Heart of Darkness

by Lauren Dane

  “We can’t expose the clan unless it’s absolutely necessary. It’s not.”

  With a growl of annoyance, he got her outside. If they were going on this fool’s errand, he wanted it done as fast as possible.

  “Loyalty to the clan doesn’t mean being stupid,” he muttered, putting her down gently as the car approached. Nell bent and rustled through a first aid kit.

  “It’s our clan now. You know it’s not stupid.” Meriel gasped when Nell wrapped her wound tight.

  The sound tore at him. “Let’s move this along then. You did your part. The longer we stand here, the longer you have a bullet hole in you.”

  Arel jogged up and jolted when he saw Meriel. “The other turned witch is gone. We’re searching. Can I assist?” He looked from Meriel to Dominic.

  Meriel stood a little taller. “Take care of the search. Nell, give me your keys and call William to let him know we’re coming so a bunch of bloody witches don’t surprise him. And then clean this up. My blood, I’m sorry but there’s a lot of blood where I was standing.”

  Nell exhaled hard, clearly torn between one duty and another.

  She handed the keys over to Dominic. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. The survivors have been taken into our custody. Everyone but the male is accounted for.”

  “I expect you know how to conduct some questioning. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I want you at these interrogations.” Meriel winced and swallowed hard and then swayed.

  Gage came roaring up in the car and threw his door open, scrambling out to get the other so Dominic could help her.

  “I’m going to get blood on your seat.”

  “I’ll bill you.”

  He ran around to the other side. “This better work, Nell. If it doesn’t, I’m taking her to a hospital; I don’t care about the rest. Get this place cleaned up before the early shift shows up for the other businesses and we get the cops called.”

  Chapter 30

  HE sped out of the warehouse trying to keep it steady. He knew every pothole must have hurt.

  “Keep with me, Meriel. Stay awake.”

  “You were totally badass,” she said. “I’m not going to die you know. It hurts. I can’t lie. But if the bullet had gone a little to the left, it’d have hit my stomach and we’d have a whole different conversation.”

  He groaned. “These are words I wish you would never, ever say in conversation again. Your job is to run the clan, not to get shot by fucking thugs. Piece of shit, I wish I could kill him twice. These people, Meriel, what could make them hate so much that they’d willingly go out to hurt others?”

  He’d seen a lot of violence, but these humans doing the bidding of criminals like Gloria made no sense. Their hatred at what they didn’t understand was staggering. Their willingness to hunt, kidnap and aid the mages in killing astounded him.

  “People fear what they don’t understand.”

  “Sounds like Simon when he’s talking about how witches should come out to the humans.”

  “He’s probably right. But when they find out about us they shoot us. It’s an update on the burnings and drownings.”

  He sighed. Not like he could argue. But he knew she understood the world was shrinking every day. It still wasn’t a conversation for that moment.

  There was a balance to driving fast very late at night. Too fast and he’d get pulled over and then they’d really be fucked. But it was empty enough so there was no need to crawl along either. He pushed away his impatience to get her there.

  She reached out and took his hand. He looked down for a brief moment, her fingers still bloody, tangled with his. He’d made the clan safer but she’d been shot. He hadn’t made her safer.

  “I can feel you trying to blame yourself in that head of yours. Stop it. You didn’t shoot me. In fact, if I remember correctly, you took care of the guy who did. And then you went all superhero and punched a bunch of people and you used your magick. It’s pretty impressive and sexy. So stop blaming yourself.

  “I should have protected you.”

  “You did. Don’t you see? Gloria and those mages were a threat to me. They aren’t now. I’m here because of you in so many ways.” She snorted and then whimpered.

  “I don’t know what I’d do—”

  “Don’t.” She squeezed his hand. “Not gonna happen. You’re stuck with me.”

  He tried not to turn too hard onto Nell’s street. The house was at the end of a good-sized drive and at the top several cars already waited.

  “Shit, that’s my mother’s car.”

  “Of course. You know she and Abe would be here. Sit still, I’ll be around to get you.”

  William rushed out, followed by Abe. They stood back while Dominic pulled her from the car and carried her into the house.

  “Guest room. Second doorway there.” William pointed to where Gage’s mother, Shelley, waited. The bed was covered and the room had been made sterile as well as it could be he guessed.

  “Put her on the bed.” Shelley moved with them and bent next to Meriel. “Hi there, honey. I think that shirt is ruined. I’m going to have to cut it off. Everyone but Dominic out.”

  Edwina sniffed and didn’t move. “I’ll be assisting. I have triage training. It’s a long story.”

  “She did it for a Girl Scout camp I went to,” Meriel said from her place on the bed. “Hello, Mother. Sorry I woke you.”

  “Yes, well, you’ve been doing it entirely too much of late. Your father and I would appreciate if you could stop getting yourself stalked or hurt.” Edwina’s gaze cut to Dominic. He saw and understood the emotion he saw there.

  “Fine. Bathroom is through there. Get washed up and come back.” Shelley grabbed the scissors and cut the shirt open and Meriel looked up into her friend’s mother’s face.

  “Oh, sweetie pie, this is going to leave a mark.”

  Meriel coughed and it hurt. “Don’t make me laugh.”

  “I’m going to give you something for the pain.” She swabbed Meriel’s arm and the cold shocked her back to attention. The prick of a needle and then the burn of the medicine as it shot into her system. Once that was done, Shelley began to weave a spell, her hands above the wound. Heat radiated outward as she did. The pain drifted away on drugs and magick.

  “Gloves.”

  Dominic was there, she could smell him. She turned her head, feeling dizzy as she did, and managed a goofy smile. “See? I told you …”

  MERIEL woke up with a dry throat. Once her eyes were able to focus, she noted the IV drip. Must have been some good stuff in there because she couldn’t feel more than the tug of the stitches when she moved.

  It was late afternoon if the slant of light on the walls was any indication.

  She was really thirsty. Inside her the bond woke up and magick hummed through her. “Dominic?”

  “Here. I’m here, baby.” He came into the room quickly, holding a mug. “Your mother made tea. Hang on.” He stepped outside the room again and she heard him call out for Shelley.

  He was back wearing a smile. But he didn’t fool her. She could see the lines from lack of sleep around his eyes. But when he kissed her on the forehead and sat next to her on the bed, his body touching hers, everything was so much better.

  “You’re awake.” Shelley came in. “How are you feeling?” She looked at the wound, both sides, and changed the bandages. “This is healing well. You’re going to be just fine. Are you in any pain? How’s the medication?”

  “How long was I out?” She sipped a little water and then Dominic helped her sit up.

  “Day and a half. You needed to just let yourself heal and rest. Your body took care of it for you.” Shelley carefully looked at her wounds and changed the dressing. “This is healing really well. I’m afraid you’re going to have some scars, but you’re going to be just fine.”

  “I’m okay. I don’t need any more medication for now.”

  “Meriel, don’t be so stubborn.”

  Dominic set his jaw like
he did when he was going to get testy and it amused her. Filled her with a rush of love. “Hi there, you.” She managed a goofy smile.

  He softened immediately and brushed his lips over her cheeks. “Hello, to you too.”

  “You saved me.”

  Emotion flooded his features. “You’ve got that backward.”

  “Aw man, if you’re gonna get mushy, let me go get a sandwich.”

  Meriel looked up to find Nell at her bedside. “Tell me what happened. Did they find the guy?”

  “Not right now, Meriel. You can hear about it tomorrow.” Shelley shook her head.

  Edwina pulled up a chair and sat next to Meriel. “If you scare me like that again I will break my promise to never strike a child. Do you understand me?”

  Meriel nodded solemnly.

  “You were correct, Gloria led us right to them. Keep on listening to your gut, Meriel, as long as it does not result in your being shot. Now. We have not found the other turned witch. But we have a name. Arel and Nell have had the surviving mage they captured in interrogation for the last day and a half. They’ve gotten a great deal of information. I took the liberty of standing in while you were unconscious, with Dominic’s assistance of course. We’re cooperating with our neighboring clans and several covens so far to get this man’s information out. If he’s seen, we’ll be notified.”

  This was her clan now. It was her time to lead it. She looked to Nell. “So what’s the story?”

  Dominic grumbled under his breath but helped Shelley sit her up better so she’d be comfortable.

  “Thank you.” She sighed because he was so beautiful and he was hers and he was there, right there. His normally well-trimmed beard was scruffy. His hair was mussed up. He smelled good. Spicy and familiar and she couldn’t stop staring at his pulse with the memory of the way he tasted right there.

  Nell cleared her throat. “God, you two. Not the right time for that.”

  Meriel grinned at Dominic, feeling a lot better.

  Nell got down to business. “There were six in all. We took in two prisoners. The turned guy’s name is Cyrus Pasqual. Arel’s crew is looking into his past to see what we can find out. Human says Cyrus has been with them for about six months. Gloria brought him around.”

  “And what does the mage say?”

  “Not a whole lot.”

  “Make that change.”

  Nell cocked her head and then nodded.

  “Okay then. I’m under the belief that once we indicate our willingness to go that extra step he’ll tell us what we need to know.”

  Dominic nodded. She hated to even think it, but it had to be done.

  “This group has been together about eight months. Gloria hooked up with one of the mages in Toronto and they came south. According to the human, they showed up at one of their meetings and told some story about how they’d lost people because of the witches. They told the humans that the witches to worry about weren’t the Wiccans but us. He had a lot of information, most of it sort of true, but not entirely accurate.”

  “Best kind of propaganda, that. Bend the truth into a pretty lie.” Nell didn’t need to consult notes, but Meriel liked them. “Can I please have a pad or my laptop?”

  “You should rest.” Shelley gave her best severe-doctor face.

  “I’ve got a clan to run and a psycho turned witch on the loose. I can rest in a little while.”

  Dominic heaved a sigh and reached down, bringing her laptop out. “I figured you’d wake up and want this.”

  Such a giant marshmallow. With a very flat belly. Mmmm.

  Mind back on her work for the time being, she booted up as Shelley threatened everyone not to get Meriel excited and she left to go back to her day job. “Pain meds are right there. Use them if you need them. You won’t benefit by being in pain. I’d like you to stay here at least one more night and then you can go home. I’ll be back later to check in, but everyone has my cell. Call if you need me.”

  She thanked Shelley and turned back to Nell. “Go on.”

  It turned out the human had been relatively easy to get information from. A combination of being really scared after seeing not only what Gloria and the mages were capable of, but what had happened when they’d tried to harm Meriel’s people. Their group was a cell of sorts with six members. The humans would do the scouting work to get around wards. They were usually dismissed for the part where they captured the witch. He’d taken care of body disposal though, so he may have been misled about what the others were doing exactly, but he knew the outcome and never spoke out.

  “See what Arel wants to do with the human.”

  Dominic cleared his throat. “If I may I’d like to talk to the mage.”

  Nell shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”

  “It can wait until later. I want to be with Meriel for a bit before she takes a nap.” He shot her a look.

  “You know where we are. I’ll hold off on those extra measures until after you speak to him?”

  Dominic nodded.

  “All right. Call and we’ll make him ready for visitors.”

  “Fine. Thank you.”

  Meriel spoke to her friend. “And Nell? I’d like you to put together three proposals for how you envision expanding your hunter team would work. I want specifics. There’s no way around the fact that these mages are out to harm our people. I want to deal with a threat as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll have them to you in a few days. I’ve jotted down some ideas already.”

  “You have until Monday. I spoke with Lark.” She looked to Dominic. “She’s the hunter for Gennessee. She and I had lunch last week when I was in San Francisco. She offered any assistance I needed if we wanted to go forward with an expanded hunter team.”

  “She’ll need the training anyway. Gage talked with her a few days ago. One of their people is here now as it happens. He’s in on the interrogations. I think Arel can help as well.” Nell kept her attention on Meriel, which she appreciated.

  Edwina stood. “If you’d like, you and Dominic are welcome to stay with us until you’re feeling better.”

  “I wanted to thank you. For the seat. It made a difference. I don’t know that I would have been able to stand and continue working magick if I hadn’t had all the extra power. But it was Dominic who saved the day.”

  He snorted. “Says the woman who never stopped working, even when she had a bullet hole in her side and was gushing blood.”

  Edwina looked at both of them. “You’ve done me proud, Meriel. Dominic too. I made the right choice. I knew it even before I transferred the seat to you. But seeing the way you handled this incident only underlines that. Expanding the hunter team will be essential, I agree. I wish this wasn’t so dire. And maybe if we prepare ourselves we’ll never need it. But we’ll be prepared.

  “For a long time I’ve thought my sister was paranoid. Now I can see she was right.”

  “Owen ground isn’t the same as Gennessee. We don’t have the same kind of trouble they do. Until recently we didn’t need our hunters carrying firearms all the time like hers do. Our relationship with the Cascadia Wolf Pack is solid. The vampires here are fairly restrained. It’s not the same in Los Angeles.”

  Edwina’s features relaxed a little. “You anticipated it.”

  “I did. But it grew out of the need to have better diplomatic relationships with the other witches.”

  “Which is how you learned of this threat. It’s all right to say I should have known.”

  Meriel wanted to shrug but the stitches still pulled a little. “I’m saying you can give yourself a break for not having foresight. You ran this clan for a long time in a peaceful period. Your leadership enforced the peace. That’s important. And now we have new threats and we’ll face those too. I hope I can do half the job you did.”

  Edwina reached out to squeeze Meriel’s hand.

  “As for the offer to stay with you, I appreciate that. I’ll talk to Dominic, but I think I’d like to go home. It’s closer to work a
nd I have an office Dominic set up for me there if I need to work.”

  Dominic shrugged. “That’s a given. You work there all the time.” He turned back to Edwina. “I want to thank you too, for the seat and for the offer to stay with you. I’ll ask for your assistance in keeping your daughter from overdoing until she’s physically able to get back to full time.”

  Edwina laughed. “You’ve met Meriel, right?”

  “The two of you are more alike than you think.”

  Edwina stayed with her for a while longer before leaving. “I appreciate your continuing to run the clan. It’s easier for me to rest knowing you’re doing it.”

  Her mother sniffed as if she’d do anything else. “Of course. I look forward to the day when you get that blank face of yours and tell me that perhaps I should take on a few more clients since you’re running things and I’ll have the time.”

  Meriel laughed and it didn’t hurt a whole lot.

  “You should sleep,” she said to Dominic once they were finally alone.

  “Too keyed up. You’re awake now and I don’t want to waste a minute. Anyway, I did sleep last night. You had a fever for a while but it broke yesterday early evening. I slept here with you last night.”

  “Are you all right?”

  He snuggled closer, careful to stay gentle. “You got shot, Meriel. No, I’m not all right. But I will be.”

  “I mean about Gloria.”

  “How can you ever be all right when your mother is a mass murderer?”

  “It’s not about you. You’re not responsible for what she does. How can you be? Look, you’ve been alive as long as she’s been stuck and then turned. You didn’t turn, did you? No. It’s her weakness. Her inability to not be so selfish.”

  “She got you shot. I didn’t protect you. She came to Owen land. I didn’t protect our witches.”

  “Of course you did! Dominic, do you know how hard it is to close a gate the way you did? You had to make choices I don’t envy in any way. But you chose me and our witches over your mother. I’m sorry.” She wondered if he’d blame her on some level. Felt responsible for his pain.