by Ella Summers
Margery Kensington continued to stare at her son, as though willing him to come to her.
“Do you need me to show you Marek’s contract?” Gaelyn asked pleasantly.
Her eyes snapped back to him. “No.” She turned on her designer heels and walked away.
Then the Magic Council’s battle mages stepped forward and began bombarding the barrier once more.
“So much for the Council respecting your neutrality,” Alex muttered.
“Alexandria, you should go inside the house,” Gaelyn told her gently.
“I can help here. In case they break through,” she insisted.
“You are a target.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can. But those battle mages will try to take you and imprison you. I want you to stay safe.”
“I’m sorry I brought this fight to you.” A feeling of impending doom strained Alex’s voice.
Gaelyn waved off her guilt. “It’s no trouble. This place will always be a sanctuary for you, Alexandria. No matter what else happens. No matter who comes for you.”
She set her hand on his arm. “Thank you.”
Alex walked around back with Logan, toward her little house. She found Ellie wandering in the dark, muttering frantically to herself. All of Gaelyn’s guards had gathered at the front to face the Council’s army. No one was here to look after the clearly frazzled Ellie.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked her. “Why are you here and not back in the house?”
“Looking for…no, no, no….need to escape,” Ellie muttered. “…enemies all around…closing in…the noose is tightening…”
She sounded really scared.
“Everything will be fine, Ellie,” Alex assured her. “I promise.”
Alex linked her arm in the fairy’s and walked with her toward the main house. All those aggressive spells going off must have scared her. Maybe they reminded her of being trapped in Mortal Coil.
“This is my fault,” Alex said, her guilt heavy inside of her. “Those battle mages are here because of me. I’ve put everyone in danger, including Ellie. Look at her, Logan. She’s so scared. And so innocent.”
“You can’t be thinking of giving yourself up,” Logan said slowly.
“No.” Alex escorted Ellie into the safety of the house. “We need to figure this out. Everything depends on it.”
29
Chasing Clues
Spells thumped against Gaelyn’s protective bubble like rain on a roof. The battle mages didn’t pause their siege, not even for a moment. At least Gaelyn’s defenses were holding. For now.
Alex could never have imagined the Magic Council would have the nerve to attack here. She’d thought their respect for Gaelyn would keep them away—or at least their fear of political suicide would keep them away. You didn’t attack the supernaturals’ Santa Claus and not get some kind of pushback in return. What had gotten into the Magic Council?
Alex and Logan were back in the dragon sitting room, once again looking through the articles. They’d brought in photos and video footage too and were now trying to trace who might have met with the misbehaving supernaturals. She was struggling to find a common link.
“I think I’ve found something,” Logan finally said.
“What is it?”
He pushed the pile of articles and photographs he’d collected across the table to her, not saying a word. The look on his face was certainly ominous, though.
Alex flipped through the damning pages, then watched the recordings he’d put on the television screen. “Where did you get this footage?” she asked quietly.
“I hacked several systems to obtain this footage from cafes and streets.”
Alex shook her head. “No.”
“He was there with Lauren Valentine. The videos tell us he was the one to tell Lauren about her husband’s affair, and he referred her to the investigator who turned out to be a spy for the Frost dynasty.”
“It can’t be.”
“And he met with Melody Caron too. She’d always been a third-rate mage, her powers a disappointment to her prestigious dynasty. He told her where she had to go to get a taste of some real power, power that would make her the envy of her family.”
Even as Alex listened to the recordings that backed up what Logan was telling her, she rejected the idea. “Marek?” she said in shock. “No, not Marek. I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Marek couldn’t be behind this. I know him. He’s my friend. This isn’t at all like him. He wouldn’t help Damarion. He just wouldn’t.”
“I am having a hard time believing it myself,” Logan admitted. “Though the evidence is overwhelming. Marek simply isn’t that great of a liar. But then how else can we explain this?”
Logan played the recording again.
“I’m sorry I have to tell you this, Lauren,” Marek said onscreen. “You’re my friend.”
“Spit it out, Marek.” Lauren set down her coffee cup. They were at an outdoor cafe.
“Lance is having an affair.”
Lauren laughed. “Your sense of humor is appalling.”
But Marek’s face was hard and humorless.
Lauren leaned forward. “He wouldn’t dare. His money comes from me. From my family.” She shook her head. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“I saw him with another woman,” Marek told her. “Several, actually. He never takes out the same woman more than once.”
“No.” Lauren clenched her fists. “I don’t believe it. I need evidence.”
Marek slipped a business card out of his jacket and slid it across the table. “Here’s the number for a private investigator. He is the best at what he does, but his services are costly.”
Lauren snatched up the card in desperation. “I don’t care what it costs. If this is true, I will take Lance down. I will make him suffer. He loves his money more than anything. Taking it away from him is the best way I can hurt him.”
Logan paused the recording. “It was a nice touch to mention the P.I. isn’t cheap. It convinced Lauren that he was good. She never suspected this was a setup, that the P.I. really worked for the Frosts. I never would have guessed Marek was such an able manipulator.” He reached for the remote.
Alex caught his hand. “Stop.”
“We should watch the recording of Marek and Melody Caron.”
“No. I don’t need to see that. I don’t want to see it,” Alex choked out. “Someone is forcing Marek to do all this. That’s the only explanation.”
“Marek said so himself that such a thing is impossible, not as long as he wears that magic amulet. He is immune to mind control.”
“Then they are controlling him in some other way.” Alex jumped to her feet and started pacing. “We need to keep looking. There’s an explanation in here somewhere.” She gazed across the sea of newspapers. “There must be.”
“Should I keep looking into this without you?” Logan asked.
“No.” She sat back down. “I can handle it, whatever it is.”
They continued sorting through the articles once more.
“Marek didn’t go near some of the affected supernaturals,” Alex pointed out a little later. “He was somewhere else entirely when Silvio Bullet went crazy in Chicago. And Marek has never even been to Singapore, where Mathilda Lark had an outburst.” She glanced at Logan. “Unless your security footage says otherwise?”
“No, Marek hasn’t been near either Bullet or Lark,” Logan confirmed. “Which means there’s more than one silver-tongued weasel, as we suspected. Just give me a second…” He started typing really, really fast on his computer. “Here we go. I don’t have any footage, but I do have restaurant receipts. Someone named Dankworth paid for Bullet’s lunch and Lark’s breakfast.”
“How do you know?”
“Because neither Bullet nor Lark paid for their meals themselves. Dankworth likely invited them to those restaurants so he could get on their good side.”
“Maybe this Dankworth ate with someo
ne else,” Alex suggested.
“No, I’m sure Dankworth ate with Bullet and Lark.” Logan pulled up the meal receipts on his computer. “See, this here? Six eggs and a cup of black coffee. That’s what Lark eats for breakfast every morning.”
“Sounds totally unhealthy,” Alex commented. “And that’s coming from someone who eats pizza for breakfast and cheesecake for lunch.” She frowned. “Dare I ask how you know what Lark eats for breakfast?”
“It’s a long and boring story, involving lots and lots of restaurant receipts,” said Logan. “Do you want to hear it?”
“Actually, when you put it like that, no, not really. I don’t need to hear that story.” She cringed. “Ok, what about Bullet?”
Logan pointed at the next receipt. “This dinner receipt includes a steak with a chocolate-chili sauce and carrots with buttered garlic breadcrumbs.”
“And that’s weird?” Alex asked.
“The restaurant in question does not offer steak with a chocolate-chili sauce or carrots with buttered garlic breadcrumbs. Bullet has a reputation for always demanding items that are not on the menu. It’s a power play. He likes to show everyone who’s really in charge.”
“He sounds charming.” Alex rolled her eyes. “So Bullet and Lark both met with Dankworth. Dankworth…I’ve heard that name before. I just can’t remember where.” She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “Anything else?”
“One woman met with three other supernaturals who acted out. I haven’t had a chance to track down her name yet.” Logan pulled up a photo on his computer. “But here’s a shot from a gym where she met with Magnus Drake.”
“I know her,” Alex said. The pieces were all coming together now—and she didn’t like the picture they made. “That’s Caroline, a fairy who works for Gaelyn.”
“So does he,” Logan said and brought up the next photo.
“Holt.” Alex recognized the bald vampire instantly. Of course she did. Holt was the head of Gaelyn’s Household Guard. “These people—these influencers—who manipulated so many supernaturals into losing their heads, they all work for Gaelyn.”
“Yes,” said Logan. “Like Marek, each of them is bound to Gaelyn, each through Gaelyn’s contracts with their families. From what I understand of magic, that contract means these indentured servants are completely sworn to Gaelyn for the duration of the contract.”
“The contracts are magically binding,” Alex said. “So the amulet Marek wears won’t protect him from mind control because he—and all the others bound to Gaelyn—have to do whatever he tells them to do anyway.” She shook her head. “But why would Gaelyn do this?”
“That is the question.”
Alex began to pace. “Gaelyn is very old. And he’s been losing power for centuries. Centuries.” She stopped pacing and looked at Logan. “Centuries ago, Damarion escaped death. He escaped hell itself. How did he do it? Makani said Damarion was killed in the core of hell. No one has ever survived that. Except Sera.”
“Because her dragon, part of her, was still on Earth,” Logan pointed out.
“Right. We Dragon Born have, by nature, a kind of duality. What if Damarion also has that duality?” Alex said. “When Sera died in hell, she stayed alive because part of her was still on Earth. Her dragon Amara. What if the same thing happened to Damarion? What if Damarion had a part of him on Earth too: Gaelyn. What if Gaelyn is Damarion?”
30
The Fairy's Song
Alex kept perfectly still. She hardly dared breathe. “We have to get out of here,” she finally said, quietly.
“It’s no safer out there than it is in here,” Logan replied.
The sounds of spells pounding the bubble punctuated his words, emphasizing his point.
“We have little choice,” Alex said, moving toward the door. “We can’t stay here.”
As they snuck silently through the house, they came across Ellie. The young fairy was wandering about, dressed in a pink frilly nightgown. Her feet were bare, her golden locks wild, her eyes burning with manic panic. Ellie sang of death, her words melodic yet dark, as beautiful as they were terrifying.
Alex heard a rustle of movement down the hall. Gaelyn’s guards? Had Ellie’s song attracted their attention?
Gaelyn—no, Damarion—had a dark, sinister plan, one he’d been setting up for many centuries. He would try to keep Alex here. Looking back at her recent conversations with Gaelyn, she could see he was very intent on her staying in his house. He would trap her here if it came to that. Now that she knew the truth of who he was, she was really seeing everything in a completely different light.
But it wasn’t Gaelyn’s guards here in the hall now; it was Daemon. Relief flashed across his face when he spotted Ellie. He’d clearly been looking desperately for his sister.
His eyes darted to Alex and Logan. “You’re leaving.”
“As long as we are here, we’re putting everyone in danger,” Alex said. It sounded plausible enough.
“We’re in danger anyway,” Ellie sang. “All of us are in grave danger. For he has returned.”
Alex knew what she meant, but she didn’t say it aloud.
“Who’s returned?” Daemon asked his sister.
“Damarion,” she replied. “He’s here. In this house. Damarion is Gaelyn.”
Daemon gaped at her.
“You think I’m crazy.” Her manic smile did make her look a bit crazy, but she was right.
“No, I don’t think you’re crazy.” Daemon took his sister’s hands. “You always know things that other people can’t see.” He glanced at Alex and Logan. “Because of what happened to her in Mortal Coil. She sees things for what they are, not blinded by all the unimportant, distracting details and niceties like the rest of us are. She just sees the world for exactly what it is.”
“We know.” Alex met Ellie’s eyes to let her know she believed her.
“Oh, good.” Relief relaxed Daemon’s face. “I thought you’d be harder to convince.”
“Your sister’s words are far less crazy than the idea that we’re all stuck in a simulation,” Logan said.
A blush touched Daemon’s cheeks. “Damarion is really back to full power?” he asked his sister.
“Strong but not back to full power just yet.” Ellie tapped her index finger to her lips and added, “There’s still something missing. The last piece.”
“What?” Alex asked her. “What’s missing?”
“For the world to implode.”
Nice image.
“For everyone to start fighting one another?” Logan asked.
Ellie nodded. “That was his plan all along. He started small, but he’s moving faster now. He’s strong now. His intentions burn so brightly. They light up the sky.” Her eyes flickered down the hall. She ducked behind her brother.
“We have lingered here too long,” said Logan. “We must go.”
“There’s a way out through the basement,” Daemon told them.
“You were planning to escape with your sister,” Logan said as they followed him down the stairs.
“Naturally, I was planning to take Ellie and go. Only a fool would remain here. Shortly after I arrived, I scouted the place and planned our escape.”
“You knew Gaelyn was up to something?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, sure, though I never dreamed he was really Damarion. I just knew he wasn’t truly benevolent.”
“How long have you known?” Logan asked.
“Since before your mercenary friend dropped me off in front of your house, chained to that tank. Gaelyn had already found me before that. In Zurich. He called me and said that he had my sister, and that if I wanted to ever see her alive again, I would do exactly what he told me.”
“Which was what, exactly?” Alex asked.
“Mostly to lead you along this path that would pit you against the Council. And against your sister.”
“Marek. He came to us, told us that you knew something,” Alex remembered. “The name of the mage Magnus Dra
ke. Marek set us down this path too. Controlled by Gaelyn—no, Damarion. I should have seen it.”
“We were all blind,” Daemon said, serious, all the pretense and glitter gone from his voice. “I sought Gaelyn out. I wanted him to take Ellie in. And he did. But not to protect her. He took her to force my hand. He gave me a script to play. Said I was an actor and should be able to handle it.” He laughed bitterly. “I had to be convincing. Had to make demands in exchange for helping you, like asking Gaelyn to take in my sister. The bastard got a kick out of the irony. He already held her prisoner.”
Even knowing the truth, Alex could hardly believe it. Damarion had played the role of Gaelyn well. She’d never thought he was anything but completely benevolent. She’d been such a fool.
“I only helped Damarion because he had my sister. You must believe that.” Daemon’s eyes pleaded with Logan. He must have been afraid that Logan would fulfill his promise and punish him for betraying them.
“I understand,” Logan said.
Relief flashed in Daemon’s eyes. “Tonight, when the Magic Council attacked, it distracted Damarion and all his guards. I saw an opportunity to escape.”
“Then let’s take this opportunity,” Alex declared. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Daemon nodded, then led them out through the basement exit.
“He wants you, Alex,” he said as they came up an outdoor staircase around the back of the property. “He has plans for you.”
“We figured that out,” Alex said.
“I just don’t know what those plans are, sorry,” Daemon said, and he genuinely looked sorry.
“I’d imagine he wants to turn me into his new Leilani. To make me Evil Alex, the Alex from my nightmares. He’s manipulated everything to ensure that will happen.”
“It won’t happen,” Logan told her. “Because you are not evil.”
Alex squeezed his hand in thanks for his continued confidence in her.
“Now that you’re fleeing too, why can’t we just use a transportation glyph?” Daemon asked her. “Like the one you used to bring us here?”