Jason shrugged, “I’m not that disciplined”
“Perhaps I could show you the advantages of such an approach,” Aeyliss said with a look that made her meaning plain. Jason blushed but looked oddly flattered.
Syndra laughed, “Jason doesn’t enjoy discipline–or women–so you’re going to be out of luck on both counts.”
Aeyliss looked a bit nonplussed, probably at the disavowal of women, “That’s a shame. I’m certain I could convince him of the value of both.”
“I don’t doubt you could,” Syndra said archly, earning raised eye brows from everyone but Allie. She was already aware of her friend’s diverse interests and the two Guards who didn’t know how unusual such an omnivorous attitude was. Aeyliss shifted her appraisal to Syndra and Allie repressed the urge to look at her friend to see whether Syn was returning the interest. There were some things she really didn’t need to know.
Liz cleared her throat loudly, “So, Allie, you’re feeling better?”
Allie wasn’t sure if it was meant as a statement or a question but assumed the latter, “Yes, actually. Brynneth’s a skilled healer and I spent most of today resting. Well that and racking my brain trying to remember where I’d read about that ritual or something like it before.”
“It’s a shame,” Liz said clearly making an effort at conversation, “that there isn’t some master index for this sort of thing. Remember how Grandmother was always indexing her books? It always made referencing things so convenient.”
Allie dropped her fork with a clang onto her plate, “Oh my Gods, Liz! That’s it.”
“What? What’s it?” Liz looked alarmed by her reaction, and everyone else had fallen silent, looking at Allie.
“That’s where I saw it. In Grandmother’s grimoire.” Allie couldn’t repress a shudder at the memory.
“What are you talking about Allie. Grandmother didn’t have a grimoire, she had a spell book,” Liz said, looking uncomfortable.
“No. No. She had a grimoire from before. From a long time ago, before Dad and Aunt Mary where born. I found it once when I was in–Gods, like middle school I think. I was flipping through it reading and it was…”Allie stopped, looking at her cousin’s skeptical expression. She took a deep breath. “It was dark stuff, Liz. Nothing like what she was doing when we were alive. I was reading through it and she found me and freaked out. I’ve never seen her so upset, before or since.”
Jessilaen and Aeyliss both looked grim. Jess spoke carefully, “You are certain that is where you saw this?”
“I’m positive,” Allie said confidently. “When she found me and took the book away, I was reading about what the grimoire called inverse fertility magic, the idea of using negative sex magic and prolonged death to create a desired effect. That’s what was so familiar about the murders.”
Liz blanched, and her other roommates looked stunned, but the Guard become suddenly animated. “To what purpose was this used?” Aeyliss asked
“I don’t know, she took the book away before I finished reading that section. I only remember that much because she was so very upset about me finding the book.”
“Do you have the book still? Is it in your store?” Jess asked.
Allie thought hard. “Not in the store, no. It should still be in the house.”
“Here?” Aeyliss said sharply “This house?”
“Yes,” Allie said, watching Liz pale and look around as if she expected the book to appear from thin air. “It was one of my grandmother’s personal books. We kept them all after she died.”
“She left them to you,” Liz said quickly and then looked uncomfortable as everyone looked at her. “Well, I’m no witch. Or mage, or whatever,” she mumbled.
“That’s true, she did. I haven’t really dealt with them though, since she died.”
“Allie, that was 10 years ago. You’re saying she left you all her magical books and you just–what–left them in a box?” Syndra said, sounding exasperated.
Allie made a face. “Kind of. Some of them are boxed up. Some are in the attic. Some are in my closet.” She shrugged helplessly. “I just didn’t want to deal with her personal stuff, so I sort of, you know, didn’t.”
“Fucking A, Al,” Syn said, shaking her head.
“Well, it’s still here somewhere. We just have to find it,” Allie said defensively.
They all looked at each other for a moment. Jason shook his head slightly, “Sorry, I have to work tonight, I’m on 3rd shift today and tomorrow.”
Liz also looked unhappy, already getting up from the table “I have to be at the theater. It’s the second night of that new play and it was crazy busy last night. Actually if I don’t get moving I’ll be late.”
Syndra nodded, taking charge, “Okay well you two get going and the rest of us can search. We may as well start in the attic. Just let me call Riordan and Walters and let them know we have some kind of lead,” she looked at Jessilaen, “Maybe you should contact your Captain?”
Both of the Elven Guard shook their heads, “We have not found the book yet and Brynneth will be here at midnight to relieve Aeyliss.”
“Yes, I will report to our Captain when I get back to the outpost; it may be that we can find the book before then.”
Chapter 6 - Sunday
Just after midnight, the Guards switched and Brynneth arrived to relieve Aeyliss. The group was up in the attic, still searching for the book, and it took several minutes to explain to Brynneth what Allie had remembered and what they were looking for. He was not pleased to find Allie awake and exerting herself so hard, despite the reason, and when Aeyliss took her leave, he was still trying to convince her to go rest and leave the searching to everyone else.
Aeyliss walked through the darkness towards one of the cars assigned to their squad, thinking about what the girl had uncovered. If she can find this book, we can learn the exact nature of the ritual. I can surely learn the flavor of the magic to track it back to its source, Aeyliss thought, and then this mystery will be quickly solved. Although if Jessilaen is right and the Outcast isn’t guilty, there is no need for our involvement at all. Unless–it may be that this book is the same one that the Dark Court seeks. That thought was unsettling. I will have to share that idea with Zarethyn and see what he thinks of it.
She crossed the expanse of lawn in front of the humans’ home, her feet almost silent in the dry grass. Aeyliss did not understand this odd house, which seemed more like an Inn, taking on boarders, yet functioned like a family unit or small clan holding. Among her people no one lived this way; extended families lived together and when necessary, while traveling or for those serving in the Guard or military. Strangers might share living space but the boundaries demanded by society were very rigidly set. These humans–and the Outcast and Aliaine–seemed oblivious to civilized social norms. I will never understand humans, she thought ruefully.
There was a line of cars parked along the road with intermittent open spaces separating them. Each of the residents of the home had their own vehicle and those 5 cars usually parked directly in front of the house. Zarethyn had explained to all of them that the expanse was to be left for those vehicles, out of courtesy. She paused at the edge of the road, looking for the car that Brynneth had arrived in; she spotted it at the far end of the line of vehicles, parked just in sight where the road began to curve to the north and the woods dominated. Jessilaen’s vehicle sat in front of it, where she suspected it would be staying for most of this assignment. Aeyliss shook her head to herself as she walked up the road to the other car. I understand his attraction to the girl. She is comely and sweet natured, but this obsession with her is unnatural. I don’t understand why Zarethyn is indulging him. Better to end it before it begins rather than to let it go on and end badly. Aeyliss, like all elves, had been raised to eschew strong emotions as a dangerous diversion that led to tragedy one way or another. Either love would turn to hate over time or one partner would die and leave the other to grieve with the same intensity they had loved.
She could not understand the appeal of such a thing; deep emotional bonds were best reserved for the surety of blood-kin.
Aeyliss was lost in her own thoughts as she reached the driver’s side door of the vehicle, so the voice that spoke from behind the car startled her. She started to reach for her sword reflexively, a difficult proposition with the car keys in her hand, when the words registered and she relaxed slightly, recognizing Walters’ voice. “Hate to break this to you, but it looks like you might have a flat tire.”
Her eyes easily found his figure crouching down, examining the rear driver’s side tire, and then belatedly she noticed the familiar car idling just down the road. You fool, it is unforgivably careless to allow your own thoughts to distract you, especially now. Fortunate that it is an ally and not an enemy. Aeyliss pushed aside her annoyance with herself and said “I am sure it is easily fixed.”
“You should have a spare in the trunk. Have you ever changed a tire before?” he asked
She hesitated, “No, I have not, although I understand the theory of doing so.”
“Well, lucky I came along then, I can help.”
She nodded stiffly, embarrassed, and walked around to retrieve the spare. The key turned easily and she placed a hand on each side of the trunk and lifted, her eyes already searching the interior for the tire.
The pain was sudden and brutal, a burning that lanced through her back and kept burning, even after she felt the blade being pulled back out of her flesh. She opened her mouth trying to draw breath to scream and the pain came again on the other side; she felt as if her whole body was on fire now and she collapsed forward, falling writhing to the ground. Her back arched from the sheer agony and her head snapped back, hitting the pavement hard. Her mouth opened as she tried again to breathe and a rush of bright red blood poured out. Her hands clawed desperately at the asphalt and the spreading pool of blood, fighting to the last to live.
Walters stood over her, calmly, watching her die until the light left her eyes and she lay completely still. “Nothing personal. But I couldn’t let you ruin everything I’m working so hard for here.”
**********************************
They searched for the book until Brynneth arrived, and ordered Allie to bed. She only agreed to go after carefully describing the exact book they needed to all of them four times and was finally forcibly escorted to her room by Jessilaen. She had thought she would be too wired to sleep but to her surprise as soon as she lay down she felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her. She dozed off quickly.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been sleeping when a door slamming woke her up. Her eyes opened to the disorienting wash of red and blue lights alternating across her ceiling and wall; after a moment she realized it was the diffusing lights from a police cruiser. More than one cruiser actually based on the way the lights were dancing. She struggled up, still feeling groggy, and crossed to the far side of the room where her only front facing window was and where the light seemed most intense. The scene outside the window was so utterly surreal she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again, but the view remained the same. The road in front of the house was full of police cars–both human police and Elven Guard–all parked haphazardly with their emergency lights strobing. She felt the hair on her neck standing up, and her stomach clenched; whatever was going on it was clearly very bad. The air was thick with so much grief and anger that Allie could taste it, despite her shields and the wards on her room.
With a rising sense of panic she stumbled back across the room, struggling out of the clothes she’d been sleeping in and into the first pair of jeans and shirt she found, an old Henley she’d permanently borrowed from Jason. A quick glance at the clock told her it was just past 1 a.m., so she hadn’t been asleep very long. She staggered out into the hallway and ran headlong into Bleidd who was coming up the hall.
“Allie, go back to bed,” he said, sounding worried.
“Go back to bed? What the hell is going on–it looks like the entire police department is on our front lawn,” her voice sounded hysterical even to her own ears but she didn’t care.
“Come on Allie, “he said and physically moved her back into her room.
“Hey!” she was surprised that he was being so assertive.
“Go back to bed, you need to rest,” he said as if this was any other night.
“Are you on drugs? What is going on out there?” she stared at him, wide eyed, almost more frightened by his strange behavior than the scene out the window.
“I think I picked the wrong day to stop drinking,” he started, trying to sidetrack her again.
“Bleidd, for Gods’ sakes, what happened?”
He hesitated for a long moment, and then with obvious reluctance said, “Aeyliss is dead.”
“What!” she tried to push past him and he blocked her, grabbing her wrists and trying to hold her in the room. “Let me go! What the hell happened?”
“Allie calm down,” he said gently, “running out there isn’t going to help anyone.” And then when it was clear she wasn’t going to calm down, “Aeyliss was murdered near her car.’
Allie froze, her breath catching. She looked at him, mutely questioning. Reluctantly he went on, “The rear tire was flat–probably on purpose–it looks like she went to get the spare tire out and someone came up behind her and stabbed her in the back.”
“Did she–did she fight back?” Allie asked, relaxing until he released her.
He winced. “It looks like it was an iron knife. The damage from the wounds was extensive–I doubt she lived long.”
“Dear Gods,” Allie breathed, horrified. Without warning she tried to dart around him, overcome with a desperate desire to get back in the attic and keep looking for the book that seemed to be at the center of all of this. He lunged after her, managing to catch her around the waist. She shrieked, fighting to free herself even as he tried to reason with her.
“Allie, Allie, calm down…”
“Unhand her.” A voice said from the doorway. Bleidd looked up to see two Guards, Jessilaen and a stranger, standing there in full battle armor, the Guard equivalent of human SWAT gear. Unwillingly, he released his hold on Allie and she fell to her knees in the middle of the room. Under different circumstances he might have tried to argue with Jessilaen, but all of the Guard were radiating a cold fury over Aeyliss’s death and Bleidd was not foolish enough to push any of them tonight. He locked eyes with the blond Guard, waiting for an unwarranted accusation of inappropriate behavior, but instead the Guard simply said “Captain Zarethyn wishes to speak with you, Outcast.”
Bleidd bristled slightly at being denied even the use-name he had among the humans here, but before he could decide on a safe response Jessilaen gestured at the stranger with him. “Taishlin will escort you.”
“She should not be left alone.” Bleidd said shortly, nodding at Allie who was still kneeling, motionless, on the floor.
Jessilaen’s eyes narrowed, “Nor will she be. She will have a Guard with her at all times from now on.”
Bleidd eyed his rival as he walked out, accepting his escort to the Guard Captain with ill grace “How convenient for you.”
Jessilaen closed the door almost in Bleidd’s face and turned to Allie. She was kneeling with her head bowed down, her hair covering her face and he felt a twinge of worry at her unnatural stillness. “Allie?” he called gently.
She looked up and in the flickering lights that filled her room he could see that her face was streaked with tears. She wept silently and his heart broke to see her in such pain, even though he wasn’t sure why she was crying. He took a moment and exerted the tiny bit of magic needed to dismiss his battle armor, and, clad again in tunic and pants, sat down next to her. She leaned into him resting her head on his shoulder. “It’s just–it’s just so much death. So much hopelessness. I feel like every time we make any progress it’s all for nothing.”
He stroked her hair, “No, not for nothing. We are closer to finding this
killer than ever.”
“Are we? I can’t find the book, even though it’s here somewhere. I don’t remember much of anything useful from what I read 20 something years ago. And now Aeyliss is dead, either because the killer is afraid you were getting close or because the Dark Elves came here–for me...”she trailed off shuddering. “It all seems so futile.”
“No, Allie, truly it isn’t.” He lifted her chin with his hand until her eyes met his. “It only becomes futile when we give up and let the darkness win.”
“I don’t know if I can keep fighting. It’s just one thing after another. I don’t have time to think and something else horrible has happened. Tonight at dinner things seemed so, so good, almost normal, and then I remembered about the book and it looked like we had a chance to solve this and now, now this,” she looked at him, miserable. “I can’t believe I’ll never see her again and she died so terribly, Jess. It’s all so much pain and loss and suffering.”
“There’s always hope, Allie. There’s always something worth fighting for.” He leaned in and kissed her, gently. She wrapped her arms around him, desperately, and kissed him back hard. She felt wild and out of control; the miasma of emotions in the atmosphere were overwhelming her self-control and her own emotions frightened her. He offered her something solid to hold on to, to anchor her in a reality that wasn’t all death and suffering. She wondered if this was why elves were so quick to embrace sensual experiences, to use the physical joys to stave off the despair.
It was not in his nature or his inclination to refuse her. He met her passion with his own and kissed her more firmly, one hand finding her breast through the thin material of her shirt while the other wrapped around her waist. Without further urging she pulled her shirt off entirely and his breath caught, “Allie we don’t have to rush this.”
Murder Between the Worlds: A Between the Worlds Novel Page 12
