by A. L. Tyler
He made a good show of trying to believe me. “Come on. I’ve got more healing potions back in the room, and you’re going to need to wash and sleep—”
“No,” I said firmly. “This all started when Axel changed his will, and he didn’t tell anyone. He said he had no idea how Amos found out he’d been added. But when we were outside the Vault, Cal said that Axel mentioned adding someone to him. Axel didn’t tell Cal. Not when he knows Cal talks to Amos, however rarely. That change was a secret, and the only other person who knew was Rogers. Rogers was the only person who had the means and opportunity to hex Axel and Shaina.”
Nick stared at me patiently. “But you said Cal tried to kill you.”
I pursed my lips and exhaled hard through my nose. “Go with me on this for a minute. You know him. Does Rogers love this island, and everything he helped build here, more than anything in the world? More than Shaina?”
Nick didn’t bat an eye. “Yes. He devoted his life to it. Yes.”
I nodded. I really wanted that shower, but if I was right, our night was far from done. “So, Axel wanted to change his will in secret. If he was adding Amos, then he already had someone on there, and I’m betting it was Skyla. She’s virtually a carbon copy of his business sense, and she’s a sharp caster. She could have stepped in, and not much would have changed here. But then he goes to add Amos, who would probably squander or donate every last cent. Suddenly someone slips Axel marijuana, which he’s conveniently already testing for.”
Nick mulled it over. “Go on.”
“I think Rogers went to Sergio. He told him about Skyla and promised he could put his daughter in charge of the Vault in exchange for help disposing of the other heirs. Sergio would have his fingers in Vault C, Rogers’ legacy here would continue, and he would have been free to pursue Shaina without Axel’s disapproval. So they decided on a trigger for the hex, Sergio bottled it, and they slipped in something extra so they knew when Axel was primed. All Rogers had to do was wait until Axel freaked out about marijuana in his pee to be sure he was ready.”
“Why Molly and Shaina? If Shaina was part of his motive, he wouldn’t have killed her.”
I raised my hands to wipe some sweat from my brow, but immediately dropped them again at the sight of the blood. I started walking, step by step, to keep my mind focused.
“Molly wasn’t part of the deal,” I said. “Shaina knew Axel was going to die. Rogers probably convinced her he was losing his mind in his old age, squandering everything he’d built by handing it over to an inept and ungrateful son. They were doing him a mercy. But when Molly died, it wasn’t part of the plan. Shaina panicked. She was genuinely afraid of a murderer in the house, and she was going to tell us to help the investigation. Rogers had to cut her loose to protect himself and everything he’d worked for.”
Nick’s brow knit together. He took a slow breath, shaking his head. “And Molly?”
“Molly was an accident. Cal’s a freelance murderer, remember? He came here to collect the proof of death on Axel, and he decided to hit two birds with one stone by picking up a side job. Me. We all drank the wine, but he poured me a drink before dinner. I didn’t drink it, but Molly did, and the other half of the recipe for the poison was in it. The ingredients for bleeding stone are inert until they’re mixed, and I knew that wine tasted off. He put half of it in the wine and half in my drink. That’s why the wine killed Molly and did nothing to the rest of us.”
He stopped and turned to me, little creases around his eyes and still looking doubtful.
“So why not hit Amos at the same time?” he asked. “You don’t put your victims on warning if you’re planning to kill them.”
“I’m betting Rogers never finalized the changes to the will,” I said. “Shaina liked Amos, and she didn’t have the stomach for killing needlessly. Rogers was planning to go along and pretend Axel denied his son to the end. But then he found out that we knew about Skyla, and had suspicions about the will, and we could have contested his position about Amos being in the will. That meant Amos had to go. It probably means Georgina is in danger now, too, because she’s carrying another natural heir. Shaina kept saying it was in the wine. She knew that was how they got Axel. I don’t know if he’s really Cal or not, but if he is, he’s a biologist and probably knows about the moonstones, and if he’s not, he works for Sergio and he’s a natural wolf. Either way, he could have slipped out to collect that head and hide it on his boat. The asshole was probably planning to fake his death by running outside after killing me and then make his escape. Eaten body, sunken boat, perfect crime. Rogers even tried to implicate Cal when I started getting close on the hex, probably trying to save himself. Cal and Rogers are in this together. And Cal is after me.”
Nick crossed his arms and nodded. “And Skyla doesn’t know?”
I almost laughed. “No. No way. She wouldn’t pass the interrogation about Axel’s death if she knew.”
Nick blinked. His hand instinctively reached for the gun in his shoulder holster. “We need to find Cal.”
He took off, and I ran after him. Our path took us by the library doors, and unfortunately, they weren’t faring well. Without the subtle nuance of the exterior protections, the wards Cal had set up to keep the doors closed were fraying and falling flat.
“Nick!” Those wards weren’t going to hold. He came back, lip curling in frustration at the time I was wasting keeping us alive.
I did what I could with what I had, but my anxiety and the several days since my last visit to my mana burn specialist weren’t working in my favor. I played with the remaining notes until the song wove itself back together.
“How long?” Nick’s eyes were tired. We had too many plates spinning now.
I eyed the doors warily. “Half an hour. Tops.”
“What else can we do?”
I brought a hand to my forehead, this time not giving a damn about the rotting flesh. “I don’t know.”
“Think.”
I turned away and shook out my palms. “I don’t... Okay. Okay. It’s easier to keep things out than to trap them in. The wards will last longer if we can get everyone in one room, and then focus on keeping the wolves shut out of it—” No. No, I was over-thinking this. The light bulb flicked on in my head, and I hoped to the gods I hadn’t just spent my last inspiration for the day. “The Vault. It tried to warn me earlier—do not give me that look—when I tried to go in with Cal. It tried to keep us separated. If I go in before him, it will keep him out. The wolves, too.”
He gave a curt nod and took off again. “Good, Driftwood.”
I chased after him. “You had your hand up my shirt half an hour ago. If you refer to me as Driftwood while we’re alone one more time—”
“I’ll kiss you when you’re not covered in dead guy,” he called back at me. “Until then, we’re just colleagues.”
Fair enough.
Cal’s room was empty. There was water by the window.
“That’s fucking fantastic,” Nick mumbled under his breath. “What’s your guess? Natural wolf or moonstone?”
“Does it matter?”
“Drinks on me if you win.” He was already out the door and checking his gun.
“Not a bet I want to lose to a vampire.”
He didn’t bother to take down his wards before kicking Rogers’ door in. I cupped my ears against the blaring sound of violated magic while Nick hauled his former friend out by the shirt.
“I know you killed him,” Nick said, stony-faced. “There are wolves loose in the mansion, Cal is loose on the grounds, and I no longer have time for your bullshit. Keep your mouth shut, or I will shoot you.”
Rogers knew that the gig was up. He didn’t try to deny anything.
When we got to the room that Skyla and Amos shared, she shot up from the bed while he stared listlessly, eyes dark. I ran to Amos, hearing the lingering threads of a fresh hex.
Shit. “How long has he been like this?”
“I tried you over the phone!
” Skyla gestured to the cell that Nick had left for safety reasons. “You didn’t answer... What the hell do you smell like?”
I glared at her. “Long story.”
My spell work in the library had undone the totem, and the new hex hadn’t taken, but Amos was worse for the wear. I tried to silence the final notes to a background conversation we didn’t have time for.
“Why are you holding a gun on Rogers?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Rogers did this?”
“Not exactly.”
“Did he kill my mother?”
“Jette,” Nick called. “Hurry the hell up.”
“When using that tone, you may address me as Agent Driftwood,” I called back. With Amos un-hexed, I helped him stand up before heading for the door.
The sound of clawing feet and smashing vases met me from the far end of the long hall outside the door, and I knew I’d overestimated my wards.
We didn’t have thirty minutes. We didn’t have thirty seconds.
They were loose.
Chapter 24
“Everyone out!” Nick hissed.
We cleared the room before any wolves arrived, and suffered the weirdest of apologies from Rogers as we tried to tiptoe on.
“I’m truly sorry for the trouble. I didn’t know he was here to kill people. It was only supposed to be Axel—”
“Rogers, shut up,” Skyla whispered.
“Where is Cal?” Amos asked. “Aren’t we going to get him, too?”
“Cal is missing,” I said through gritted teeth. “Have you ever actually seen your uncle before now?”
Amos gave me a long look. His hair was particularly disheveled after his ordeal, and he looked like a madman.
“Meaning,” I clarified. “Would you know if he was secretly replaced by some spy sent here to kill someone?”
Amos’ jaw fell open. I had to grab him by the arm to keep him moving as we turned another corner, feet treading lightly across burgundy-colored carpets and past thousands of years of priceless relics.
“I mean, I saw pictures as a child, and I talked to him once or twice a year over the phone—”
“So, that’s a ‘no’.” I nodded, fighting the urge to lick my lips because human decay was everywhere on me, and any resulting strange taste might cause me to stop and vomit myself into an early grave. “The only people here who could have verified Cal’s identity were Axel and Rogers, and Cal made sure to arrive after Axel’s death. Nick, I’m going to say natural wolf. He probably has an instinctual edge with the locals, too.”
Nick kept the party moving. We descended a narrow spiral staircase. Standing at the bottom between a cold stone wall and the marvelously crafted wrought-iron rail, Nick raised a hand to stop us.
I closed my eyes, the bile rising inside me. I could hear it. The scratching of mice in the walls.
The wolves had already beaten us to the door.
When I looked back at Nick, his expression was relaxed and patient, but I could see the panic hiding just behind his mask of professionalism. Running would draw the wolves. Shooting would draw the wolves.
I dialed back into the part of me that loved to over-analyze and kept my voice barely a whisper. “We need a room with windows. When daylight breaks these wolves are going to shelter inside, and if we don’t have an escape we’re going to be there a while. And water—we’ll need water, in case we are there a while.”
“Food,” Skyla whispered, staring at us as she started to chew a nail.
Nick nodded, gesturing us to start back up the stairs. He mouthed the words, “The kitchen.”
I grabbed his sleeve as he passed me to take the lead. “How many bullets do you have left on you?”
“Six,” Nick said. He glanced over at Skyla and Amos before looking at me frankly. “Unless we have time to go back to our room.”
“No,” I said automatically. “If you use any super-human trick to try, they will sense it.”
“And that asshole probably has guns hidden everywhere. He’s had hours to wander alone.”
“Give me your gun and find another,” I said darkly. “I’m going after him.”
Nick kept his gun pointed at Rogers. “No and no. We’re staying together.”
Later, I told myself. Get them to the kitchen first. Seal the kitchen.
The plan had been to use me to keep Cal out of the Vault. Now I was the only thing that Cal wanted, and I wasn’t going to be the reason he tried to get in.
But it was more than that, because Skyla and Amos were terrified. Even Nick was terrified. I was the reason this had happened.
He couldn’t get away. Someone on my former crew had hired a hit man. I wanted to know who. And I didn’t want to worry about seeing Cal hiding behind me with a butcher knife every time I wiped humidity from the shower off my bathroom mirror back home.
This ended here.
We made it to the kitchen, and specifically, to the kitchen pantry. The kitchen had windows along one wall that would make it bright enough to deter the wolves during the day. It was a small room, but generous for a pantry, and there was food and stockpiled bottled water.
One door to ward and worry about. No escapes if it failed.
When Nick’s phone rang, I half expected it to be Marge demanding pool shots.
“Hello?” His eyes glazed over before darting to me. He looked at the wall, turning his face away. “That won’t be happening.”
I resisted the urge to rip the phone out of his hand. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Don’t call back.” He hung up and carried on without another word.
My phone buzzed on my hip, and I barely beat Nick to my pocket. The only thing that stopped him was Rogers, who was still in need of restraints.
I glared into his face in defiance. If he wanted to take my phone, he could have.
“Don’t answer it,” he said in a deadly low tone.
I swallowed. His eyes burned with intensity and the pressure of his hand next to mine on the phone made me nervous. He could crush it. I knew he wanted to.
“This ends here.” Slowly, I drew it from my pocket and away from him.
Cal was using the safety phone we’d left with Skyla. That was how he had our numbers.
“Hello?” I set to work on the warding spells to try and keep my head cool.
“Ms. Driftwood,” Cal’s accent was as calm and charming as ever. “I’m not sure how you managed to escape the library, but I’m not leaving without you. I’ve got a hall pass and nothing but time.”
“Who sent you?” It was the only thing I wanted to know. “Marcus? Seems like the kind of monotony he would hire out. Tim?”
“Ms. Driftwood...”
“Daria?”
“There’s five hours until dawn and a chance for more storms going into tomorrow. I want you to know that while this isn’t personal, I was paid to kill you, and not to protect anyone else. Not even Skyla, my dear. That ship sailed after Sergio found out. He would like to see her in Axel’s old vocation, but it’s all the same if Axel’s whole line dies for this humiliation. Six one way, half a dozen the other.” His tone turned cold. I would have described it as business-like, but the visceral growl at the end was too primal. “I will find you, and when I do, I’m going to rip the wards wide open.”
“That won’t be happening. We’re in the Vault.”
He laughed low. “I think I’d know if you were, because that’s where I am.”
Shit. The only thing I hated more than a paid gun was a smart paid gun.
“You can try to break our wards,” I said. “But it’s me we’re talking about, so good luck.”
“Mr. Warren’s hardly gave me any trouble, and now I have a whole arsenal of tools to choose from,” he said in an acid tone. “Are you willing to bet the lives of everyone in the room with you?”
That gave me pause. My wards against the average criminal meant I would win almost every time. My wards against some of the things stored in the mansion..
. Well, that would be like drywall competing with a wrecking ball.
I turned to look at Nick, and then quickly away.
Amos and Skyla were huddled in a corner together, the last vestiges of a very broken family. Both of them just wanted to live their lives in peace. They wanted the family that circumstance had never allowed, and just as it came in reach, someone with a grudge against me had to rip it away from them.
This was a bad call. One I had to make because the job came first. We had to minimize our losses.
I had to remove Cal’s motive to break the wards. “The wards will hold. Don’t call again.” I hung up.
After Nick had answered three separate ways that the food was safe, Amos tore into a box of cornflakes while Skyla demanded answers.
“Did Rogers kill my mother?” She enunciated each word.
“We believe Rogers was involved in killing Axel and Shaina,” Nick said, finally calm as I sealed the door to prevent anyone—or anything—from entering. “Agent Driftwood was able to view the remains outside, and it bears hallmarks of a Pack-ordered execution.”
Skyla scoffed. “So now you’re back to my father. This is ridiculous. He didn’t know about me. I didn’t know about me.”
Looking like he hoped he was wrong, Nick set his stance. “Your father has an extensive record. You don’t, and that’s how I know you haven’t been in touch with him. You probably have some fond memories from your childhood, but it’s been years since you’ve spoken, and you understand why. I’m going to ask you something, and I’ll make a promise I rarely make. Whatever the answer is, it will never leave this room. Because we both know that if it happened, and it wasn’t reported, it would be reason enough to put you on some very serious watch lists. Has Sergio Wolff reached out to you recently? Sometime in the last three weeks, perhaps. Wanting to reconnect?”
Her expression changed. She took a step back, reaching behind her until she found Amos’ shoulder. He offered her the footstool he’d been sitting on.
Nick looked knowingly at me.