Her reaction was a bit different. "What did you find out from him?"
Everyone quieted down once we were gathered in the living room. It felt odd without Joe here. Manuel came bounding down the stairs and gave me a quick wink as he jumped onto the back of the couch.
One I finished recounting my conversation with Dad, Umayma retrieved her phone from her pocket as she went back out on the terrace.
Tel raised his hand. "So the Seraphim has a mutiny on his hands?"
I nodded. "Sounds like it."
"It also sounds like—and I'm just speculating at this point—" Manuel said "—that you and I were lured into that club. I'm not sure his intention was killing me as he did Zivena, but finding a way into the Society."
"You mean, to get to Rhonda?" Nick said.
Manuel nodded. "I say this because we finally identified the meat suit he'd killed. Guy by the name of Clark Terrance, out of Ringgold, Georgia. Solitary witch."
"You think this Clark had a Veil the Dominion was using?"
"Yes."
"But…" I shook my head. "It's not jiving with what Adiran said. Dominions can't possess bodies. But when grabbed at him, grabbed into him, I saw all those points of lights, they were in that body. How could that have been human?"
"What if the guy was already dead?" Jason interjected. "Clark Terrance. But Zacharel remained in the Veil. Is it possible he puppeted the body? The trapped souls really were trapped inside of his Ethereal body, and that's what you saw?"
"I guess." I tried remembering what it felt like physically when I reached inside of him, but I couldn't.
"Can I say something?" Nick held out his hand. "You're talking about trusting information from Adiran Martinique. In case you forgot—"
"I know what he did. I also know I saw real, genuine concern about Mom." I looked at Jason. "Have you seen him with her?"
"Seen him?" Jason made a rude noise. "He and I've exchanged more than words. It's like he never leaves. Even when I order him out of the room, he stays in the hall. Because he's invisible, I can't request the nurses get rid of him."
"What's your opinion of his intention?"
Jason ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to say, he seems genuinely upset. Virtues can't be in two places at once. Him being with Nona and the anger I feel radiating off of him—I'd say your father's no threat. He seems very upset. As for Nona's condition—no change. I checked on Joe before I left. He's going to be fine. Just needs several hours of deep sleep."
Nick wasn't finished. "Did you confront him with the man who raped you—the one with his mark on him? Did you mention Karl Gibbons's name? Did you ask about the Powers in Montreal?"
I glared at him. "Yes to all of that, Nick." I explained the rape and attack in Piedmont Park all the way up to my mom confessing to me. "Gibbons was in Montreal on Zacharel's orders. Dad believes the bastard's sending out the Powers to unsettle me. And Dad's sent out his own army to find and destroy the Powers wearing the altered mark."
Daniel spoke up. "What was it you wanted to see me for?"
"I want to get the Eidolons and keep them safe. I don't trust them being in the Society House, not with Mom not there, and Rhonda knowing all the building's access points."
"Well, I'm with you and all, but how do you know they're there?"
"Where else would they be?"
Daniel smiled. "Take a look at what's happened. Zacharel wants the Eidolons, and he's in possession of someone who should have, or has a way to get access to, information on where they are, right? So if they were in the Society House, why did they go after your mom's shop?"
Oh. Shit on a stick. "Because they're not there."
Daniel nodded. "Rhonda doesn't know where they are. I assume they hit the most probable location, being Nona's shop."
"And if what you say Joe noticed is true, Rhonda lowered the wards to allow someone to attack Nona," Jason said with a grin. "They came up empty. What other places would they go?"
"They'll scour Rhonda's memories," Daniel said. "And one by one, they'll look at where she's been. I'd be willing to guess they'll hit Zoë's apartment, if they haven't already. And Joe's, since they're in the same building."
"So…" I looked at Daniel. "What happens when they run out of places to search?"
He didn't look very happy. Manuel answered as he stepped jumped down off the couch. "They'll start taking people."
Oh no…no no no. That dick already had Dags, and put Mom in the hospital. I was not letting him pick off people. "We have to find the Eidolons first. We know they stole the Creation stone, taking it from Mom. And they used it to make regenerating Fetches." I thought about Pumpkin Basket, and shivered.
"Does Joe still have the Destruction stone?" Jason said.
"I think he does. He hasn't said. I have the Banishing stone."
"Did you ever tell Rhonda?" Manuel said. "That you and Joe had one each?"
"I didn't tell her shit. And I hope like hell that Joe didn't tell her during a little pillow talk."
"I'm assuming she knows, given her involvement with your Horror," Daniel said quietly. "So that makes you both targets, just like Nona."
I didn't want to think about the Horror, and I didn't care if I was a target. Let that son of a bitch try and come after me. "What about Command and Possession? If they're not at the Society House, then where are they?"
Jason said, "I bet Nona had them moved, but she was smart enough not to hide them in the shop."
But where would she put something so important that she wanted to keep it safe without anyone else in the world getting to it? It made sense to have hid them at the house, but it was obvious they didn't find them there.
"Zoë, what was your Eidolon again?" Manuel asked.
"Banishing. My dad had it wrapped in silver on a chain for my fourth birthday." I thought about what Dad said, his final statement. "Has anyone here heard of there being six Eidolons? And there being a riddle?"
Head-shaking all around.
"Riddle?" Jason said.
Did your father tell you something about a riddle?
I jumped in reaction to Mephistopheles' voice in my head. Yes. He said that the sixth Eidolon was part of the riddle. But he didn't tell me what the riddle was. Just that there was one.
Interesting.
Jason gave a deep sigh. "Nick and I are heading over to the Society House, just to check things out. Umayma? Tel?"
"I'll go with you," Umayma said as she moved to the bar to retrieve her purse. I didn't remember her stepping back in the room. "Tel, you and Manuel come with us."
"But I want to go with Zoë." The little metal head (with the big huge First Born Loki within) whined as he jumped off the couch and followed behind her. He gave Daniel a wide berth as he walked by and followed everyone out the door.
"What was that about?" I watched them leave. Daniel and I were the only ones left.
"Me." Daniel strolled to the open sliding glass door. Cold wind moved into the living area. "They're not sure what to think about this new thing."
"You mean you walking through walls."
"Mmhm."
I moved to stand at the door beside him. I was cold, but I was still wearing my father's coat. "Are they being mean?"
"Mean?" He laughed as he looked down at me at his side. "Zoë, this isn't high school."
"No. But I've discovered that adults can be even meaner than kids. And you know you're kinda in a little club that caters exclusively to being different. Only now you're even more different than they are." I looked up at him. "Do they resent it, or are they afraid of it?"
"They're afraid…" He licked his lips and looked back through the glass at the view as if searching for the right words. "They are afraid that this new power changes things for Inanna. That she won't be able to contain the madness. Which is just stupid, because nothing's happened to make them think that."
"Then why do they?"
"I don't know." He turned to face me. "Zoë, I…"
His blue e
yes roamed my face and I smiled up at him. "Let's go check on Joe and ask him if he knows where the Eidolons are, see if he knows about a sixth one. I need to make sure he's okay."
Daniel's face darkened just a bit, as if a slight shadow passed over it. "You like Joe, don't you."
It wasn't a question as much as it was a comment. "Yes, I do, Daniel. I care a great deal for Joe. Joe's…" What did I want to say about the surly cop? That he'd been there with me since near the beginning? That he'd not shown utter disdain for the supernatural, unlike another cop I knew? That Joe steadily remained himself, loyal, and always a peacekeeper?
Or that his kiss, above all others, still lingered on my lips?
"Joe's a good friend," I finally answered, and put my hand on Daniel's chest, over his heart. I felt it beat steadily, and realized that even though a creature of immense power rested inside of him, he was still human. And he was still just a man.
And he was still my Daniel.
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "You know, during the investigation into my conduct…after my partner died, Joe was the only one who called and offered me help. I ignored him…'cause I was still mad about Heather."
"He never spoke ill of you, Daniel." I laughed. "Even though you called him a nutcase for believing in all of this."
"Wow…was I wrong?" Daniel reached up and touched my cheek. "Zoë, I am sorry I did the things I did. I'm sorry I acted like an ass…that I never even stopped to consider any other possibility beyond what I could see."
"Daniel—"
"No. I have to say this. Because I didn't say it before. We moved apart because of me, not you. You offered so much to me, and I fucked it up. I was still so hurt from Heather's betrayal…I assumed you weren't a better person. I suspected you were hiding something from me, and instead of trusting you'd tell me when you could, I assumed a lot of stupid shit." He took both of my hands in his and stood very close to me. "I know, deep down, you and I won't ever be together again. I get it, that you love Darren. And I'm…okay with that. And with what's happened…I'm sorry. And I do hope that something can be done to give him back his memories of you." He smiled. "You two deserve to be happy."
My breath caught in my throat and my eyes burned. Dear God, Daniel had never really apologized like this…or if he had, I'd core-dumped it somewhere. Through his eyes, I could see he meant the words he said. Even though I knew Inanna was there with him. For the first time since this nightmare began, I believed he really loved me.
He does.
I gasped at the sound of Inanna's voice in my head. Inanna…you love him, too.
Yes, I do. And even though I am a part of him, I am not in his thoughts as much as you are.
I looked away. Can he hear you talking to me?
No. I don't want him to. But I want you to listen to me. Daniel doesn't want anything else in this world except the chance to bring you and Dags together again. He's been studying in his spare time, and he's been going through the knowledge of every host I've ever had. We've gone through what knowledge I brought with me to find a way to bring Dags' memories back.
My heart skipped. And?
There is a way. But he won't share it with you yet. Not until he's sure. Because if he broke your heart again, it would destroy him.
I don't deserve his praise.
No, you don't.
Her words stung. I didn't have a retort…she was right. I was just as much at fault for abandoning him as he was for leaving me.
"She's talking to you. I can tell because she's not answering me and you look upset." He took his hand from mine and touched my cheek. "What is she saying?"
"Nothing that I don't already know. That she cares about you, and we both agreed to keep you safe."
"Isn't that my line?" He put an arm over my shoulder and turned me to the door. "Let's go see the cranky cop."
Chapter Twenty-Four
I hate hospitals. But I think I've said that before. They're just…wrong.
For me, they're wrong because I can see the ghosts and Shades of the people who died in them. Before I could Wraith in-body, they usually didn't show themselves all that much unless I went out of body. Now…they're there whether I like it or not.
Most of them don't notice me noticing them. But when they do notice me, that's when it gets freaky, because having talked to one or two? They stop seeing me as a human and see me as I would look as Wraith. And, of course, religious sensibilities start coming to the surface and poof—I'm a demon.
Bully for me. *Wiggles fingers in the air to be all spooky*
We checked in on Mom first. No change. Jemmy was happy to see me, and the officer there didn't try and take me into custody. I'm not even sure he knew the lady in the bed was my mom. I do look a lot like my dad. Speaking of the old devil, he was there. I could see him by Mom's bed. Jemmy didn't see him, and I wasn't exactly sure I should tell her. He nodded to me when I gave Mom a kiss on her forehead, but he didn't say anything. If Daniel saw him, he didn't say. I hurried out of the room and into Daniel's arms. This was hard, and he was there and it felt sooo good to be held.
I was touched my father was there. But it was just so…incongruous with what I knew of his previous actions.
Wow. That sounded smart.
I still remembered what he said at Big Trees. That he did what he did because he loved me.
Joe was on the same floor, and Daniel and I walked hand-in-hand to the door. Just as I knocked, I heard voices coming from inside—and they didn't sound happy. One of them was a girl's voice.
I put my finger to my lip to indicate to Daniel to be quiet as we leaned in and listened.
"…two did to me!"
"Look, just calm down," Joe said. "All this yelling is just going to bring a nurse in here."
Who was in the room with him?
"Fine. Then I can tell her you're a witch and you shoot dead people up with drugs so they'll come back to life. And that guy you had in there with me? Where's he? You two still making zombies together?"
I gave Daniel the same WTF look he gave me. Who was this chick, and what was she talking about? She was right that Joe shot corpses with drugs, but I sort of figured he hadn't done that in a while, since it was Lex who had mixed the juice for him. And Lex had long passed. The only reason he had done that was to check to make sure they really were dead and their souls just hadn't gotten lost on the Astral Plane.
Apparently some street—and prescription— drugs caused out of body experiences. When taking a walk on the wild side really meant taking a walk out of body, Joe championed getting them back where they belonged before the Medical Examiner drained them and cut them open for autopsy.
'Cause once that happens…sorry, no going back in. Yick.
"He's fine. Well, he was fine. And he's the one who healed you enough so you could fit back into your body."
"Fit back in…" There was a crash of something. "Joe Halloran, how long was I dead before you fucking brought me back?"
Uh oh. Daniel looked at me with a question and pointed at the door. I nodded. Time for an interception.
Was that the right word?
No…intervention. Ah, right.
Daniel pushed the door open first and stepped in—just in time to catch a knife in his chest.
"Shit!" Joe said, and was up off the bed to grab the girl's wrists.
I was behind Daniel when he staggered. I took him by the arm. "Daniel?"
"I'm okay. It's really not a big deal. I fed earlier, and this is a small knife. She just…well, that was a surprise, you know?" He righted himself and pulled the knife out. I came around the front to take a look and saw where it went in. More into his shoulder. And as I watched, the wound sealed itself up.
That's my Revenant!
"Daniel, you got your cuffs?" Joe said as he fought the girl
It was sort of a funny sight. Both of them were in those backless hospital gowns. He was holding her back with her wrists and she was trying to kick him, one foot at a time.
Daniel came up behind her, and grabbed her arms out of Joe's hands, and pinned them behind her.
That's when I saw her face and recognized her. "Tamera…Moultrie?"
She turned to me at the sound of her name. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Wow, she's got a mouth on her." I looked at Joe. He looked one–hundred-percent better, if not a little winded after fending off Miss Potty Mouth. "You okay?"
"I'm good. I just…wow, who put her on the same floor as me?"
"Dunno." I nodded to the bed. "Sit. I think Daniel's got her under control."
"I asked you a fucking question, you moron," Tamera said as she tried to strike Daniel by kicking backward at him. "You this asswipe's whore?"
I slapped her. Sorry…but I wasn't in the mood. And then I did something I didn't do on purpose very often.
I shifted.
Right in front of her. I let my wings unfurl and I hoped my hair did its crazy octopus dance.
It had more than the desired effect.
She fainted.
Plop.
Daniel lifted her up, set her in a chair, and covered her in a blanket. He put himself just behind her in case she woke up and decided to attack someone again.
I pointed at her and glared at Joe.
"It's really not a good time…." he started.
"Uh-uh. You tell us now. And then we tell you how our day went. What the fuck was she talking about? What the hell was she talking about, fitting back into her body? Who did you say was fine?"
He didn't make an affirmative sound that time. Instead, he sat back on his hospital bed and rubbed at his face. "Look…remember when I woke you up in the morgue?"
"Like it was yesterday."
"Remember how I said she was my informant on the shipment of magic stones, and someone slipped her something?" He gestured to Tamera Moultrie. "She ended up in the morgue, and I needed more information after Charlie was killed."
Joe pushed himself up onto the bed. He looked kinda cute with the spikier-than-usual hair and the not-so-flattering gown. I noticed then how hairy his forearms were. Was his chest hairy, too? I don't like hairy. I don't want grass on my playground.
Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 Page 16
