All That Falls

by Kimberly Frost

  “No police. With demons involved, we should handle this ourselves.”

  “If there’s anything incriminating on this flash drive, it’ll be encrypted. Does Merrick have a computer guy on his payroll? Someone who could get past Troy’s security?”

  “Likely he does, and Merrick could be helpful in finding Ileana Rella’s present location.”

  “He could?”

  “Certainly. Merrick’s job as an enforcer required him to hunt creatures all over the world. Some were quite cunning in their evasive tactics, but Merrick always tracked them down in the end.”

  “Alissa said Merrick has arranged for a temporary truce, so he’s got things under control in the Varden for the moment. We can go there.”

  Her cell rang. “It’s my sister,” she said, wanting to ignore it. She looked down at Troy’s face and thought of Alissa’s warning. For six weeks, Cerise had pushed Dorie away and possibly right into Troy’s grasp. Had Dorie’s recent malicious behavior toward Alissa stemmed from Dorie being a victim of Troy’s manipulation?

  “I’m going to pack a few things for Jersey and me. I’ll be back in a minute,” Cerise said, walking out of the room. When she was out of earshot, she answered the call.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “I’m sorry about earlier. I know you’re mad, but I have to tell you—” Dorie’s voice caught.

  “Tell me what?” Cerise asked.

  “It’s a mess, Cer. It’s a terrible mess. Ileana’s gone. She’s missing. We don’t know for how long. ES thinks—” Dorie’s voice broke again and she started to cry. “They believe that someone else has been holding the cell phones—hers and her security detail’s—and sending the text message check-ins. When the ES director tried calling and insisted on voice communication, there were no more texts.”

  Cerise’s heart sank.

  “They’re sending a team to Denver where they had their last voice communication, but they say if her security detail didn’t call in after losing their phones, it means her bodyguards must be dead and that someone’s taken her.” Dorie paused, choking on emotion. “Is that fallen angel still with you? If it was a demon who took Ileana, you know he could be involved. Please tell me you’re by yourself and safe,” Dorie said through tears.

  “Hush. I’m 100 percent okay.”

  “Come home. Please come home right now. I’m scared for you. For all of us. They’re patrolling the outer wall, talking about how they’ll handle it if the ventala try to blow a hole in it.”

  “Calm down. No one is going to try to blow a hole in the Etherlin walls. The ventala are fighting with each other. Period. It’s nothing to do with us.” Except for Alissa.

  “Will you come home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Now? Right now?”

  “Soon.”

  “You have to. Dad’s so worried. We both are. I tried calling Troy, and he’s not answering, either. He’s going to freak out when he hears. You know how close they are. How close we all are. Ileana’s been like another big sister to me. I can’t believe this could happen.”

  Cerise bit her lip. “I have to go for now.”

  “No, don’t! Stay on the line with me. Please. I need to hear your voice.”

  “I’ll call you back soon. I promise. Right now there’s something I have to do.”

  Dorie sniffled.

  “Everything will be okay.” As Cerise pulled a suitcase from the closet, she noticed bloodstains on the knees of her pants. She grimaced. “I’ll call you back soon,” she whispered and hung up. Resting her forehead against the closet door, she closed her eyes, feeling close to tears herself. She fought the urge to break down.

  “Are you all right?” Lysander asked, his voice close. She didn’t answer. His arms slid around from behind her and pulled her back. She leaned against him, her muscles tight. She couldn’t relax.

  “My sister’s really upset, and I hung up on her.”

  “Do you think she’s safe where she is?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is there anyone other than you who can offer her emotional support?”

  Cerise nodded. “She’s close to my dad. She can lean on him.” She took a sip of air through pursed lips then blew it out. “But it feels like I should be there. I don’t want to add to their worry and pain, not when Troy’s body’s going to be discovered soon and when Ileana’s been officially declared missing.”

  “So it’s official.”

  “Yeah,” Cerise said and filled him in.

  “I think we’ll do the most good by going to the Varden without delay, but if you want to see your family first, we can stop there.”

  She shook her head. “Seeing you with me will only upset them more. If we can find Ileana and return her to the Etherlin, it’ll go a long way to proving to them that you’re not in league with demons.”

  They returned to Alissa and Richard’s house to swap Alissa’s sports car for a town car. With Jersey dressed in sweats and wrapped in a blanket in the backseat along with the luggage, Cerise drove to the gates and they forced the ES officers to let them pass.

  The drive through the Sliver and the Varden passed without incident. Cerise and Lysander questioned Jersey gently about what had driven Troy to try to kill her. Jersey’s flat-voiced explanation about her secret relationship with Troy and how it led to a near-fatal miscarriage left Cerise speechless and chilled to the bone. Had Griffin realized what Troy had done? Was that why he’d been getting ready to fire him?

  As they pulled up to Merrick’s building and saw the line of people waiting to get into Crimson, Cerise murmured, “Wow. It was a war zone last night, tonight bombs exploded, yet here they are.”

  She pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. She and Lysander retrieved the suitcases, and Jersey trailed behind them. As they passed the gathered club-goers, Cerise glanced at the women in slinky dresses and men in slick suits. “I guess if it’s the end of the world as we know it, dancing and drinking isn’t a bad way to finish things off.”

  Lysander clasped her hand and drew her close as they went inside.

  The security guy on the platform nodded at Lysander and said, “You got a haircut. Looks good.”

  Lysander passed the counter without responding. “Thanks,” Cerise said for him.

  They boarded the elevator and ascended to the penthouse. Lysander tried the door, but found it locked and frowned.

  “Isn’t it always locked?” she asked, surprised that Merrick wouldn’t keep it that way.

  “I don’t know. I usually land on the balcony. That door’s often left unlocked.”

  “For you, sure. This many floors up, who else is going to use it?”

  She rapped on the door. After a couple of minutes, Merrick opened it. His wet hair curled over his collar and his dark eyes assessed the pair of them.

  “Hall door?”

  “My wing’s healing. No thanks to you,” Lysander said, shouldering past Merrick to gain entry. As he still held her hand, Cerise joined him.

  “Glad it worked out,” Merrick said mildly. He glanced at their intertwined fingers.

  “Apparently as a reward for saving his life, I have to keep him,” she said, nodding at Merrick’s bemused expression. “Sort of the way if you rescue a stray kitten from a tree, you become a cat owner. Of course with cats there is the alternative of the Humane Society. You don’t happen to have a number for Archangel Control, do you?”

  Merrick smirked. Lysander rolled his eyes, but gave her hand a squeeze before he let it go and went into the kitchen. A moment later, he announced, “You’re out of oranges.”

  “Yeah, been busy with a syndicate war. You remember where the roof is, right?” Merrick said.

  “Doesn’t matter if I do. The trees are empty by now. You’ve got a bat infestation.”

  Merrick’s brows shot up. “Since when?”

  “I noticed them last night. There were almost no oranges left.”

  Merrick rubbed a thumb over his lower lip. “So
that’s what Richard was talking about.”

  “Richard,” Lysander said thoughtfully. “He went to the roof?”

  “Not as far as I know.”

  Lysander cocked his head, glancing up at the ceiling. “If Richard’s sixth sense was attuned to the presence of those bats, there must be a reason. There’s nowhere on the roof for them to roost, so they migrated there from another location. Did they discover the fruit by chance? Or were they drawn to those trees for another reason?”

  “Got a theory?”

  “I touch those trees. Didn’t you tell me some time ago that in the past Tamberi Jacobi raised demons in bat-infested caves?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Maybe the bats from those caves, tainted by black magic, became sensitive to supernatural energy. Bats are an animal form that supernatural creatures have taken in the past. Vampires,” Lysander said.

  “Those weren’t vampire bats. If they’d been attracted to blood, they would’ve attacked Alissa and Cerise. Muse blood is magical and potent,” Merrick said.

  Lysander nodded. “I still wonder why they chose your fruit trees. There must be berries and other fruit in the woods closer to their caves.”

  “True,” Merrick said.

  “Perhaps something drew them or drove them from their cave toward this area. Do you know which caves Jacobi used to perform human sacrifices to raise demons? Perhaps we should look at them.”

  Merrick leaned against the back of the couch. “Tamberi had a grimoire, but it was confiscated and destroyed. I thought without the book, she wouldn’t be able to raise any more demons.”

  “A copy?” Cerise said.

  “Only a real witch should have been able to effectively copy the spells,” Lysander said. “Maybe she’s ventala and part witch. Or maybe someone else is active. We know that Reziel has been in contact with people in this area.”

  Alissa emerged from the bedroom in a cloud of spicy vanilla-scented perfume and a pale gold dress and matching sandals. She approached them, trailing a hand over the furniture as she advanced.

  Her vision’s faded again, Cerise thought. Sometimes it’s good enough for her to read. Others she must barely be able to see. What causes that?

  Alissa clasped Lysander’s forearms and squeezed. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” She turned to Cerise and gave her a tight hug.

  “Thank you,” Alissa whispered. “Thanks for helping him.”

  She’s changed. She doesn’t hold anything back now, doesn’t guard her emotions. Being with Merrick really has set her free.

  “You’re welcome,” Cerise murmured, emotions banging around in her throat.

  Jersey stood just inside the door, unspeaking.

  “Before we get further into things, this is my friend Jersey. She’s had a rough night,” Cerise said. “Troy Rella tried to kill her, but he’s the one who ended up dead. She needs some stitches.”

  Jersey stared down at her bandaged wrist.

  Alissa strode forward and put an arm around Jersey’s shoulders, her voice melodic and soothing. “It happens that Merrick has a surgeon on retainer. She’s very good. The stitches won’t hurt, and you’ll hardly have a scar.” Alissa looked in Merrick’s direction. “Where should she stay? In the apartment two doors down from Lysander’s?”

  “That’s Ox’s place now. What do you say, Ox?” Merrick asked. “Mind staying on four for a while?”

  “Yeah, no problem. I wasn’t planning to move my stuff for a few more weeks anyway,” Ox lied. “You want me to take her down there? Get her settled in and call the doc?”

  Merrick nodded.

  “All right,” Ox said, holding the door open.

  “Jersey,” Merrick said.

  She looked at him.

  “I probably don’t need to tell you that Rella got what he deserved.”

  “Most people won’t think so. I left the scene. I’ll be in trouble for sure,” she said softly. “But I couldn’t just let him kill me, could I?”

  “Course not,” Ox said.

  Jersey glanced at Cerise and murmured, “I still think I’ll be in trouble eventually.”

  “No, you won’t,” Merrick and Cerise said at the same time.

  Ox put one of his big paws between Jersey’s thin shoulder blades. “You’re covered. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.” He ushered her toward the hall.

  Jersey turned back. “Cerise, don’t forget about Hayden.”

  “I won’t. Get some rest. I’ll come tell you as soon as I hear from him.” Cerise turned to Merrick. “Her brother went to see Tamberi Jacobi. With the Varden cell towers out of commission and the Etherlin on lockdown, we haven’t heard from him. Could you make some calls? Find out if he’s still in her territory?”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “See,” Ox said, guiding Jersey out. “The boss will take care of everything. Now I gotta admit I’m a fan. And I’ll tell you who’s nuts for your music is my little sister. Maybe after the doc patches you up and you get some rest, you can sign a couple of autographs…”

  Alissa’s worried expression softened. “She’ll be all right with him. Wounded women and children are Ox’s specialty.”

  “Then Jersey’s perfect since she’s a little of both,” Cerise said.

  Merrick poured himself a drink, and Cerise noticed the tightness around his mouth. Alissa crossed to Merrick. “What’s wrong?”

  “That kid looks pretty torn up. Rella was on my list. I wish I’d gotten to him sooner.”

  Alissa’s expression turned grave. “If that’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I didn’t speak up when I could have, and I asked you to leave him alone.”

  “You didn’t know he’d turn killer,” Merrick said.

  “Yeah, Liss, don’t blame yourself. Troy probably started to unravel because he thought Lysander and I were closing in on him. I threatened him and set him on edge.”

  Lysander rolled his eyes. “The blame for Rella’s actions belongs to him. From what I gather he liked to prey on young girls. That a tiny teen girl turned the tables on him is poetic. What’s more, the demon who keeps his soul for a pet in hell will torment him with that fact. So much the better.”

  Lysander cracked his knuckles. “Assuming her character is good, when the shock wears off, the girl will do well enough.”

  “She’s not an archangel,” Cerise said.

  “Clearly,” Lysander replied.

  “And because she’s not,” Cerise continued impatiently, “she might not take to killing demons’ minions like a duck to water. She’s just human, which is why the rest of the humans in the room are concerned about the effect tonight might have on her.”

  “Will worry or regret change anything?” Lysander asked casually, making Cerise glare at him.

  “Lysander’s right,” Alissa said and gave Merrick’s arm a squeeze. “Let’s move forward.” She walked to the couch and sat, waving a hand to the other seats. “Why don’t you guys sit down and fill us in.”

  Cerise rolled the small suitcase over and took a seat across from the couch. As she started to relate what they’d discovered, she bent and unzipped the bag. She pulled out the Montblanc pen and set it down with some CDs she’d grabbed from the house.

  “These are Richard’s,” Cerise said. “I couldn’t find the manuscript he wanted. There were dozens of boxes in the closet and we didn’t have time to sit around while I went through them.”

  “Of course not,” Alissa said.

  Lysander raided the refrigerator before joining them in the living room.

  “Anyone hungry?” he asked. They all shook their heads, and Lysander sat, putting a tray of bread, cheese, and fruit on the table. Cerise stared at the gallon of milk that he set in front of him. Apparently he planned to drink it all.

  Cerise blinked, not wanting to get distracted by him. She unzipped the suitcase’s inner pouch and emptied its contents.

  “What’s all that?” Alissa asked.

  “Some of it was hidden inside
a couch cushion at Ileana’s and the rest Troy had on him.”

  Merrick lifted the pill bottle. “Klonopin?”

  “Griffin and Hayden were in a bad wreck when they were teenagers. Afterward, Griffin had seizures. Not the full-blown kind where you fall on the ground and shake, but the kind where he’d stare into space and not realize what was going on around him.”

  “Any idea why Rella had the pills?”

  “No. I thought maybe he wanted to use them on Jersey to add to the suicide scene he was staging. I figured he was keeping them handy in his pocket until he needed them,” Cerise said.

  Merrick uncapped the bottle, rattled the pills and sniffed them. “Pungent.”

  “Let me see,” Lysander said, taking the bottle. He waved it under his nose. “Smells like a plant extract.” Lysander closed his eyes to concentrate and then nodded. “Not demonic despite its name. It’s devil’s trumpet.”

  “Jimsonweed?” Merrick asked, then sniffed the bottle again and nodded, smiling faintly. “When I was in juvie as a kid, we used to have to pick up trash in the fields as part of the work furlough. Jimsonweed grows about five feet tall and the seeds are a hallucinogen. Every time we got a new guard that didn’t recognize the plant, at least one or two kids had to be taken to the hospital for tripping on it.”

  Cerise took the bottle and inhaled. “I don’t smell anything.”

  “The odor’s pretty faint.”

  “Why should the bottle smell of anything?” Cerise poured the pills into her hand. They were stamped in the usual way. Clearly pharmaceutical grade, they’d been manufactured and dispensed through a pharmacy. She dumped them back into the bottle and closed it. Had Griffin stashed drugs in the pill bottle? Or had someone else adulterated his meds? Troy? If so, why? To make Griffin more dependent on the people managing his career?