Heart of Darkness

by Lauren Dane

  “How can you know if she wasn’t trying to find me because she’d cleaned up?” Dominic pushed from his chair and moved to go stare out the windows at the stars.

  “Gloria threatened my parents multiple times. Felix had faked your death and for a while she believed it. But in the time before I went to Chicago to meet my brother, your mother came to my parents’ house. She watched them. Came around later with a friend my mother insisted wasn’t a witch at all, but a mage.”

  Dominic could hear Meriel’s intake of breath at his back.

  “I’d know a lot more about what I should be upset over if you hadn’t raised me to hate and fear clans.”

  “He had to.” Meriel came to him, putting her head on his shoulder. “Don’t you see? He brought you out here and protected you. Changed your name and raised you to keep you away from any situation where you could be identified. If she’s alive somewhere now, she might know about you. We didn’t make a big deal out of the ascension, Mr. Bright. But certainly I’m next in line so I get photographed at events. My finding my bond-mate and news of the ascension would be pretty common knowledge in our world.”

  “If she came to the door with a mage”—Tom paused—”it could mean she was working with them to get her fix. It’s not entirely unheard of.”

  Meriel turned to him. “Right now there’s a rise across the county of magical thefts and the mages are part of it. They’re working with what looks like human supremacy organizations to track us. I learned just this morning that one of their victims, a woman lucky enough to escape where they’d been keeping her and bleeding her magick dry, that the mages and some turned witches had told the humans what they were doing was exorcising the demons from their captives.”

  Tom blinked several times. Shock turning him pale.

  “We have no reason to think my mother was one of them.” Dominic went to sit.

  Tom sighed heavily. “Yes, we do. I know this day has been a challenge, Dom, but we have every reason to believe your mother, if she’s alive, is one of them. If she was on the verge of turning—as close as Felix was when I last saw him and I am sure she was—the only way she can survive is to steal magick. The only way she’d be alive today is by harming people. Pain, death, emotional torture and theft. That’s how their magic works. They can’t earn it like you and I do. Turned witches have lost their connection to the earth. They have no natural power left at all.”

  “She could have gotten herself straight again.”

  Meriel took his hands and made him look her in the face. “No, she couldn’t have. There’s no cure once a witch turns. At the very best you can hope she’s off far away and using animal blood. Or that she did indeed die at that park. She would not mean you any kindness if she’s alive today.”

  “You don’t even know her!”

  “No, I don’t. But I know witches and I know how this works. I’m sorry, Dominic, but your uncle was right to keep you away from them. God, what if I’ve put you in danger? I need to get Nell searching for your mother.”

  “If I’d have known any of this, we could have avoided it.”

  “I did what I thought was best. You’re alive today. For a while I wasn’t sure if you’d make it through your little phase down south. But once you got to New York I knew you’d find your way in the world and back here. I had to trust that. I couldn’t risk you as a child and I don’t want to risk you now either.”

  “There’s no reason just yet to panic.” Meriel turned back to Dominic. “I’m asking your permission to have Nell do some research on your parents. I want to see what we can find out.”

  Dominic scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fine, go ahead.” He turned back to his uncle. “I had a bond-mate out there somewhere and you never told me. I could have completely missed out on this amazing connection I have with Meriel.”

  “I didn’t come from a world of council witches. Sure, I knew of bond-mates and all that, but I had no way of knowing you’d be their equivalent of full-council. I made mistakes, Dominic. But I did everything I did for you.”

  Meriel remained at his side, stroking a hand up and down his back.

  “I know.” He went to Tom. To his uncle, and hugged him. “I know.” And he did.

  But he didn’t know how to move forward. Didn’t know what to think of all this. He was filled with a sharp longing for his parents. Anger at Tom. Love for what Tom had given up. He just couldn’t let go of that ember of hope that maybe his mother wanted him and had been searching for him his whole life.

  DOMINIC had been asleep for some time, but Meriel found herself restless and headed downstairs.

  She nearly jumped from her skin when Tom spoke to her from the dark of the living room. “I’m sorry to startle you. Can’t sleep?”

  “No. Not really. He’s out though.” Thankfully.

  “You understand.” It was a simple statement. “He doesn’t though. I worry he’s going to entertain some idea that she can be saved despite whatever the facts might point to. He’s a boy who grew up without a mother. I thought, you know, for a while I thought I might find someone. Marry. Give him a mother he so desperately needed. But I was worried about how I’d explain my past to them.”

  “I know he loves you like a father. I know he’ll get over his anger and eventually understand what you did.” It had to be hard for this man to have given everything up for his nephew. “You gave up your whole life for him. Thank you for that.”

  He poured her a cup of tea and followed with a healthy dollop of whiskey. She took it gratefully.

  “I had a shit life anyway. Lived in my parents’ basement. Had a crappy job. I liked to think I’d have gone to college but the chances are, I never would have. He gave me a direction. I love this life. It’s solitary, but if I need company I can seek it out. I’ve been dating. Her name is Rona and she works down at the bank. I work the earth, I’m out in nature. I made mistakes with him, I know, but I don’t regret this life.”

  “He’s a good man because of his father. And that’s you. I’m worried about the exposure.” She explained to him about the new ideas she wanted to institute, the new training and increased communication between witches of all backgrounds and paths. Gave him more detail about the mage attacks, including the one on Dominic at his club earlier that week.

  “I hope she’s dead. I should feel bad about thinking it, but I do. She poses nothing but a threat to him. She’ll hurt him for fun. The only thing that’ll matter to her when it comes to her biological connection to him is that it’s easier to steal magick from someone you’re related to by blood.”

  “You can? If I hook you up with one of the people in my clan, would you share all your knowledge of these mages? We don’t know enough. I don’t want that to hurt us.”

  “Of course. I only know because I felt like I had to research to keep him safe. I asked around. Spoke with my parents about it. Gloria’s family was useless. They’d disowned her even before Felix showed up with Dominic. Her sister.” He looked up, eyes bright. “She went missing twenty years ago. God, I wonder?”

  An icy-cold finger of dread traced up her spine. “Wonder if she was drained?”

  Tom nodded. “I wonder if he would stay here for a while? Keep his head down?” He shook his head. “No. He won’t run.”

  “He’s got a business. One he built on his own. He won’t abandon it. And I’m going to be frank with you. This is my land. Where I stand right now is Owen land.” She called energy forth and held a ball of light in her palm. The wind kicked up just a bit outside. “I am strong here. I know what they feel like. I’ve got their scent. I won’t run and neither will he. If we can’t beat them on our own ground, hiding won’t help.”

  He sighed and sipped his tea.

  “First thing we need to do is find her. If she’s alive, she’s a threat. If she’s a threat, she needs to be neutralized.”

  “Even if she’s your man’s mother?”

  “Especially if she is. She’ll manipulate and hurt him. I can’t allo
w it.”

  He raised his cup. “I like you. I should have known he’d end up with a woman as tough as he.”

  “Tell me about what he was like as a boy.”

  Chapter 20

  “DO you want to talk about it?” Nell asked when Meriel called to check in. She’d awoken early to find a note in the kitchen from Tom saying he’d gone for a hike but would be back by nine.

  She’d set herself up at the large table and spent some time just looking outside at the world as she’d jotted notes down.

  “I don’t know what to think just yet. I feel terrible for them both. His love for Dominic is written all over him. You should see it here. Pictures of him growing up, the odd misshapen mug made by a grade-schooler. Whatever his flaws, he didn’t do this to hurt Dominic. He did it to protect him. I know Dominic is reeling. I feel …” She rubbed her eyes, knowing it was bad but she couldn’t help it. “This is all stuff I brought into his life.”

  On the other end of the line Nell sighed. “You didn’t bring it. Fate brought you together right now for a reason. These are dark days. He needs you. You need him. And you had nothing to do with his uncle or his mother. I understand you’re upset for him, but this isn’t anything you’re responsible for. Speaking of which, are you ready to hear it?”

  “Am I going to need to add whiskey to my coffee?” Another plus in the Tom category was that he’d left a carafe of hot coffee out should anyone wake early and want some.

  “You’re going to just need to forget the coffee and go for the whiskey. I got on this last night after we talked and by the time I’d gotten up this morning I had an array of shit waiting for me. Gloria Ochoa, that’s her name, grew up in Tallahassee. Multiple arrests. Closed juvenile record.”

  Meriel waited, knowing a little thing like a closed record wasn’t going to stop Nell.

  “Her taste for illegal substances started early on. Busted for possession seven times. Many trips to juvie. Ran through caseworkers like cookies, this one. Removed from parents home by their request. She was sixteen. Went to live with relatives. The sister disappeared after school twenty-three years ago. No one ever saw her or heard from her again. No history like her big sister. Family is closed up tight about it but shortly after that they moved out of state.”

  ” Wow.”

  “Yeah well, don’t feel too bad for her. Some people are just fucked up and awful. Meriel, you have to harden your heart. If she’s alive now, she’s turned. You know that. If she’s turned, she’ll be a danger to her son until she’s not alive anymore. And if the stuff Tom said about her working with mages is true, she could very well be part of this now. If it’s easier to steal magick from a blood relative, and Gia says it is, imagine what a big yummy snack Dominic would be. And I don’t mean in the fun way.”

  “I know!” She traced a fingertip along the rim of her mug. “I hate this. I want it to be happy for him.”

  “You can’t fix this. I’m sorry. You can’t make her into a good mother. I’ve got CPS records here.”

  “CPS? Wow, you’re really getting good if you grabbed those. And in less than twenty-four hours? Genius.”

  Nell snorted. “Of course I’m good. Also, this is about you. I made it happen. That’s what your best friend does. CPS was called twice. Infant had been left alone the first time. According to records Mom said she just went to the store while the baby was sleeping. Police interviews indicate the baby had been heard crying for hours until a neighbor called the cops and the landlord let them in. Mom didn’t return for six hours after that.”

  Meriel sighed. Edwina hadn’t been the warmest of mothers, but she’d been there.

  “Christ.”

  “Second time was after a visit from a health worker. The baby seemed listless, ashen. He wasn’t gaining weight. They enrolled Mom and Dad in parenting classes. He was five months old at the time.”

  “That was right before his father gave Dominic to Tom.”

  “I doubt it was failure to thrive. I gotta tell you, if she is alive, I hope she lives long enough for me to punch her in the face a few times for that.”

  It had to be hard for Nell, Meriel knew, pregnant herself, to read about all this stuff. But this was Meriel’s man and she had plenty of her own outrage.

  “Get in line.”

  “It would appear the dad staged an accident. Made it look like Dominic, whose name was Eduardo then, had died. Swept away in a river when Dad’s car skidded off a road. They never found the body but they did declare the kid dead. Mom was looked at for a while by the cops, Dad too. But they were never charged. They moved three months later. Fell off the map for a long time.”

  If she thought he was dead, maybe they could keep it that way. At least until they found her and neutralized any threat she posed.

  “And then what?”

  “Nothing for a while. I have some Jane Doe hits I’ve got staff looking into.”

  “Is she dead?”

  “No. I don’t think she is. The dad is though. His body was found about five years after Tom left.”

  A chill worked through her. “In Chicago?”

  “Yes. How’d you know?”

  “I’ll tell you in a minute. Give me the details.”

  “He’d been in jail for assault. No identification but eventually they managed to get it. From his physical description I’m thinking he was seriously turned. The victim claimed she met him a local bar and she took him back to her place where he’d stayed for a week. She accused him of drugging her. She said she felt weak all the time and had woken up with him above her. She claims he was sucking her oxygen out.”

  “Why would the cops arrest on that? I mean, obviously you and I know what it means, but stealing oxygen as assault?”

  “Because he then choked her out for it. They arrested him for that.”

  “Choked her out when she woke up and tried to get away, thus halting his fix.”

  Her stomach hurt. She wanted it to be true that he’d come to Chicago to meet Tom and see his son.

  “He died in jail?”

  “No. He was released until trial. Someone fronted his bail money. They found his body in a park not even a day later.”

  “Tom told me a story about the last time he’d heard from Felix.” Meriel repeated it to Nell.

  “They found a woman’s body too. Police report dated it older than Felix. One of the notes says her skin was like rice paper. The vic was Asian though. That’s not our Gloria.”

  “Damn it. No.” Tom had described Gloria Ochoa as tall with dark hair and big brown eyes. Had said she was beautiful back in the day. “Nell, if she’s alive …” Meriel looked at a framed picture of Dominic at about eight or nine, holding a fishing pole, looking up into the camera with a huge gap-toothed grin. “He looks a lot like his uncle. I can’t believe he never really realized that. But if I see the resemblance, what if she recognizes him? What if because of me, she sees Dominic’s picture and comes after him?”

  “Life’s full of what-if moments, Meriel. We’ll create contingencies for as many as we can. He’s tough. He’s full-council and ascended to you. The bond will only make him stronger. The magick of Owen will shield him. Whatever happens, we’ll keep him safe.”

  “And what if she decides Meriel is the target?” Tom came into the kitchen, followed by a cat, who deigned to let Meriel scratch behind his ears before he sashayed off to go settle in a window.

  “Better me than Dominic.” She looked to him and then focused back on Nell. “What else?”

  “We’ve got our own version of an APB out on her. I’m tapped into different federal and state systems to keep an eye out for any hits of arrests with women fitting her description.’Cause you know, there just aren’t many dark haired women in their fifties who get picked up without ID. Ha. Anyway, she’s turned and given what you’ve told me about her appearance with the mage at her in-laws’ door, we’ve got reason to believe she could be with mages now. Even the ones in our neck of the woods.”

  “I�
��ve written up an account of the whole conversation and emailed it to you right before you called.”

  Nell snorted. “Should have known. Perfect. Okay, so I’m going to focus in those states we’ve seen the mage activity in. And I’ll expand to the areas around it. But not too far. She won’t be going into Gennessee or Owen territory unless she’s desperate. The West Coast is far afield for her.”

  Meriel’s stomach clenched. “Someone has.”

  “Yes, but those mages aren’t necessarily tied to her. I just don’t think she’d have survived for thirty years turned if she wasn’t being somewhat smart.”

  “Get back to me.”

  “You stay safe. You use all your magick if this bitch rolls up on you. Or any of them. Do not think you can talk sense into these people.”

  Meriel knew the stakes.

  “I know. We’ll be back tomorrow night late. Call me if you find anything else.”

  She hung up and turned her gaze back to the windows, but her mind was a million miles away.

  DOMINIC came down to find his gorgeous woman having a rather intense discussion with a cat. He grinned when Ernie finally gave in and jumped down from her lap.

  “He’s a snob. He likes Tom and that’s about it.” Dominic paused for a kiss but she stood and wrapped herself around him, which was even better. “You should be honored he sat in your lap.”

  “We were just fine with that. But he drools and he has sharp claws he likes to use when he’s getting pets. We can’t agree on whether this is acceptable behavior or not.” She glanced at the cat, currently washing his face with his paw. “Good morning.” She kissed Dominic.

  “It is now.”

  Laughing, she pointed at the carafe on the counter. “Coffee there. Tom has promised a big farm breakfast and I graciously accepted his very fine offer. I promise I was even going to wake you up in time. After I filled my own plate first, of course.”