by Ally Shields
“He couldn’t. Hawkson’s the only human exception I know, and that’s because he’s a shaman, a spiritual leader with an inner eye.” Ari stared at the vortex as they talked. “But the witches can see it. For now, they’re focused on the bloodstone, too fixated to think about anything else. But the High Priestess is obsessed by the O-Seven. She might use anything in an attempt to destroy them.”
“Too bad they didn’t stay across the pond and fight their damned war. It would have made my job easier. So how’d they get involved with Barron? Did he hire them to find it and then—”
Shouts rang out in the Chamber of Ages. Ari wheeled and raced in that direction with Ryan’s heavy steps pounding behind her. At the main chamber, she spotted only one of the weretigers.
“An intruder. Ran that way.” The tiger pointed down a side tunnel. “My partner is in pursuit. Andreas said never to leave the chamber unguarded, so I stayed behind.”
“Did you get a look at him?”
“Not a good one. Smelled human, but fast, and quiet. He or she—I couldn’t tell which—almost walked into the chamber before we caught the scent.”
Ari crossed to the tunnel, shining a light on the floor. It was dry here, unlikely to provide much of a track on the well-worn center of the path. She noticed scattered pebbles along the edges, as if kicked aside by one of the runners. Ryan joined her as she moved another five feet into the tunnel.
“Look.” She pointed to an imprint in the fine sand along the edge.
Ryan illuminated the area with his Maglite while Ari squatted for a better look.
Smooth, similar to a rounded heel but smeared sideways so it was hard to estimate the size. “Someone slid as they turned the corner.” Ari compared it to her own foot, shaking her head when she couldn’t hazard a guess whether it was male or female, large or small.
They continued to follow the path but stopped when confronted by three intersecting tunnels. Ari listened for sounds of the chase and heard nothing but silence. “They might have taken any of these. Rather than pick the wrong one, let’s go back to the Chamber of Ages. The tigress will return there, with or without the intruder. She could already be there.”
They backtracked to the chamber, and Ari immediately pointed to the male tiger’s shoes. “I see you wear trail runners. Is your partner wearing the same?”
“Yeah, they’re standard. All the guards wear them.” He held up one foot to show her the sole. “They have a good deep grip. Why do you ask?”
“I found an imprint, but it’s much smoother than that.” Ari bit her lip in thought. “A moccasin might leave that kind of print.”
“You think it was Hawkson?” Ryan asked.
“Could be, although anyone could buy a pair of moccasins. He wasn’t wearing them when I saw him, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was back. I haven’t heard from him in days, which seems a little suspicious. He wants that bloodstone badly, and I don’t believe he’ll give up.”
“How’d he get in? All the cave entrances are blocked or guarded,” the tiger protested.
“Only the entrances we knew about,” she corrected. “The Indians lived here before the vampires. They may have their own secret passages.”
“Entrances the vampires didn’t find?” The tiger’s voice conveyed his doubts.
“Nobody’s perfect.” Not even the vampires, and the caverns included miles of caves and subterranean tunnels. She turned her head, listening. “I think that’s your partner coming now.”
The tigress burst into the room, clearly out of breath. “I’m sorry, Guardian, but he got away. I heard the footsteps ahead of me and then, like that,” she snapped her fingers, “he was gone. I thought he was around the next turn, so I circled the area three times. At first, I could still smell him, but I couldn’t find anyone.”
“Him? You saw a man?”
The tigress gave a shake of her head. “It could have been either. I didn’t see anyone after that first sight. Whoever it was knew where he was going.”
“I suppose it’s too early for any of the vampires, right?” Ryan said.
“Oh, yeah, even for Andreas. It’s not even noon.” The vampire prince was usually up by 3:00 p.m. summer or winter, long before sunset, but none of the other vampires could do that. Except for Prince Daron, who was at least five hundred years old, probably much older. “This wasn’t a vampire or anybody who thought he had a right to be here. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have run.” She turned to the weretigress. “Show me where you lost him.”
Ari and Ryan followed her back through the tunnel. After a series of turns, the tigress slowed her steps and pointed ahead. “I was here when the footsteps stop. He should have been right around this turn.”
Rounding the corner, the tiger stopped and shrugged. Ari and Ryan checked the area for themselves, walking slowly along the narrow tunnel, examining the walls, looking under any outcropping of limestone. Remembering a high tunnel opening she’d seen in another area, Ari shone the light high on each wall. Making a second pass, she concentrated on the rock ceiling, stopping to peer at every shadow on the irregular overhead surface.
“Isn’t that a hole?” Ryan pointed. “There. I think it’s an opening. And it looks big enough for me to squeeze through.” Not waiting for any discussion, he handed the Maglite to Ari and jumped up, caught the edge and squirmed out of sight. His face appeared in the opening. “Can you give me the light now? It’s black as Hades up here.”
Ari tossed him the flashlight and listened as he scrambled around overhead.
“It’s a tunnel.” His muffled voice drifted down to them and became normal when his face reappeared. “Looks like the intruder is long gone. Shall we follow it to the surface? Only direction seems to be up.”
“OK. Wait for me. I’m coming.” Ari looked at the tigress. “Why don’t you return to watch Spirit Cave in case this is a false trail and the intruder circles back. We’ll follow the tunnel to the surface, and I’ll let Andreas know what’s happened.”
When Ari joined Ryan in the upper passage, she realized the tunnel was manmade. Not recent, but not the work of Mother Nature. Chiseled in the rock, with primitive instruments of stone perhaps, the tunnel was merely a crawl space preserved from ancient times. Since Ryan was already ahead of her in the narrow passage, he led the way, both of them crawling on hands and knees. It was dark, dirty, and stuffy. Ari hung back to avoid the choking dust stirred by her partner. She coughed, feeling grit inside her mouth. Her nose had begun to tingle on the verge of a sneeze when she spotted a dim light ahead. Although it seemed like forever, less than fifteen minutes had passed when they pushed loose, dried twigs and leaves out of their way and emerged into a thicket of live brush.
She held the branches away from her clothes and climbed free. Taking a deep breath of clean air, she wiped her face with her hands and tugged the debris from her hair. Then she joined Ryan outside the thicket, looking around. They were a good fifty to sixty yards north of the collapsed entrance, well away from the watchful dwarf and beyond the police barriers. Out of sight, virtually invisible, and yet somebody had been using it. Although extremely dusty, the tunnel had been clear of cobwebs and rocks. The dead brush stuffed in the end had been a deliberate attempt at concealment.
Everything pointed to Hawkson. He was familiar with the area, and the most likely to know about an ancient secret entrance. He’d gotten in before without being seen. Not an easy thing to do considering the vampires. Perhaps he’d entered today to check on the ghost.
She told Ryan her suspicions. “Actually, I hope it was him. At least I know he doesn’t want the amulet for personal gain or some evil purpose. We need to find the bloodstone before someone dangerous does. Which means, you’ve got to talk with Dyani.” She watched as he brushed the dirt off his jeans. “I can’t leave Riverdale because of Ursula, so it’s up to you. Dyani’s got to come clean with what she knows, even if you have to throw her in jail.”
Ryan flexed his back. “Better than crawling around in tunnels built for midg
ets. I’ll be sure to take my handcuffs. You know how much I like arresting people.”
* * *
Late that afternoon, Ari stood on the curb as Ryan drove away from the police station in his cruiser. According to the lawyers for Barron & Carmody Adventures, the prehistoric mammoth dig the crew was filming was in Iowa, less than a half day drive away. Ryan should be able to talk with Dyani by this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.
She turned her steps toward the club. Andreas would be up by now, and she wanted to tell him about the cave invasion, but she really had to discuss Gabriel and Claris. She couldn’t stop thinking about her friend. About both of them really, and she hoped Andreas might have a better perspective. She kicked a twig from the sidewalk. There was always the possibility she was overreacting.
Which was exactly what Andreas told her twenty minutes later. In fact, he seemed a little irritated with the discussion. “Why are you so upset about this? Claris is a grown woman. She does not need you running her life.”
“I’m not trying to run her life. I just don’t want her getting into something she’s going to regret. Since we were little, she’s always wanted the white picket fence with the two and a half kids.”
Andreas went still. “I wondered when you would get around to children. Is this about Claris or about you?” He looked up from the business reports in his hands. “Are you rethinking your own choices, Arianna?”
She shook her head slowly, her eyes watching his face. “No. How can you ask me that? My lifestyle isn’t child-friendly. I have other responsibilities. I have the life I want.”
“Do you?” He looked at her for a long, silent moment. “Then let Claris and Gabriel make their own decisions.” He set the papers aside and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me about the intruder in the caves instead. The weretigers reported you and Ryan were present when it happened.”
Ari latched onto the new topic and perched on the corner of his desk. “So someone already called you, huh? There isn’t much to tell. The tigers spotted someone, who then got away by using a previously unknown tunnel to the surface. I think it was Hawkson.”
“I almost wish he would find the thing.” Andreas sighed. “All these intrusions would stop.”
She shot him a quizzical look. “You’re not going to seal the new entrance, are you?”
“Not for a while. Is Hawkson not the rightful owner? I would be quite satisfied to see the amulet in his hands.”
“What if someone else finds the tunnel and goes exploring?”
“The guards are checking it now and will stop them.”
“And won’t they stop Hawkson?”
He gave a dismissive shrug. “Not if I grant him access.”
“You can still surprise me, Andreas. I thought you’d want to claim the stone for the vampires.”
“There is much about me you do not know, cara mia, but I am willing to share.” The long look he gave her turned into a slow smile. “Unless you allow me to get back to work, we may as well go home now.”
“OK, I get it.” She slipped off the desk. “You’re busy, and I still have things to do.” She paused at the door and returned his look. “Later tonight I intend to fully explore this mysterious side of yours.”
“My pleasure.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ari had barely unlocked her office door the following morning when her cell phone rang. Her first appointment, a homeless elf waiting in the hallway to talk with her about housing, looked resigned when she answered the call. She mouthed, “I’ll be quick,” and closed her door. She would have let the call go to voice mail, except it was Ryan.
“Sorry I didn’t call last night, but I had trouble finding the excavation site. Then everybody was gone for the evening,” Ryan explained. “I’m here at the dig now, and, you know, this stuff is pretty interesting. These bones are from the ice age.” His voice faded as he turned to talk to somebody at the other end. “Was that before or after the dinosaurs?” There was a muffled reply, then he was back. “Carmody says it was probably after. Although there have—”
“Ryan,” she broke in. “Tell me about Dyani. I’m at my office, and a client is waiting.”
“Oh, sure. She’s gone. Took off two days ago. She told Carmody she’d lost interest in being part of the show. Something about mammoths having nothing to do with her specialty in Indian lore. He thinks she’s gone home to Oklahoma. I’ll try to confirm that, but I’m driving back to Riverdale today. If I need to go to Oklahoma, I’ll fly out from there. Anything new on your end?”
“It’s quiet. Not a sign of any of our creeps.”
“Good, that’s nice to hear for a change. I’ll be back by afternoon if you need me for anything. Oh, wait, Ari, Carmody wants to talk to you.”
She waited until the filmmaker came on the line.
“Ms. Calin?”
“I’m here. What can I do for you?”
“That name and address in Cincinnati? I got it for you. Priscilla Avery.” He gave her the address and phone number. “That number is two years old, so no guarantees. The lieutenant tells me the doctor decided Barron’s death was a rare type of heart failure. I’m glad it wasn’t murder after all.”
“Thanks for the information,” she said. Avery was the same name her coven sister had found: a witch with a shady reputation. Perhaps it was time to place a call.
She ignored Carmody’s comments on Barron’s death. Ryan must have given him the police department’s official statement, but she hadn’t seen the final medical report. Heart failure worked as well as any other COD, but she didn’t want to say something that might be contradictory. She settled for adding, “Good luck with your film.”
Once off the phone, she invited her client in and handled his homeless status by escorting him to a local shelter and leaving him with a list of potential employers.
It was almost noon before she placed the call to Priscilla Avery.
The phone was answered by a man who said he was Priscilla’s son. Ari explained who she was and left her number for a call back, stating it was urgent. By the time she left the office at dusk, she’d finished her backlog of reports, talked twice with Ryan—who couldn’t locate Dyani—and still hadn’t heard from Avery. The woman was avoiding her, and that piqued Ari’s curiosity.
She went home and pulled out her scrying bowl, hoping to confirm whether the witches were still in town. She and the coven had unfinished business between them, and this time there would be no unscheduled side trips. Not for Ari.
Setting up the candles and the bowl of water, Ari gently swung the crystal over the water, murmured the words of the spell three times, and pictured the face of the High Priestess. Nothing happened. Not even a map. The spell wasn’t picking up even residual energy of her target. Ari looked again but didn’t find the slightest shimmer on the liquid’s surface. She scrunched up her nose while she tried to think it through. Had the coven gotten better at concealing themselves or had they left town? How could she determine the difference? If they were really gone, the only lead left was the elusive Patricia Avery.
Ari repeated the ritual twice more: once using the face of Sophistrina to guide the spell; the second time another member of the coven. Not a glimmer of energy appeared. So they were gone. But why and to where? She would have sworn the High Priestess would not give up until she had the bloodstone, and it was still in the cave.
For a moment, Ari’s certainly wavered. Was it? Had she really felt the bloodstone’s power or imagined it? She gave herself a mental shake. This wasn’t the time to lose faith in her magic, which told her plainly that the stone was there.
Therefore, it was.
She put her ritual items back where they belonged, her mind focusing on what she should do now. Should she go after them? Or should she simply say good riddance? The coven had murdered a man, but how practical was it to chase them across the country, even across the world? Would she place others in danger by doing so?
Then again, maybe she was asking
herself too many questions. She was a cop. She brought criminals to justice. No matter the cost, she couldn’t let the High Priestess walk away. The witch hadn’t only committed murder, she had led her sisters into darkness. That was even less forgivable.
* * *
By morning Ari knew what she wanted to do. She called the airfield and had Andreas’s plane fueled and ready for takeoff that afternoon. She would be in Cincinnati no later than dusk.
After a late-night phone conversation with Stella, her sister witch in Perry, Ari was positive the witch consultant in Ohio would be able to tell her something. Priscilla Avery had been investigated twice by the Ohio State Police in connection with mysterious disappearances. Recently, local police had responded to numerous complaints from neighbors about strange chanting and lights at night. Children and animals avoided the property. Although authorities hadn’t found anything illegal, Ari was convinced some of the events were from the black coven’s activity. The witches were there or had been. It felt right, and the woman was avoiding Ari’s calls. That alone made her guilty of something.
After a morning exchanging phone calls with Ryan about the elusive Dyani and consulting with her coven in Perry, Ari departed town midafternoon, touching down two hours later at a private Ohio airstrip. A tan SUV rental with fold-down seats was waiting as arranged, and she drove into the suburbs to the address Stella had confirmed. Parking a block away, she settled in to wait, playing a game on her cell phone and watching the house. Around six o’clock a woman unlocked and entered the front door; at dusk the first floor lights came on. When it was completely dark outside, lights at the residence suddenly went out.
Ari sat up and studied the street. It was much too early for bed. If the woman was leaving, Ari intended to follow. Seconds, then minutes went by without movement. Otherworld power drifted toward her from the direction of the house, and her witch blood stirred with eagerness.
The coven was meeting in or around the house under the cover of darkness.
