The doctor made a noise, as if he wanted to say something else but hesitated.
“In the meantime . . .” the power broker said, “someone must pay for the mistakes of this afternoon.”
Van could smell the doctor’s terror as the Were asked, “But who?”
“Kill the human. He’s expendable, too.”
CHAPTER 39
“Well Alex,” Bran repeated, crossing the warehouse to stand before where I still perched on my stool. “Nothing to say?”
It wasn’t that there was nothing I had to say, I had plenty to say, but no way was I going to kick a man when he wasn’t in full fighting form. Instead I tilted my head and looked at him, wondering what caused the change from the man I’d seen this morning. Before the whole park crisis. “What’s happened?” I asked, then remembered. “The Council?”
“I’ve received a twenty-four hour stay of execution.” His tone meant to be mocking but actually only sounding weary.
“Don’t be a fool. They can’t execute you without a reason.”
He eyed me, then added in a voice less hostile than it had been. “Seems they think I may be the one who set the shifter off on a killing spree this afternoon.”
That threw me for a loop. No way. He wouldn’t even have been at the park if I hadn’t been going there. And that shifter was my brother. I knew Van wasn’t on a killing spree. Someone may have died but after seeing what those people were doing to him I had no doubt the death was a result of their actions. It wasn’t like Van woke up as a kidnap victim and decided to lope over to the park to kill some innocent bystanders. “Why is the Council thinking that you had anything to do with Van?”
“They don’t have all the details yet, so I have a limited amount of time to prove I had nothing to do with Van’s actions.”
“Do they know Van was the shifter?”
“Not as far as I can tell.”
“And my father?”
“No one seems to have tied your father and your brother together as being in the park fighting one another.” He ran one hand through his hair, rocking back on his heels. “There’s been no report of your father’s death.”
I held my breath as I spoke one of my fears aloud. “But someone could have taken his body and disposed of it.”
“They could have, but I stopped at the park before I returned here and did a quick casting spell. Except for the one Were who died today, there was no indication of any other deaths there recently.”
“So dad may be alive?”
He nodded and I felt my heart stutter and restart. One fear allayed, only to be bumped aside from so many other issues crowding me. Why had Van shifted in the middle of a public place? Who were the people holding him? Why had Van and my father fought? Why were there Weres present? And if Willie was to be believed, why such powerful Weres?
Weres were like shifters in that regard; unless there were ties of blood that could impact relationships, they tended to have the strongest dominant as their leader and a group of lesser dominants beneath their hierarchy. If the dominant became weak or incapacitated he was often killed and replaced. Two Were brothers who were dominants were separated to different packs so that they didn’t eventually want to kill one another. Shifters did not have to live in packs so often avoided the chance of brother killing brother, though they still respected and followed the strongest dominant around.
Having several dominant Weres in one location at one time usually resulted in bloodshed unless they were in a rigidly controlled environment, such as a Council session or a gathering of the packs. Several dominant shifters could work together without tearing each other’s throats out, which is why my family was still intact. My dad and brothers were all dominants, except for Jackson, and he could be dominant, but chose to be Beta in our family structure.
Bran slid onto one of the stools next to me, a silent acknowledgement that if I wasn’t going to be his immediate enemy there could be a cessation, even temporarily, of animosity between us. Sort of the ways shifters and Weres communicated. If feeling threated they face one another, the better to register body language attack signals. If friends, they stand side by side, a much less threatening posture, and for them, an easier way to communicate. Just the opposite for women who preferred facing the one they were talking with. But I’d learned growing up with only brothers and a father, that if I really wanted them to listen to me I had to talk to them their way, not mine.
I glanced over at Bran, hesitating to ask him what was pushing at me the most. “Why was Van in his wolf form and attacking?”
He didn’t look directly at me as he answered, another male trait. “My best guess is Vaverek.”
“What’s he got to do with any of this?”
“I don’t have the details but if your brother was acting totally out of character— “
“He was.”
“Then there has to be a reason.”
I saw where he was going with this. “You mean the drug that’s supposed to influence preternaturals?”
“Clearly this is similar to the drug that Dominique was involved with, but different. That difference being it could make a shifter, or a Were, or any other preternatural act in spite of their training and basic desires, human or animal.”
That was the scary thing about the drug we’d found Dominique using on unsuspecting humans. It was as if combining a date rape with an auto-hypnotic effect. Once administered the victim could be programmed to steal, or kill, or do all sorts of actions they never would have done otherwise, and then have no recall of what they’d done. But using the same kind of drug on an unsuspecting preternatural could easily multiply the fallout. A Were or fae on the rampage was twenty times as deadly as a human.
His words slammed against me as the repercussions sank in. “This wasn’t an accident then.”
“You know your brother best. “
I did and I knew he would not do what I saw him do a little over an hour ago unless he was being forced to act, which is exactly what that drug we’d discovered Dominique testing accomplished.
“So Vaverek, or someone working for him, used Van as a test?”
He looked at me then, pain bracketing his eyes. “Isn’t this exactly what Dominique had been doing? Showing her potential buyers the effectiveness of the drug over a series of incidents?”
“Yes.” I’d been playing down the whole involvement of his cousin, after all it was because of what she’d done that she’d ended up in a position where my actions had led to her death. Now here I was doing exactly what Bran had tried, and failed, to do—protect his family member from being a victim. “So you’re saying Van might be used again?”
“Him or another like him.” Bran turned away from me, which gave me some breathing room to still my nerves. Van turned into a killing shifter had only one possible outcome—his death. And most likely after he’d killed others.
“Wait.” Something had been niggling at me from an earlier thought. “We were at that park because I’d tracked the man, the doctor, from the soiree. Was that a coincidence?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t say so.”
“Which means Cheverill’s death could be tied into Vaverek and the possibility of Van and this drug?”
A small smile tweaked his lips. Not a happy smile but a watch-out-someone smile. “If these three individuals are tied together it then means we know a fourth one who can lead us to Vaverek.”
“The doctor.”
“Exactly.”
I jumped off my chair, energy surging through me to do something rather than just sit and theorize. “Then let’s go.”
“Where exactly?” Bran remained stationary and eyed me like a primed bomb.
“It’s time you met Ling Mai in person.”
“Is she anything like you?”
I shook my head, feeling my own version of a dangerous smile. “Oh no, she makes me look easy to get along with.”
CHAPTER 40
Walking into the Hotel Le Meurice with Bran
at my side was a whole different experience than when I’d entered with Jaylene and Mandy flanking me. I looked almost the same, though Bran had brought me a change of clothes, including shoes. Leave it to a dress designer to get the sizes right. They were clean and not frou-frou but I still felt like something the cat drug in, but Bran is eye-candy and has that I-own-the-world walk down. There were so many women, and a few men, who were giving Bran the come-hither look I wanted to jump up and down and wave my arms just to see if they noticed me at all. Have I mentioned that restraint is not my middle name?
By the time we reached Ling Mai’s suite we were more in my territory, not his, and I realized I liked returning to the IR team fold. Not that I’d admit that aloud, and there was still snarky Mandy, but even in the best of families there’s always some friction.
I had called Ling Mai earlier, to let her know we were coming and to make sure bringing Bran to her was okay on her end. She knew who he was, based on our last mission, but the two had never formally met. He’d also met Vaughn and Jaylene, but didn’t really have a chance to have more than a passing acquaintance with them, if you didn’t count the period where he’d just killed a Were, his first one, in front of them, as close bonding.
So when we entered Ling Mai’s suite, which still looked spacious in spite of the whole team being there, and did the intros, Bran was the one giving me the what-are-we-doing-here look. That one you get when you’re out of your comfort zone.
Which surprised me because I thought Bran could feel at home anywhere. Showed you how little I knew of the man.
I was the one who cleared my throat and gave a quick overview of what had happened over the last twenty-four hours. I stood closest to the door at one end of the long rectangular living room area. Ling Mai was in a chair in front of the fireplace on the west wall, Vaughn, Kelly and Jaylene on the couch which was long enough to hold several more. Mandy and Bran had both taken chairs grouped around a coffee table, Bran facing me and Mandy giving me her back, which did not surprise me in the least.
“And you’re sure the shifter was your brother?” Stone pressed, a frown line drawing his brows into a deep vee. He was leaning on the couch arm nearest Vaughn. They made a formidable team and a killer couple.
Shifting my focus back to Stone’s question I answered. “Yes. No doubts it was Van.”
He glanced at Ling Mai, who’d remained quiet so far. Now she raised her head and spoke to the group. “Word has already spread through the media about a violent dog attack.”
“Which wasn’t a dog,” I clarified in case anyone missed my whole explanation. “And what we’re concerned about,” I glanced at Bran to make sure I wasn’t hanging myself out on this branch all alone. “is that another attack will happen, with the loss of more lives, including Van’s, if we don’t find a way to stop it.”
“Let me get this straight.” Vaughn leaned forward, her hands pressed together in her lap, which meant she was still unsure about believing me. “You’re saying the Weres have set up this whole scenario to discredit shifters?”
I nodded. “Yup, showing how unpredictable and dangerous shifters can be to humans that they are willing to attack in broad day light, revealing themselves to the human world, as well as thumbing their noses . . .”
“At the Council’s authority.”
“How so?” Vaughn glanced up at Stone.
“By letting shifters sit on the Council and not Weres, this action, if not an isolated event will show that the Council are cowed by the shifters and that shifters are allowed to freely act with impunity,” Stone finished as if piecing a puzzle together.
“Thus if Sshifters can be discredited by Van’s very public actions, fueled by the designer drug, the shifters stand to lose their position on the Council. They won’t have any choice except to remove them and replace the seat with a Were representative.” I looked around to make sure everyone was with me.
“I don’t get how Cheverill’s death ties into what’s happening with Van?” Jaylene asked. She too looked skeptical, not that I blamed her. This was a plan within a plan by someone very devious. And deadly.
“Cheverill’s death leaves an opening on the Council governing board.”
“But doesn’t that position have to be filled by someone of the same species?” Kelly asked, chewing her lower lip. “So was Cheverill a shifter?”
“No.” Damn, I hadn’t thought of that. “I know there is a shifter on the board but from what Jaylene said in the kitchen the other night Cheverill was a druid.”
“Not just a druid, but the big kahuna of druids being an arch one,” Jaylene said to Kelly.
That made me realize something else as I speared a quick glance at Jaylene. “How did you know who he was or what he was? The identities of the Council members is not common knowledge.”
“I told her,” Ling Mai said, her voice calm and neutral.
I wondered how the director learned that information and Ling Mai answered as if I’d spoken aloud. “It’s part of my job, Alex, to know who currently sits on the Council and who is in line to take the next opening.” She sliced a quick glance at Bran but I had no idea why. He kept his expression very blank as she continued, “Jaylene and Mandy were on an additional mission the night Monsieur Cheverill died, which is why they were privy to who he was and what he was.”
That made sense even if it stung a little. I thought a team was supposed to work as a team. Obviously, not all the time or only when it worked for Ling Mai. Talk about another mind that worked at Machiavellian levels.
I brushed the thought away to focus on why I brought Bran here. “Through a spell I cast I tracked the man who was present at Cheverill’s death as also being present with Van in the park. He’s the one link we have between the death of the Council member, Van’s erratic behavior and Vaverek.”
I noticed Stone crossing his arms, Vaughn wiggling just a smidge and Mandy’s tightening of her back; all classic signs of not being one hundred percent behind my conclusions.
“I know it’s not hard and fast evidence,” I said, loosening my own shoulders that felt like ready to splinter. “But I’m sure I’m on the right track.”
“This coming from a witch who’s been known to screw up most of her spells,” Mandy pointed out.
I shrugged, focusing on Ling Mai. If I could get her on board with what I thought we should do next, everyone else would come along. “Look we already know Vaverek and the Seekers are tied together.”
“But not how,” Mandy murmured, turning her head to stare at me. “Or even who the Seekers are.”
I ignored her and continued, figuring if we had all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed we wouldn’t need to be here.
“Vaverek is linked to a variation of this designer drug.” Before Mandy could speak I glared at her, which shut her right down. “And Vaverek is involved in Van’s disappearance.”
“We’re with you,” Vaughn nodded. “So far.”
“But we’re not one step closer to finding or apprehending him.” Even nay-sayer Mandy couldn’t disagree with that. I glanced over at Bran who was watching Ling Mai intently. But why?
“The point you wish to make Miss Noziak?” Ling Mai said.
Which wasn’t a good sign. When she used my formal name it usually meant I was in trouble. But I hadn’t done anything recently. Not that I knew about. “I think we should focus our attention on this other man, the one I think of as the doctor. Find him and we use him to lead us to Vaverek.”
Yes, it was a long shot but the only shot we had. Unless Bran had something up his sleeve.
Ling Mai let her gaze sweep to Bran. “And you concur?”
Bran nodded, but didn’t say anything. Not a rousing endorsement, but it wouldn’t be the first time I was taking a risk based on my gut instincts. “It’s not as if continuing to do what we’re doing, which is just looking for Vaverek directly, should start paying off when it hasn’t yet.”
“Are you not ignoring another issue, Miss Noziak?”
&
nbsp; What was she talking about? I glanced at my teammates and only Kelly gave me a wobbly smile back. Mandy and Jaylene both avoided looking at me and Vaughn offered a small shake of her head. “What issue?”
“There are rumors circling through the Council members that you yourself may be involved with Monsieur Cheverill’s death.”
“Get real!” Okay, it may not have been the smartest thing I could have said but surely these people didn’t think I had anything to do with it. Did they? “I was there, but only after he collapsed. Why should I kill a man I didn’t even know?”
“Are you sure you did not know him?” Ling Mai asked, looking at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re certain that you are not using this hunt for an unknown man, this doctor, as a means to deflect attention from your involvement in the Council member’s death?”
As if all the air in the room had been sucked out I felt suddenly light-headed and put a hand out to touch the back of Mandy’s chair to stabilize me. Surely the director didn’t believe what she was saying?
A quick look around though let me know that while I’d been absent the team had been discussing me behind my back.
“She’s not saying you’re a killer,” Kelly offered, playing peacekeeper from her perch on the couch.
“I think that’s exactly what she’s saying,” I shot back, not attacking Kelly as much as fighting in the dark. I hadn’t seen this coming. Maybe I should have, with the way Mandy and Jaylene had come into the kitchen last night. The fact no one had called me back after I tried to reach them earlier in the day. So much for making sure I played well with the team.
“What she’s saying is the Council has concerns.” Stone jumped into the silence, earning a quick glare from Ling Mai and just as quick a smile from Vaughn.
“So I’m tried and hanged based on rumors from a Council of strangers to me?”
Ling Mai cocked her head. “There lies the problem, Miss Noziak.”
I shook my head, lost all over again. “You mean I have a bigger problem than being called a killer by a group of people I’ve never met, that work behind closed doors and love to throw their weight around, making decrees that screw up others’ lives just because they can do it?”
INVISIBLE POWER BOOK TWO: ALEX NOZIAK (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) Page 15
