Raven, Red

by Connie Suttle

  "You have a lovely home," Esther said, her voice betraying how distracted she was. "You and Val were right, and you came at the right time," she added in a whisper.

  Janie didn't want to tell Esther that her assistant, Niall Pratt, had been half-eaten by the demons attacking him. The FBI was on the scene, gathering evidence and taking statements from the handful of guards who'd survived the ordeal.

  Del had already reported that Esther was in a safe location—one that couldn't be revealed because she was the main target of the attack.

  "We wanted to protect you, and we accomplished that," Janie said, keeping her voice calm. "You're the one people will listen to, when you tell them the truth. The time for hiding these demons—for sweeping the information under the rug—is over. The enemy will lie about them. You will speak the truth."

  "How quickly will they lie about it?"

  "Nico says soon," Janie sighed. "Come to the kitchen—Mona has coffee, tea and sandwiches ready if you want some."

  "All right."

  Janie didn't fail to notice how badly Esther's hands shook as she helped her rise from the sofa in her sitting room.

  Mac wandered through the mists of his ancient home. He stood upon high, green cliffs, watching the sea fling itself against the rocky coast below with a regular, booming intensity. This was where he'd grown up—but the place was empty. Even the house had sunk into the pit of time and no longer stood where his father built it.

  A shudder shook him as his thoughts turned to his last meeting with his father—and the fateful choice he'd made. One that left him standing beside his mother while his father disavowed his only child and went off to war.

  Had She brought him here—to gloat? To shove this part of his life in his face?

  To tell him She'd warned him all those centuries ago?

  "I don't care," he spoke to the winds stirring the mist. "I gave my heart and it will remain given. It was worth my life." He shivered in the cold winds, only then noticing he was naked. Ari was the love he'd always longed for and refused until now. Nico was like his own son. He loved them both unconditionally.

  "You were a young fool back then, Cormac." The Morrigan stepped through the mist, looking as she always did when she appeared to him—as if time and the mundane elements had no hold on her.

  "I know it well," he bowed his head to her in deep respect.

  "Here. I know this embarrasses you." Holding out a hand, She clothed him warmly with a thought.

  "Thank you," he dipped his head to her again.

  "You recall the warning I gave—should you give your heart completely?"

  "Yes, Lady." This bow was deeper than the others, as Mac accepted his fate.

  "Good. Your curséd life is over. Go back, now, liberated from my curse. You may freely protect the ones you love with all your heart."

  Ari cried out as the second bullet slapped into her palm and Mac's sudden, indrawn breath bowed his back, lifting him off the bed.

  Nico's arms went around Mac, pushing his body gently onto the bed again. "All is well," he breathed into Mac's ear. "All is well."

  "There it is," Everette pulled the slug from Renault's arm and held it out on the tip of a claw.

  "You fought bravely," Renault dipped his head to Everette. "And you have some healing skill as well."

  "I may have taken first aid when I was in college," Everette dropped the slug into Renault's hand, then retracted her claws. "Damn. Ruined my nails, too." She studied her hands. "Demon juice dissolves nail enamel, looks like."

  "I'm sorry about your nails," Renault held a piece of gauze to his wound, which would stop bleeding momentarily, now that the bullet was out and the vampire healing had taken over.

  "Don't be. It was worth a thousand nail jobs just to take that piece of shit down."

  "They do have that stench about them," Renault agreed.

  "Mac's alive," Hunter almost tripped coming down the basement stairs. "Ari fixed him!"

  "Thank goodness," Everette breathed. "High five," she held up a hand for Hunter to slap. He did so with a huge grin.

  "Janie said to tell you there's food in the kitchen," Hunter said before running back up the stairs.

  "I'm hungry," Everette said.

  "I could eat," Renault laughed.

  "Nico, the curse is lifted," Mac said softly. Ari had left Mac's bedroom to get him a glass of water after she'd healed the bullet holes in his chest.

  "I was afraid you'd die," Nico confessed. "I heard the curse in a dream days ago. Thank you for remaining true to yourself and ignoring what we believed it meant."

  "All those years, I served because I was held to a curse. Some of those I protected I considered friends. Others were only a task that I was set."

  "Until now," Nico smiled.

  "Until now. It's finally personal to me to see this through, no matter how it ends."

  "Mac, look at your hand," Nico's smile became a grin.

  "Huh?" Mac held both hands in front of him.

  "Palm up, dude."

  Mac turned his hands over. There, on his left palm, lay the imprint of the shell. "Bidh mi air mo dhamnadh," he whispered.

  "Nah—you won't be damned. Are you hungry? Ari says she'll bring soup for you if you want it."

  "I'm hungry," Mac let his head fall back on the pillow. "Thank you—and Ari—for not giving up on me."

  "That can't be real—can it?" Val frowned at Del's laptop screen.

  "It appears to be real," Del released a pent-up breath. "It looks as if some of those monsters rising are the same ones we dealt with last night. You see these eight here?" He pointed to the left side of the screen. "They rise and disappear. The others—they all fed from the hostages. My Department is working on trying to identify those women among the ones taken in Austin."

  "You think the Adversary just stuck some of his people in black robes so they wouldn't be recognized, and expects us to believe those are witches or wiccans?"

  "That whole thing was staged—come on, three camera angles? Please. You know some will believe this tripe, though, no matter what. Already the conspiracy websites are blowing up with this mess, and threats against anybody claiming that religion are pouring in. The only reality in that video is that demons rose and women died."

  "Then it's only a matter of time before the fake trials and—the rest of the madness begin?"

  "That's what Claudio says. By the way, the other Scholars are scheduled to arrive tonight. We can change the venue if you don't want them here."

  "No. We'll stand with Ari and Nico, no matter what. We're trying to work out how to get Esther and her guards together, so she can do a press conference and try to put the truth in front of the public, rather than this fucked up business."

  Del shut his laptop and shook his head. "That horse is out of the barn and far ahead of us. All we can do is try to appeal to anyone who still has any sense left."

  "Del," Mona rushed into Val's study without knocking. "The Governor and Lieutenant Governor were just attacked at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. They and half the crowd at the event are dead—more demons attacked in broad daylight."

  "Fuck," Del swore and flipped his laptop open again.

  "Guess who's next in line to take the Governor's place?" Lance arrived with Senator Johnson right behind him.

  "Who's that?" Del asked while he tapped keys on his laptop.

  "It's that peckerhead, Darnell Cheatham," Esther sniffed.

  "Senator Cheatham, you have to get here right away," Gerri Dean, his Chief of Staff, sounded flustered over the phone. "The Governor and Lieutenant Governor died this morning. I'm afraid you have to come in and take over, then reassure the public."

  "Set up a press conference," Darnell stood and lifted his suit coat from the back of his desk chair. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

  Darnell smiled at Benny Killebrew and Belhar, who stood on the other side of his desk, listening to the call on speaker.

  "Oh, oh," Gerri sounded more flustered than before.
"Willow says the President is on another line, asking to speak with you."

  "What does he want?" Cheatham asked.

  "He ah, said he supports the ah, cause," Gerri didn't sound comfortable. "When we asked him what that was, he said he only wanted to speak with you."

  "Give him this number. I'll be waiting for his call," Darnell said, trying to keep the smile out of his voice. "Terrible tragedy—send my condolences to the Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's families."

  "I will, and I'll have Willow tell the President how to reach you."

  "You do that." Darnell hung up.

  "Well, well, looks like we're sittin' in tall cotton," Darnell chuckled. Killebrew nodded; Belhar wore a thoughtful expression as a fire kindled in his eyes.

  "I don't trust any of this," Nico said. He, Ari and Mac had found a shaded spot around the pool and settled there to have a private conversation. "Esther said she was invited to the ribbon cutting, too, and after she was attacked, she didn't show up."

  "I don't know what they were thinking, both showing up at the same event," Ari shook her head.

  "The Adversary was likely doing the thinking in this. I'm suspicious of this man—the one taking the Governor's seat," Mac said.

  "Same here," Nico agreed. "It disturbs me that the serpent we saw at the meeting gave him a wide berth, as if deliberately avoiding the man."

  "We need Lance, Mona, Del and Laronda to do some digging on this guy. If he's sneezed wrong in the past few days, I want to know about it," Ari growled. "He's setting up a press conference, and that's going to overshadow Esther's announcement. She'll have to reschedule, and that will only place more innocent people in danger. The crazies will start hunting anybody they suspect of being a witch, wiccan, werewolf, gay or anybody else they plain don't like, and people will die."

  "If the Adversary has Cheatham in his clutches," Mac sighed.

  Ari lifted her head when the back door opened and Janie and Esther emerged. "They want to talk to us," Nico observed.

  "I'll have to reschedule my announcement," Esther said as she and Janie joined the conversation. "All the networks will be covering the Governor's death and Cheatham's rise to power. Plus, they'll show the video of the crowd being attacked and half of them being eaten by those—vermin."

  "It's on the national news, too," Janie said. "The President has called Governors in the surrounding states to put their National Guard on alert in case this becomes a bigger problem than Texas can handle."

  "How are the National Guard going to help with this problem?" Mac asked. "Those Capitol Guards didn't stand a chance last night against what attacked them. Have you noticed that the local news has skirted that issue? Nobody's saying anything about how those demons were killed."

  "Not that it's a bad thing," Ari frowned at him. "At least I got us out of there before anybody could ask questions."

  "I hope Del and his Department were able to gloss over the Senator's guests," Nico said. "We don't need to be on their radar just yet."

  "I didn't tell anyone who I was seeing—I only told Niall to reschedule that appointment, and then later to reschedule all of them for the day. And then Del told me that they found a cell phone near his body. It was crushed, but they're trying to get information from it anyway. There may be a record of him trying to call for help. You have to admit that the guards were very slow to arrive. It makes me wonder whose side they're on."

  "Something to look at, certainly," Mac told her. "Frankly, anyone there at the time should be under scrutiny. Ari tells me that only the guards showed up, but isn't it highly unusual that nobody else would be in the building?"

  "I think there were probably many there," Esther agreed. "Half the inhabitants probably have a firearm within reach, too. Why wouldn't they come to help?" Her last question was posed to herself mostly, but it was something that Ari, Mac and Nico had already discussed.

  "Interference, perhaps—from the one or ones directing the demons?" Nico mused.

  "You think they muted the sound—or managed to make the others ignore it?" Ari's forehead furrowed in concentration as she considered Nico's suggestion. "Can we do that?"

  "Is it a good idea to do that?" Mac asked.

  "We could sneak up on somebody, maybe?" Janie offered.

  "We'll need to know where they are to sneak up on them," Nico pointed out.

  "True enough," Janie said. "Mac, do you have any suggestions for entertaining a bunch of vampire visitors? I can't offer them cookies and lemonade."

  "They're coming tonight—I forgot about that," Ari sighed.

  "I hope they don't try to replace Claudio—he's the one who should be here," Nico said. "If our opinion matters to the Scholarium, they should leave unless they're here to help."

  "Senator Johnson, your guards are set up at a safe house in Austin, if you're ready to go," Del said. He and Laronda walked toward the patio to inform Esther of her arrangements.

  "Will I be safe enough?" she asked, rising from her chair.

  "As safe as anybody can be right now," Laronda said. "Ari, we'll have to impose on you to get us there."

  "No problem—where are we going?" Ari asked.

  Del rattled off an address in an upscale Austin suburb. "It's armored in brick and steel, with bullet-proof windows and safe rooms in the basement. There are eight guards in residence already—four wolves and four vampires."

  "Before yesterday, I'd have said you were crazy," Esther said. "Before yesterday, I would never have accepted such guards. Today, I am grateful."

  "I'll come with you," Nico stood with Ari. "I can see this house in my mind. Ari and I will make sure you arrive safely."

  "Her guards are fine," Ari sat on the opposite end of the sofa Mac occupied. "Nico went to the kitchen to get a soda. Del's Department also brought in three tech people to watch the security monitors. They check out, too."

  "You look tired," Mac told her.

  "Says the guy who got shot twice and is still recovering."

  "Recovering is a lot better than dead," Mac raised arms above his head in a careful stretch.

  "I prefer recovering, myself."

  "Ari, I owe you big apologies," Mac dropped his arms and turned toward her.

  "Mac, don't," Ari felt heat rise in her cheeks.

  "Then I'll tell you this. For centuries, I've been the one to make sure the person holding the stone was safe and protected—as much as they'd allow it, anyway. The other day, when I woke and found my raven cuddled beneath your chin, I felt safer and more protected than I ever have. I—am grateful. To you and to Nico."

  "We will fight for you, just as you will fight for us," Ari shrugged and turned away. "We feel you're part of our family, now, as strange as that may sound."

  "I haven't had family since I was young and that's a long, long time ago. I ah, feel you and Nico are my family, too. My protection in the past was always part of a curse—something I was compelled to do. This—Ari, I've been freed from that curse. This protection is freely given and my sole purpose from now on."

  Vampires are here, Nico informed Ari and Mac.

  We'll be right down. Wait for us to go with you for introductions, Mac instructed.

  I'm in the kitchen.

  "Ready?" Mac asked Ari.

  "Yeah. Let's go see how things are going to shake out."

  Renault positioned himself beside Alejandro as Claudio prepared to welcome the vampire Scholars at the front door.

  "Claudio," First Scholar, dressed in a fine, black silk suit with black shirt and tie, acknowledged the Seventh as he entered the house. Five more Scholars followed him, Claudio dipping his head in respect as each one passed. Renault studied each Scholar in turn before Alejandro offered to lead them into the formal living area.

  The one who gazed longest at Renault was Second Scholar. Renault had worked with him before, and he'd held the Scholar in high regard but that could change. Renault stopped himself from breathing a sigh as the last of the Scholars passed him and strode into the room designate
d for their meeting.

  Outside, each Scholar's guards had positioned themselves to protect the house while their charges were inside. Depending upon which way the wind might blow, Renault knew that the guards would eventually realize that Val's werewolf ranch hands also watched the house—and its visitors.

  We're on our way, Ari informed him. Val and Janie are with us. Del and the others are still in the kitchen; they'll only come out if asked.

  Thank you. The Scholars are quite curious—their scent betrays it, Renault replied.

  Then we'll try to satisfy their curiosity without argument or bloodshed.

  In the past, they have always remained strict but reasonable.

  Then we'll see if that has changed.

  Claudio wished he had the telepathic ability that Renault had been granted. If it were so, he would beg Ari and Renault to watch carefully if First Scholar sought to delve into his experiences using Insight, rather than asking questions.

  He'd been through Insight before—many times—and was never concerned about surviving it. It was the standard way for Scholars to see the truth, rather than getting it any other way.

  This time was different. Few creatures walking the Earth, vampires included, were above jealousy. The only thing that stood between him and his potential demise was the lack of the imprint on his palm and the gifts it conferred.

  Renault held that honor; he doubted that Ari would allow anyone to perform Insight on someone she and Nico had chosen to bear the imprint.

  "The Custodian is on his way, with the Raven Knight and the Protector," Renault announced. "They are accompanied by the werewolves who own this ranch."

  Claudio watched First carefully as he digested Renault's information. Would he refuse to see Val and Janie? That would be a direct insult to their hospitality.

  "They informed you of this—with telepathy?" First asked.