Conjuring up the picture of Josianne in my mind I felt the pendulum, filled with her magic, connecting fully with me. Tell me...where is Josianne Bellemort? The pendulum made two more circles, and then I felt a familiar tug. I wanted to follow it, but my mind bumped into some kind of bubble. Except its wall was made out of bricks. Ow.
I tried again. Bump! Wall. Interesting, but I wouldn’t give up so easily. For the boys this looked like a typical witch ritual, so from the outside they wouldn’t notice if I added a little extra to it. Without fearing my true origins to be discovered I pushed a little of my other magic into the pendulum, making it glow, and dropped it. It never touched the map; instead the pendulum bounced off an invisible wall. The one I’ve felt in my mind.
I pursed my lips and muttered a curse. “I’ll have to go on the roof. Better access to the magic.”
The guys helped me carrying all the stuff and after arriving on the housetop I arranged everything the way it had been before on the flagstones of which the terrace was made. I sat down, cross-legged, took a few deep breaths and started all over again.
When I felt the pendulum tugging, I followed the movement and...came up against the wall. Grrr.
Again I pushed magic into the pendulum, carefully as I didn’t want to melt it, and let it drop. It bounced off the invisible wall. Dammit. My pendulum lay a few feet away, smoking. I had to buy another one, maybe out of stone and try again. Given my heritage there weren’t that many creatures magically stronger than me. Our opponent just moved a few notches up my ranking list. I was looking forward to meeting him. Standing up I turned to the boys, who were looking at me with question marks in their eyes.
“Didn’t quite go as planned. She’s definitely in Paris, but something very strong shields her.”
Romaric’s eyes flooded with hope. “So she’s alive?”
I smiled at him. “Yes. Yes, she is.”
He performed a dance of joy, but then stopped abruptly looking back and forth between me and Kylian. “But how do we find her?”
“Let us worry about that, okay. Come on Romeo, take us to your love nests. The one where you met on Friday and the last one.”
“Sure. And the name’s Romaric, by the way.”
I looked at him and shrugged. “I know, but given the circumstances Romeo kinda seems appropriate, don’t you think?”
At first we went to the museum, where Kylian caught Josi’s scent and memorized it. Then we headed for the church Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis. It was build in the 17th century by command of Louis XIII, showing elements inspired by Italian and French tradition with its short apsis, high windows, and dome, allowing in an ample light. Candle-lit chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling added a warm, soft touch to it and the air was pleasantly fresh inside, a nice contrast to the unbearable heat outside.
“Maybe you two should look and sniff around while I try a more human approach?” I suggested, motioning towards the Father near the altar. Kylian nodded and we spread out, all the while assaying the area and looking for anything that might give us a hint to Josi’s whereabouts.
I silently approached the Father, and was surprised as he turned around to me.
“May I help you, child?” He was in his mid-fifties, slender built, had silver hair and gray eyes, that twinkled friendly.
“Bonjour mon père, my name is Maiwenn Cadic and I’m a private investigator.” I showed him my license. “I would like to ask you some questions, if that’s alright?”
“But of course.” He went a little to the side, away from the altar and gestured to the benches on the left side, “Would you like to sit down?” I didn’t decline, so we sat.
I pulled out Josianne’s portrait from under my wristband and showed it to him. “Do you recognize this girl?”
He studied the drawing thoroughly, his brows drawn tightly together, but then he looked up with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t think so. No.”
I folded the picture and tucked it away again.
“What happened to her?”
On a sigh I told him, “She’s missing.”
“Oh, that poor thing. I’ll pray for a good end.”
I stood. “Thank you for your time, mon père. Au revoir.”
Close to the exit, I met the boys and shook my head at their questioning eyes.
Kylian whispered, “She was here a few days ago. Can’t tell exactly when, too many people coming and going here.”
With a glance towards the people praying in silence I suggested, “Let’s go outside.” There, I asked Romeo, “Was it her idea to meet you here?”
“Yes, we take turns.”
“Did Josianne say something as to why she picked this particular church?” I wanted to know.
He thought about it for a sec. “Actually, now that I come to think of it. Yes, Josi did mention she wanted to tell me something. A surprise, she said.”
I looked back at the church behind us. A surprise? That could be anything. “Did you find something special or conspicuous inside?”
They shook their heads.
“Me either.”
I ran a hand over my hair and turned to Kylian. “Is her scent here strong enough for you to tell us whether she lingered in certain places?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
Would have been too good to be true anyway. We’d struck a dead end. For once I wished to be given a sign. Josianne might be a vampire, but nevertheless she was also just a girl. And I couldn’t shake this feeling that time was running out. Dammit.
I threw a last glance at the church, admiring the handiwork. What a shame that the state didn’t take better care of places like this. People needed them, for support and comfort in bad times, which we’ve had plenty of, and for companionship in times of joy. I noticed a woman in front of the notice board going through the announcements and all sorts of flyers, most of which offered or advertised trips, gatherings and support groups.
For the time being we said bye to Romaric, promising him further investigation, and headed back to my office.
Chapter 9
I opened the door to my office and stopped dead in my tracks. Pauline was sitting in my chair, her bare feet planted on my desk, and talking on the phone. Keeping up against the wave of heat that had a tight grip on Paris she wore a light mauve summer dress. I moved towards her while she said good-bye and hung up.
Pauline held up one hand. “Hi, you two. No need to panic. I can explain it. I came down to tell you something an hour ago. When I noticed you were out, I wanted to go back up, really, but then the phone rang, and I answered it...and I kinda became your new secretary.” She indicated a pad lying on the desk. “I noted everything down.”
I looked at her for a while, then just cracked up and laughed. “You really are a number, you know that?” Kylian and I sat down, too. “So what did you want to tell me?”
“Right. Um. Viviane and I have a surprise for you.” She stood and moved towards my office door, closing it.“Yes, today you’ll close a few minutes earlier. It won’t hurt, I promise.”
Ha-ha. In a decisive, but still playful voice she continued, “You two, follow me!”
Frowning, not quite what to make of all of this, we did. Her beautiful wings flapping excited, she led us up to the roof, where we were greeted by Viviane and Chastel.
“Bonjour ma grande. Kylian”, Viviane said with her throaty but rich voice, and gave each of us two kisses on the cheek. She was well-dressed as ever in her white linen skirt and golden yellow tunic, that accentuated her healthy tan.
“Surprise”, with her arm she motioned a wide circle, encompassing the terrace.
On the flagstone island in the middle of a blooming, green sea they’d set the table, which should have collapsed under the amount of food. Even from where we stood I could make out three big bowls with different kinds of salad. A grill stood not far away, the coal already kindling, and all around the terrace torches were sticking out of the ground, not yet lightened since the last rays of sunlight were still stro
ng. Music was playing softly in the background, accompanied by the tweeting of the birds and the humming of the bees. A peaceful oasis in the middle of Paris.
“We thought you could use a little break. Clear your heads, make some space for new ideas”, Pauline explained.
I pulled my girls into a fierce hug. “Thank you. It’s exactly what I need.”
The five of us walked over to the table and settled down. Malo lay already curled up on the sixth chair and I let my fingers run through his silky fur to let him know I was back. He looked up and began licking my fingertips with his bristly tongue before he rested his head once more on his front paws. Malo was a real lazy one.
Soon conversations were in a full swing, everyone was chattering and talking about everything but work. And I was grateful for it, knowing it would be good to take my mind off things for at least a little while. Kylian got up, volunteering to take over the grill. Shortly afterwards the mouth-watering scent of grilled meat filled the air, so that even Malo came awake, hopped off the chair to move around Kylian’s legs with wide, round, begging eyes. You’d never believe that a day ago they’d have killed each other. Life was that way sometimes. Live and let live.
Viviane and I were refilling the glasses with red wine when Kylian returned with a big plate fully laden with juicy steaks, sausages and chicken spits. Everyone helped himself with meat, mixed salad, Pauline’s German potato salad and Viviane’s bread. It was delicious, my eyes wanting more than my stomach could possibly ever hold.
Beside me Kylian wanted to grab for the bottle of garlic sauce but I was faster, snatching it right from under his nose.
I shrugged, preening inside, “Though luck”.
He looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Oh, that’s so very mature.”
One moment the bottle was in my hand, the next I was grabbing air. Shit. He’d moved so fast, I didn’t even see it. “Tough luck back at you.”
Now he was the one grinning from ear to ear. Grrr, that bastard.
After this nice little smack down I turned my attention back to the food on my plate.
Chastel, who’d obviously followed our little fight, nodded towards the bottle and looked at Kylian. “Be generous with that, will you?” Then he winked at me and added, “More ladies for me to kiss that way.”
Kylian stayed calm, returning a smug smile as he gave a generous dab of the garlic sauce on my plate as well. “Oops, that lady here will be off limits then. Sorry. Lucky you, there’s a lot of fish in the sea.”
Chastel grinned back. “Lucky me indeed ‘cause that’s not for you to decide.”
I felt Kylian tense beside me. Oh-oh. Before I could have a word in that matter though, Chastel deliberately turned towards Viviane. “Madame Viviane, would you mind telling us about your time as the Patroness of Paris?”
“Not at all. What would you like to here?”
“Who were your toughest adversaries?”
Viviane smiled. “Typical male question. Hmm, let me think. My toughest adversary? From this lifetime?”
The question made me tense and brought some seconds of silence from the others. And yep, even in our little weird world, that was not exactly usual.
Even I had some trouble pinpointing Viviane’s true origins. She was the Lady of the Lake, an old magical creature. Her powers were a mix between those of a witch, a faery and an elemental being, but far stronger than any of them. But to the rest of the world we were just Viviane and Maiwenn, powerful but simple witches. And after a lifelong effort of keeping our true origins and abilities a secret I couldn’t fathom why Viviane would suddenly change her mind. What was going on in her head? Leaning back in my chair I tried to give the false impression of being relaxed and interested, though all the while I was dying for answers.
I couldn’t remember a thing from our previous lives but Viviane could, though mostly up and downs such as moments of trauma and great pain, like death for example.
Chastel’s eyebrows crept up his forehead. “You’ve lived more than one?”
Her gaze swept fleetingly over me as if to say ‘stay calm, relax’ before she smiled mysteriously. “Of course, what a silly question.”
He nodded and grinned back at her. “Let’s start with this one, then.”
Viviane sat deep in thoughts for a while then began to tell her story with that fascinating, luring voice of hers. “Just like Maiwenn I began to patrol these streets when I was fourteen years old. Normally it’s an exciting age. You’re on the brink between girl and woman, not quite either. Having so many questions in your head going around, and hormones running havoc, teenagers search answers and limits. We, the patronesses, don’t have the time for that, we learned the hard way. How much can you take, how much pain, how far can you go? Can you kill someone? Render the death blow?”
Oh boy. That was too much. “Viv, enough of the eye-watering, please. It’s not that bad.”
That mysterious smile flickered again. “Maybe you’re right, maybe not. Anyway, that same time I fell in love with a vampire, Raymond. He was seventeen and, ah, so beautiful he should have been punished for it. We met during one of my patrols, circumstances nothing out of the ordinary, or so I thought. In retrospect I’m not so sure about it. He fell in love with me, too. That, I was and always have been sure of. He didn’t let it distract him though. Turned out Raymond was after a powerful, magical object he thought in my possession. He’d even tried to kill me for it and would have done it, in the blink of an eye, without hesitation.”
A powerful, magical object? She had to be talking about Cutter. It was the first time I heard that story so I began to listen very closely.
She paused and took a deep breath. “In the end he became my toughest adversary because I wasn’t able to kill him. In our world it’s kill or get killed, you all know that. I knew it, too, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it – though I had the opportunity.” Viviane shook her head, “It was the first and the last time that that ever happened.”
“So what became of him? Is he still alive, I mean undead, whatever?” Pauline wanted to know.
Viviane smiled mischievously. “Well, I know he’s still around. Since I didn’t have the heart to kill him, I needed to do something else. And after I found out he wanted to kill all magical leaders asserting a claim on Paris with the famous, unknown, magical object, I went to Lilith, telling her to keep an eye on him. You know the saying ‘keep your friend close, and your enemy even closer’.”
“So he didn’t get what he was looking for? This mysterious object?” Kylian asked.
Viviane snickered. “Damn right, he didn’t. Instead he spends the rest of his life as one of Lilith’s lapdogs. Ah, the vicissitudes of life!” She looked up, at the horizon. “Well, look at that. Isn’t it beautiful?”
A red sun had begun her slowly setting, a little to the right of the Eiffel Tower, illuminating Paris in a soft, golden pink glow. There were some clouds high in the sky, now painted a bright orange against an otherwise clear blue sky. It was one of those moments were you just held your breath, feeling naturally small in this marvelous work, this magnum opus called world. In comfortable silence we followed the course of the sun with our eyes, every one of us lost in own thoughts. Quietly watching the color of the sky change, and finally the setting of the blood-red star until only some pink little spots on the clouds were its last reminder.
Knowing Viviane all my life, it was obvious to me that she was trying to distract the others from her anecdote and the powerful object she’d mentioned. That was fine with me, but I couldn’t stop wondering why she’d told the story in the first place. Was it meant as a warning? Telling us that appearances were deceiving and that even those we held dear could turn on us?
It wasn’t long before darkness would settle and so I stood up and began to lighten the torches, soon plunging the terrace in a soft golden light. Viviane stood, too, a bright smile on her face, and tugging Pauline with her she came towards me, her hips swinging to the music playing in the background
.
She beamed. “Now girls we have to dance, so the sun knows she has to come back in the morning. Jean, turn the music up a bit, will you? I just love that song!”
Chastel obeyed the Lady of the Lake, a wise decision. “Your wish is my command, my lady.”
Needing one last moment of oblivion, I took their hands and danced in a little circle with them as we sang along at the top of our voices. Just like that, on a rooftop in the middle of Paris we went crazy and wild, enjoying life. Pauline’s wings were flapping happily, reflecting the light of the flames. The music changed to “Sugar, sugar” and we continued our dancing while Pauline brought her hand to her mouth and taking a deep breath she blew on it so that a cloud of fairy dust exploded into the air. The dust rose up, swirling and glittering around us, like golden snowflakes. We laughed as if we were high on it, when I heard a cell phone ringing. It was Kylian’s. He looked at its display then at me and mouthed Grandpa. I nodded and saw him jogging downstairs, seeking a little silence and privacy.
The song changed again and all of a sudden I found myself spun around and into a pair of muscular arms, Chastel’s. That revelation was followed by a little unexpected pang of disappointment. Holding a rose, which he must have plugged from one of my bushes - that bastard - clenched between his teeth, he winked at me and carried me away into a quick and hot lambada. Even though we both weren’t great dancers, the bold rhythm alone just made you want to move. Besides, Chastel’s playing the incorrigible macho with lots of wiggling eyebrows and posturing made me laugh so hard it became impossible to even think of steps. As the song drew to an end my stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing and I noticed that Viviane and Pauline fared not much different.
Blue Moon Rising (The Patroness) Page 10
