Believer

by Ravin Tija Maurice

  Believer

  Copyright 2019 by Ravin Tija Maurice

  First Edition

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the Author

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover and Formatting RMGraphX

  also by ravin tija maurice

  camille bishop

  prophecy girl

  believer

  the afflicted series

  rebirth

  ikon

  table of contents

  also by ravin tija maurice

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  13.

  14.

  acknowledgments

  about ravin tija maurice

  To RM and Tara - love you boochies.

  ‘You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.’

  - Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

  My name is camille bishop.

  and if I don’t watch what I say,

  I am right, royally screwed.

  Kiera dropped the file on the metal table, watching me without saying a word. The interrogation room had a weird chemical smell, which I assumed meant that it had been cleaned recently. I held up my handcuffed hands. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Absolutely.” She slid into the chair across from me.

  My hands dropped to my lap. I flexed my fingers, slowly loosening the cuffs with magic, hoping she didn’t hear the click. They were heavier than I expected when they were actually on, cold and very unforgiving when I tried to move my tiny wrists around which was why I was trying to loosen them. While I sat there, I saw a woman in my mind in a dark dirt cell with manacles around her wrists, in a long white robe. The whole scene felt very medieval.

  Maybe trouble was a common thing for the blanchmains.

  “You’re lucky that the arresting officer recognised my last name,” Kiera began, her face expressionless. She kept her dark eyes pointed down as she read the file, smoothing her pulled back hair with her right hand.“You’re lucky I caught it before anyone called Ted.”

  “Why would they call Ted? I am an adult. Don’t forget.” I went to point at her and stopped myself.

  “Racketeering, possession, obstruction, withholding evidence in an open homicide investigation….”

  “Obstruction and withholding? Seriously, Kiera? I told you I would give you Jesse’s phone. It’s not entirely my fault that we haven’t connected. Possession is a joke. Test what I had. It was fucking herbal tea for Christ’s sake. And I love racketeering. That is just adorable. If I was going to do anything even remotely like racketeering, do you think I would do it in a stinky ass restaurant in Chinatown like some dumb movie cliché? God, Kiera, give me some goddamn credit!”

  “If they charge you, whether it sticks or not, you will lose your PI license. Are you ready to lose everything for some friend?”

  I chuckled. “What friend are you referring to?”

  “Bliss Fiori.”

  “She is not my friend,” I snapped. Kiera wasn’t wrong; all this bullshit was because of her. Because I was the fool who tried to save her.

  Kiera raised her hands in defeat. “Well, excuse me. The report says they also picked up a Philomina LeFaye. Is that any relation to your mother?”

  “Yep. My mother’s cousin.”

  “I love that you’re trying to connect with the other side of your family, Cas, but if they are dragging you down the wrong path, I will have to step in.” Kiera’s use of my childhood nickname was a bit of a surprise, given the situation. Usually when someone was angry with me they called me Camille.

  “It’s not like that. They were helping me look for Bliss.”

  “Wait, I thought you said she wasn’t your friend?”

  “She’s not. I thought she was.” It all seemed so ridiculous now. I closed my eyes and massaged my temples without thinking. My eyes popped open as I hid them away, but Kiera didn’t notice.“Something happened, and I was worried. She is sucked in with Tobias Kinkaid, and she’s on drugs. But she told me to fuck off. I am done trying to help someone who doesn’t want me around.” There was no way that I could tell her the truth about my storybook life, and that vampires, viruses and magic actually exist. Especially my magic.

  “Look, Camille, I know things have been rough for you since Jesse died—”

  “Don’t start with that shit either. Everything always goes back to stupid Jesse. Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. I feel nothing for Jesse. Nothing. Yet, he somehow still dominates my life even though he’s dead. Bliss was the only female friend I have ever had, so I did what I could to help her.” I pulled in a heaving breath and audibly let it out. “She’s exactly like Jesse. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. When and if—and that’s a big if—she is ready, she can come find me.”

  That wasn’t entirely true either. The way Bliss ended it; I wouldn’t help her if she came to me.

  “I’m done, Kiera. Can I go home? If you drop me off, I can give you Jesse’s phone. But you have to let Millie—I mean Philomina out too. She was just there helping me, that’s all.” I didn’t tell her we had been with other people. If she hadn’t mentioned them, I assumed they hadn’t been picked up.

  Hopefully, Eric had grabbed Nya and ran. I would call him as soon as I got my phone back. He may not pick up, but I would try.

  “Funny, she said the same thing about you. Even offered to pay your bail if the need arose.”

  As Kiera closed the file, I felt my expression brighten. Millie was a good person. I was grateful to have her in my life. Having her and Nya, and now Eric, made this shit with Bliss almost bearable. At least I wasn’t alone.

  “I know there is more going on than you are telling me, Cas. Why the hell are you even in the vicinity of a Kinkaid? If he finds out you’re a Bishop....”

  “Kiera, I can tell you right now that me being a Bishop is the very least of Tobias Kinkaid’s worries.” I looked away from her as I said it, being sure to keep my hands under the table in case they turned white at the mention of his name. The overhead lighting gave them an eerie glow.

  I wasn’t even a blip on their radar. Blanchmains’ maybe, but whether they knew that was me or not, I had no idea. The prophecy that gave me that title, and powers that made my hands glow whip cream white, were pretty new to me so it wouldn’t surprise me if no one else knew what it was either.

  If they realized they had murdered the Blanchmains’ parents... well, that was a whole different shit show.

  “Are you really that naive?” She wrote some things down in the file then closed it again. She fiddled with the end of her ponytail for a minute as she thought, something I remember her doing when we were kids.

  I stretched my neck, straining my eyes to see what Kiera had written about me.“What did you write?”

  “That you were working a case and no wrongdoing was committed. The same thing I wrote in the LeFaye file.”

  Without thinking, I reached across the table and took her hand. “Thanks, Kiera.”

  “What the fuck is wrong with your hands, Camille?”

  1.

  three weeks before…

  for those at home playing along...

  our plucky but reluctant hero has found out she’s the prophecy girl, and her trusty sidekick has been kidnapped by a flock of idiot vampires.

  she’ll risk everyt
hing to save her friend. but if they find out what happened to their sister, the sidekick won’t have long.

  will our hero succeed? stay tuned...

  My ringing phone was loud and obnoxious. I was immediately offended when I had to open my eyes. Through my clouded vision, I couldn’t read the call display, I fumbled for the answer button, swiping it with my eyes half-open. “Yeah,” I growled. I didn’t care who it was.

  “Cas?” Bliss whisper-shouted. “Cas? Can you hear me? Cas?”

  “Yep. Sorry, I had fallen asleep. What’s up?”

  “The Kinkaid boys.” My ears perked up.“They came to Ren and grabbed me. I think they are going to....”

  I sat up, heart sinking into my butt. “Going to what? Bliss? Bliss, are you there?”

  “I have the GPS and Bluetooth turned on on my phone. Track it and find me. But they may come after you, too, so watch your back. If I don’t make it, promise me you’ll run, Cas.”

  “What? Fuck that!” I shouted, clapping my hand against my thigh in punctuation. “I am coming for you, Bliss. I will call in the cavalry.”

  I heard yelling in the background. There was some shuffling, like the phone was in someone’s pocket. I heard Bliss scream, and then the phone fell.

  “Are you that retarded that you didn’t check her for a phone?” a male voice yelled. There was a loud crunch just before the phone went dead.

  “Bliss! Bee! Hello?”

  Fuck.

  The phone disconnected, and I couldn’t inhale. Sitting at the edge of my bed, I put my feet flat on the ground and leaned over so my head was by my knees, finally able to take a calming breath.

  I didn’t know what to do. I put the phone down on my bed and stared at it, as if it would suddenly have all the answers, like a Magic 8 Ball. All the training in the world couldn’t prepare a person for something like this. I thought about calling Kiera, but how would I explain it all?

  Yeah, so, the Kinkaid brothers kidnapped Bliss. No, they had a good reason. They think Bliss killed their sister. Well, she did. But they don’t know that for sure.

  I couldn’t call her people. Bucky was dead, and her mom would just call the cops. Should I hunt down Nico? I could call October, but with any of those options, I would still have to explain the unexplainable.

  I picked up the phone and called the only person I could think of that wouldn’t think I was a nutjob. She picked up on the first ring.

  “Hey, Camille!” I was surprised she was so chipper, considering it was late.

  “Hey, Millie. Sorry for calling so late, but I have a pretty serious problem,” I began, taking a deep breath so I wouldn’t cry. “The Kinkaid’s have taken Bliss.”

  “Okay. Like kidnapped, or a ‘poof’ scenario? How do you know?”

  “She phoned me. But they caught her, and the call ended. ”

  “Did you track her call?”

  “Not yet. It literally just happened, and my head is a mess. Will they hurt her?”

  “Track the call. I’ll get in touch with my contacts and see what I can find out and call you back.” She hung up quickly before I could say anything else.

  I grabbed my laptop and, luckily, was still able to track the number.

  Someone had not been paying attention. Tsk tsk. I expected more from mob children.

  Google revealed that she had been taken to what could be best explained as posh suburbia. Parts of the outskirts of Toronto were lined with million-dollar homes with few neighbours around to ask questions. Using Google Earth I got a look at the house and the surrounding area in the daylight. But - even if she was still there - I had no vehicle, no team and no backup.

  She had told me to run.

  Where would I run to? I had nowhere to go. After some internal debate, I decided to call October. She had been there with The Wild Boys that night, maybe she could do something. Or, at the very least, could give me some ideas on what to do.

  The phone rang three times before she picked up. “Well, hello there.”

  “Hi, October? It’s Camille. Sorry to just randomly call you like this, but—”

  “No need for the run around, Camille. Bliss pushed her panic button.”

  “Her what now?” I asked, a little mystified. I didn’t know Bliss had a panic button. It seemed odd, not only that October was at the other end, but that she would assume that I would know that. Saving that conversation for another day, I continued, “She called me before they smashed her phone. The Kinkaid’s grabbed her. I am embarrassed to say I don’t know what to do. With her brother being dead and—”

  October snorted.“Of course you don’t know what to do. You’re just a PI.”

  “Excuse me? I am so—”

  “I have no time for you right now, little girl. I have a rescue to plan.” And then she hung up.

  Sure, I was pissed at what she said. I was so much more than just a PI. Getting into an argument with October wasn’t going to help matters. If anything, it only costed us more time and made her mad at me. I was still sitting here and still didn’t know what to do. Bliss needed me, and I couldn’t help her. As the only female I had connected with as an adult, her friendship meant a lot to me. Sitting here and doing nothing while she was kidnapped by these knucklehead vampires for a crime they were not sure she even committed was wrong.

  Why the fuck didn’t I learn how to drive?

  Fray could drive. But did I want to bring him into this? Even if we drove out there, I couldn’t guarantee his safety. Or my own, for that matter. I couldn’t guarantee anything. To anyone. And that fucking sucked.

  I looked down at my phone. There was only one thing I could do. Put on my big girl pants. I printed out a map to the last location Bliss’s phone had traced to, and then called a taxi. After changing into dark clothing with a black toque to hide my hair, I packed up my purse and snuck out the back door. The taxi picked me up down the street so Ted wouldn’t see me leaving. Family asks a lot of questions when you walk out in the middle of the night dressed like a robber, and I was sure my Uncle would be no exception. And I liked living with him.

  The house that her phone tracked to wasn’t far, twenty minutes or so in the taxi. Which, if I remembered correctly, wasn’t far from Bliss’s mother’s house.

  The taxi let me out a few houses before the location. I would have looked like quite the asshole getting out of a cab right in front.

  Driveways looped away from the street like they were their own versions of the yellow brick road. The grey brick roads led up to sprawling houses, the main difference to the Emerald City was the enormous trees that seemed to border every property, providing a small army decent cover and practically cloaked little old me. It was hard to tell in the dark, but it looked like there may have been woods and a ravine past the backyard.

  Grey stone walls and a circular front drive made the house look like a fortress. It was completely dark, and the eerie quietness of the neighbourhood made my skin crawl. It all looked familiar for a moment but quickly went away.

  I crept around the side of the property and was genuinely surprised that there were no security lights turning on as I moved. But lights going on and off every time a squirrel ran by would be super annoying, and with all these trees there were bound to be lots of animals, so it made sense.

  I was about to step out of the tree line when I stopped myself. In my tunnel vision to get here as quickly as possible, I had forgotten to check for cameras.

  One above the front door, the back door, and the garage. And there were several large windows along the back of the house that someone would surely spot me from.

  Trying to get inside the house was a bad idea. They could trap me like a caged animal, and that wouldn’t help anyone. No one knew I was here. So if I got snatched, I was fucked. My stupidity smacked me in the face like a duelling glove, reminding me that I had really not thought this through. But I was desperate. And what did a good PI do when they were desperate?

  I needed to improvise.

  I dug deep
into the energy welling inside me, moulding it into a hand that I used to throw all the cameras off angle, and then again to pick up a bunch of rocks and throw them through the back windows. I stayed hidden in the tree line, giggling to myself they exploded with a crash. The glass sounded a bit like hail as it fell on the concrete in tiny little pieces. I never knew that breaking so much glass could be so exhilarating.

  It was a lot of noise. More noise than I had expected. I hadn’t thought about the neighbours hearing and calling the cops. Unless they were paid well to pretend to hear nothing. Or the houses were empty. Maybe the whole neighbourhood was empty.

  What if there was a vampire nest in the basement? What if the Kinkaid’s had some insane blood draining dungeon down there, with bodies suspended by their ankles as their life drained into a bucket below?

  I waited and waited. No one came out. No lights turned on. Nothing. If someone was there, surely they would have sent security to check it out.

  After a half hour of nothing, I decided to leave. There was nothing I could do.

  As I walked away, I started to cry. This was some bullshit. I knew there was a good chance after they found her phone they would move her, but I had secretly hoped I was wrong. I wasn’t about to go into a Kinkaid house alone and unarmed, so I couldn’t even find a trail to pick up. I could do nothing else on my own. I called a taxi to a house on the next street over and headed back home.

  An hour or so later, Millie called back.

  “Sorry. It took me a bit to get a hold of my contacts,” Millie said, and I heard shuffling in the background. “She’s okay. And she will be, for the time being. I was told that one of the Kinkaid boys is in love with her and intends on claiming her.”

  “Claiming her? What the fuck does that mean?” It took everything I had not to yell.

  “It means they want her as a mate. Whichever one it is wants her all to himself and is going to great lengths to do that.”

  “Well, we have to go get her! We have to do something!” I didn’t tell her that I had already gone looking. The extent of my powers was supposed to remain hidden. No way would I let her know that I would sacrifice myself and this prophecy nonsense to get my friend back.