by Ally Shields
She stepped closer and sniffed the air. A second odor was becoming all too familiar.
Ramon’s low growling cut off, and he knelt beside the victim. “What the hell happened to her?” Even though it was clear to Ari the woman had been dead for some time, he leaned over and listened for a heartbeat. He looked at Ari with pain in his eyes. “Who did this?”
She responded to his loss first. “I’m sorry about your friend. She was attacked by werebears. Two or more. The same scent was at the De Luca house.”
“Did you have a kill like this?”
“At the estate? No, but there’s blood from a fight.” She glanced at the victim’s decomposing body. “She may have been attacked the same night so she couldn’t report what she saw. I’d like the name of her employer. Is there anyone who’d know?”
Ramon lifted a hand high overhead and two young men came running. They stared wide-eyed at the corpse, and he had to raise his voice to get their attention. “Hey, listen up. Gather the families. Spread the word of what has happened to Katya and that we need the name of her most recent client. Hurry.” The men took off running, changing into fox form as they went. Bushy tails were the last parts visible before they plunged into a grove of trees.
“Outsiders are not allowed at a fox gathering. You can wait in your car or I will find you at the casa di campagna.”
“Andreas’s country house,” Samuel clarified.
She looked at Ramon. “How long will this take?”
“Minutes. Hours.” He shrugged. “Who can say? Is there urgency?” His voice sharpened. “Are you withholding something?”
Ari glanced at Samuel. He gave Ramon a steely-eyed look. “The master is missing.”
“De Luca?” The werefox leader looked startled, then disbelieving, and finally settled on bewildered. “By missing, are you saying he’s lost or been abducted? Who would dare? How is such a thing even possible?”
“He wouldn’t get lost,” she snapped. “Werebears attacked him.” She cocked her head. “Why do you seem so surprised?”
“Because I am. How could anyone take him captive?” He looked at Ari, then at Samuel. “Oh, I see. You thought we didn’t know he was a vampire.” Ramon gave a dismissive grunt. “It is the worst kept secret in the region. At least among the Otherworlders. He is somewhat of a legend.”
Samuel’s mouth dropped open; Ari merely nodded. She’d been thinking the local populace would be pretty dense not to suspect. In fact, it was a relief they knew. Not having to hide that fact would make their investigation easier.
“How long have you known?” Samuel demanded.
“Decades.”
“But how?”
“Samuel, you can catch up on local gossip later. Right now it’s a good thing that they know. We can talk more freely.” She turned back to Ramon and followed her instincts. She liked the way he cared about and protected his pack. Maybe he could also be trusted, at least to some extent, and she needed local expertise. “A sorcerer was involved in the attack, but we’re afraid it was the vampires who were behind it. The powerful elders who rule Europe. But they didn’t pull this off without local help.”
“By vampires, you mean the O-Seven. We’ve all heard of them.” Ramon gazed thoughtfully at the rolling hills over her shoulder. “I hope Katya wasn’t part of this, but she may have been spying for them without realizing who they were or what they planned. I’ve heard she was pinched for money. Starting this new business and all…” His eyes darkened, and he shook his head. “De Luca and his people have been generous in this region, sheltering, providing jobs without asking questions or demanding anything in return. We will do what we can.”
* * *
“Well, blow me over.” Samuel climbed behind the wheel of the truck. “I wonder how they found out. Decades ago, he said.”
She loudly cleared her throat.
“Sorry, not important right now, I know, but I’m just so blown away. Our people have never heard a whisper.” He glanced at her. “OK, so what do we do next? Just wait for the foxes?”
“Hardly. While they talk, I’ll try to contact the only people I know in Europe…the black magic coven.”
He paused in switching on the engine. “You can’t believe they’re involved in this. Not after you helped them.”
“Goddess help me, I hope not. I need their help to find Andreas. If he’s deliberately blocking me, I might be able to use the coven’s power to enhance my end of the magical connection. Maybe enough to force a connection. Kind of like boosting the signal.” She watched him back the pickup down the road. “And I’m going to call Gabriel. If the O-Seven’s behind this, and they’re holding Andreas in some castle in Germany, we’ll need a rescue plan. Gabriel’s the only person I know who’s been inside.”
She grabbed her cell phone, hoping she had the right prefixes for calls, and scrolled through her list of contacts. She’d talked to the coven’s priestess Sophistrina a couple of times since last spring: first, to verify they’d left the United States, and later to seek confirmation no one had leaked the truth about Ursula, the O-Seven’s enforcer, dying in Riverdale. To the rest of the world, the enforcer had just disappeared.
Finding Sophistrina’s contact info, she thumbed in the numbers and was relieved when the appropriate message service answered. She left a detailed message, stating why she was in Italy, and how to contact her.
They drove up to the country house, and Ari glanced at her watch. Noon. It was 5:00 a.m. in Riverdale. She might catch Gabriel before dawn. While Samuel was telling Lilith and their weretiger guards about the visit with the foxes, Ari dialed the acting vampire prince of Riverdale.
He answered on the first ring. “Have you found Andreas?”
“Not yet.” She recited everything she’d learned. “Why would the O-Seven take him, Gabriel?”
“I don’t know, love.” Without thinking, Gabriel had slipped into his Old World persona. “They want something. Since our court hasn’t been contacted, they may hope to use him as a way to control Prince Daron. I’ll call Toronto, see what they’ve heard. Wasn’t Daron sired by one of the elders?”
“That’s what Andreas told me. Do you think his sire would help us?”
“I don’t have a clue, but I think it’s time we found out more about Daron’s connections. It’s possible we could apply some leverage of our own.”
“I like the sound of that. What about this German stronghold where the elders have their court? You and Andreas have both been inside, but I’ve never heard any details except it’s a big old castle. If they’re holding him there, how do I get him out?”
Gabriel was silent for several heartbeats. “It is impregnable, Ari. He’s probably in the dungeons beneath the castle. It’s a massive stone structure. The walls are three feet thick. The surrounding woods of the Black Forest are filled with werebears and trolls, the gates are guarded by wereraptors, and at least five hundred lesser vampires live within the castle walls. No one except invited guests has ever been inside and walked out alive.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” Brave words, but her feelings didn’t quite match them. Still, what choice did she have?
They kept the conversation short. Dawn was approaching, and Gabriel needed to reach his sleeping chambers. Before hanging up, they agreed to talk again that evening.
Impregnable or not, she’d find a way. Ari set her jaw before she turned to face Samuel. “Now we wait.”
* * *
It was a long afternoon. Ari paced the casa’s study, refusing to eat when the others stopped for a late lunch around 2:30. Samuel and Lilith had just returned from the kitchen when she sensed Ramon’s Otherworld power outside. One of the tiger guards opened the door before the werefox had a chance to knock.
She hurried across the pecan wood floor to meet him. When he lifted his eyebrows and nodded, her pulse quickened. He had news.
“I have the email address where the payment came from.” Ramon waved a piece of paper. “Katya had a web
-based inquiry service. The job was contracted on line and paid in advance through a payment agency. Her friend who maintains the website said it was a simple surveillance job. She was supposed to report when and if De Luca was in residence, keep an eye on the estate, and monitor his actions. Her friend hadn’t talked to her in a week.”
“The address may be no good by now,” she said, taking the paper, “but I’ll have someone at home check it out. Do you know when she was hired?”
“How long’s De Luca been in Italy? Apparently she’d only been on the job a couple of hours when he arrived.”
September 27th, and he’d only made the decision to go on the evening of the 26th. Ari turned over the possibilities in her head and gave Samuel a pointed look. “We have a leak somewhere. It’s the only explanation.”
“I’m on it.” He had his phone out and was dialing before she turned back to Ramon.
“Anything else?”
The werefox dug in his pocket and pulled out a inch long portion of a mini cigar. “Found this in the dirt at her den, so I took it to my cousin’s brother-in-law. He works for a Tuscano cigar company. It wasn’t one of theirs, but he knows the competition.” Ramon’s lips curled in satisfaction. “It’s a candle light vanilla…made in Germany.”
Lilith broke her watchful silence. “That tears it.”
Yeah. Ari’s stomach knotted. Another piece of evidence for a theory she didn’t like at all. First werebears, now German cigars. The trail was leading straight to the elder vampire council, making a confrontation with them much more of a reality. No one had defeated them in thousands of years. To make matters worse, they had obviously gained access to a powerful sorcerer.
Ari squared her shoulders. “Then I guess that’s where we go.”
She hardly heard the rest of Ramon’s report beyond the fact that a pair of foxes had found werebear scent about seven miles away. It was at least twenty-four hours old and the trail appeared to be angling toward the airport. They were chasing it down.
He headed for the door. “I’ll call when I hear something.” He paused before stepping outside. “Not only did they kill one of ours, but Katya was partially responsible for whatever happened to De Luca. That makes it our fight too, our responsibility.”
She nodded tersely. She understood his desire to even the score. But he’d have to get in line. “Hey, Ramon. Do you know anything about a recent worker’s death? Or the vandalism around here?”
“Heard about the fall. Accident, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe not. See if anyone knows about those incidents. I’m wondering if they were staged for the sole purpose of luring Andreas to Italy.”
Lilith’s loud snort drew their attention. “That would mean someone’s been planning this for weeks or months.”
“It sure looks that way.” Ramon turned back to Ari. “I’ll ask around.”
When he was finally out the door, Ari fingered the paper with the email address and dialed Ryan. His weary voice produced an instant pang of guilt. “You sound tired. Been busy?”
“Is Andreas back?” Ryan’s voice was suddenly alert.
“No, and I think I need to talk the situation through with someone. Are you swamped?”
“Busy. Nothing I can’t handle. It was a late night. But I have time to listen. What’s going on?”
She sighed. “Not much that’s good, I’m afraid. But before I forget, I have a computer task for the IT guys.” She read off the email address and then told him what she’d seen and heard. He seemed to approve of most of the steps she’d taken. When she started talking about the castle and its fortifications, he finally interrupted.
“Tell me you’re not going to take on the O-Seven by yourself. It’s a suicide mission.” His voice was tight.
“Chill, Ryan. I won’t run off half-cocked. I promise. I’m not even setting foot in Germany until I have a plan, and a good one. And I’ll have help when I decide to go.”
“Who?”
She frowned at his impatience. “How the hell do I know until I have a plan?”
* * *
Ari hadn’t had a chance to clean up since she’d climbed off the plane several hours ago, and she took the opportunity now. The shower was one place where she did some of her best thinking, and as water cascaded down her back she tried to put the pieces of this case in some order. Everything pointed to the O-Seven, but what could they gain by taking Andreas hostage? Leverage against Daron? An old grudge, but why now? Ryan had brought up the possibility that the elders had learned of Ursula’s death. But Ari had killed their enforcer, not Andreas.
Of course, the O-Seven’s motivation could be as simple as wanting to make an example of anyone who defied them. It wouldn’t be the first time the dictators had brutalized their enemies.
She shivered in spite of the steamy shower, thinking of what vampires might do if they really set their minds to maximizing pain. She closed her eyes and allowed the water to run over and warm her face. After a moment, she stepped back, taking a deep breath. She would not think about torture. Instead, she’d concentrate on how to get him back.
With a renewed sense of urgency, she toweled off and dressed. She grabbed a jacket and stuffed Andreas’s scarf in her pocket. Dusk was closing in, but if she hurried, she had time for one last check of the property before dark.
She started for the front door; Lilith rose from the couch to follow her out. The door burst open before they reached it, and Ramon filled the entrance.
“Come quickly. The trackers found a ceremonial circle where the werebears have been.” He bolted down the steps with Ari, Lilith, and Samuel in pursuit. The tiger guards ran after them, but Ari waved them back. “Wait here. Just in case Andreas returns or someone calls with news.”
Despite frowns of obvious disagreement, the tigers followed her orders, dropping behind. Ari and her two companions chased after Ramon, cutting across country on foot. They ran through two fields with rows of grape vines and circled a stand of fig trees. Two hills later, they entered a small, wooded area.
Ramon slowed, peering in the undergrowth. “There. In that open space.” He pointed through the brush where two foxes in creature form sat on their haunches, waiting. The larger one got up and ambled toward them. Ramon squatted and held a silent communication in the same telepathic manner Ari had seen the wolves use at home. She understood from her werewolf friend, Steffan, that it wasn’t as distinct as carrying on a spoken conversation, but they managed to get their messages across, some of it empathically understood.
“The scent stops here,” Ramon said standing. “They followed it to some kind of circle drawn on the ground, where it ended. To be certain, they’ve searched a half mile radius.”
Samuel and Ramon pulled back the brush, and the group entered the clearing. Ari drew back a step. An oppressive black aura, a dark thundercloud of haze, hung over the immediate area. She didn’t say anything, because the others couldn’t see it, but other remnants of the sorcery circle were obvious to all. The scent of sulfur, the ring of ashes. She moved forward to examine the ash used to draw the circle and recoiled in disgust. Human ashes. Not unexpected because the ability to teleport was produced by a dark arts spell. The most complex spells required a level of power typically achieved through human sacrifice or at least the use of human remains.
She stood and walked the circle. Sophistrina’s coven used black magic to teleport, but this wasn’t big enough to hold thirteen witches. This ring held no more than five or six creatures, and some of them had been bears. And Sophistrina didn’t use human remains. At least not when Ari knew her.
The air at the edge of the circle shimmered. “Intruders,” she shouted. “Get out of here.” She leaped forward to protect her companions, throwing up a temporary barrier with the magic powder she always carried in her pockets. Lilith pulled both her guns; Samuel began to morph into tiger form, and the foxes snarled a warning, but backed away, ready to run.
Energy crackled, and as if Ari’s earlier thoughts had pulle
d them in, Sophistrina and her coven materialized outside the prior circle.
“Hold everything. It’s Sophistrina.” Ari thrust out a restraining hand to keep her companions from attacking, but she kept her eyes on the witches, waiting to see the coven’s mood. The last leader of this group had indeed tried to kill her. It paid to be cautious. Especially when they showed up at this particular spot.
“Why do you seem so surprised?” The high priestess smiled at her from the other side of the barrier and cocked her head to one side. “Didn’t you call me?”
Chapter Five
Ari gave her an assessing look. “I expected you to use the phone, not appear out of nowhere.” The magical barrier she’d thrown up between her group and the thirteen witches was already dissolving. She really needed to work on the formula, make it longer-lasting. Stepping through the last of the energy sparkles, she approached the priestess and pointed to the circle. “Is this your work?”
Sophistrina turned up her nose. “Nothing as dark as that. But whoever put it there has some enviable power. It almost kept us from locating you.”
“Which you did how?” Lilith demanded suspiciously.
“GPS, of course. In Ari’s cell phone.”
Ari put a restraining hand on Lilith’s arm. “I did call her.” She dropped her hand and regarded Sophistrina. “Now that you’re here, I hope it’s because you came to help.”
“Depends on exactly what you want us to do.” Sophistrina’s smile was a little harder, more distant than Ari remembered, but not unfriendly. “Are you calling in your favor?”
When they’d parted, Sophistrina had given her a verbal IOU due to Ari’s support of leniency for the coven’s activities in Riverdale. The Magic Council had accepted Ari and Andreas’s recommendation and declared the former high priestess, who had died during a fight, as the sole responsible party. The rest of the coven had been allowed to return to their homes in Europe with their magic powers intact.
