Pirate's Alley

by Suzanne Johnson

  “I know, I know. There’s trouble.”

  He already had a slight glow. “Where is she?”

  Huh? “Where’s who?”

  We sat in confusion a second. Clearly, we had two different crises. “You start first. Where’s who?”

  “Eugenie, of course. She’s gone. Car’s gone. House is locked up tight. Sign on the salon door says it’s closed until further notice.”

  Holy crap. “What did you do?” I should never have left her alone with him. Dumb dumb dumb. He’d lured me in by being reasonable. I’d known it was out of character.

  “I did nothing but try to protect her. She’s too stupid to understand.”

  I reached out and gave him a good zap of magic with my right hand. I’d pull out Charlie if Rand didn’t get rid of the attitude.

  “Ow!” He moved farther away on the gazebo bench.

  “Eugenie is not stupid, you oaf. She’s afraid, especially when you start being your overbearing self. She has a good, pure heart, and you wouldn’t recognize a pure heart if it bit you on your elven ass.”

  Okay, maybe I’d gone too far. His glow increased.

  “Stop doing your glow-worm impression and tell me exactly what happened.” I had too many other things to worry about for this crap, and so did Rand.

  “I told her to get packed up so I could move her to Elfheim for the rest of her pregnancy. I have people there who can keep her and the baby safe.”

  Yeah, I bet that went over really well. “Rand, she needs to stay near her friends. She’s scared. You need to keep her calm, both for her sake and your son’s. Scaring the bejeezus out of her isn’t going to help.

  “Besides, we have bigger problems.”

  “What’s more important than my child?”

  Oh, I don’t know … your miserable elven life? “Mace is making his move against you.”

  He grew still, his restless baby-daddy energy bleeding away. “How?”

  I showed him the letter from Zrakovi. “It was delivered to my hotel room. Mace has obviously told Zrakovi that Jake infected me, and that our bond was a deal so I wouldn’t turn garou and you’d get on the council. I’ll lose my job. I might be arrested, and so might you—all Mace has to do is convince Zrakovi that we conspired to impact the makeup of the Interspecies Council.”

  Which is exactly what we’d done, although I’d made the deal before figuring out Rand’s agenda.

  “It’s our word against his.” Rand’s voice was tinged with uncertainty.

  “Nope. Other people knew. Lily’s dead, of course, and your mom, but Betony was there at the regression.” Which was a nice word for the mental rape and torture they’d put me through, stealing my memories—including that one. “And Alex knew.”

  Rand growled in a very Alex-like way. “Will he talk?”

  I looked at the wide-planked floor of the gazebo, painted a pristine white. “I don’t want Alex to be forced to lie to Zrakovi.”

  “Even to save Jake or to save you?”

  “He’ll do what he thinks is right.” And I wasn’t sure what that would be. I didn’t envy Alex the decision, but I couldn’t see a way to keep him out of it.

  Rand got up. “You need to leave.”

  “What? We need to plan a strategy. At least make sure we’re saying the same things.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I have things to take care of. I’ll see you tonight at the council meeting.”

  He got up, walked out of the gazebo, and a few seconds later I heard the sound of his boot heels as he climbed the stairs to the second floor.

  I had no idea what just happened, but at least he was focused on Mace instead of Eugenie.

  Fortunately, I still had a key to Eugenie’s house, so I pulled a thick garden flag from Rand’s inventory, wrapped it over my head babushka-style, and slogged my way across the thick snow that had settled onto Magazine Street. Technically, the street wasn’t closed, but it might as well be. The few vehicles inching along were of the high-riding military type.

  When I got to her porch, I looked back to make sure Rand wasn’t watching. Otherwise, he might follow me, and I needed to snoop and see if I could figure out where she went.

  I tried the obvious first, calling her cell phone, but it went straight to voice mail. I left a message for her to call me and promised I had nothing to do with Rand’s attempt to move her to Elfheim.

  After a half hour of poking around the house and finding nothing of help, I sat and tried to clear my mind. Eugenie had a sister in Shreveport; she always went there when we had to evacuate for hurricanes.

  I didn’t think she’d go to family, though. There was no way to explain the real details of this pregnancy to anyone, or why she was hiding. Eugenie was a really bad liar; she made me look like a pro. Normally, the person she’d go to was me. If she went to the hotel and I wasn’t there … Well, of course I knew where she was.

  I punched speed dial: P-for-pirate.

  “Hello, Drusilla. Why did you not share your lovely friend’s delicate condition?”

  Well, that answered my question. “Is she okay?”

  “Oui. Christof heard her at your hotel door and fetched her. She is quite frightened of your elf.”

  God, even I had been calling him my elf, albeit in the way one would say my dog or my car. “Yeah, well, my elf has bigger problems right now, and so does Jake.” I filled Jean in on my summons to the hearing. “You’re probably going to have to bust Jake out of there and get him to Barataria,” I told him. “I can’t see any way they’re going to let him go.” Adrian’s tape would prove his innocence in killing Hoffman, but not in losing control with me.

  “This will be done, but my concern is for you, Jolie. Your Elders will know that you lied to them about Jacob and your elf.”

  “So did Alex.”

  Jean made a rude noise into the phone. “Monsieur Chien is much like a Monsieur Chat. He has many lives and lands on his paws.”

  “I’m on my way to talk to him now. Will you keep Eugenie there and make sure no one finds her?”

  “But of course, Drusilla. I have already offered her the protection of Jean Lafitte and his men.”

  I ended the call and sat for a few minutes, staring into the cold fireplace. It struck me once again that Jean was assembling quite an army of misfits and the disenfranchised—which was exactly what he’d done in his human life. His legion of a thousand pirates, all of whom swore loyalty to him, weren’t formed of whole cloth. He’d collected them, offering them safe haven and potential wealth in exchange for their loyalty and service.

  And so it was again.

  Time to get busy. I didn’t see any way I’d get a sane cab driver willing to take me out to Lakeview to put together potions, wait for me in the thickening snowfall, and then drive me back here, so I plundered Eugenie’s kitchen and bathroom for ingredients that might be helpful for simple potions.

  Sitting at her kitchen table, I put together some basic charms—confusion, smoke, fire, laughing potion, hive inducers. Two ice charms made especially for Mace Banyan. Those I’d enjoy using. I powered them up using the elven staff.

  Finally, I loaded everything up and checked the time on my cell phone. I was supposed to meet Rene at City Park at seven, and it was four. That left just enough time to talk to Alex.

  CHAPTER 29

  I punched in Alex’s speed dial and he picked up on the first ring with a very piratelike lack of greeting. “We have to talk. Where are you?”

  Hello to you, too, Alex. “At Eugenie’s.”

  “Come here. You can use the transport.”

  I paused. “Is Zrakovi there?”

  “No. God, no. We need to talk without him here.”

  Wasn’t that the truth, and it did my heart good to hear Alex admit it. “On my way.”

  I took my bag and the staff, powered up the transport in Eugenie’s living room, and a few seconds later, stood facing the man I loved. How could we survive this mess?

  He looked the same as the day
I met him, just after Hurricane Katrina. He had the same beautiful eyes, the perfectly shaped, strong mouth, the wonky shapeshifter energy. He had the same dutiful sense of right and wrong, except life no longer matched up to his black-and-white sensibilities. The world had moved on, but Alex hadn’t figured out how to move with it. Eugenie had been right. He was miserable, and even his enforcer shielding powers couldn’t hide it from me.

  “I’ve missed you,” I said.

  His gaze softened, and he smiled. “Me too.”

  I finally stepped out of the transport and hugged him, breathing in his scent as if it might be the last time. His arms slid around me and squeezed for a few seconds, then he kissed me, hard and deep. I slid my hands beneath his sweater, desperately needing to be with him. He stepped back. “We can’t. I want you so bad I ache, but we can’t. We have to talk.”

  I was so damned tired of talking. “Yeah, we do.”

  We sat at the dining room table, which is where we tended to have uncomfortable conversations. When we talked on the sofa, we ended up not talking. “Did you get your subpoena?” he asked.

  I reached in my bag and pulled out the sheet of paper. “If you mean the letter sent to my hotel room, yes. I gather Mace Banyan has decided it’s time for Jake to be sacrificed in the name of power and greed and the elven way.”

  Alex winced, and nodded. “It’s worse than you know. Mace visited Zrakovi this morning, and Willem came here just afterward, breathing fire.”

  That didn’t surprise me. “Mace wants to take down Rand, and this is the first step.” I paused. “I hope you told him the truth about not finding out about my bond with Rand until after the fact. You only knew about Jake infecting me, and for most of the time you didn’t even know where Jake was. I don’t think Jake would want you lying for him either; he has a life in Old Barataria now, and a fiancée. The council can’t get at him there.”

  Alex stared at me as if I had andouille growing out my ears, which was possible. “Jake has a fiancée?” Then he shook his head. “No. Don’t tell me. I can’t deal with anything else. And, yeah, I told Willem the truth. With Hoffman dead, I don’t see any way to help Jake other than to sneak him out of New Orleans, but they’ve already arrested him despite his insistence that he’s innocent. Even if we spring him, I’m worried about the rest of Zrakovi’s agenda.”

  That I probably didn’t want to hear, and a deep pang of dread knifed through me at hearing Jake had been arrested. Arrested wasn’t dead, though. They wouldn’t do anything until after the council meeting.

  I took a deep breath and hoped Alex could handle one more surprise. “Would it change anything with Zrakovi to know there’s proof Jake didn’t kill Geoffrey Hoffman?”

  Again, Alex stared at me, eyes wide. “Proof? What proof?”

  I’d been trying to figure out how much to tell him. I didn’t want Alex stuck in the middle of this huge cluster, but he was already there. I didn’t want him having to lie to Zrakovi any more, but I also didn’t want him telling Zrakovi anything that would keep us from getting Jake out safely.

  “Adrian Hoffman saw the vampire Vice-Regent, Garrett Melnick, killing his father, and he heard Mace Banyan give the order. Mace and Melnick set Jake up.”

  Alex sat back with a frown. “How do you know this? And why would they want to set up Jake?”

  My laugh was bitter. “Adrian wants out of Vampyre, and he went to Jean Lafitte seeking asylum.” Alex blinked but didn’t comment. “And setting up Jake accomplishes a lot. It weakens Zrakovi, since he clearly doesn’t have control of the people working for him—me or you or Jake. Rand is discredited because of his bond with me and the way it came about. Mace wants Rand dead, so he’ll probably charge him with treason against the elves. Zrakovi will have to rely on Mace to hold the wizard-elf truce together, so it gives Mace a lot of power.”

  Alex closed his eyes. “And all the while, Mace is secretly working with the vampires to stab Willem in the back.”

  “Stab all the wizards in the back,” I corrected. “Elves plus vampires outnumber us, even if the were-shifters are on our side. That leaves the fae as the wizards’ only hope, and they’re busy with their own power struggle.”

  Alex pushed his chair back and paced around the table. “You’re wrong about one thing. Mace isn’t trying to kill Rand; he’s trying to control him.”

  That didn’t make sense. “Why would he want to control him if he’s getting him thrown off the council?”

  Alex took a deep breath. “Mace doesn’t want Rand off the council either. Zrakovi came to me with a deal. And you aren’t gonna like it any better than I do.”

  This sounded bad. Really bad. “What kind of a deal?”

  “I keep my job. You keep your job, with basically a slap on the wrist for not revealing the true nature of your bond with Rand. Rand keeps his seat on the council.”

  It was my turn to slump back in my seat. That all sounded good. Too good. “Drop the other shoe. In return for all this, what is it that Zrakovi wants?”

  “It isn’t what Zrakovi wants, but what Mace has demanded in exchange for not tearing the whole goddamned Interspecies Council apart.”

  I raised an eyebrow in an unspoken what.

  “Mace wants Eugenie.”

  The other shoe dropped right on my best friend’s head. If Mace had control of Eugenie, and by extension Rand’s unborn son, he controlled Rand. No doubt about it. He’d found the only thing that would bring Rand to heel. Then, once the baby arrived, he’d kill Eugenie. She’d have no further use to him and her potential to bring charges against him would pose a threat.

  My rage level had been tamped down for a while, but it took only seconds for it to boil again. “And if we refuse to turn Eugenie over to Mace?”

  Alex closed his eyes. “I’m to take you into custody and deliver you to the hearing tonight, pending charges of conspiracy to manipulate the Interspecies Council. If I don’t go along with it, we’ll both be charged.”

  Damn it. A week ago, I might have begged for forgiveness and tried to figure out how I could make things right with Zrakovi. A week ago, I’d have sworn I was loyal to the wizards, to my own people.

  But this was now, and I felt pure, ice-cold fury.

  “So, how do we do this? Do you put me in handcuffs?”

  Alex took his seat again and twisted the plastic water bottle between his fingers. “I haven’t agreed to anything. DJ, I don’t know what to do.”

  His misery and conflict and indecision wafted over to me and settled on my shoulders like a mountain of lead. “Will Adrian’s testimony make any difference at all? I mean, it proves Mace is manipulating Zrakovi.”

  “Maybe. It’s our only hope. Who’s going to deliver it, though? Who would the council believe wasn’t biased in some way? Or wouldn’t face more charges of harboring a fugitive?”

  Oh boy. Here was the part I didn’t want to tell him. “The Faery Prince of Winter, Christof, has agreed to present the testimony and verify its authenticity.”

  If we weren’t all on the way to hell in one big handbasket, I’d have laughed at Alex’s expression.

  “Well, that’s…” He paused as if searching for the right word. “Interesting.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, but kind of brilliant. Who’s going to argue with him and risk pissing off the potential future fae monarch?”

  There was one more loose cannon we needed to talk about. “What about Rand?”

  Alex shrugged. “There’s a subpoena out for him, too, but we haven’t found him yet. Zrakovi is working with Mace Banyan to see if he’s in Elfheim.”

  Mace Banyan might not like what he found. I had a feeling everyone sold Quince Randolph short. I had once, when we bonded. Now I knew better.

  “Would you get in more trouble if you weren’t able to find me before the council meeting?” The real question is whether he would lie and say he hadn’t been able to reach me.

  Alex had been staring out the window, but slowly turned to look at me. “Come to thin
k of it, I don’t think I have been able to find you. You never answered your phone, and I’ve left messages, you careless woman.” He paused. “Go to Old Orleans so you can’t be tracked, just for now. If you don’t show up at the meeting and Mace gets exposed, everything might settle down. Give me time to do some damage control.”

  My heart almost broke at that; it felt swollen and heavy in my chest. Alex was going to lie for me. He was going to protect me from the people who should be my allies, but weren’t. Neither of us said it, but it could very well make things bad for him.

  “I love you.” I’d never thought the first time I said those words to him I’d be crying.

  “Me too.” He smiled to make up for those words guys had such trouble saying, for some reason. “Do you know where Eugenie is?”

  I nodded. “Hiding out at the Monteleone, for now. I might have Jean take her to Old Barataria.”

  “Good move.” We stood looking at each other, unwilling to take that next step. “You probably shouldn’t use the transport in the living room.” His voice cracked.

  “I’ll make a new one.” I kissed him like it was the last time, my own tears tasting of salt and bitterness, my arms trying to memorize the feel of him.

  “It’s just for a few hours, until the meeting is over,” he said. “Once Mace is exposed, Zrakovi will listen to reason. We might even be able to get your uncle to side with us.”

  I hoped he was right.

  “Destroy the new transport as soon as I’m gone,” I told him, pulling a vial of salt out of my bag and forming a slapdash interlocking circle and triangle on his dining room floor.

  I stepped inside and powered it with the staff. “Rivendell,” I whispered, trying to smile at Alex as I felt myself sucked into the transport. Rand wasn’t home, so it was my perfect base of operations.

  First, I called Rene. “Change of plans,” I told him, explaining what had happened.

  He whistled. “Babe, you are in some shit. You wanna come out to Plaquemines and stay with me till the meeting is over?”

  I’d been thinking about it on the way to Rand’s and decided I wasn’t letting Alex throw himself on Zrakovi’s mercy by showing up without me as his prisoner. “No, I’m going to that meeting. It’s almost five. Can you pick me up a block behind Rand’s and we can go on to the park to set up the transport?”