“Relax.” Hood clasped his shoulder. “This has nothing to do with her.”
As much as Linus wanted to believe that, as much as the evidence supported it, Grier had enemies and a knack for getting into trouble.
Done with the cottage, for good this time, Linus and Hood left, and Linus sealed it behind them.
“I need to return to the kitchen.” He checked his phone. “If the pot burns, I’ll have to start over, and we don’t have that much time.”
“How much longer does it need?”
“Two or three hours on a low simmer would be best. Then another hour or two after I set up the thurible in the basement for it to sink low enough to affect Kylie.” He set out for the inn. “I need to check on Grier, then I’ll get back to it.”
“Stay with her.” Hood kept pace with him easily. “Send Lethe down. We’re both fresh. We can handle the watch.” He chuckled. “My mate can’t cook, but she’s an old pro at stirring the pot.”
Linus chuckled, but he cut it short in case this was one of those I can poke fun at my mate, but you can’t situations. With Hood and Lethe’s twisted sense of humor about matehood, he was never quite certain. “Are you sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure. I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”
Hood was aware of Linus’s peculiar sleeping patterns, but he was giving him an out. An excuse to watch over Grier. He almost didn’t take it, but Grier was teaching him that relationships required the flex and bend of compromise in order to work. That included friendships.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” He patted his stomach. “You do have food in those fridges, right?”
“I stocked up before we arrived, with Grier’s appetite in mind. There’s more than enough for Lethe.”
“I like how you know I was thinking of my mate.” Hood chuckled. “I’m lucky she’s an alpha from an alpha family. Otherwise, I couldn’t afford to feed her.” He sobered. “And if you think about telling her I said that, or the pot comment, I will rip out your throat before you get the chance.”
“Understood.”
They entered the foyer, and Linus went to check on the vampires. Their room was silent, and Hood confirmed they were still in there, sleeping. Linus removed the sigil from the doorframe. With Hood on guard duty, they weren’t going anywhere. If they woke to find themselves locked in, it would put them on the offensive, and he wanted to end this without further bloodshed if possible.
Hood padded into the kitchen to make sandwiches while Linus took the stairs at a clip back to Grier.
The sigil on the door erased under his thumb, and he nudged it open a crack.
Grier was curled on her side, unconscious. Safe. Lethe was wading through the emails and texts required to keep her pack functioning in her absence. He could tell from the doodles on her notepad.
I’m not made out of money.
Sides of beef don’t grow on trees.
Moo.
$$$
The end of the month was right around the corner. She must be haggling with the butcher for their shipment of beef, pork, and chicken. Their allotments didn’t last long with so many bottomless stomachs to fill.
Lethe gathered her things quietly, eased off the mattress, then winked at Linus on her way past.
After shutting the door behind her, he set a timer for three hours, drew a sigil on the doorframe, and climbed into bed.
Ten
Happily, the extra work I put in on my shredded calves while Linus fixed breakfast did the trick. I was still tender, and pulling on jeans later would suck, but I had fused the furrows together.
I was calling it a win.
With no one around to fuss at me for picking at the bandages, I removed them and confirmed the scratches had healed. The silvery lines would fade over time, and even if they didn’t, I could live with them. It’s not like they would get lonely. I was a patchwork of hard-earned scars that made me the tiniest bit proud. They proved I had found purpose, that I was making a difference, and if that difference was reflected on my skin…
Worth it.
Totally worth it.
Wiggling my toes, I was about to test standing when Linus let himself in, his arms laden with carbs.
“You spoil me.” I made grabby hands. “I like it.”
Smiling his littlest smile, the one reserved just for me, he joined me on the bed and set the tray over my lap. “We have a problem.”
“Another one?” I dug into my home fries, savoring the crunchy skin on the potatoes. “Shocking.”
While I shoveled food with gusto, he filled me in on how everyone else had spent their day.
“She pulled a gun on you?” A piece of egg fell out of my mouth. “Who does that?”
Supernatural baddies tended to attack with teeth, claws, and/or magic. Then again, we were dealing with humans. Guns were their answer to the lack of all of the above. Swords were popular too, but guns? How mundane.
Our reputations preceded us these days. Not many would tangle with one of us, let alone both of us. For two lone vampires, it would be suicide. But I had discovered during my time as potentate that factions were more than willing to band together to take me down. Or try to. With Linus and the city on my side, I was safe as houses in Savannah. It was everywhere else we had to be careful.
This should have been a fun getaway spent investigating and making out. Instead, it had snowballed into a hot mess I felt duty-bound to resolve. If not for the Oliphants’ sakes, then for Kylie’s. The poor kid deserved what closure we could offer.
“Bishop hit me back this afternoon.” I palmed the stack of library print-offs on the nightstand I had used to write down his findings. “We must have piqued his interest.” I shrugged. “That or he’s bored with you gone and had nothing better to do.”
“With Bishop, it’s likely to be the former.” Linus smiled. “Ask him, and he’ll tell you he’s always got something better to do.”
“Are you ready for this?” I settled into storytelling mode. “It’s a doozy.”
Linus made himself comfortable and waited for me to begin.
“Twenty-five years ago, two darling little girls were staying at the inn with their parents. The folks wanted some alone time and sent the kids out to explore the property. The kids came skipping back with super cool sticks they found in the forest and used them to swordfight on the lawn. Except, they weren’t swords. They were bones. Femurs. Two different lengths, two different patinas, which indicated two different bodies.”
“Ah.” Linus sat back. “More than just a head was discovered on the property then.”
“Yes.” I skimmed my notes. “The parents freaked and called the police. The police came out, had the girls lead them to their sword stash, and discovered a mass grave containing fifteen bodies.” It got creepier from there. “They searched the surrounding area and discovered two more pits full of bones.” I glanced up at him. “That would account for the missing locals.”
And the severed head. It too must have been revealed by weather or time.
“There’s only one reason why a sensational discovery on that scale wouldn’t make it into the news.” Linus frowned. “Otherwise, it would have made headlines nationwide.”
“It should have,” I agreed, “but it didn’t.”
The Society tended to live and let live when it came to humans. They wouldn’t step in to spare humans from paranormal predation without incentive. Unless they stood to gain from helping, they simply didn’t care.
Brutal, but that’s the Society for you. No wonder Maud had despised the institution. She had enrolled me in public school, not only to keep my nature hidden, but to humanize me. She wanted me to learn empathy and knew it wouldn’t come from rubbing shoulders with other High Society darlings in a prep school environment.
“The incident was contained.” He shook his head. “The Society, or perhaps the Undead Coalition, called in the cleaners to erase the evidence.”
“I followed up on Bishop’s hu
nch. The cleaners’ database lists the causes of death as unknown. There were no visible signs of trauma to the bones, and the oldest dated back over two hundred years. There’s also no record of who reported it to the cleaners. They marked it as an anonymous tip.”
“The Oliphants knew about the bones being found. The parents would have gone straight to them. Failing that, the police would have alerted them when they arrived. They would have been interviewed.” His lips firmed. “Either they’re more educated in our ways than we assumed, and they called the cleaners in to cover up their mess, or…”
“Our buddies the Rogoffs, who admitted to this being their favorite vacation destination every thirty years, caught wind of it and did it for them. Meaning they’ve got a stake—no pun intended—in all this.”
Either scenario cast the Oliphants in a bad light. If the Rogoffs called in the cleaners, the Oliphants might have sighed with relief when nothing came of the bones for the simple fact their discovery would have ruined them. They might have been too grateful the incident got swept under the rug to kick up dust over it. But that still left them aware of a cache of human bones on their property and no interest in pursuing justice for whoever put them there.
“The pun was intended.” His chuckle lit up his eyes. “But I agree.”
“Either way, the Oliphants escaped without so much as a slap on the wrist.”
“Both the severed head and the bone caches were found during or after the last cycle. That implicates several generations of the Oliphants in addition to the current one. The burden must have been too much for them. They were getting sloppy in their old age.” Linus stole a slice of bacon from my plate, and I didn’t even snap my teeth at him. He crunched on it thoughtfully. “Fear of another slipup this time, one that got them caught, might have spooked them into selling the place. Kylie would be left on her own if they were sent to prison.”
“If they were responsible for the most recent kidnappings and murders, it was a lot to put on two people their age.” I hated to ask, but one of us had to put it out there. “Do you think Kylie is involved?”
“She’s involved,” he said without hesitation. “Whether she’s committed any crimes? I just don’t know.”
“This would all be so much easier with her cooperation.”
“If it was easy, the mystery would have already been solved.”
“There is that.” Pushing the tray back with a sigh, I washed down breakfast with my smoothie. “Delicious as always.”
I leaned over and kissed him, aware he could taste his blood and berries on my lips. That Linus accepted me and my weird biology made me love him that much more. I might have delved into exactly how much I loved certain parts of him if the door hadn’t blasted open as Lethe barreled into the room.
The groan I swallowed came out as a frustrated growl and left Linus hiding a smile.
“Time to go.” She tapped her watch. “Kylie ought to be sleeping like a baby.”
“Wait.” I glanced between them. “What?”
Linus filled me in on all I had missed while I stood and tested my balance.
“Good call.” The girl had been safe enough during the day, and the fog-like potion would put her to sleep without harming her. It was the best way to extract her without anyone getting hurt. “Where’s Hood?”
“Eating breakfast with the vampires.” She rolled her eyes. “Barb insisted on cooking for him.”
“Barb?” Shock rolled through me. “You let him eat her cooking?”
“He’s not eating it.” She laughed softly at my horrified expression. “He’s just cutting it up and moving it around on his plate to keep them occupied until we get down there.”
That was good news then. The vampires didn’t suspect we were on to them if they were playing nice.
“The sun went down fifteen minutes ago.” Linus gazed out the darkened window. “Their manners won’t last much longer if they don’t get what they came for soon.”
With that in mind, I grabbed clothes fit for a rescue mission then ducked into the bathroom to dress. I left the door open so I could listen in. Plus, it’s not like I had anything either of them hadn’t seen.
“What real significance could the date have?” Lethe anchored her hands on her hips. “It’s not like an actual portal from hell is going to open.”
“Spells grow stale over time.” He spoke to her but watched me wrestle with my clothes. “There’s power in ritual, in anniversaries. Most spells are weakest a year and a day after they’ve been cast. That’s when you must renew them or allow them to deteriorate.”
“Why does this happen every thirty years if spells are on an annual timer?” I twisted my long hair in a high ponytail as I exited the bathroom. “Wouldn’t the cycle be a yearly event?”
“Human sacrifice is the most powerful fuel for dark magic.” He tugged out a dryer sheet that somehow ended up in my back pocket like a magician performing the handkerchief trick. “It might not be required as often, or smaller rituals might be performed each year on the anniversary, building toward the three-decade mark. There are too many variables and not enough information to be certain.”
“You’re saying whatever the vampires want is stuck in a magical cage with a lock that can only be picked once every thirty years?” Lethe cocked her head. “They’ve failed so far. It must be worth a lot to them if they’re willing to brave you two to get it.”
“The vampires’ involvement might also explain the murders.” I stomped on my sneakers, and I was ready to go. “They could have been killing anyone who saw the unexplainable or who asked the wrong questions.”
A mass grave for their victims wasn’t very vampiresque, though. It bordered on downright sloppy. They tended to catch and release, not murder their prey. Victims in the reported numbers begged humans to take notice, and vampires had survived as a species this long by avoiding that at all costs.
“The Rogoffs have extra incentive.” Linus opened his laptop to reveal the Oliphants’ email inbox, and my eyebrows climbed until he said, “They stuck their log-in information on a Post-it beside their computer.”
“That logo looks familiar.” Lethe leaned over his shoulder. “Are those all realty companies?”
None of the names were ones I recognized, but that wasn’t saying much. I could barely list the national brands in my neck of the woods. I inherited my home, and Linus gifted me my business. Real estate had never been a concern of mine.
“The Oliphants listed their ancestral home for sale six months ago with the caveat it be sold to a developer and not as a residential property.” He opened the topmost one. “There was a heated bidding war that resolved just last month. The papers were signed and notarized last week.”
“That might explain why no tourists went missing this cycle.” I nudged her to one side so I could see too. “What is that?” The blueprints included a mishmash of elements that didn’t mesh. “Is it all one store?”
“Oh, I’ve seen these.” Lethe pointed to the screen. “They sell guns, ammo, hunting gear, boats, ATVs.” She gestured to another area. “They keep huge aquariums full of native fish.” The final area she tapped. “They have restaurants too.”
“That’s a lot going on for one store.”
“They also have candy kitchens.” Her gaze went distant. “I’m talking fudge, sugared nuts, taffy.”
“How have I never seen one of these?”
“You don’t hunt or fish or really do the outdoors period.” She shrugged. “You’re an indoors girl.”
“Hmm.” I frowned. “I see your point.”
“There are four other proposals.” Linus got us back on track. “The end result in each is, as requested, the house gets knocked down and the entire property gets buried under tons of concrete and asphalt.”
“No maze, no demon.” I leaned against the door. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We’re within our rights to question the vampires about the Oliphants’ deaths.” Linus closed his laptop and joined me.
“There won’t be a jurisdictional issue, even across state lines.”
Seeing as how we were both potentates, and this area lacked one, we were, in essence, the law.
The ring of Linus’s cell interrupted our strategy session, and his expression when he read the caller ID spoke volumes.
“Hello?” He switched the call on speaker. “This is Linus Woolworth.”
Fabric rustled, wood groaned, and the line crackled and hissed.
Eyes on mine, he thinned his lips. “Kylie?”
“There’s this weird fog, and I hear something,” she whispered, a dreamy quality in her voice. “Banging.”
A shiver hopped, skipped, and then jumped down my spine. “From above or below?”
The kid ought to be sawing logs in Dreamland. That she had yet to fell a single tree meant she was either too stubborn to succumb, which rarely happened, like one in a thousand, or she wasn’t fully human.
The thinning of his lips told me he was recalling the moment he tested her, and his findings. He believed she was human, and Linus was rarely wrong. If she possessed any magic, it was latent, buried deep within her.
“Below.” She swallowed audibly. “Far below.”
Lethe vibrated with tension that jittered through her voice. “Are you sure it’s not your shadow cats?”
“They’re silent.” She hesitated. “Grier…?”
“No,” she said. “Lethe. I’m Hood’s—”
“—wife,” I finished for her, making a cutting motion across my throat.
The kid’s paranormal worldview was narrow. We didn’t need to widen it more than necessary.
Linus brought the speaker closer. “What do you know about your grandparents’ plans to sell the inn?”
“They told me they were too old to stand watch.” Kylie stuttered, “T-t-they wanted out.”
“What about your parents?” I hated to ask, but we needed to know where they fit in.
“Dad’s in prison, has been since I was two. Mom moved across the country to be close enough for weekly visitation.” Her breath caught. “I hated living all week for those minutes with him, so when I was old enough, I begged my grandparents to take me in. I’ve been living with them full-time for the past eight years.”
How to Survive an Undead Honeymoon (The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy Book 8) Page 10