by Jami Gray
“Is that a true seeing or a logical conclusion?”
He frowned. “Speculation.”
Unsettled by Ryan’s dire predictions, she set her wineglass aside, stood, and walked toward him. “Darling, you’ve managed to keep your own gift hidden from the most discerning eyes.” Stopping in front of him, she tapped one nail against his chest. “She is your niece, Ryan. Time and time again she’s proven how well she can hold her own against any who come against her. Why would this be any different?”
A bleak sort of grief whispered behind his eyes before his gaze shuttered. “Because the vultures are circling.”
His dire tone triggered a well-hidden protective streak. “I’ve always wanted a feathered cap,” she quipped.
As one of their last conversations crowded close, the echoes left chills dancing over Natasha’s skin. Refusing to rub them away, she held Gavin’s jade gaze. Part of her would love to eavesdrop on their telepathic exchange. When his attention jumped back to Raine for no apparent reason, Natasha smiled. Yes, the two definitely shared a link, which meant chances were very high that Gavin could “see” what Raine did when she traced magical signatures. That would be useful, especially tonight.
Gavin’s features darkened and, this time, he actually turned in his seat to face her. “What’s the smile for, Natasha?”
“Just thinking, pet.”
“About?” His one word growl indicated his waning patience.
“Fahd’s expression when you tell him the one behind Sullivan’s death wasn’t me.” Let’s see how far these two would go to keep their secrets.
He quirked an eyebrow. “And why would you think we’d tell him that?”
“Because magic doesn’t lie.”
Raine’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Yes it does.”
“Not to you two, it won’t.”
Gavin’s face went still and predatory, while Raine stiffened in her seat.
Undaunted, Natasha continued, “When we get there, Raine will trace whatever magical signatures remain. Between the two of you, you’ll be able to pinpoint, if not who, then what, killed Sullivan.”
Although Gavin didn’t look at Raine, that strange sense of an unspoken conversation returned. “One, you’re in no position to give me orders. Two, you’re not making sense.”
Ah, denial, the tried and true first attempt. This time it was her turn to pin Gavin in place. “You may now be the captain of the Wraiths, but I am still the CEO of Taliesin and the leader of the Amanusa. You do not want to challenge me. Nor do you want to try and play me for a fool. If we weren’t being hunted by the Council, I could afford you the luxury of believing your secrets were safe. However, I would be a piss-poor leader if I didn’t understand who and what lived under my rule. It is how Ryan made sure the Northwest became the power it is today, and it is how I will continue to ensure we remain that way. So, as I told Raine earlier, I may not know all your secrets, but I do know enough to utilize what weapons I must to keep our enemies at bay.”
Gavin opened his mouth to respond, but Raine cut him off. “If you were the one behind Sullivan’s death, we won’t protect you.” She turned her attention from the road to the rearview mirror. “Even if losing you gives the Council another opening.”
Impressed by the ruthlessness lurking in those gray eyes, Natasha gave a small dip of her head in acknowledgement. “I will never expect your protection.” Because the only one who ever protected her was now dead, leaving her the sole protector of his legacy.
The two exchanging a puzzled look at her answer. Raine turned back to the road and Gavin asked, “What exactly do think we’ll find tonight?”
Natasha leaned back and turned to watch the weak streetlights blur by. “More questions.”
Natasha surveyed the quiet Hawthorne neighborhood. Craftsman style homes and mature trees lined the softly illuminated streets, lending a surreal, Thomas Kincaid atmosphere. Fahd’s black sedan prowled into a narrow driveway, forcing Raine to leave her SUV against the curb on the street. A slow perusal confirmed Sullivan’s neighbors were tucked safe behind their curtained windows. When the SUV stopped, she waited for Gavin to open her door.
Calm and composed, she gave no outward appearance of the worries tightening her stomach into an uncomfortable ache. She fell into step beside Gavin as they made their way up the steps to the porch with Raine trailing behind. A scowling Fahd opened the door, leading the way inside, while an ominously silent Darius followed.
Inside, Natasha went left to a large great room, only to come to a stop next to the stone fireplace. Darius stood in the middle of the room next to a tasteful sectional. No signs of violence marred the room. A discarded newspaper and a remote sat on the coffee table, while an empty glass perched under a decorative lamp on the small side table. A hall disappeared just beyond the stairs. By the main door, a pair of men’s running shoes were casually tossed to the side and now rested under the coatrack holding the necessary accessories for a rain-filled life. The neutral colors screamed hired designer, but it still felt lived in.
Raine frowned as she looked around. “Where is he?”
“Master bedroom, end of the hall,” Fahd answered, leaning against the stair’s cherry newel post.
Raine and Gavin rounded the foot of the stairs and disappeared down the hall.
Darius’s gaze went from them to Fahd. “What’s upstairs?”
“Two smaller rooms. One’s an office, the other a guest room, slash storage.” Fahd kept his attention on Darius. “No broken windows, jimmied locks, or damaged doors. His car is in the garage. Untouched.”
The lack of physical disturbances bothered her. Sullivan was not a weak demon, nor would he be easily taken by surprise. If he was attacked in his own home, there should be signs of a fight or a visitor. “And the neighbors?”
Finally looking at her, Fahd shook his head. “I didn’t ask, but since the place isn’t crawling with police, I think we’re good.”
“Natasha?” Raine’s summons drew Natasha down the narrow hall to a wide entryway.
Darius dodged her steps, so close it raised her hackles. She fought the urge to turn and hiss at him like a pissed-off cobra. Instead, she struggled to ignore his disturbing presence and concentrate on the scene greeting her.
The room was painted in carnage chic. The bed was a combination of wood and scrolled iron, but what lay in the midst of it was all gore. Nothing human could have accomplished this, which meant if the humans had gotten here first, the Kyn would be under a very ugly, very bright spotlight. The only way to tell it had once been Sullivan was his intact head on the pillow. The rest of him…well, she could understand why Fahd believed this was her handiwork.
Sullivan’s body resembled a disjointed puzzle. Limbs had been savagely torn off at major joints, leaving them as individual pieces. His pale, gray and pink organs lay on his eviscerated torso, exposed in a way they never should be. Some even seemed to be missing but, from her position at the door, she couldn’t be sure.
What looked like cables remained wrapped around what was left of his ankles and wrists, securing them to the bed frame. There was even a snaking crack along the footboard, a lone sign that Sullivan’s initial struggles had proven too much for the bed.
Blood had soaked into the bedding, leaving a deep, reddish-brown stain to spread like a disease across the gray sheets. Cast-off blood spattered the walls. Yet there were no voids in the mess to indicate where the attacker had stood.
While the scene resembled a cross between mad doctor’s dissection and an S&M scene gone horribly wrong, what concerned her most was the magical energy licking at her skin. This was why she wanted Raine and Gavin here. Together, they could retrace the magical signature, perhaps not enough to positively identify the one behind this, but enough to get a solid lead.
“What is it?” The question came from Darius, proving she wasn’t the only one picking up on the lingering magic.
“Layered spells.” Gavin moved carefully around the b
ed, his concentration focused on something unseen. “There’s a containment spell holding everything in.”
“What exactly is ‘everything’?” Natasha asked.
“Not sure yet,” he murmured.
Although she held no Magi blood, she understood enough of spell work to understand that each spell took on traits of its castor. Their will, their desires, helped to shape the magic to garner the hoped-for results. “What’s the spell for?”
Gavin didn’t look up from the bed, but answered absently, “Think of it like a catch-all. This spell is meant to keep things like noise, warring energies, and physical evidence of the struggle, within the four walls of this room. Similar to a Russian nesting doll set.”
That did not sound good. And from the frown on Raine’s face, there were good reasons to worry. “What happens when you break it?”
Strangely, it was Darius who answered. “Depending on what it’s hiding, nothing we want to happen.”
He went to step inside the room, but Raine jammed her hand against the opposite side of the doorframe, using her arm to bar his entrance. “Don’t think so, not until Gavin clears the room.”
Irritation flashed across Darius’s face, but Gavin’s murmured, “Give me a minute,” held everyone in place.
Silence stretched, and the room’s energy fluctuated as Gavin did whatever it was he did on the unseen plane. When he finally turned to them, he swayed, and Raine rushed to his side.
She slid an arm around his waist while he visibly resettled. “Hey, give it a second. You were under pretty deep.”
Neither Natasha nor Darius moved from their silent sentry posts at the doorway.
“There are two, maybe three more spells still active.” Gavin’s voice was rough. Straightening, he gave Raine a nudge toward the door then followed her until they stood next to Darius and Natasha. “I recognize four of the six spells. Besides the containment spell, there’s one for silence, probably so the neighbors won’t come running. A third bears some resemblance to a blocking spell, one used by wizards generally to keep witches and Fey from reaching out to the natural magics, and the fourth is an immobility spell, which is what kept Sullivan in place while he was ripped apart.”
“Wizarding magic?” Darius asked when Gavin paused.
Before Gavin could answer, Natasha interrupted, more concerned with the first part of his explanation. “You said there were two more active spells?”
Gavin studied them both. “The last spell is tangled with another. It could be a wizard’s creation, but I’m not sure.”
Tangled? Interesting choice of words. Next to him Raine’s mouth tightened, so there was something Gavin wasn’t sharing. Fine, Natasha would find out what it was later.
“Whatever Sullivan’s own defenses were, they weren’t enough,” Gavin continued. “After he was immobilized, the next layer would have kept his magic out of reach. It’s a nasty piece of work, which makes me lean toward a wizard. However, it’s these last two spells that concern me the most. I don’t recognize them.”
Which meant it was some other kind of magic besides Magi. The shifters were out, because, while they could be brutal, even this kind of damage was beyond them. Fey could manipulate natural magics, but Gavin would recognize that. So that left…
“A demon.” Natasha turned her head to Darius with reptilian slowness. Suspicions crept in. Her voice dropped into the deeper registers as her nature rose and stretched, her vision taking on a crimson hue. “Sullivan was of Blood of War. It would take a demon with tremendous power to hold him away from his abilities.” Or two demons, like the ones currently invading her territory.
Unfazed by her show of temper or the unspoken accusation, he folded his arms across his chest and stared back, his own Amanusa nature setting a ruby flame in his glacial eyes. “There are some very old ones who could do it for giggles,” he agreed, his smile far from pleasant. “Or give a younger one the necessary spell.”
She felt a grudging spark of appreciation at his adept turning of the tables. “Ah, but Jamie and I both have witnesses to our whereabouts tonight. Can you say the same?”
“Could it have been mimicked by a wizard?” Raine cut through their stalemate. “If the other spells are tainted, why can’t this be one we just haven’t run across?”
“There’s no sense of the castor on the last two.” Cold calculation iced Gavin’s voice, causing Natasha to look away from Darius. Gavin’s focus was completely centered on Darius. “Just out of curiosity, Darius, what other blood runs in your veins?”
At Gavin’s question, a small smile of cruel anticipation creased Darius’s face. When Raine shifted aside, enough to give her and Gavin room to reach whatever weapons they had tucked away, Darius’s smile widened. Gavin’s low warning growl drew Darius’s attention back to him, and the two males engaged in a stare down. Silence and tension pulsed through the room, waiting for the smallest spark to ignite.
While it amused Natasha to no end, nothing would get accomplished if the two men couldn’t stop pulling their “who’s the biggest bad-ass” routine.
“Or for gods’ sake,” Raine snapped, obviously just as disgusted with the two men. “We don’t have time for this shit, you two.”
“They’re males, dear,” Natasha chided. “They can’t move on until they establish territory.”
Raine stepped in between Gavin and Darius. “Yeah, well, they can piss circles around each other later.”
Without dropping his gaze, Gavin’s hands went to her waist to drag her out of the way. Her very feline hiss had him reconsidering his next move.
“Perhaps we should let them fight it out.” Natasha’s voice dropped to a husky purr. “It could be entertaining.”
“For once, you might actually be right.”
Gavin finally looked away from Darius to stare at them in stunned amazement. “Did you two actually agree on something?”
Raine snorted, shrugged his hands away from her waist, and then pushed past Darius. “Come on, Natasha. We’ll leave them to figure out who has the bigger dick in private.” She threw a smirk over her shoulder. “Besides, I think you’re being framed for this, so let’s talk about who, besides me, wants you dead.”
Darius watched the two women disappear down the hall, before turning back to the man standing next to him. “You deal with this all the time? Voluntarily?”
Gavin shrugged. “Normally they’re at each other’s throat.” He smirked. “They must really not like you.”
“Not my concern.” Darius shrugged then stepped inside the room, moving over to the end of the carnage-strewn bed. However, whether the luscious little blonde liked him or not didn’t change the fascinated pull she seemed to have on him. “So Natasha is being framed?”
Gavin walked to the far side of the bed. “Caught that, huh?”
Darius moved to the opposite side, careful not to breach the spell’s magical boundaries. The concealment spell pulsed like sandpaper against his skin. Ignoring the discomfort, he tried to see through the mass of carnage that used to be an Amanusa. Something about the remains pulled at him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of unraveling the cause. “How exactly did Raine come to that conclusion?”
“She sees more than others,” Gavin’s comment chased his barely formed curiosity away.
Interesting non-answer. Time to see exactly what kind of Kyn this man was. “Shall we?”
Both men prepared to breach the spell surrounding Sullivan and the bed. The air in the room gathered, much like an electric charge before a lightning strike. Simultaneously, they stepped inside the edge of the concealment spell to better view the remaining energies.
Familiar power brushed against Darius. Like a lethal pet. it curled close, finding a sympathetic power. Like called to like, and he recognized the distinct traces of Amanusa coating the energies. But the knot in the middle, the one causing Gavin such concern, held the lightest taint of wizard. “These were set by a demon.” He confirmed the origin of the interconnected spell
s, glancing at Gavin. “Yet, there’s a bit of wizarding magic in this as well.”
The other man nodded. “What I can’t unravel is where these last two spells connect.”
Studying the undulating power that lay before them, Darius realized why Gavin couldn’t see the connections. “Give me a moment.” Without waiting for an answer, he straddled the line between the Side and the mortal realm. To Gavin, it would appear as if he phased out of the world for a moment, his form taking on a translucent appearance. Holding the in-between state was difficult, but necessary, as he found confirmation of his suspicions and returned to tell Gavin. “The spell is using Sullivan’s blood to maintain a magical anchor in the Side. You’ll need to stand guard while I unhook it.”
“What should I expect?”
At the simple question, Darius’s estimate of Gavin rose. The Side, or the Amanusa realm, was rarely talked about it. The fact that Gavin focused on the immediately important aspect of disarming what they faced spoke volumes. “The magic may try to reattach itself in the mortal realm, so you’d best keep your shields strong.”
With that, Darius began to deftly maneuver the magical bindings holding the spell in the Side. He uncovered what appeared to be a deep crimson stone. With each line he unraveled, the small bloodstone shrank. There was considerable resistance from the magic, another indicator of a strong castor. Still, it wasn’t long before he was done, the last of the blood falling to ash at his feet. He shifted fully back to the mortal world.
Gavin was holding his own rather admirably. Taking in the combative magics of the younger man and the lingering spell, Darius realized Gavin was an extremely strong Fey witch. But there was more there. Something he couldn’t quite catch, an ability he didn’t recognize. At least, not yet.
However, there would be time later to pursue his curiosity. For now, he added his own ability as a demon wizard, knowing it would answer Gavin’s earlier question of what ran in Darius’s veins. Together they managed to unsnarl the remnants of the complex spells.
