picked up a bottle of dark amber glass and poured them each a small glass of the green liquid. It was a curious drink, its affect upon one’s person unlike nothing else.
She sat by the fire and he handed her a glass. “Here you are, love. This should help.”
Lilly took a sip of the herbal elixir, and then took a better look at the liquid in her glass. “What is this? I’ve never had it before.”
Mason smiled. “It’s called Viridis, and no, you would not have tasted it before. It’s from a different place and a different time, and I think you’ll find its qualities rather unique.” He drank from his own glass, the warmth of the alcohol burning his throat, while the taste of herbs mixed with a hint of sweetness. It was pleasant enough, though one did not drink Viridis for the taste.
He tucked a loose strand behind her ear. “It’ll take a while for the drink to have an effect, and I’d like to check in on Pierce before we get started. I should have already stopped to see him, but wanted to make sure you were all right after what happened.”
“He’ll be happy to see you. He was worried about the investigation—that he’d not been there to help you.”
He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll be but a moment.”
Mason did not bother knocking on Pierce’s door, worried that he’d wake him if he were asleep. In the end, he need not have worried. Mason closed the door behind him and went to Pierce’s side. “You should be trying to get some sleep. How are you feeling?”
Pierce shrugged, and then pushed the covers down to reveal where he’d been stabbed. “The wound’s nearly healed and I’m bored to tears.”
“You’re always bored unless you’re causing trouble.” Mason leaned in for a closer look and then ran his hand over the still angry looking scar, Pierce’s skin hot and uneven to the touch. It’d take at least another day for the skin to return to normal—if he got the rest he needed.
“What happened with the murder? Were we able to find anything else?”
“Not really.” Mason sat on the edge of the bed, ignoring the fact that Pierce was practically naked. They’d been in far more precarious situations before, and given half a chance, Pierce was usually in some state of undress. “Did she tell you it was Jack who saved her from the maniac that stabbed you?”
Pierce’s brow furrowed and he shook his head. “No, she didn’t. Were you able to trace Jack’s essence then or had it dissipated by the time you got back?”
“It was still there, but just barely and in all likelihood, untraceable. To be honest, I felt I owed him a bit of a reprieve—just for today.” When Pierce frowned in consternation, Mason dropped his head in his hands with a ragged sigh. “He kept her from coming to harm.”
Mason second-guessed himself yet again. There was a good chance Jack could be in custody had it not been for his feelings for Lilly. What was he doing? He’d put everything on the line for the favor of a woman.
Pierce put a comforting hand on Mason’s shoulder. “You’re right. There’d not be enough of his energy to follow, and he’s been smart enough to cover his tracks.” They were words designed to ease Mason’s guilt, even if they were likely true.
“I’ve yet to see her reconstruction of the murder, but I’m hopeful it’ll give us something to go on. Do you think you’d be up for it? I could use a second set of eyes.”
Pierce was already tossing back the covers, his naked body padding across the room. “Just try and make me stay in that bed.” He threw on a night shirt and pants before following Mason to his room where Lilly was waiting.
Mason sat by her side and took her hand in his. “I hope you do not mind, but I’ve asked Pierce to join us. He’ll tap into my mind so he can see everything you show me.”
“While you’re in my head?” Fear flickered in her eyes, muted by the effects of the herbal she’d been drinking. Still, Mason was quick to set her at ease.
“For you, it will be exactly as if it’s just the two of us. Did you finish the elixir?” Lilly nodded in response.
Mason could already feel it coursing through his own blood, electrifying every nerve in his body. Though the herbal had a soothing and euphoric effect upon a person, it was valued most importantly for its other attributes—sensitizing skin and heightening one’s pleasure. It was even rumored to bring on orgasm with a single kiss.
Pierce wandered over and poured himself a glass. “You sneaky bastard. How long have you been hoarding this bottle?”
Mason shook his head. “You’re the last person to need that sort of encouragement. And had I told you, you’d have the bottle polished off in the course of a night.”
Lilly looked between the two of them in question. “Exactly what effect does this drink have?”
“It helps with your mood, love.” Mason certainly wasn’t ready to tell her the full extent of the elixir’s benefits, and certainly not in front of Pierce. She’d never forgive him for such an embarrassment, for in so many ways, she was still so very human. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. “I want to get this over with, but...”
“What is it?”
She looked away, her fingers playing with the linen of her skirt. “You’ll only look at the murder?”
“Of course, love. I’d not invade your mind like that.” And though it was the truth, guilt nagged at him, for he already knew her secret. “Are you ready then?”
When she nodded, Mason gently cradled her head in his hands. “I’ll be as gentle as possible, though you may still feel some discomfort.” He nodded to Pierce, who came to his side and laid a hand on the back of Mason’s neck. “I want you to think of your memory of Jack, and then picture yourself at the scene of the today’s murder.”
The first time he’d helped her visualize the murder, he hadn’t been in her head. This time, things were different. Though he did his best to pull himself into her thoughts slowly, she still let out an anguished moan, pain lining her face. Pierce then followed suit, and Mason tensed against the sharp throbbing in his head.
Mason saw her wrapped in Jack’s arms as he made love to her, the rain and wind pounding against the window. Jealousy sparked, but he pushed it away as she moved on to the murder.
Jack stood over the woman’s body, a bloody knife in his hand, her gut already ripped open, the entrails tossed about. He then plunged the knife into her gut, over and over again, the organs quickly removed. It was a bloody affair, though Jack executed it with the precision of a surgeon. It took all of a few minutes for him to complete the brutality and then he was gone, the woman laying there in the open.
However, there was
one more thing he needed to see before he pulled out of her head. “I need to see the beginning, Lilly. Can you go back further?”
She shook her head, her voice sounding strained under the pain. “That was all I saw.” Mason released his hold on her thoughts and Pierce followed suit.
Mason pulled her into his arms and held her to him, knowing the pain she endured. Yet even as she melted against his chest with his heart pounding against hers, he could not help but think of her with Jack. There’d been genuine feeling between them, and though he did not care for Jack—or seeing Lilly in the arms of another—he understood why it was hard for her to see him as a deranged murderer.
Pierce knelt before her and handed her another glass of the herbal. “It will help you leave all this behind.”
As she took the glass from Pierce, he glanced over at Mason in question, though what exactly he was asking, Mason did not know. He also wasn’t sure how good an idea it’d be to give her more Viridis. She was half their size, and Mason could already feel the effects of the herbal with Lilly’s body pressed against his. Indeed, it was all he could do to keep his mind on the matter at hand. He’d like nothing more than to carry her off to his bed, the investigation and Pierce be damned.
He forced himself to return to the investigation while he could still think straight, for he’d not be able to resist her long. “Lilly, did you see the beginning of the murder with Nelson? We only saw what happened after the woman had been murdered.”
She sat up and turned to face him. “No. You saw all that I was able to retrieve. I have no experience with this sort of thing, Mason.”
He hated doing this to her, but there was no choice. “Lilly, I’ll also need to see the very first murder. I thought your account of what happened would be enough, but I’m afraid it isn’t with all that’s happened.”
Her face collapsed into despair. “Please, Mason. I’m begging you. Don’t make me do it. My head feels like you cleaved it in two.”
Mason ran a rough hand down his face searching for the strength he’d need to hold his ground. “Lilly, I need to do my job. Something feels out of place, and I need to figure it out. I’d not ask this of you otherwise.”
“And if I refuse?” Anger sparked in her eyes, and Mason felt his groin swell. Between his weakness for her fiery temper and the herbal coursing through his veins, he barely had any control. “Are we back to dragging me before the Elders?”
Pierce shot him another look, but Mason ignored it and turned his focus back to her. “Finish your drink, Lilly.”
“I’ll not let you do this, Mason. It was bad enough to go through it once with Nelson, and horrible to go through it again with you. But to go through yet another murder—one Damon saw first hand—when you were just in my head? No. I refuse to.”
His tone was stern, but it was his only defense against his weakness for her. “Lilly…”
“Mason…”
“Children.” Pierce’s voice broke through the tension. “Why don’t we find another way to go about this, aye? There are other alternatives to easing the pain.”
“Such as?” Lilly crossed her arms in front of her chest, one eyebrow perked in question.
Pierce winked at her. “Start drinking that herbal, love. Once you’re well and drunk, we’ll distract you.”
“Distract me?” She looked from Pierce to Mason, her eyes narrowing to slits. “And how exactly would you do that?”
Mason shook his head, knowing full well what Pierce intended. “No. We’ll leave it for tomorrow when you’re feeling better.”
Pierce put a hand on his shoulder. “You know it would work.”
Lilly’s hands clenched into fists. “Stop acting as if I’m not even here. And if you’re not going to have the decency to tell me what you intend to do when I’ll be the one on the receiving end, then you can count me out—you and your investigation can go to hell.”
She waited for him to say something, and when he didn’t she got to her feet and headed for the door. Mason debated letting her go, for it’d be far easier than getting her to agree to their proposition. Unless he didn’t ask.
Lilly already had the door open when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the room, closing the door behind them. He silenced her curses with a hard kiss, losing himself in her as the herbal set his passions alight. Also under its influence, Lilly was in no condition to protest, and her kisses deepened while his hands tugged at her clothing, Pierce long forgotten.
Every kiss, every touch, left him aching for her, his need ignoring the part of his brain that kept reminding him of the investigation. They’d get to it soon enough.
He lifted her off her feet and she wrapped her legs around his waist, his hard length pressing against the fabric of his trousers in search of release.
And then she shook her head as if trying to clear, confusion upon her face. “Mason… what exactly does that herbal do?”
Chapter Nineteen
“And you weren’t going to tell me?” Lilly’s temples throbbed as the blood rushed to her face, fueled by her anger and embarrassment.
“Pierce, would you give us a moment?” Mason glanced at his lieutenant, but Lilly wasn’t having it.
“He stays. He’s just as guilty as you are.” She’d not add that Pierce was far easier to read. With Mason, she never knew if he was hiding something or telling her the truth. “So what exactly was this plan of yours?”
She glanced from one guilty party to the next, and then focused in on Pierce—and that shit-eating grin—as it all became too clear. She gasped in dismay. “You wouldn’t!”
“Lilly, it’s not what you think.” Mason pleaded with her, making her second guess herself. Until she looked back over at Pierce.
“Isn’t it?” Her own voice sounded shrill and panicked. Why did she think Mason had changed? His role as chancellor would always come before her, a threat to drag her before the Elders waiting in the wings. And now this. He was willing to seduce her with other-worldly spirits and share her with another, all so he could get the information he needed. Never mind how she’d feel about the sordid affair once the herbal wore off.
She’d been so stupid to hand him her heart.
“Can I explain? Please?” He ran a hand down her arm, twining his fingers with hers. “There’s something about the murders that’s not sitting right with me. But it’s like a dream slipping through my fingers. If I don’t soon figure out what’s bothering me, it’ll be gone. There’s a way to make it less painful when I go into your head, and to be honest, it’s a far more pleasant experience.”
As always, Pierce came to Mason’s defense. “There’s a fine line between pleasure and pain, my dear.”
Pierce moved to her side, his body brushing against hers as he caressed her cheek. A shiver laced with need traveled down her spine. The herbal’s affect on her was overwhelming, each touch a siren call to an ecstasy promised.
He leaned in, his cheek brushing hers as he whispered in her ear, her skin prickling in reaction as her eyelids fluttered closed. “When you’re engulfed in pleasure, pain is only another layer of sensation to push you towards that lovely edge—pleasure unlike anything you’ve imagined.”
When Pierce kissed her, she nearly melted into his arms, before coming to her senses enough to take a step back. Her head was dizzy with need, and words failed her.
She looked to Mason not sure of what to say, but he just stood there looking at her. There was no anger, no embarrassment, no jealousy. Nothing. He was chancellor, and the only thing that mattered was getting the information he needed for his investigation. How he got it, obviously did not matter.
Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Do whatever you want with me. But when you’re done? We’re through.”
“Pierce.” Mason gave him barely a glance, but words were seldom needed between the two of them. Without a word, Pierce left the room. “You know better than to pay him much heed.”
“Are you trying to tell me that I
’ve mistaken your intentions? That I’m somehow overreacting?” Lilly knew she was yelling, but could not help herself. By the gods, she was going to murder the bastard. She shook her head as she stammered in search of words that once again escaped her.
His gaze softened and she knew he’d set aside his role as chancellor. “Lilly, I’d not have you do anything you’re not at ease with. You know me better than that, aye? You’re too important to me, and I’ll not ruin what we’ve only just started.”
He stepped to her side to pull her into his arms, but she fought to get free of him. “Let go of me, Mason.”
But he did not. He held onto her until she could take no more. The tears escaped as all that happened that day came crashing down upon her—the murder, Stefan’s assault, and her all too near seduction. When he scooped her into his arms and carried her to his bed, she let him, his strong arms offering her the comfort she needed.
Jack - A Grim Reaper Romance Page 15
