“Did you not just hear what I said about needing to open the restaurant?” Savannah asked. She shook her head in disbelief and laughed. “You can take one after me.”
“But…”
Savannah held up a hand to cut him off. She pointed at him and ordered, “Stay.” She smiled when he dropped back against the pillows. “Good boy.”
“I’m not a dog,” Justin reminded her.
“No, but you’re acting like one right now.” She pursed her lips. “Doggin’ after my ass…”
He leered. “Well, if it wasn’t so fine…”
That made her snort. “And on that note,” she said, “I am taking my fine ass out of here.” Blowing him a kiss, she headed for the bathroom. She had to chuckle again, still finding it hard to wrap her mind around the events of the last two days. Since Saturday night, I’ve met a werewolf and had sex with him – twice. She smiled as her body began to tingle with the recollection of his touches, how good he made her feel inside and out. If she didn’t have to go to work, she would be back in that bed with him right now, letting him give it to her doggie-style. Or would he refer to it as “wolfie-style?” Her libido began to stir and she had bank down against it and focus on her responsibilities. As she told Justin, her life didn’t stop just because he stumbled into it.
But it has changed, she admitted to herself, as she stepped under the water’s spray. Tipping her head back, she closed her eyes and reviewed the things she saw and heard during last night’s astral excursion. She had found herself hovering high above Chicago, looking down at the glowing grid-work of lines that indicated all the places where Justin’s energy connected. Some burned brighter, hot spots where he spent most of his time. She focused on one located north of the city, near Wilmette, and felt the sense of home associated with it. She saw a large manor house set within the walls of a gated community. This is where Justin’s energy formed a pool that felt both stagnant and agitated. He doesn’t like it, here, she remembered thinking. He’s tied to it against his will. Beneath that thick layer of resentment, she found sadness and desolation, and it had touched her heart. How can anyone stay where they feel so lost?
Her astral being had wandered through the house, finally coming to a heavy wood door. Savannah had sensed a great darkness in the room that lay on the other side. Through Justin, she had felt fear and rage and confusion but steeled herself and pressed forward. More emotions had bombarded her, too many to sort out. Images had flashed before her mind’s eye, blurred faces, fire, and blood. She had seen a chair behind a large wood desk with a fresh crack in its surface, and suddenly recalled her dream of the man slumped in that very spot. The memory had flickered and then she saw it again but through Justin’s eyes, and this time she saw the gaping hole in the man’s throat, and she had felt Justin’s reaction to the horror reverberating with one word: Dad.
Savannah had to struggle to stay in control. All that chaotic energy, she thought, and shuddered under the hot water now cascading down her body. I’m lucky I didn’t get stuck there – all that negativity trying to suck me in. She then remembered how the door had opened and she saw the two men she had mentioned to Justin. She could still see the black tendrils of their auras, and she had to pull away out of fear of being touched by that darkness. Pure evil, she thought. That’s what it was.
She wished she knew what they had been trying to find. As spiritually disturbing as she found that place to be, she knew she had to go back – for Justin. He may have some issues, but he doesn’t have what it takes to be a cold-blooded killer. His heart is troubled by the things he’s seen and the life he’s lived but it’s still good. We’re a lot alike, in that respect.
Marveling over her sudden revelation, Savannah finished her shower, dried off, and got dressed. As she descended the stairs to the restaurant, she could smell fresh coffee. She frowned when she saw the machines on the counter, pots full and steaming. “What the heck…?”
“I couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Savannah turned and saw Justin standing in the doorway to the kitchen, dressed and wearing an apron. He finished wiping his hands on a dishtowel before slinging it over his shoulder. Upon closer inspection, Savannah recognized what he had on. “I see you found the rest of Daddy’s clothes,” she remarked.
“It wasn’t hard,” he admitted with a shrug. “I picked up the scent coming from one of the rooms upstairs – I’m assuming it was your parents’.” He cleared his throat and scuffed the floor with his boot. “I, ah, hope I didn’t cross any boundaries…”
The part of Savannah that could not bring herself to pack up her mom and dad’s things and claim their room wanted to protest, but she caught herself. It’s one thing to keep our loved ones alive in our hearts, she thought. It’s another to keep shrines to the past that just remind us of what we’ve lost. She smiled and shook her head. “Nah,” she said, “you’re okay. Take whatever you need. I’ve got to get the rest boxed up and take it to one of the local homeless shelters. The holidays are coming, and I’m sure there are people out there who would be happy to get a coat for Christmas, even second-hand.” She pulled her own apron down from its hook and tied it on. “I’m going to go unlock the door. Do me a favor and light the grill?”
“You got it.” Winking, Justin retreated into the kitchen.
This is so weird, Savannah thought, as she made her way to the front of the café. I haven’t worked with anyone since Daddy died. We were so attuned to each other, functioning like extensions of each other. ”Culinary Companions,” as he used to say. She sighed. I’ve got to admit, it’s nice to have someone to work alongside again.
As she reached the door, Savannah glanced outside – and her eyes widened when she saw that same car from two nights ago idling at the curb on the other side of the street. Her breath hitched and her heart started to race. She could see two men in the car, one behind the wheel and the other beside him in the passenger seat. “Oh, shit,” she muttered. “It’s him. It’s the guy I saw in the room last night.”
They seemed to be doing a visual scan of the surrounding buildings. Then they looked right at the café. Savannah gasped again and pulled back, instinctively using her hands to draw hex signs in the air while whispering hasty incantations to reinforce all her preexisting protection spells. “Spirts, guard this place and all those within. Make the eyes of those who would bring harm look away.”
She continued to backpedal until she bumped into something solid. Savannah looked up and saw Justin. “They’re here,” she told him gravely. “The men who are after you – and the one I saw last night is with them.”
“What?” Instantly, Justin seemed to go on full alert. Savannah saw his eyes illuminate, and when he reached up to grab hold of her shoulders, his fingers looked longer, tipped by thick, curved claws. “I thought you said they wouldn’t find me!” he growled.
“They won’t,” she assured him. She knew he had the strength to crush her but despite his alarm his grip on her arms remained gentle. “They’re probably retracing their steps, trying to figure out where they lost track of you. But they’re not going to find you. They won’t even be able to get within a few feet of the door without feeling sick.” She reached up and stroked his face. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
“You said you recognized the one who was searching my dad’s study?” Justin looked past her at the front of the restaurant. He frowned, his jaw hard-set. “You said I was invisible, right? That they won’t be able to see me, as long as I stay inside?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding.
“Then I should be able to go up to the window and look right at them.” Releasing her, Justin stalked through the dining room. “Point him out, Savannah. I need to know which one of Dad’s so-called trusted Betas was in on his death!”
“You just have to promise me you’re not going to do something stupid and go out there after him!” Savannah said, quickly following. She caught Justin’s wrist and to her surprise he stopped. “Right now, we don’t have any evid
ence to help you clear your name. If you step outside the protections I have up around this building, they’ll see you and they’ll be able to hurt you.”
He sighed. “Fine,” he conceded. “I won’t go out. But I still need to know who he is.”
“All right. I’ll point him out.” Savannah went with Justin to the front door. When she looked out at the street again, the car was nowhere to be seen. She blinked. “They’re gone.”
“Fuck!” Justin raised a clenched fist and Savannah thought he might punch through the glass, but he caught himself at the last moment and visibly forced himself to lower his arm to his side. He closed his eyes and turned away. “Well,” he muttered, “I guess I should be glad that they left. Probably means they’ve decided the trail is too cold.” He sucked in a deep breath and let it out again in a heavy sigh. “But they know I didn’t just drop off the face of the planet. As long as they know I’m alive, they’re not going to stop looking for me.” He grimaced. “The only way to stop them is to prove they’re the ones who killed Dad.”
“I can try again right now,” Savannah announced. She untied her apron and pulled it off over her head. “Now that I’m rested, I can use astral projection to go back in. They were looking for something, an object that would implicate them. If I can find it…”
“Then, what?” Turning to face her again, Justin shrugged and shook his head. “Can you bring it back with you? Can you move it somewhere else?” He reached out and gathered up her hands in his. “You can be my eyes and my ears and go into that place unseen…but if there’s something there that can clear my name, I’ve got to be able to go in physically to get it.”
Savannah stared at him in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind?” she asked. She gave a short, incredulous laugh. “If you go back there and they catch you, they’ll kill you on the spot!”
“What if you went with me?” Justin asked. He nodded to their surroundings. “Right now, you’ve got us protected. Does that only work, here? Or can those spells work anywhere? If they can’t see me right now, why can’t you make me invisible so we can walk right into the community, search Dad’s study, and then walk right back out without anyone noticing?” He searched her eyes with his. “I believe in you, Savannah. Your spells work. With your powers, I know we can do this.” He squeezed her fingers gently. “Please. This may be the only chance I have left to exonerate myself. I just can’t do it without you.”
Savannah looked down at their hands. This could be suicide, she thought. Not just for him, either. They could decide that I know too much and take me out, too. She rubbed her thumbs across his fingers. Hiding him here for the rest of his days is no different from letting him die condemned for something he didn’t do. He’d be alive but he’d be a prisoner, and I couldn’t bear to watch his Wolf spirt die a slow, tortured death without his freedom – especially when I have the power to give it back to him. “I promised to help prove your innocence,” she murmured. “And I always stand by my promises.” Raising her head again, she looked him in the eye. “We’ll take my car.”
Chapter Fourteen
Savannah had closed the restaurant an hour early so she and Justin could drive up to Wilmette. She let him take the wheel since he knew where to go. As they drove through the forest preserve, she peered out through the passenger window at the dark woods. “Why does this feel like a really twisted version of a child’s fairy tale?” She looked over at Justin and smiled. “Instead of meeting a wolf on the way to Grandma’s house, I’m going with a wolf to his house.”
Justin flashed her a grin. “I promise not to eat you when we get there,” he said, and then waggled his eyebrows. “We can do that later, when we get back to your place.”
She rolled her eyes but had to chuckle. Keeping the mood light helped to strengthen her. If she had to be honest, this whole mission made her nervous. She had confidence in her spells but she still worried about Justin and what would happen to him if they got caught. Nothing like walking into the lion’s den, she thought. Or wolf’s, in this case.
Justin turned off the main path onto a little-used service road posted with ‘NO TRESPASSING’ signs. A few minutes later, the light from the car’s high beams revealed a brick wall. Justin put the vehicle in park and cut the engine – including the lights, which left them in total darkness. “The compound is on the other side of that wall,” he said, nodding. “There’s an emergency access gate a few feet to the right. We can go in through there.”
Savannah caught the sleeve of his leather jacket. “Before we go rushing in,” she said, “I think I should scout ahead. I can use astral projection again and take a look around to make sure the coast is clear.” She pulled out her phone and set the timer on it. “Just give me ten minutes. I’ll have a full report when I wake up.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, and in the dim illumination from her phone’s screen she could see the concern on his face.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. She set the phone on the dashboard. Reaching down to her seat’s controls, she angled the back so she could recline comfortably. Justin took her hand and she smiled; he remembered that she needed physical contact with him to access his memory of the complex’s layout. “Back in a bit,” she murmured.
Taking several deep, even breaths, Savannah cleared her mind and allowed herself to slip into a trance state. Her astral spirit rose up, passing through the car’s roof. She flew over the wall and into the compound and took a moment to look around. Following Justin’s thoughts, she found her way to the manor house she had visited before. She could see lights on in the window to the study, and the shadows of people moving around inside. She frowned. Upon slipping through the wall, she saw three people – the same two men who had been here last night, and a willowy older woman wrapped in a long coat, her white hair cascading down her back in a long braid. Savannah marveled at the bright, glowing light that surrounded the woman. Her aura is so pure…I can feel great power coming from her, too.
“Lady Dauphine,” one of the men said with a smile and a respectful bow of his head. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until the end of the week, or at this late hour.” He glanced at the other man, who had been in the car outside the restaurant earlier this morning. “Thank you for escorting our guest in, Samuel. I’ll call for you again to see her out.”
With a silent nod, Samuel turned and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Savannah could see his dark energy outside in the hall, standing guard. She grimaced. We may have to create a diversion to get him out of the way, she thought.
“I hope you will forgive this unannounced intrusion,” Lady Dauphine said. She had a refined manner of speaking and an accent that sounded vaguely Irish or Scots. “I have been beside myself with grief over the shocking news of Randall’s untimely passing. And yes, I have every intention of returning for the funeral service on Friday. But I was compelled to come sooner, to discuss a very important matter.”
“It’s always an honor to be in the presence of a Caledonii priestess, and one of my late uncle’s dearest friends.”
Savannah inhaled. ‘Uncle?’ She looked at the thin, pale man with the tinted glasses and blinked. Then that means this is Justin’s cousin – the “mousy” one who testified against him at his trial. Her eyes narrowed and she felt her anger start to rise. Going by her first impression of him – the terse, domineering man giving orders to his lackey – Savannah suddenly understood. He’s got everyone fooled with that weak-ass nerd act...wait ‘til I tell Justin!
“Thank you, Warren,” Lady Dauphine said, and then seemed to catch herself. “Forgive me, I am so accustomed to my informal relationship with your predecessor…he insisted I address him by name and not title.”
Warren smiled. “Yes, I’m still trying to get used to being called ‘Alpha,’” he said with a chuckle. “And you’ve always known me as ‘Warren.’ I see no reason why that should change.” He gestured to one of the chairs. “Please – have a seat.”
Lady Dauphine held up a sl
ender hand, each of her long fingers adorned with jeweled rings. “With all due respect, I would prefer to remain standing.” She turned and glided over to the fireplace. “Do you know how I learned of Randall’s death?” she asked, as she gazed into the flames. “I had been asleep, and his spirit visited me in a dream. He told me he had been murdered.” She closed her eyes. “When I woke the next morning, I knew it had been no dream.” She pressed her fist to her heart. “I could feel it, even before I received a call from Gerard, informing me…”
“Yes, it was terrible,” Warren said, pouring on the solemnity. “We really should have seen it coming, too. My cousin Justin, as I’m sure you know, was a deeply disturbed individual.”
“While I must admit he has led a very troubled existence,” Lady Dauphine said, “I would not call him ‘disturbed.’ He and his father may have had their differences, and Randall often confided in me about this, but there is no force in this world or any other that could drive his hand to take his father’s life. Which brings me to the reason for tonight’s visit.” She turned to face Warren. “I have come on behalf of Randall Waylan, at the urging of his spirit, to allow him to use my voice and speak through me in naming his true killer.”
Warren’s smile faded. “What do you mean?”
Lady Dauphine took a step toward him. “In the breast pocket of your coat, you carry the proof – something you lost that night, but have since recovered. It bears the blood of your kin…your victim.” As she spoke, she raised her hand, and Savannah could see magic spark from the crone’s fingertips. “In the name of the Tuadha D’Anu, I command you to confess to your crime!”
At that moment, Savannah saw the door open. Samuel slipped back into the room and came up behind Lady Dauphine, a gun visible in his hand. “Look out!” Savannah cried. Normally, no one would be able to hear her from the astral plane.
But Lady Dauphine, a witch in her own right, did. She whirled around in the direction of Savannah’s voice, and looked right at her. Then she swung her arm, pointed at Savannah, and shouted something that could have been ancient Pictish. Suddenly, Savannah found herself unable to move, her spirit locked in a kind of astral stasis.
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