“Kitt?” Raven’s voice was distorted, sounding both far away and close at the same time. “Are you okay?”
“Shit . . . aconite.”
Kitt couldn’t tell who said that—her hearing felt just as blurred as her vision. Wolfsbane, Aconitum vulparia, was toxic to Bestiabeos. Her heart seemed to be beating inside her eardrums. She swayed, her vision doubled, trebled, and then clouded. The floor rushed up to meet her.
“Can you hear me?” The voice came from far away. Too far away. “Kit . . .”
Chapter 26 - Poison Dreams
Raven paced the floor of the recreation room. Antoinette had convinced him not to go to the hospital with Kitt by having Jenni knock him out. By the time he came around, he was already back at the Bunker.
“She shouldn’t have been there.”
“They were only having a drink and some fun.” Oberon sat with his right ankle resting on his left knee and his left arm resting along the back of the sofa.
He looked far too relaxed for Raven’s liking. “And Cal, what about her?”
“Tones took her straight home—”
Raven stopped, frustrated and afraid. “Who would do such a thing?”
“We don’t know. Antoinette’s back at the bar questioning the patrons and staff,” Oberon said, his voice annoyingly calm.
“No, I’m not,” Antoinette said from the doorway. “I called Bianca to go to the hospital.”
Oberon came to his feet. “Did anyone find anything?”
“Not really, but Buddy came back in and gave me the surveillance video,” she said, holding up a CD. “Jenni’s really beating herself up over this.”
Oberon stood and took the CD from Antoinette. “I’ll get Tones to go over it as soon as he gets back.”
“I’ll go over it now,” Raven said and reached for the CD.
“No, you won’t.” Oberon put a hand on Raven’s chest.
He dropped his gaze to it. “You going to move that or am I going to take it off at the elbow?”
“You’re too close to this.” Oberon didn’t move for a second, then leaned in so he spoke only to Raven. “And it won’t do her any good. Just take a deep breath.”
His eyes rose to the ursian’s face—they locked in a silent battle of wills, and then Raven turned to slam his fist through the wall.
Oberon crossed his arms. “Feel better?”
“Hell yes,” Raven spat and then shook his head. “I haven’t felt this fucking helpless since they took the girls away.”
The ursian clasped his shoulder. “I know.”
Raven could see that, despite his outward appearance, Oberon really was just as frustrated.
At a noise in the hall, Antoinette disappeared. “Bianca’s back,” she called. “With Kitt.”
Raven raced out the door to find Bianca supporting the woman he loved—pale, shaky, and very vulnerable.
He stomped forward and swept her up in his arms despite her weak protestations. She was light as he carried her to his room and laid her tenderly on the bed.
“You should’ve stayed in hospital,” he said. Some of the pain and frustration he felt made his voice harsher than he intended.
“You don’t have to worry,” she whispered.
She knew him so well.
Her weak smile made her pale face a tiny bit brighter. “I’m fine. They pumped my stomach and gave me a shot of digitalis to counteract the effects of the Aconitum.”
He smoothed back her hair. She’d nearly died. If Cal hadn’t been there to recognize the poison that could fatally harm an Animalian, he would have lost her. The words caught in his throat, choking him. He knelt beside the bed and laid his head just below her breasts, wrapped his arm across her stomach, holding her as tight as he could without crushing her bones.
The moment her fingers stroked his hair his control broke.
***
Oberon stood at the door watching Raven’s shoulders shaking as he clung with desperation to a very pale and fragile Kitt. He pulled the door closed to give them privacy.
The canian confused him. Oberon could see how much the two were completely lost without each other. Why couldn’t they see it too? Raven’s devastation at her condition had to prove something to Kitt. It broke his heart to see the pain they were both in, but they would have to sort that out for themselves. Other things needed his attention right now.
Tones was back and stood in front of the large smart screen.
“What’ve we got?” Oberon asked as he stopped beside the Aeternus and looked at the frozen bar scene on the screen.
“There are multiple cameras to work from.” Tones reached up and touched a symbol to the side of the picture. The screen split into four images, each showing a different angle of the bar. “It is a really good setup, very professional. I’ve set it up to go frame for frame in sync from each angle.”
“When is this?” Antoinette said, coming up behind them.
Tones turned to her. “See, there’s you leaving the dance floor. And there’s me talking to a couple of hot babes.” He turned around grinning. “They liked my dancing.”
Oberon crossed his arms, mainly to stop from reaching out and shaking the shit out of Tones. He seemed to sense Oberon’s impatience because the grin disappeared and he turned back to the board.
Tones cleared his throat and tapped a symbol to start the video moving again. “Anyway, here’s Kitt and her daughter talking to the ursians.”
Antoinette leaned in. “Stop a minute and go back a bit.”
Tones did as she asked and Oberon tried to see what she caught. “There, stop. Can you bring this up and go frame by frame.”
The three other camera angles disappeared and the lower bottom image filled the screen. Tones tapped the side and the video moved forward one frame at a time.
“There,” she said. “Did you see it?”
The one behind Cal looked over his partner’s shoulder and nodded to someone off camera.
“Can we track it back and find out where these two came from?” Oberon asked.
“Sure thing, Captain.” Tones moved his fingers around the screen; pictures flew past as Tones’s eyes flicked from image to image. Then he stopped— “There. At the bar.” The screen paused. “See the guy talking to the ursians?”
He started the images moving again at quarter speed. The new player kept his head down and the brim of a cowboy hat pulled low, but he wore a suit.
The ursians nodded, looked over toward Kitt and Cal, and nodded again. Then the guy with the cowboy hat slipped something into one of their hands.
“Do you think he’s paying them?” Antoinette asked.
Tones said, “Let’s take a look at what he’s doing during the fight.”
The images streamed by at top speed, then Tones froze the screen to show the man in the cowboy hat keeping his head down as he leaned back against the bar, propping himself up with his elbows.
Oberon slapped Tones on the shoulder. “Can you zoom in on him?”
Tones tapped the screen several times and with each rerendering the image deteriorated a little more, but got the close-up enlarged enough to show a gold-coin ring on the ring finger of the man’s left hand and a small birthmark near his wrist.
“I’ll make a hard copy of that,” Tones said as he hit a button on one side and reset the screens again.
Tones may be quirky, but he was a true genius when it came to this stuff. He took the frames forward slowly, using the other camera angles to track the suspect. The male knew cameras were on him because he never lifted his head high enough for a camera to get a full shot of his face.
With head down, the man in the hat snuck a look over his shoulder and slid a hand into his pocket.
On another screen, the fight broke out. The hat guy turned and watched; they couldn’t see his face, but Oberon could tell from the male’s stance that he was satisfied with the outcome. A drink identical to Kitt’s sat on the bar beside him. The coyote barman stood back from the bar, lookin
g around uncertainly—Jenni Goodblood, nowhere to be seen. When the Amazonian female came through a side door carrying a box of liquor a few moments later, it was all over. She quickly surveyed the scene with narrowed eyes and zoned in on the huddled fight in the middle and turned to silently yell through the open door.
Raven appeared in the doorframe a second later.
Oberon glanced at the other screens. Kitt handled herself very well, especially with the humans; she’d watched the others, her face focused, looking for an opening to jump in.
“I didn’t think she had it in her,” Antoinette said. “But look at the way she watches, tense and on the balls of her feet, ready to pounce if necessary.”
Pride welled in his chest. “Kitt’s always been a fighter, but usually does it with her brain rather than actual physical fighting.”
The brawl stopped as the bartender slammed the two heads together.
“THERE!— Did you see it?” Tones yelled.
“What?” Oberon asked.
Tones took the video back several frames. “Watch the lower right-hand corner of the top left screen.”
Everyone had their backs turned away from the table Kitt, Tones, and Antoinette occupied, which had miraculously survived upright. The man in the hat slid by smoothly, pulling his hand from his pocket and tipping over Kitt’s drink before slipping away and out the door. He left the unrequired cocktail sitting on the bar.
Oberon got Tones to rewind and play it again. The move was so smooth, so effortless. No one noticed him. Everyone in the bar was focused on the action in the center of the room.
Tones zoomed in on Kitt’s image as she sat down and reached for the drink. She took a long pull on the straw. The color drained from her face as she turned to speak on the soundless video. She staggered slowly to her feet as she tried to stand up but knocked over her chair and fell forward to brace herself against the table.
Then her knees gave out and she collapsed sideways. On the screen, Cal picked up the cocktail, dipped her pinky finger, and sniffed.
“That’s where Cal detected a large quantity of aconite in the drink. She was amazing—she stuck her fingers straight down Kitt’s throat, making her vomit up the poison,” Antoinette said.
“It saved her life.” Bianca came up behind them. “Do you think it has anything to do with the Dark Brethren?”
“No—this seems personal and calculated, different from either the dreniac attacks or the campus killer,” Tones replied. “Too cowardly.”
He was right. It lacked the bloodiness.
Oberon had his suspicions. “I’ve a feeling we’re going to have one pissed-off wolf on our hands.”
Kitt snuggled against the warmth and opened her eyes to find Raven staring at her.
A slow smile stole across his mouth as he reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Do you know how much you scared me today?”
“Probably as much as I scared myself.” She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. “But I’m all right now.”
“What happened?” he asked, stroking her face.
How was she supposed to think with him touching her like that? She closed her eyes and tried. “I remember the fight breaking out. And afterward I sat down and took a drink, but it tasted different. It’s my fault for not checking. I’m sure it was just a mistake.”
“Hmm . . .” Raven frowned. “I’m not sure anyone else thinks that.”
“What else could it be?” Why would anyone want to kill me?
“Let’s just see what the others come up with,” he said, his expression guarded.
His touch was soothing and she soon found it difficult to keep her eyes open. The sound of his voice was almost hypnotic and lulling.
Raven leaned over and kissed her. Kitt murmured in her sleep as he snuck out of the room, and closed the door quietly. He could hear hushed voices coming from Oberon’s office. They stopped the moment the ursian spotted him through the glass panel wall as he came down the corridor.
“What’ve you found out?” he asked without any preamble.
Oberon leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Nothing much yet.”
Tones seemed to be avoiding him. The Aeternus looked down at his hands, at Oberon, and anywhere else that wasn’t in Raven’s direction. He knew something. And Raven had a better chance of getting something out of Tones than Oberon, but not while the ursian was around. He’d have to wait for the Aeternus to leave and ask him then.
As if reading his thoughts, Tones stood up. “I think I’ll head home now.”
Oberon nodded as he picked up some papers and glanced at Raven before waving Tones off. “I’ve a few more things to do here before I leave. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
The Aeternus male left the room with a cursory nod to Raven.
“I’d best get back to Kitt. I don’t want to leave her alone too long.”
“Before you go, I’d like a word.”
“Okay.” Raven could still see Tones as he headed toward the Bunker exit.
“I know you and Kitt have history.” Oberon stood, towering over Raven. “But you hurt her again and I’ll tear you apart.”
“If I hurt her again,” Raven said, looking up, “I’ll let you.”
Oberon inclined his head once, a small predatory smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Then, that’s a promise. And close the door on your way out.”
Raven pulled the office door shut and hurried back down the corridor to his room.
Kitt was still sleeping when he crept in. Careful, so as not to wake her, he grabbed his shoes and a shirt and walked into the sparse bathroom. He slipped on his shirt and climbed onto the toilet cistern.
The screws on the vent cover were bogus. He tugged off the metal grate held on by the magnetic clips he’d attached fifty years ago. He could never cop to the fact there was only one way in and out of the complex—if they ever got cut off, they’d be trapped in here. And that scared the shit out of him. So he’d set about making his own back door for emergency use. He tossed in his shoes first and hauled himself up to the metal opening. It was a tight squeeze, but not impossible; and he’d done it many times before in years gone by.
Halfway down, he slid open another metal panel and crawled out into the old airshaft. From there it was an easy climb up to the exit hidden on the Animalian reserve.
Tones would’ve had a head start. Raven just hoped he hadn’t left the parking lot. A large section of the car park was under cover so the Aeternus faculty and staff didn’t have to worry about direct sunlight.
Tones’s Jeep was still there, but no sign of the Aeternus. As he was walking through the parking lot, a familiar dark scent wafted on the wind.
The killer.
He’s here.
Raven loped forward, following the fresh trail. He was close. Very close. He changed his eyes and his face to enhance his canian senses. A few feet from Tones’s car, he saw a dark droplet. He squatted and dipped the tip of his first two fingers into the sticky spot, then rubbed it with his thumb pad and sniffed. The dark metallic scent confirmed his worst fears.
Blood.
He sniffed the smear again.
Aeternus blood. Tones’s blood.
The scent trail led to the small gap between two buildings, and Raven raced across the grass to continue following it. He entered a recess used as a make-out spot, given the privacy of the eight-foot wall at the end.
Grunting sounds greeted him from within the darkness. They could be mistaken for the sounds of just another amorous couple having a semi-public fuck, if it wasn’t for the strong scenting of fresh Aeternus blood. In the corner of the alcove, a hunched figure leaned over something on the ground. Raven crept closer. The smell of the blood grew stronger.
The figure wore some sort of camouflage coveralls and a hood or beanie. He turned around and stared directly at Raven. Whether it was male or female, it was difficult to tell. The figure spun. It was definitely a beanie, and ski goggles covered the
face. The figure stood, raced for the wall, and started to climb within a blink of an eye. Raven gave chase, but as he passed the body on the ground, he looked down and saw Tones’s eyes staring up.
Go after the killer or get Tones to help. He was torn. The predator in him said chase; the man in him said help. He ran and prepared to jump after the fleeing killer. The thought of Kitt entered his head unbidden. If Tones died, she’d never forgive him.
He stopped.
Punched the wall.
And turned back to Tones.
His chest had been ripped open and wasn’t healing as it should be. Dark Aeternus blood soaked his clothes and was splashed on nearby walls; his mouth was stuffed with a gag. Raven yanked it out and tossed it aside. He scooped the male up into his arms and Tones’s limbs flopped to the side, unmoving.
The only way to go to the hub was through the front door. People turned and gasped as he carried Tones’s bloody body across the lobby to the elevators. No one stopped him—no one even tried. They all stood back, stunned.
The elevator doors opened and he pressed the lowest level on the panel with his toe while he juggled to hold Tones steady. Nothing happened. He stared up at the camera in the corner, sending the watcher a silent message, hoping to communicate his meaning. Suddenly the elevator started to descend. The Aeternus was conscious, but paralyzed, and didn’t utter a sound the entire trip in the elevator.
When the doors slid open, Oberon was waiting for him. “What happened?”
“Your killer. He’s struck again.” Raven let Oberon help carry Tones. “He’s in a pretty bad way.”
The ursian nodded. “Let’s get him inside quickly.”
Navigating the circular stairs was difficult, but they got him downstairs.
Oberon carried the wounded male into the conference room and lay him on the table. “Go wake Kitt.”
“I’m already here.” She raced forward, but slid to a halt as she saw blood covering Raven. Her eyes widened.
“It’s all his,” he consoled. “Go. See to Tones.”
“I need hot water and fresh towels,” Kitt said as she raced to Tones’s side. “Fetch me some surgical instruments.”
Death’s Sweet Embrace Page 23
