by Alanea Alder
Brie exhaled in relief. "Thank you."
"Thank Kari. She's the one that color coded this thing. She said my notes read as if an over-sugared kindergartner was rambling off facts to his mom after school."
The woman Rex had introduced as Amelia winced, but nodded. "Everyone has their own strengths," she said soothingly.
The queen turned to her. "Brie, I know I put you on the spot at the processing center, but I really would like for you to take charge of this entire disaster. Your clear-headed suggestions have created the start of processes that will least traumatize my people."
"Your Majesty…"
"You can call me Aleksandra, if you wish. Your mate, Ari, is one of my most dedicated warriors, and I have a feeling you and I will be communicating quite a bit in the weeks to come, and 'Your Majesty' is such a mouthful."
Brie inclined her head. "Thank you. Aleksandra, I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but unless River uncovers something substantial that was overlooked by the killer, there was nothing at the scene to give us a direction to go."
The queen's face fell. "But you said…"
Brie nodded. "I know. I was standing in front of over a hundred grieving family members; that isn't exactly the time or place to admit that we've very little to go on."
"There'll be more," Meryn whispered.
All heads swung to face her as the queen gasped. "A premonition?"
Meryn shook her head. "No, facts. We're missing more than the seventy-eight found in the warehouse in Monroe. I'm willing to bet tomorrow's scones that there are multiple processing warehouses across the country, probably centered on where fae congregated while living outside Éire Danu."
"What can we do?" the queen asked, reaching for her mate's hand.
Meryn lightly tapped her butter knife against the side of her plate distractedly. "Look for large buildings that may be housing kidnapped fae, I guess, but…" the knife stilled. "Something isn't quite right. Like the timing of it. I saw some of the photos that were taken at the scene; they hadn't been dead that long. So why wait? What was the determining factor to kill them? Was it all in one go?"
"Meryn!" Amelia whispered.
Meryn ignored her cousin. "Yeah, that's the first thing we need to determine. How and when they died."
Brie held out her hand, and Meryn passed her tablet down the table. Brie began to skim the notes that were beautifully organized by this Kari individual. If Meryn was focusing on cause of death, there had to be a reason.
Brennus, the queen's consort, changed the subject as the first course was brought out. The squire introduced as Leo took one look at the tablet in her hand and changed her food selection. Instead of soup, she received some of the easier to eat hors d'oeuvres. "Thank you," she whispered. He winked at her and also filled her wine glass. The man was simply amazing.
As everyone engaged in small talk, she continued to read. Every once in a while, she would look up to find that Meryn was watching her intently. It was almost as if she was hoping that Brie would be able to follow her train of thought.
As they were about to transition to the entrée, she read something that stopped her in her tracks. She must have gasped, because the conversations around the table ceased.
Meryn leaned forward. "See anything?"
"Hold on." She pulled out her phone and dialed River.
"Hey, Wilson."
"Hey, can you forward me the crime scene photos that I took?"
"Sure." He paused. "Did you catch something?"
"Not sure yet, I need to see the photos. Also, shift your focus to method and time of death."
"You got it. The photos are on their way. Call me back if you find something concrete," he replied, before disconnecting.
"What photos?" Meryn asked.
"Once we got back from getting Ari patched up, I needed a distraction, so I helped photograph the scene."
Meryn scowled. "I didn't see those."
"River is probably pulling them from the memory card now. We did have a lot going on."
"Patched up?" Rex asked.
She nodded as she scrolled through her phone. "Yeah, I shot him when he shifted into a lion and roared at me, then my dad accidentally neutered him."
Gasps were heard around the table.
"What!" Rex and Jedrek roared in unison.
"My baby!" Catherine, clutched at her chest.
Ari simply growled at her side. Gage, Priest, and Kincaid were laughing their asses off, and her father was sinking in his chair.
She looked up at Ari. "Still think it's funny?"
"Brie, you do not need Ari, become my mate," Gage offered.
Ari hissed at his friend.
"Will someone please tell me what in the hell is going on?" Jedrek demanded.
Ari, looking sheepish, told everyone about his earlier prank. Around the table, everyone began to laugh, including the queen.
She wiped at the corner of her eyes with a napkin. Though she smiled, Brie could tell half her tears were from mirth, the other half grief. "After today's horror, I thought I'd never laugh again, yet here I am, mere hours later, enjoying myself as my children lay cold and dead."
"If everyone stopped laughing because of the loss of a loved one, this world would be no place for the living," her father said softly. "After I lost my Brianna, I felt angry every time I saw someone else smiling, until I realized that because of how I was reacting to others, my own baby girl had stopped smiling altogether. I knew that Brianna would never want us to live like that. In fact, I bet I have an ass beating waiting for me in the hereafter due to how I behaved after her passing."
Brie nodded. "Probably," she agreed as she went through the photos sent to her.
He turned to the queen. "If you give up your joy, then the ones that took your people from you gain another victory."
The queen gave a timorous smile. "We can't have that."
"Now, what'd you find?" Meryn asked.
Brie held up a finger and continued to scroll through the photos. There. That was the one she was looking for. She passed her phone over to Meryn and sat back.
Meryn quickly turned the phone in her hands and looked down at the picture. She scrolled forward a few pictures then back. Brie knew exactly was she was looking for.
The queen looked from her to Meryn then back. "Please tell me you found something."
"I think we found something."
Meryn sat back. "I was right."
"You were right."
"Right about what?" Aiden asked explosively.
"Catherine has only just filled me in on what's been happening in your world, so when Meryn said what she did, it sounded similar to something Catherine had told me." She glanced over at Amelia. "When Amelia was kidnapped, she was also taken to a processing type center. In the report, it said that had Keelan Ashwood not blocked the spell that targeted the unit warriors, they would have been stripped of their souls." She nodded at Meryn, who held up the phone.
"There's threaded holes in the support beams of the warehouse and scrapes on the floor."
Amelia covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "That crystal machine."
Meryn nodded. "Brie and I are only guessing at this point, but I think that the medical examiner will come back with the same time of death for all the fae."
"We go from knowing nothing to having a solid lead, just like that?" Justice asked.
Aiden beamed down at his mate. "My baby is a genius."
Ari rested his arm on the back of her chair and rubbed her back. "As is mine."
Meryn smiled, but her eyes went back to the pictures. "It's just…"
"Meryn, you should have been in law enforcement," Brie said, leaning back against Ari's warm hand.
Meryn scrunched up her nose. "No way." She then looked at Brie. "Do you know what I'm going to say?"
"I have an idea, because it's the one thing bothering me too about our theory."
"On three," Meryn challenged.
"One, two, three…"
"The pile," Brie said.
"The bodies," Meryn replied at the same time. "Well damn."
"What about the bodies?" Law asked.
Kendrick exhaled and leaned back. "Brilliant. Simply, brilliant."
Meryn held out a thumbs up to the man. "Good for you."
He gave her a flat expression. "So glad I can keep up."
Ari squeezed her shoulder, and she looked up into his questioning face. She took a deep breath. "If the killers used a machine to kill them all at once, the bodies should have been more spread out; they would have been found where they had fallen, but they weren't. The killers took a lot of extra time and effort to dehumanize the dead. They were piled in such a way to make a statement, which is more terrifying than the act itself."
"You think that is scarier than killing people?" Amelia asked incredulously.
Both she and Meryn nodded. Brie looked at Amelia. "People die every day. They don't happen often, but mass murders do happen, lately in the form of mass shootings. In those instances, think about what happens to the people. They are shot, and the killer moves on. The killer is usually acting out of rage or a perceived injustice. They shoot, then they keep going. It's tragic, but the dead in a way keep their dignity. These killers didn't stop their terror after their victims had died. Their torment followed these people into death. They were stacked up like things, not people." She paused. "You see, when killers stop seeing people and start seeing objects, true horrors begin."
"I think I kinda miss dealing with ferals," Meryn said softly.
Aiden pulled her into his lap as did most of the men with mates. She looked up at Ari then down to his clenched fist. "I didn't want to assume," he admitted.
Her heart melted a bit. "It's okay to assume this time." She knew he needed this almost as much as she did. The moment he wrapped both arms around her, she sighed and relaxed against him. "You're like my own snuggie blankie,” she whispered. Ari chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Anytime."
"What are our next steps?" Anne asked from Kendrick's lap.
"It's my turn," Meryn said, reaching for a roll. Ryuu stepped forward and handed her one. "I'm going to run the locations of the missing through my database, then look in a twenty-mile radius for hits of possible buildings being used."
Brie turned just enough so she faced the table, but stayed relaxed against Ari. "I'll be working with River to determine cause and time of death and we'll go from there."
"I'll be heading up security of Éire Danu and Ben will be taking point in assigning out Old Guard and warriors to assist in getting the deceased claimed and laid to rest," Aiden said before he leaned forward and took a massive bite out of Meryn's roll. Meryn's shocked expression had Brie giggling.
"Dude!" Meryn protested.
Aiden just smiled as he chewed.
"Thank the gods for you, Meryn," Brennus said quietly, as he smiled.
Ryuu simply handed his charge another roll and sighed heavily when she shoved the entire thing in her mouth so that Aiden couldn't steal any more.
"Meryn," Aiden chided gently.
She smiled wide, showing off a glob of white dough as a smile. Brie stared but her attention was soon diverted to the queen who began to laugh so hard it sounded as though she was having a hard time catching her breath.
"Gods, I love you, Meryn."
"Ruv oo ooo," Meryn mumbled.
Brennus grinned broadly at his mate's laughter. The heaviness of the evening seemed to lift a bit. Brie could hardly believe that the bane of her director's existence was a goofy little nut. "Meryn, do you have a space I can work at tomorrow?"
Meryn swallowed and nodded. "Yup, first thing I did was work with Cord in setting up my Batcave."
"You have an extra station or should I head back for my laptop?"
"It might be easier to get your own laptop. I mean I can totally hack into whatever systems you're privy to, but it'd faster to do it the 'legal' way."
She looked up at Ari. "Can someone take me to the station in Monroe tomorrow? While I'm there, I can meet up with River to see if he found anything."
Darian lifted a hand with a silver ring. "I can take you. I'm going to be working with Cam in getting the deceased's property sorted."
Amelia clapped her hands together. "Okay, enough depressing talk. For the rest of our dinner, only happy topics. I'll go first." She turned to Darian who was sipping his wine. "I'm pregnant, by the way."
Darian spewed wine all over the table. "What! How!"
Amelia tilted her head, a confused expression on her face. "You were there."
He scowled. "I know that." Then her words truly seemed to sink in. "A baby?"
The queen scrambled from Brennus' lap and practically collided with Cord and Oron as they raced over to Darian's chair. The queen hugged her son tightly and Oron nuzzled the top of Amelia's head.
"You should have told us sooner!" the queen cried, as she switched from Darian to Amelia.
Amelia blushed. "It happened recently. I had planned on telling you tomorrow, but other things made it more important to announce tonight."
"Cord! More wine!" Brennus shouted, as he held up empty glasses. Thane, Justice, and Law began conjuring balloons out of nothingness, laughing all the while.
Cord was dashing away tears as he began to pour. "A baby! Finally, a baby!" he sniffled.
Kendrick stood and made his way over to his godsdaughter. He placed a hand on the top of her head then smiled. "Perfectly healthy," he announced. "Good job, crybaby," he said, a sheen to his eyes.
Amelia dabbed at her own eyes. "Mother, Father, and my brothers know. I called them this afternoon." She looked over to Meryn. "They're on their way. Mother wants to watch that orb of Aunt Violet."
Meryn was grinning from ear to ear. "Almost all my family will be together."
"We'll get the boys here soon enough," Aiden promised.
"When Pip is ready," Meryn added.
"What exciting news! And just what we all needed," Catherine said, sitting back in her chair, holding her wine glass.
"It seems like only yesterday Brie was pretending to do press conferences with her hair brush microphone in the mirror," her father said, winking at her.
Jedrek nodded. "I know what you mean. I swear Ari was just in diapers, then I turn around and he's a warrior for our city."
"Father!" Ari hissed.
Rex laughed. "You were, without a doubt the most adorable baby I've ever seen." Then he paused. "But we do have Baby Lionhart on the way in Noctem Falls, they may end up being cuter."
Ari smiled. "I bet they will be! I'm hoping for a niece."
"What's all the commotion?" A tall man that looked similar to Brennus and Celyn asked as he walked through the door.
The queen turned to him, beaming. "You're going to be an uncle!" she crowed.
He looked at Meryn and frowned. "Again?"
Brennus laughed. "No, Doran. Amelia is with child!"
Doran's eyes lit up. "That news was sorely needed tonight!" He strode over to where Amelia was being showered with affection and dropped a kiss of his own to the top of her head. "A thousand blessings on the future King or Queen of Éire Danu," he said, his voice ringing.
Amelia blinked. "Oh gods, I never even thought about that."
Darian cupped her face. "I won't be taking over for my mother for thousands of years, and our little one may be geriatric before they take over from me. Don't let it worry you; you have our little prince or princess to think of."
The queen spun to face her son. "Thousands of years?"
Darian and Oron nodded. "Yes, you are our queen."
Aleksandra sat down in the chair next to her son. "Now I know how Magnus felt. An around the world cruise sounds heavenly right about now."
Doran laughed at the way his brother scowled at the mention of the vampire prince, however, his laughter was cut short as he looked across the table. "Mine," he growled. Faster than she could track, he had rounded the table and pulled her fat
her up into his arms. When they kissed, she felt her chin drop.
"What!" the word echoed around the table.
Brennus began to hop around the room in a joy filled jig. "Finally!" he crowed.
Meryn stared. "So, more of the butt sex, huh?"
Aiden's hand went up to cover her mouth.
Ari spun her around to face him. "Brie? Are you okay?"
She felt tears fill her eyes at the sight of her father's happiness. "I will be as soon as my father stops embarrassing me by being molested at the damn dinner table."
Doran stepped away from her father, breathing hard. Both men looked dazed. Doran recovered first and eased her father back into his chair before sitting down beside him. He looked at her. "Father?"
"Yes. You had the honor of kissing my father, Chris Wilson, the most wonderful dad in the world," she announced proudly.
"Oh, baby girl." Her dad was smiling, but there was a hesitation in his eyes. She knew she had to nip his worry in the bud before he blew up into an anxiety-ridden mess.
"Don't you for one moment think you are betraying mother. You know for a fact that she'd only want you to be happy."
Her father's face cleared. "You're right. She'd probably try to talk both of us into the bedroom."
"La la la la la la," she yelled, covering her ears. Everyone laughed at her antics. She knew both of her parents had been free spirits when they met; having her hadn't changed that fact.
Doran looked from her, to her father, to his brother, then back to her. He clutched at his chest. "I'm a father," he whispered. He smiled at her. "I swear I will do everything in my power to ensure your happiness."
Her father inhaled, his lower lip trembling at Doran's declaration. He then stood. "Dinner was amazing, thank you for inviting me." He looked down at Doran. "We're leaving." She groaned at her father's obvious intentions.
Doran shot out of his chair like a jack in a box. "We will, of course, see you in the morning."
"Maybe," her father murmured.
"Gods above," Doran whispered, before both men practically ran from the room.
"Never. Never in all my years have I ever seen him so flustered." Brennus howled his laughter.