by Kate Pearce
“I want to see Delia first, and then I want to see Brad’s body.”
“Sure. I’ll come with you.”
He halted, his hand on the back of the chair. “You don’t have to follow me around.”
“Yes, I do.” She raised her chin to meet his gaze. “Let me show you where Delia is.”
* * *
Ella studied the nurse. Delia looked as if she were having an excellent nap. Only the fact that her eyes were still open gave a clue that it wasn’t exactly a natural kind of sleep.
“Can you get her out of it, Morosov?” She still whispered, even though she knew Delia couldn’t hear her.
“I’m not sure.”
Vadim sounded exhausted. She had the strangest urge to pick him up, wrap him in a blanket and take him home to bed. Not that he’d be any use to her there, but at least she could hold him close and look after him...
“Ms. Walsh, what’s wrong?”
Had her horror shown on her face? A ministering angel she was not. Damn Vadim for putting her in touch with her feminine side.
“Is she in a Fae trance?” She concentrated hard and found it impossible to penetrate Delia’s mind. It was as if a thick fog surrounded her thoughts.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I’m not sure how to break the spell.”
Even though the only other personnel in the room were SBLE, Vadim spoke as quietly as she did.
“But you can do everything.”
“Not this time.” He removed his hand from Delia’s. “If she’s not better in the morning, I can try something more radical. I just hope that whatever our murderer did will eventually wear off. He has no motive for killing her.”
“As if that ever bothered the Fae.”
“True.” His smile was slight and looked painful. “Shall we go down to the ER?”
She nodded at the security team and shut the door behind them. It was quiet, as if the building held its breath, waiting to see who would win the nightly struggle over life and death the hospital waged. They walked back along the hallway toward the exit. She almost bumped into Vadim when he suddenly stopped in front of Brad’s old room. She frowned. Shouldn’t someone be guarding this space?
He put his hand on her arm and she cautiously opened her senses to the fractured magic around them.
“Is someone in there?”
“I don’t know.”
He pushed open the unlatched door and they both viewed the scene. Everything looked the same. The bed was still at a crazy angle, Brad’s ripped-off bandages lay on the floor and everywhere there was glass shining in the light coming through the broken window and the hallway.
She shivered. “Can’t they even board up the window?”
Vadim didn’t answer her. His attention seemed to be riveted on the floor by the window, where the glass was...
“Shit, it’s moving around!”
His fingers tightened on her arm. Shards of glass glittered and writhed on the floor. Tiny flashes of crimson—Vadim’s blood?—joined the mass of movement and formed into characters displayed against the floor. She didn’t understand the language. From the hitch in her partner’s breath, she reckoned he did.
“Is that Fae?”
He still didn’t answer her as the glass swirled and finally dispersed into a sea of dangerous shards.
“Morosov?”
He shook his head and walked out of the room, leaving her to chase after him. She poked him in the side.
“What was that all about?”
“Just a message from Adam.”
“Saying what?”
“To back off.”
“As if we would.”
He stopped moving and looked down at her, his gaze shadowed. “Maybe we should just let him be.”
“And stand back and watch his mutilate two more people on our watch? You’re nuts if you think I’d go along with that.” She practically stamped her foot. “What’s wrong with you?”
His smile was wry. “Perhaps I’m scared.”
“You? The big bad bird?”
“You can’t win every battle, Ella. I’m living proof of that. Sometimes it’s better to let something go, and avoid causing harm to even more people you care about.”
“Everyone who works for the SBLE knows the risks of dealing with Otherworld. None of them are cowards. Do you really think that a threat from a secret sect would make them all run away?”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
“But it’s still the truth. If we let Adam get away with this, the next monster might want to take ten lives or twenty. Do we turn away from that, as well? Eventually we’ll have nothing left to protect, and our world will be annexed. I’m not going to let that happen.” She paused to stare up at him. “Are you?”
“You’re a brave woman, Ella Walsh.”
“Humph.” She started moving again, and after a moment, he followed her down the stairs to the ER.
Brad’s body hadn’t been put in the morgue yet but was being guarded in a more private area in the ER. Ms. Phelps saw them approaching and told the security guards to let them through. She held a handkerchief to her mouth and looked to be on the verge of passing out.
“He’s in there.” She waved a helpless hand at the door. “Please forgive me if I can’t accompany you.”
Ella patted her shoulder as they went past. Even if you’d seen as many dead bodies as she had, they were never easy.
She waited until Vadim closed the door behind him and joined her beside the corpse. The smell already reminded her of a rotting apple or a compost heap. She carefully uncovered the body and stared down at Brad’s now-motionless face.
“His body’s a mess. Why isn’t his face smashed in?”
Vadim put his hand out and passed it over Brad’s skin. His magic resonated through Ella. “Because the face doesn’t belong to him.”
“Like it’s not connected or touched by his death?”
“I assume so.”
“Will someone, or something, come and take it back?”
“I don’t know. If Adam wanted it, why didn’t he just take it when he got in to see Brad?”
“Because he wanted him to die more than he wanted the face back?”
“I suspect that’s part of it.” Vadim pulled the sheet back up over what remained of Brad. “The magic feels the same to me. How about you?”
“Like Adam? Yeah, that’s what I’m getting too. At least we can assume he’s working alone.”
“Apart from his affiliation with the sect.”
“Which we haven’t confirmed.”
“Oh, he’s connected. I’m convinced of that now.” Vadim washed his hands at the sink, and she did the same. “We should be getting back to the office.”
“I’m still driving.” She dug out his car keys and steered him toward the stairs that led to the parking lot below. “You can heal yourself in the car.”
* * *
The lights were already on in the big conference room, and Ella headed there. Vadim was still complaining about her driving. She hadn’t hit anything, had she? She heard him behind her and increased her pace, nodding to Liz, who was already seated next to Feehan at the table.
“How are you feeling, Vadim?”
Liz jumped to her feet and Ella bristled as she patted and cooed over poor, poor Morosov. He was fine! He’d magicked himself all better in the car and had still had time to criticize her driving. She had the most ridiculous desire to slap Liz’s hands away and growl at her. Was that how Vadim felt when men looked at her? Was she turning into one of those women? It was incredibly uncool. She chose a seat as far away from her partner as possible, then kicked the table leg with the side of her boot until Liz finally sat back down.
Feehan nodded at Vadim. “I’ve given them the basics, but you were actually there. So can you tell everyone what happened?”
Ella waited for him to finish speaking, noting carefully what he said and what he didn’t. There was no mention of the c
ryptic Fae message in the broken glass, but she’d half expected that. If Feehan thought Adam threatened them all, he’d be straight over to Otherworld, demanding that all kinds of shit happen, and he’d be dead.
“You couldn’t break Delia’s trance?” Feehan asked.
“Not easily. Each Fae’s spell is unique to the individual and to his line. If Delia hasn’t recovered by tomorrow, there are other ways of freeing her.”
“More dangerous ways. The Fae don’t like it when their spells are threatened or tampered with.’” Liz turned to Vadim, her eyes as silver as her Fae-Web, and her expression not human at all. “Be wary, the human mind is very frail.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Of course, you bespelled Brad, didn’t you?”
Ella shot a glance at Liz. “What makes you think that?”
“Just an educated, Fae-Web-assisted guess.” Liz allowed herself a small satisfied smile. “The other patients were virtually impossible to sedate, and yet Brad was reported to be sleeping like a baby.”
“I certainly helped with that,” Vadim admitted.
“Then how did Brad break your spell and end up on the windowsill? As you just said, it’s very hard to fracture a Fae dream spell because of the complexities involved in creating it.”
“That’s a good question. I have to assume that whoever we are dealing with has stronger magic than I do.”
“I find that difficult to believe.”
Vadim shrugged. “Why? I’m not invincible.”
“But you are connected to several of the most powerful Fae bloodlines in Otherworld.”
“Then this Adam, or whatever we want to call him, is obviously even more powerful and was able to override my magic and wake Brad up.”
Liz sat back and stared at Vadim while the silver lines of her Fae-Web writhed around like a tornado.
He raised an eyebrow. “What is it, Liz? Do you think I broke the spell I placed on Brad, and caused him to leap to his death?”
“No, but—”
“Why would I do that?”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Ella interrupted the staring contest that seemed to be going on between her mate and her best friend. “Can we focus on what we do know? What about the untouched nature of Brad’s face? Were the other victims’ the same?”
“I don’t know.” Liz turned to look at Ella. “I’m still attempting to download the pictures through that new Fae interface. It doesn’t seem to work, which means I might have to go back to Otherworld to get the photos of the previous victims.”
Ella shuddered. The last time she’d visited the records office at Merton, the Siren had tried to wipe her mind clean of all thought and bring her his version of empath peace, which meant her death and an increase in his powers. “Can’t we just request them?”
“We can, but it will take a while. They’re shorthanded over there.”
“And I bet they blame me for that too,” Ella groused. “Anyone would think they’d be glad not to have a crazed empath in their midst.”
“They are Otherworld. Apparently he did a good job.”
“Killing empaths.”
Feehan cleared his throat. “Speaking of going off topic, Ella, shall we focus on the matter in hand? Liz, you can request the photos by internal mail or send Sam for them, as long as it’s quick. Rich has been working on the security tapes and has isolated the time period we need. Do we all want to take a look?”
Rich opened his laptop and clicked his mouse. They all gathered round.
“Here’s the hallway in front of Brad’s room. The camera is facing that direction, so we should get some good shots of everyone who is going in and out of that door. I’ve gone back a few hours to where his grandfather, the ex-senator, came to visit and set his guard outside the door. This is just before they leave.”
Ella pointed at the screen. “There’s me and Morosov arriving and being told to take a hike.” She inclined her head an inch. “Wow. My ass looks huge in those jeans. Why didn’t anyone tell me? You look good in that suit though, Morosov.”
“Thanks.” Vadim was close behind her. “Delia looks fine here. Let’s watch her when the senator leaves and see if anyone interacts with her.”
There was silence as they all stared at the screen. Vadim’s breath curled around Ella’s throat and she inhaled his fancy aftershave and unique scent. The senator emerged looking suitably anxious, shook Delia by the hand and left. His security guard fell into step behind him, and they headed for the bank of elevators.
Nothing happened for a while. Staff walked by, some of them stopping to chat with Delia but most of them intent on their own tasks. Ella stifled a yawn. Behind her, Vadim shifted his stance and made it remarkably easy for her to lean back against him.
“Look.” Liz pointed at the screen. “There’s someone in a white coat. It’s a shame we can only see the back of his head. Why didn’t he have the decency to approach from the other side and make our lives easier?”
The man paused in front of Delia for a moment and then turned right, into Brad’s room. Just before he opened the door, he lifted his head and smiled.
“Holy shit!” Sam said. “It’s Vad!”
Chapter Six
“Don’t be fucking ridiculous, it can’t be Morosov!” Ella snapped.
“It sure looks like him,” Rich said. Sam nodded eagerly.
“But why the fuck would Morosov do that?”
“Just hold on a minute! Everyone shut up, and less of the profanity, please, Ella!” Feehan stood and they stopped talking. “There’s an obvious place to start with this. Vadim, is that you?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“He could be lying,” Sam suggested.
Ella scowled at him. “It isn’t him, you dumbass. Look at the time on the screen. We’d left the hospital by then!”
“And you say you were with Vadim until you returned to the hospital?”
“Yes, we were catching an early dinner.” She could feel her cheeks going red. “At Morosov’s hotel.”
“Well, that’s easy enough to confirm.” Feehan said. “The hotel will have a record of your check in the dining room.”
“We got room service. It was quicker.” She glanced over at Vadim to help her out, but he was still staring at the screen, a frown between his eyes. Why the hell was she the one who had to defend him? “We didn’t have a lot of time.”
“Yeah, right,” Liz murmured.
“Anyway, can you all please try and remember that we are dealing with a killer who can switch faces? Isn’t it obvious that he did this to cause us to panic?”
“But Vadim still has his face.” Sam objected.
“Well, maybe our perp can replicate someone’s features as well as steal the whole thing! I don’t know. I only know that Morosov was with me the whole time.” She glared at Feehan. “I’ll take a lie-detector test, if you don’t believe me.”
Feehan made soothing gestures with his hand. “That’s hardly necessary. We are dealing with a creature that can manipulate faces, and what you suggest is highly likely.”
“Did anyone else get the sense that he did it deliberately?” Liz asked.
“Did what?”
“Looked right at the security camera.” She gestured at Rich. “Can you show that bit again? It’s as if he wanted us to see him.”
“Well, if he’s wearing Vad’s face, he probably did.” Sam agreed. “That’s, like, weird, dude.”
Rich backed up the tape and slowed it down. Ella frowned as the doctor touched Delia’s cheek.
“That’s when he puts her under.”
“Agreed.” Feehan said. “She doesn’t protest in any way when he goes into Brad’s room, does she?”
In the next frame the doctor turned to look at the camera and Rich paused the image.
“He does look like Vadim, but there are some subtle differences,” Liz conceded. “He’s younger. It’s as if someone took a picture of him ten years ago and used that.” She turned away fr
om the screen. “Do you have any relatives who bear a striking resemblance to you?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Are you sure?”
Vadim shrugged, the epitome of cool unconcern. “I haven’t been back to Otherworld for several years. I suppose there might be someone who has grown up to look like me.”
Ella glanced at her partner. Despite his tranquil reply, he was not happy at all. Even worse, she was pretty damn sure he wasn’t telling the truth. Was she the only one who could sense it, or was Liz picking it up too? It might explain why she had so many questions.
She stood up. “Well, if we’ve agreed it’s not Morosov, can we all go home, now? We’re not going to get anywhere tonight, and we have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Feehan glanced at Liz, who gave him a slight nod.
“Sure. Ella, why don’t you hang out with Vadim this evening and make sure he’s feeling okay.”
“Me? He’s Fae. He doesn’t need a human looking after him.”
“You’re his partner.”
She stared at Vadim, who leaned back in his chair. “Would you like me to babysit you tonight, Morosov?”
“If that’s what Mr. Feehan wants, I’m happy to oblige.”
“Then come on, I’ll take you home.”
He stood too and said his goodbyes. In a few moments they were heading down to the basement parking lot. He held out his hand for his keys, and Ella reluctantly gave them up.
“Did you notice that no one else left?” Ella settled into the seat and Vadim shut his door.
“That’s probably because they wanted to talk about me.”
“You think?” She put on her seat belt. “I can’t believe they think you had anything to do with it.”
He backed out of his space. “I did put a spell on Brad.”
“But that was for his own protection.”
He grimaced. “But I interfered with Adam’s trophy. It might’ve been enough to make him kill Brad.”
“Morosov, all the victims we know about killed themselves. You weren’t responsible for them.”
“Thanks for believing in me.” He glanced sideways at her and she kept her gaze fixed on the road.
