by Gina LaManna
I thought of Juno, of Farmer Marcell and Headless Thomas and the probable slew of other inadvertent Herbal dealers—all with varying degrees of knowledge as to their part in it. “He might not have been,” I agreed, “but we’ll know soon enough.”
“That is so unfair,” Kady said with a frown. “All of these poor people distributing a curse—and they don’t even know it! I would feel so awful.”
“I know,” I said on a sigh. “I lost my basil supplier because of it.”
“He’s involved in this mess?”
“I think so,” I sighed. “I don’t know for certain, but I can’t take any risks.” I was mid-shrug when an idea struck me. “Say—you mentioned you like to garden, right? Got any basil or veggies by chance?”
“Oh, more than I could ever eat, but Dani—”
“Let’s talk once you’re feeling better.” I reached out and squeezed Kady’s shoulder. “Maybe we can work out an arrangement.”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that. Look at me.” She gestured to herself. “I love to garden, but my health...”
However, even as she spoke, I caught a gleam in her eye. “Just focus on getting better for the moment,” I said. “We’ll talk later. I’m sorry to cut the visit short, but I have to get back to work.”
“Of course, sweetie.” Kady reached for my wrist and pulled me close, brushing a kiss against my cheek. “Thanks for everything.”
I left Ms. Bloomer’s room feeling peppier than when I’d gone in. I pointed my feet in the direction of Renee Lupis and marched down the hall for my next visit. I must have still had a smile on my face from spending time with Kady because the second I entered Renee’s room, she crossed her arms and frowned.
“What’s so funny, Detective?” she asked. “It’s about time you got here.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping the grin from my face. “I popped in earlier, but you were sleeping. How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” she said with a sniff, but in true Renee form, I could tell she’d already forgiven me. “Do they have lattes here? I’m going to puke on that nurse’s shoes if she tries to feed me Jell-O one more time. I swear it—I will scratch her eyes out.”
“Calm down with the threats, Renee,” I said. “And tell me what landed you in the hospital.”
It was as if someone had pulled a curtain over her face, a white sheet that scrubbed the rest of her emotions away. “I-it happened again.”
“What happened again?”
“Necromancy magic,” she murmured, looking around her with paranoid, darting glances. “I was getting ready to take a nap when it happened. See, I was up all last night. Sanders and I were out celebrating some business accomplishment or what have you—I don’t even remember what for—and I got almost no sleep.”
“Was your husband with you the entire time?”
“Oh, he left the party at midnight to come home and rest. He had another big case in the morning, but I found three of my old girlfriends out and about, and we drank mimosas until the bar closed, then went to a diner and had some breakfast. It was a rollicking good time.”
“What time did you come home? And was your husband still asleep?”
“No, he was up. It was seven o’clock in the morning for God’s sake!” She tittered with laughter. “We smooched, fell in bed and had...” She glanced around, shifty eyed. “Is this a formal interview? What is the formal police-lingo for sex? Should I call it intercourse?”
“Whatever you want is fine,” I said. “So, you were intimate together, and then what happened?”
“Oh, intimate together—that sounds very fancy. I’m going to adopt that phrase. Usually I just ask if he wants to—you know, never mind.” Renee cleared her throat. “He took a quick shower and was off to the office. I had a nice lounge in the bath and then my eyes started to close, so I figured it was time for a nap. I climbed out of the tub and popped a few sleeping pills. I planned to wake up by the time my husband got back from work and pretend I cooked dinner.”
I sat in the seat next to her bed. “But something went wrong.”
“As I was falling asleep, it happened again. He was there—my ex-husband. Floating above me, about to smother me. Oh, it was horrible. I couldn’t stop puking, and eventually I passed out. It was like my entire body was revolted at the sight of him.”
I closed my eyes and pictured the scene. “He was floating above you?”
“Yes, all hover-y above the bed. It was disgusting. I told you he had a mashed face, didn’t I?”
“Yep, you mentioned that,” I said, feeling my gut churn. It really was no wonder she’d puked. “I believe you’ve answered your own question, though. Necromancers don’t have the ability to make dead bodies levitate; they can only reanimate them in basic ways.”
“Right, but he was there, floating above me. Maybe there were two necromancers working together? Or a necromancer and a wizard. That must be it!”
“Also unlikely. Necromancers aren’t fond of working together.” I thought of Sienna and shuddered. “They are very much lone creatures. I think we might be dealing with some sort of hallucination.”
“Don’t be silly! I drink to have fun, not to get drunk. And I don’t do drugs.” She waved a perfectly manicured hand before her face. “Mimosas are far more sophisticated than SpellHash, don’t you think?”
“They’re also far more legal,” I reminded her. “Which is the part I care about.”
“Right, right. Of course...Detective,” she said the last word with a playful lisp. “Anyway, I’ve never hallucinated in my life. I can’t imagine that I just started now.”
“Let me go back a step,” I said, a realization dawning on me in a very big way. “You took sleeping pills.”
“Yes. Usually I take them before bed. It’s a pretty regular thing.”
“These aren’t herbal supplements, are they?”
“Of course they are,” she said curiously. “How did you know? I don’t need prescription medicine, just a little nudge toward dreamland.”
I exhaled loudly. “Where do you buy them?”
“Well, my friend Mary Sue started getting them from her doctor.”
“Dr. Johnston?”
“Okay, this is just eerie,” Renee said with a side-eyed stare. “Yes. He’s the hottest doctor specializing in herbal remedies these days.”
“Hold on a second, will you?” I stepped into the hallway and pulled up Felix on my Comm. When he answered, I spoke quickly. “Renee Lupis, wife to the famous lawyer. Lives in the Golden District—pull her address and get a team over there. I think her sleeping pills are laced with Harmony, and we’re getting weird hallucination side effects.”
“Sweet,” Felix said. “Are you going to bribe me for a fast turnaround, Detective?”
“Sure, how’s this for a bribe,” I said. “I won’t stick my foot up your ass if you can get me the results by tonight.”
Felix coughed. “I think I prefer the vampire.”
“While you’re at it,” I said. “There’s an open case Lucia Livingston was working on with a second report of necromancy magic. Get the team to swing over to the vic and question her as well—make sure to confiscate any supplements she’s taking. I guarantee there’s a diet pill or an herbal sleep aide giving her the same side effects.”
“You got it, boss.”
“And let’s start thinking about how we get the word out about this,” I said. “I think we have to rope in the chief now. If we start getting more and more complaints about necromancy magic, the NYPD is going to have a revolt on their hands, and it won’t be pretty.”
“I’ll get my preliminary report to the chief just as soon as I get my hands on those supplements,” he said. “I can’t do much with one sample, but three—that’s proof, baby.”
“Thanks sweetie,” I joked. “Bye.”
“Sweetie,” the deep voice said from behind me. “Someone in your life I should know about?”
I spun around to find Matthew standing behind me. “N
ope.”
I returned to Renee’s room to find her curiously staring at the newcomer. When she realized that it was Captain King standing there, she clapped her hands.
“Ohmigosh! Am I important enough for the vamp?” She grinned, looking stunning. “God, wait until I tell my friends about this. Super incredible. And congrats, Detective, he’s sexy.”
“And the Captain King Club gets another member,” I muttered under my breath for only Matthew to hear. “You’re going to need a monthly newsletter.”
He gave a quiet laugh, covered it with a cough. “Jealousy, Detective,” Matthew murmured, sweeping past me to Renee’s side. “Not a good look on you.”
“Shove it,” I muttered, as he leaned over the edge of the bed and shook Renee’s hand.
There was a small subset of women—okay, a large subset—that had deemed Matthew to be the most eligible bachelor in the borough. He was tall, dark, mysterious, and all of that romantic crap. He was heroic and legendary among Wicked locals. He had fangirls. It was disgusting.
“We’re very sorry for what’s happened to you,” Matthew said to Renee. Thanks to his supersonic hearing, I was sure he’d heard enough of my conversation with Felix to understand what was happening. “We believe you’re a victim of laced Herbals, and they are what have caused your hallucinations.”
“We’re sending a team to your house right now to check things out,” I said. “I know this is a lot to take in, and we’ll explain more later and answer all of your questions. For now, I think you need rest.”
Matthew stood, looking dashing and stunning and glorious in his suit. As his ex-girlfriend, I supposed I had to count myself as a former King Club fan member. I mean, I’d just fallen into bed with the guy. I was hardly one to talk. I’d have signed up for that newsletter once upon a time.
Yet it was so unfair. He didn’t need to sleep, he didn’t need to breathe. His skin was virtually indestructible, and he could cover a distance of miles in minutes. He was beautiful in a dark, intimidating way, and it was really no wonder women found him attractive. Meanwhile, I had a pair of cool leather pants going for me and a decent metabolism. I sulked and grumbled over it as Matthew and I bid goodbye to Renee.
“I assume you’re frustrated with me,” Matthew said, once we’d cleared the hospital and stepped outside. “Care to tell me why?”
“Nope.”
“Shall we head toward the doctor, then?”
“Shut up.”
Matthew gave a wry grin. “I enjoy your company too, Detective.”
Chapter 19
Something is on Danielle’s mind, Matthew thought as they crossed the borough to Dr. Johnston’s office. Matthew wondered who—or what—had gotten to her. It could be one of any number of things, seeing as she was elbow-deep into a case that was threatening to stump them both.
Despite the bumpy road, Matthew suspected they were getting close. He knew Dani could feel it too—that building, burning, straining sensation, like pushing a boulder up a hill, knowing the worst was still to come. Eventually, Matthew hoped, they’d reach the peak.
Matthew was convinced their trip to the doctor could give them the information they needed to wrap up the case. He could urge Dr. Johnston to squeal on whoever was feeding him laced Herbals to deliver to his patients. It was the doctor’s only hope of getting out of this mess unscathed—and Matthew planned to lean on him hard.
“What’s bothering you?” Matthew tried again as he and Dani neared the offices of the crooked doctor. “You’re obviously upset, though you’re not telling me why. I’d like to fix things if I can.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Dani snapped. “That’s the problem.”
“What should I have done?”
“Nothing.”
Dani stomped on ahead as Matthew racked his brain for things he might have done or said—or things he hadn’t done or said. Had it been the crack about Grey? Matthew tightened his lips over the set of fangs threatening to descend at the very name of the wolf. At the end of their last case, Grey had promised he wouldn’t intrude—that he wasn’t ready to move on after the death of his girlfriend.
Matthew had believed him, but now he was wondering if he’d been played a fool. Seemed Grey had found his way around the detective a fair amount this week, despite his promise to stay away. It irked Matthew—he’d had grudging respect for the wolf, but it was slipping like sand through his fingers.
“Is it the case?” Matthew asked. “Or something personal? Did Grey say something to you?”
Dani flashed a furious gaze toward him. Matthew knew he’d overstepped.
“Grey is doing nothing but trying to help,” Dani said. “And jealousy is not a good look on you, Captain. Can’t we just handle this interview and move on with our lives?”
“Not if it’s affecting your work.” Matthew drew himself to a stop. “Detective, what’s going on here?”
“There is nothing going on,” Dani said. “That is exactly my point. Nothing at all.”
“Then why are you acting like this?”
“Because you’re prying into my personal life, and you have no business doing so. We’re not dating, Matthew. You don’t have a right to control who I talk to or don’t talk to.”
“Even if we were dating I wouldn’t have a right to control you,” he said sharply. “And I’m not sure why you think that I would—we’ve always been partners, Dani. Partners—a team.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t feel much like a team when it’s one person making all the decisions without consulting the other.”
Dani turned on a heel and stormed up the front lawn of the doctor’s office. The receptionist waited in front, cleaning her nails with a letter opener. Lisa gave a bored yawn as the detective approached.
Matthew had no choice but to follow, confusion and all. He let Dani handle the whole badge-exchange-request to see the doctor, since it appeared the two women already disliked each other.
Meanwhile, he hung back wondering what sort of decision he’d made without consulting Dani first. He couldn’t remember anything in the recent past. They’d only been together last night. How had something gone belly up in the past twelve hours without Matthew knowing it?
“Come on,” Dani said swiftly, gesturing for Matthew to follow her back to the offices. “He’s got a patient, but we’re barging in anyway.”
Dani lifted her fist to knock on the door, but Matthew moved faster. He closed his hand over hers and pulled it down. “You can’t go in there like this. You’re furious—you’re too emotional.”
“Yes, I’m furious! People are dying and injured and disappearing. I have a friend’s mother in the hospital because her pain pills were laced with a curse. I have an elf who thinks a necromancer is messing with her because her sleeping pills were laced with the same curse. Three bodies are gone from the morgue. We have to find The Farmacist—whether it’s Sienna or not. Sorry, but I’m going in.”
“Sienna is not involved, and you know it,” Matthew said. “What’s gotten into you? You’re doubting everyone, you’re upset with me and won’t explain why, and your eyes are turning violet.”
Dani took a breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled it slowly. Then she flashed her eyelids back open and stared at Matthew. “How are they now?”
Matthew lost whatever breath he’d inhaled as he met her gaze. Her eyes had turned a steely shade of purple, dark and murky and cloudy. He’d seen a similar look the night before, but a pure and undiluted one—a violet wash of passion and lust instead of anger and rage.
“What is making you this way?” Matthew asked gently. “Why are you so upset?”
“Matthew, listen.” Dani reached a hand out and rested it against his chest, pushing him a step back. “I’m going to take the job.”
Matthew took two more steps back. “What job?”
“The chief talked to me this morning. He asked me to return to the force full time,” she said icily. “He mentioned that he ran it by you first, and you said it wou
ldn’t be a problem because there’s nothing between us.”
“Danielle—” Matthew’s heart sank as realization hit him. This was all wrong. The timing couldn’t have been worse. When he’d assured the chief there wasn’t hope for something between himself and Danielle...it had been before they’d spent the night together. “No, it wasn’t like that. When he asked—”
“It doesn’t matter.” Dani cleared her throat. “I want the job, and it is a brilliant opportunity. Since it will make no difference to you one way or another, I’d prefer to keep things business-only between us moving forward. It is the only way that we’ll be able to work together.”
“No, Danielle—I didn’t mean that. When the chief asked about us—”
She raised a hand, the violet finally fading from her eyes as the anger left and a sense of contentment seemed to settle over her. That was the worst of it—Matthew could see she had already come to terms with her decision. Matthew wouldn’t get the chance to right his wrong. How could he now, when she had so clearly made up her mind? For him to confess his feelings to her and take away the opportunity she so desperately wanted would be pure selfishness.
If he loved her—which he truly did—he should want to see her happy. To support her in her dreams and desires, whatever they may be. If that meant she took the position with the NYPD, then so be it. If that meant she chose Grey over him...
Matthew snarled internally at the thought, but he still knew there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t buy her love, nor could he convince her of it. For them to be together, Dani would need to offer herself freely to him. She needed to want him even a fraction as much as he wanted her because anything less was unfair to them both.
“It’s the right choice for me,” she said softly. “Which means you’ll be my captain and that means we cannot do this, Matthew. The chief said he asked you first and you were fine with it.”
“It’s your choice,” Matthew said flatly. “It’s not one I can make for you.”
“Fine,” she said, and leaned against the doorknob as her face contorted in a flash of something that resembled pain. “If that’s what you believe—”
