Witch Hunt, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series)

by Rawlings, Rachel

  “A lady? You obviously don’t know her very well,” Cash chimed in sarcastically.

  “Well, she certainly looks like a lady to me,” Aidan said, eying me up and down with a smile.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Cash retorted.

  “Screw you, Cash!” I shot back.

  “See what I mean?” Cash said to Aidan.

  Aidan chuckled. “Indeed I do.”

  “Wasn’t there something that you wanted to show us, Cash?” I asked in a bitchy tone.

  “Yeah, I caught a scent over here that I don’t recognize,” Cash said, pointing to the bloodstains on the floor and back wall.

  The cleaning crew hadn’t been here yet. SPTF must not be done working the crime scene. Aidan was right. We needed to wrap it up before someone came back.

  “Another Inquisitor maybe? One who wasn’t on Winter Island?” I asked.

  “No, that’s the thing - it’s not a human scent. I can’t place it at all,” he said.

  “Animal?” I asked.

  “lachadiel,” Aidan said.

  “Could be, but I’d need a scent to compare it with to be sure,” Cash said to Aidan.

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” Aidan said, pointing to the blood splatter on the wall. He pulled us both back a step. “Look.”

  “Look at what? I don’t see anything but…” Cash started to say.

  “Stare at it for a moment, then blink and look at a clean spot on the wall or the floor. Keep blinking and you will see the image,” Aidan instructed.

  I did as I was told without arguing for a change. Cash did too because I could hear him cussing when he figured out what the image was. I felt like I was going to throw up.

  “How’d you figure that out?” Cash asked Aidan.

  “It’s an old vampire trick. It used to be all the rage. Vampires would leave their name or a logo (for lack of a better word) when marking a new territory. If you wanted to call out a master vampire when attempting to take over his domain, then you’d leave this. It sort of went out of fashion with cell phones, although, there are some of us that still like to leave calling cards. It’s my job to track them down and remind them of the rules,” he explained.

  Aidan stood in front of me, turning my head to expose my neck. “It looks like someone is trying to send you a message.”

  “I don’t think that it’s the first time either,” I responded, recalling the bizarre dream that I’d had earlier where I was covered in blood.

  “He’s able to gain access to your mind? Even with the amulet?” Aidan asked.

  “What amulet?” Cash asked, trying to keep up.

  “This one,” I said, pulling the amulet out of my shirt. “It’s supposed to protect my mind and keep things out.”

  “Well it isn’t doing a very good job of it,” Cash said.

  The door opened, just enough for Oberon to stick his head in.

  “I hope you found something, because Masarelli’s car just pulled up to the gate. We need to go. Now!” Oberon said urgently.

  There was movement in the alley. Two patrolmen were headed in Oberon’s direction. He slipped inside the door and quietly clicked it shut. Little orbs of light bounced around the alley from their flashlights. Chatter from their radios broke the silence.

  “Thought I saw something back here, Detective!” one of them shouted.

  “All clear!” he said, after what felt like the longest minute of my life.

  “Then get your ass up here and get the lock off this door. Clean up is on their way!” Masarelli shouted back.

  “We didn’t get what we need,” I said.

  “Too late for that now,” Cash replied.

  “We know it was lachadiel who killed the Inquisitors. That’s going to have to do for now,” Aidan said.

  “lachadiel?” Oberon asked.

  “I’ll explain later. We need to go. Now,” I said.

  We were out of time and out of exits. We needed to get the hell out of this warehouse and we had about two minutes to do it.

  “We can get out through the roof. There’s an access panel at the end of the catwalk. From there, we’ll have to jump off the back. We should be able to clear the chain link and hug the coast for a while. Might have to go a few blocks out of our way and double back to the truck, but it’s our best shot of getting out of here undetected,” Cash said.

  “You just came up with that? I’m impressed,” I said.

  “I had an exit strategy before I walked through the door. Now move it,” Cash said.

  “Hoo-rah,” I replied.

  He laughed, “Just get your ass up on that catwalk.”

  We all ran to the far corner of the warehouse and the ladder leading up to the catwalk. Cash was already at the top of the ladder, taking two rungs at a time. Oberon was next. He was halfway up the ladder.

  Aidan held me back. “It won’t help the coven or the Council if we all get arrested.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Cash’s escape route was for himself. We won’t all get off the roof,” he said.

  “With a werewolf, a witch and a vampire? I’m pretty sure we can manage,” I said, not following him.

  “I’m a vampire; I’m not superman. I don’t fly. You and Oberon won’t make the jump on your own. And I don’t think Cash can make it carrying you, let alone Oberon. There won’t be time for me to make two trips,” he said.

  I could hear the chain sliding through the door handles. Masarelli was going to come through that door any second.

  Oberon stopped and looked behind him to see where I was. “What are you doing? Get up here! Let’s go!” he called down to us.

  “I’m sure that Oberon would do the honorable thing and stay behind, but you and I both know that can’t happen,” Aidan said.

  “Right behind you,” I called back to Oberon, waving him on.

  I knew what Aidan was trying to say. Oberon had to get away clean. We knew there was a risk we would get caught. I never should have brought him along. The coven was in enough shit without one of their witches getting arrested for breaking and entering, and tampering with evidence. Aidan didn’t think that he could jump the distance carrying both of us and Cash couldn’t make it with either of us. I was about to make Masarelli’s night.

  “I have a plan. Do you trust me?” Aidan asked.

  “What choice do I have?” I asked sarcastically.

  “When Masarelli comes through the door, I want you to run out the side. Go out through the alley and make a break for the fence. Let them catch you, but make it convincing,” he said.

  “That’s your plan? Let them catch me?” I said in disbelief.

  “Have a little faith, Maurin,” Aidan said.

  He was up the ladder and pulling Oberon through the access panel. I could hear muffled arguing and Cash telling them to shut up before they got us all busted. The access panel closed as Masarelli came through the door. I bolted for the side door while he tried to turn on the lights.

  “What the hell? SPTF! Don’t move!” he shouted.

  His maglite frantically swept the warehouse, finally finding me as I stepped through the door.

  “Freeze, Kincaide!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  I didn’t of course. Does anybody? I was out the door and running up the alley as fast as I could. Two officers were sprinting toward me. I lowered my head and led with my shoulder, barreling through them. One crashed into the side of the warehouse and the other hit the chain link. He bounced off the fence and made a grab for me. I dodged; he stumbled into his partner, taking him down for me. I was up and over the fence before they got untangled.

  I darted out into the street. I stopped for a second, looking around. There were cops in every direction. I could have pushed through them and I wanted to, but Aidan had a plan. It went against all of my instincts, but I had to trust him. He said to make it convincing, right? I darted left away from the warehouse and Masarelli. I heard a pop and felt a sharp pain in my back. I stumbled, b
ut quickly regained my footing. There was a bean bag on the ground by my foot. They broke out the riot guns? Another pop. This time it hit me on the side of the head, right in the temple. I lost my equilibrium and went down. Just before I hit the ground, I thought that I saw Aidan and Cash holding Oberon back. I blinked and they were gone.

  The pavement came up to meet me and my side felt like it was on fire. It felt like my skull had been cracked open. Masarelli and the rest of the officers were running over to where I was laying on the pavement. The sound of guns cocking surrounded me.

  “Don’t even think about fucking moving!” one of them yelled at me.

  “I told you to stop her - not to give her brain damage, you idiot!” Masarelli screamed at the officer with the riot gun. “You want her to be able to file police brutality charges? Get her ziptied and into the back of a patrol car.”

  I didn’t fight. I didn’t cry out or complain when the officer put a knee with all his weight on my spine and pulled my arms behind my back. They fastened the zipties too tight around my wrists and yanked me up off of the ground. I was shoved into the back of a patrol car, my head hitting the roof on the way in.

  “Watch your head,” one of them laughed as he slammed the car door shut.

  I’d never had so much as a parking ticket and now I was being arrested. They would take me in and process me. I’d have a mugshot and my fingerprints taken. I was a criminal. No – I was a complete moron. Why the hell did I agree to this?

  14

  I sat handcuffed to a bench with a couple of women who had obviously been picked up for prostitution. It wasn’t their first time on this bench either, because instead of hanging their heads they winked and flirted with every officer that walked by. I, on the other hand, was mortified. How could I not be? I worked with most of these guys. Hell, I helped train the officer who cut the ziptie and handcuffed me to this damned wooden bench of shame.

  Masarelli came to get me after an hour or so. My ass was so numb that I was actually relieved to see him. He unlocked the cuff that was around the arm of the bench and clicked it around my free wrist. With a jerk on the cuffs, he led me down a hallway, a flight of stairs and down another hallway that led to the holding cells. He opened the cell door.

  “Make yourself at home, Kincaide. It’s where you belong after the stunt that you pulled tonight,” he said with satisfaction.

  I wanted to tell him that he was an asshole and I let myself get caught, but I didn’t bother.

  He shoved me inside and took the handcuffs off. He was about to slam the cell door closed when something caught his eye.

  “Looks like they missed some of your valuables. Can’t let you have them in here,” he said, reaching for the silver chain around my neck.

  Oh shit! He was going to take the amulet? I was barely keeping lachadiel out with the amulet on. If Masarelli took it now, then I wouldn’t be able to stop him from getting inside my head. I needed it.

  I stepped back, but Masarelli was expecting that. His arm flew out and he grabbed hold of the chain. I grabbed the necklace and took another step backward, even though I knew that he wouldn’t let go. The chain gave in to our tug of war with a snap. We both held on.

  “Masarelli, you don’t understand. Don’t take it. I need it,” I said, panicked.

  “I don’t think that you’re in a position to tell me what to do, Maurin. Bet you thought I wouldn’t see your little charm. Well I did, so good luck getting out of here without it,” he said with a smile.

  “It’s not what you think. It’s not to help me escape. I’d set the alarms off if I tried to use magic to break out of here. You know that.” I tried to reason with him.

  I should have known better. He started to close the cell. My arm was now in a game of chicken with a heavy metal door. Neither of us flinched. The cell door slammed into my forearm. My fingers, no longer listening to my brain, released their grip on the chain. He put the amulet in his shirt pocket, giving it a little pat. He opened the door just enough for me to slide my arm out and then slammed it shut. I cradled my fractured arm to my chest while Masarelli walked away whistling some happy little tune.

  The lights were on, but it was still dark in the cell. I was completely alone down here. Just me and my thoughts weren’t going to make for good company. Was this part of your plan, Aidan?

  I looked at the dingy little cot that they had in here. Gross. I didn’t even want to know what all of those stains were from. I unfolded the blanket at the foot of the thin mattress and spread it out with my good arm. It didn’t help. The blanket looked like it would give me a rash. I was pretty sure that there were nicer cells than this. This one looked like it hadn’t been used, or cleaned, in half a century. I sat down on the blanket and tried not to catch anything.

  Footsteps. Someone was coming. Please be Masarelli. I owed him one. The sound of heels clicking on the concrete floor told me that I wasn’t going to be getting even with Masarelli anytime soon. A tall, lanky woman stopped in front of my cell. I’ve seen her here before. She was a shrink or something.

  “I never thought that this was how our first session would go,” she said.

  “Me neither, since I never made an appointment,” I told her.

  “I’m Dr. Cartwright. I’m a psychiatrist for the department,” she said, tucking a stray blonde hair behind her ear.

  Her straight hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She wore black slacks and a gray v-neck sweater. No jewelry, very little make-up. She looked young, like she had just finished her residency.

  “I’ve seen you around,” I said.

  “I heard that you hurt your arm. My patients don’t usually require first aid, but I am at least qualified to wrap an Ace bandage. I can only give you over-the-counter pain meds without you actually being a patient, though,” she said, pulling the bandage from her pocket.

  Yeah, I hurt my arm. I decided to break my own arm by shutting it in the cell door. Was she kidding me right now?

  “So they’re not worried I’m going to take off the bandage and try to hang myself with it?” I asked sarcastically.

  “They seemed to be more concerned that you’d take off the bandage and try to strangle one of the officers with it. But we can’t deny you treatment. I’m the best you’re going to get until morning. Now, let me see that arm.” she said.

  “There’s only one in particular that I’d like to strangle and he’s a detective,” I quipped.

  There was no point in wrapping it. I’d heal it on my own. It would be fine in a little while. I didn’t feel like explaining all that to her. I just wanted her to go away, so I humored her and stuck my arm through the bars.

  “Not a lot of bruising or swelling. Can I see your other arm? Just for comparison?” she asked.

  I stuck my other arm through without saying a word.

  “No need for the bandage, I guess. It doesn’t look too bad. You don’t have allergies to acetaminophen do you?” Dr. Cartwright asked as she held out two pills.

  I took the pills that she handed me. Tylenol didn’t sound too bad right now. My arm hurt like hell where the fractures were mending. Not to mention that my head still hurt from taking a bean bag to the temple earlier.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve got something to wash these down with hidden in your pocket?” I asked her.

  She pointed to the sink in the corner. Great. I’d probably get dysentery from drinking the water out of that.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Not really convincing, but you’re welcome all the same,” she said.

  I went over to the sink and turned the cold water on. When the water came out clear, I decided that it was safe enough to drink. I cupped my hand under the tap, let it fill with water, and washed down the two pills. I took another drink and then splashed some of the cold water on my face. There wasn’t anything to dry off with, so I had to use my shirt as a towel.

  I turned around and the room spun with me. I tried to find my center, but couldn’t. The floor - or maybe
it was my legs - felt like Jello. I tried to ask Dr. Cartwright what she had given me, because it certainly wasn’t Tylenol, but she was already walking away. I wanted to call after her, but my tongue felt numb and thick. I couldn’t seem to form the words. I staggered over to the cot and flopped down.

  I could hear her talking to someone on her way out. “You won’t get any trouble out of her for the rest of the night. She should be out for a few hours,” she said to the other person in the hall.

  I never heard the other person’s response. There was a thrumming in my ears and my eyes felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. A fog rolled into my mind and I couldn’t feel the crappy mattress underneath me anymore. I felt like I should be freaking out right now, but couldn’t remember why. Why didn’t I want to sleep again? Something was telling me to stay awake and not to fall asleep, but I was so tired. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. Gravity changed again and I went from floating to feeling heavy, as if I were sinking through the mattress. I didn’t have the strength to fight it off; I gave in to the black fog.

  I let go and it was peaceful, for a little while, thanks to the drugs. After a few minutes in the blackness, I was able to forget about everything and everyone. There was nothing, I was nothing. Brick by mental brick, I watched my shields dismantle themselves. I didn’t care. I felt my subconscious, my energy, flowing up and over the rubble that was once a solid wall inside my mind. I was like a bathtub being drained and filled at the same time, except it was energy instead of water.

  Still, there was a voice. It was a voice so tiny that I almost didn’t hear it in the back of my mind, telling me to wake up. There it was again, louder this time. As if by listening to it I gave it more power. Suddenly, the voice was screaming at me to wake up. It was my voice, what was left of my mind, telling me to wake the fuck up.

  “I tried to make it peaceful for you, Maurin, but you insist on fighting me. So if it is pain you want, then pain you shall have,” lachadiel said.

  I was starting to come around. My body must have been metabolizing the drugs faster than that bitch doctor had expected. With each second that passed, more sensation returned. I could feel the connection with Oberon. It was weak, it was barely there, but I could still feel it.