by Amber Kallyn
The man shook with Brandon, his shrewd gaze never leaving Celeste. “What happened?”
Brandon told him, his voice low.
Celeste broke in. “They took her. I’ve got to get her back.”
She couldn’t bear it if something happened to Shana. Wouldn’t be able to live with herself if the next murder scene she investigated was her sister.
Shane nodded. “Time is of the essence. I need something of hers.”
Celeste led him to the spare bedroom, then hovered in the doorway as the sheriff studied the room. “Walk me step by step of where she was.”
After she did, the man crossed to the bed and lifted the pillow. His eyes lightened at the blood on the sheet.
“Perfect.” Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out a leather pouch decorated with beading. “I need salt, a candle, and a bowl of water.”
Behind her, Brandon entered, already carrying everything requested.
The sheriff pulled a box of children’s sidewalk chalk from a pocket. He knelt on the floor, then began drawing white, interconnecting circles around himself. In one, he drew a crude, primitive bear, in another, an eagle. Then he sprinkled the salt over the lines of the circles.
Bowing his head, he lit the candle. His voice was soft and low as he began chanting.
Brandon reached her side and took her cold hand in his warm ones. “Shane is a shaman. He can track your sister.”
Celeste nodded, but her confidence was low.
Shane dipped his fingers into the bowl of water and sprinkled drops to all four sides.
The room began to glow unnaturally. Celeste blinked, then rubbed her eyes as the vision of a bear stood over the sheriff. It was like looking at a double processed photo.
She could see them both, one a man really there, the bear more of a ghostly image.
Her heart beat quicker as hope filled her.
Maybe he really could find her sister before it was too late.
Shane’s body jerked like a puppet on a string, his head rising so he could stare at the broken window. He glanced back at Brandon. “Be ready for my call.”
Brandon nodded as the sheriff jumped to his feet and climbed out the window.
Crossing the room, Celeste began to follow, but Brandon pulled her back.
“He works alone.”
She spun, glaring. “She’s my sister.”
“And if you want her found, you’ll let Shane do his job.”
“I won’t distract him--”
“You wouldn’t be able to keep up with him, and yes, you would be a distraction. He needs to concentrate. The magic in the city is dark and heavy. He must break through it all to sense her.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut and sent a longing glance at the window. It was hard not to race after Shane. But even if she could catch up to the man, and if Brandon was right, she’d distract him. It would take precious time away.
She couldn’t jeopardize Shana like that. “I can’t just sit here doing nothing.”
“Come. We will go to a safe place and figure out how we can help.” Brandon turned and left the room.
Her shoulders bowed, she followed Brandon out of the house. He shoved the suitcase he’d packed in the back seat of her car, along with the carrier holding a still shivering Hercules.
Celeste grabbed her keys, but her hands were shaking so badly, they clattered to the sidewalk.
Brandon picked them up. “I’ll drive.”
Feeling numb, she silently got in the passenger seat.
When Brandon parked at O’Grady’s Bar and Grill, she sent him a curious glance.
“We’ll be safe here. There are barriers all over the building, wards to keep out those not welcome, as well as prevent dark magic.”
She grabbed Hercules’ carrier and followed Brandon inside and upstairs, to a small bedroom.
He watched as she moved around the room like a sleepwalker, then dropped into a seat on the couch. “Let me get us something to eat. I’ll be right back.”
Alone in the room, Celeste felt her strength waver. She replayed the fight, coming up with a thousand things she could have done differently to keep the man from taking Shana.
Hercules meowed from his carrier and she let him out, cuddling her kitten in her lap. His shivers slowly calmed. Purrs rumbled as he drifted to sleep under her hand.
She wished she could let it all go as easily as the kitten, rather than keep replaying it all in her mind. Looking back rarely helped one find a solution for the future. It only reminded them of the numerous mistakes they’d made.
Her throat tightened as her eyes burned.
Her sister was out there with evil things, going through God knew what. Torture, perhaps. Possibly even the ritual these guys used when they killed.
A soft knock came at the door and Brandon slipped inside. Celeste wiped at her blurred eyes, refusing to cry.
He set some plates of food on the table before taking Hercules and laying the kitten on a chair, then sat beside her. “Eat. You must keep up your strength.”
She held the plate, her stomach roiling with nausea at the sight of the sandwich and fries. But he was right. Taking a bite of what tasted like ash, she forced herself to chew and swallow.
After she’d managed to eat half of it, she set the plate on the table and leaned back against the soft cushions of the couch.
Brandon scooted closer, drawing her against him, and wrapping her in the soothing comfort of his arms. “We will find her.”
“Will we? And even if we do, will it be soon enough?” she said, miserable, her imagination tumbling uncontrollably.
Brandon held her tighter. “Sleep. I’ll wake you when Shane calls.”
She wanted to protest she couldn’t sleep, but tiredness had been clawing at her for a while. She couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting closed. Images of Shana being tortured and abused while she sat there, unable to do anything to help, flooded her unmercifully.
***
Brandon held Celeste as the tension in her body slowly relaxed, sleep pulling her down. He wanted to storm around, rage at himself for leaving them unprotected.
He’d needed to eat, to replenish his strength the only way he could, blood.
Yet, if he’d been there...
Celeste mumbled softly and he tucked her closer.
He’d failed her and her sister.
Now, he could only try to comfort her, and make plans for when Shane called. This sorcerer would not have Celeste’s sister, nor any more other innocent victims.
As he kept watch, his mind tried to drift to the past, but Celeste’s presence, the knowledge he must protect her at all costs, helped him resist being engulfed by dark memories.
She mumbled her sister’s name, and he drew her tighter into his embrace, trying to let her know, even in sleep, that he was there.
As she calmed, he marveled at how right it felt to have her in his arms. How much she helped him keep his own past at bay.
And he prayed that he would not let her down again.
***
Three hours later, Brandon’s cell rang. He answered.
Shane’s voice was weary. “I tracked them through the city. The sorcerer’s magic is strong. Unbelievably strong.”
“Did you find her?” Brandon asked as Celeste sat up, staring at him, her gaze pleading for news.
“I have two directions to follow. I can’t tell which is true and which is false.”
“Where do you want to meet?” he asked.
Shane gave him an address and Brandon clicked off the phone. Celeste stood, arms crossed over her chest.
“You’re not leaving me behind,” she stated.
The urge to keep her here, where she’d be safe, was overwhelming.
Before he could argue, she said, “Either I go with you, or on my own. I’m not staying here.”
His mind flashed back to when his twin had been captured just a few months ago. He knew exactly how she felt, and had no doubt she wou
ld take off on her own if he denied her.
“Fine. But you do as I say. We’re not messing with the normal people you arrest.”
She grimaced. “You think I don’t know that by now?”
Against his every instinct, he headed downstairs with Celeste at his heels. Outside, he started his Harley. Then he sped into the night, heading for the meeting with Shane, all his hopes desperately focused on keeping Celeste safe in whatever they were about to face.
Chapter fifteen
Celeste held onto Brandon tightly as he raced through the city. He drove so fast, the scenery was a blur. Wind whipped at her hair, her clothes, as if it too was their enemy.
In front of a dark alleyway, he jerked to a screeching stop that made her teeth clench.
Brandon sniffed the air, then called softly, “Shane?”
The sheriff stepped from a shadow. His golden eyes glowed with unnatural light. Celeste could still see the transparent image of a bear over the man when she looked at him.
“There are two paths,” Shane said quietly. “The dark magic in the air is too strong for me to see which of them is true.”
As Celeste slid to the ground on shaky legs, the men discussed the two paths.
Shane pulled out a map of the city, pointing to two dark lines drawn over it. He handed the paper to Brandon. “Call me if you find something, or if you find nothing.”
The sheriff turned and disappeared into the shadows before Celeste could follow his movements.
She glanced at the map and the two different colored lines. “Which one are we following?”
Brandon touched the dark blue line.
She traced it over the map. Her mind raced with possibilities and confusion. She wanted to follow both paths, as either one could lead to her sister. But she was only one person.
It dawned on her what the building was that the line led to. The vampire-run nightclub--Black Dawn.
“I can usually read people well,” she said, tapping the end of the blue line. “I wouldn’t have thought Sebastian would have anything to do with this.”
“Nor would I. And perhaps he doesn’t. If he’s to be believed, the sorcerer was banned from Black Dawn. That doesn’t mean the man would listen.”
Celeste shook her head. “Sebastian’s strong, even I could tell. Would a sorcerer be able to make a vampire do anything against his will?”
“Perhaps.” Brandon’s voice darkened.
She hesitated, then asked, “If Sebastian is part of this, could you win?”
Brandon snorted. “Yes.”
“Good.”
She glanced up at Brandon, noticing the dark worry in his eyes. “What?”
“We will find your sister before it’s too late,” he said.
Doubt assailed her, even as a slight breeze picked up his comforting scent and wrapped it around her. He held out his hand and she stared at it a long moment before sliding her fingers over his palm.
Back on the motorcycle, she once more hung on for dear life as he sped through the streets, weaving around cars and racing through lights. Yet, every tense muscle beneath her hands told her he was in full control.
She trusted him with her life. Hell, he’d already saved her more than once.
Though it went against the hardened beliefs hidden deep inside, she had to trust him--and his friend--with her sister’s life now.
She needed their help to find Shana. Once they found her, and she had to believe they would, she’d need their help to rescue her stubborn sister. She didn’t know the first thing about magic or sorcerers.
A shiver raced through her blood, stopped only by the thumping of Brandon’s heartbeat beneath her cheek, pressed against his back.
He knew how to fight magic.
As Brandon pulled into the overfilled parking lot of Black Dawn, she sighed. She would do whatever it took to save her sister.
***
Brandon shut off the bike and waited for Celeste to get off. His heart twitched when, for a long moment, she only squeezed him tighter. She sighed against his back, then let him go and stood up.
He studied her face, drawn and pale from fear. Every instinct shouted at him to take her in his arms and comfort her, make the pain melt away. But the only way to truly do that was to save her sister.
He knew all too well the agony of knowing one of your own had been taken and could be going through hell. His brother had survived, if becoming a thin shell of the man he used to be could be considered survival.
Brandon made a swift, silent promise to himself, and the woman standing beside him. She’d put her hard-given trust in him. He would save her sister before it was too late, as he’d been with his brother.
She stared at him with such hope that he could do no less.
Clearing the emotional lump from his throat, he glanced around the full parking lot. Using Celeste’s phone, he called Shane and filled the man in.
Shane’s voice was broken by static. “I found a place. It’s marked... runes. Only way we’ll know... sure... search the entire area.”
Grunting, Brandon hung up, then delivered the bad news. “Your sister might be here, but there’s no certainty.”
Her lips trembled, then thinned as her shoulders and back stiffened. “Time to go in, then.”
Pride filled him at her inner strength.
They were about to enter a den of monsters. There was no telling if the sorcerer would be there, or if he’d have any of his pets.
Brandon’s stomach clenched at the memory of the half-banshee and her wolves.
As they approached the door, a line of people waited behind a rope stretched down the side of the building, eager to get in.
Brandon took her arm and whispered, “There are runes over the door. They weren’t here last time.”
Though the vamp hadn’t seemed stupid or weak enough to fall into a sorcerer’s trap, there were always sneaky ways to ensnare anyone.
They reached the doorway, where a different bouncer was checking IDs and letting people in.
Celeste flashed her badge. “I have more questions for Sebastian.”
The guy only grunted and waved them through.
As soon as they entered, the heaviness of the dark magic filling the air slammed into him. He stumbled, nearly falling to his knees. He grabbed for Celeste, to drag her back outside, but she slipped through his fingers and strode down the hallway.
Damned if he was going to leave her alone. He pushed through a crowd, racing into the club.
***
Celeste reached the main room. Music thrummed against her. The crowd ebbed and flowed, people pushing their way to get somewhere. She slid along the wall, trying to stay out of the traffic. Brandon was no longer at her side.
As she turned to head back to the door, the glimpse of a tall, dark-haired woman being carried into one of the rooms on the upper floor made her freeze. Shana.
Without thought, she shoved through the crowd and reached the stairway.
A hand grabbed her elbow, jerking her back. She spun, snarling.
Brandon pushed her against the wall. “The magic is bad.”
“My sister is here.” She couldn’t think of anything but reaching Shana and getting her out of this place.
“I need to call Shane.”
“Then do it.” She jerked from his grasp and headed up the stairs.
He followed with a curse in a language she couldn’t name, much less understand.
A voice whispered that she was being stupid. They needed to call in back up. Get help wherever they could. But the sound of screaming, full of pain, overshadowed all rationality. She raced upwards, taking the stairs two at a time.
She reached the room they’d carried Shana into, twisted open the knob and rushed inside.
It was empty.
She turned to say something to Brandon, but a bright, white light blinded her. Then everything went dark.
***
Celeste woke in a dim room. Candlelight shone from the far wall, illumin
ating metal instruments she’d only seen in horror flicks. Her head pounded. Her mouth was dry. As she sat up, chains rattled. She followed the metal attached to the handcuff around her wrist to another cuff, this one on a large, male arm.
Blinking, she focused on Brandon.
He lay still. Pale. Blood oozed from a deep gash along the side of his forehead.
Panic struck.
She scrambled to her knees, barely hearing his low moan as the chain jerked his arm around. The room was empty, but from the ceiling above, muted bass beats drifted into the room.
They had to still be in the night-club, but surely someone would have noticed her and Brandon being carried across the dance floor full of regular people.
Wouldn’t they?
Bending over Brandon, she found his pulse. Weak, but consistent.
A hysterical thought came to her. Exactly how did one kill a vampire in real life?
While the head wound she was inspecting would most likely have killed a mortal, he was still alive. Did vampires get concussions?
She leaned back on her heels, glancing around the room for something to remove the cuffs. She wasn’t going anywhere with Brandon’s dead weight attached to her arm.
Everything on the opposite wall that might help was too far away. The light barely penetrated the corner they’d been dropped in. She stretched as far as she could, feeling the floor, trying to find something. Anything.
Brandon and Shana both needed her to keep a clear head.
The chain rattled and she was jerked back, her shoulder screaming from the pain. She slammed into the hard floor and stared up at the wild vampire hovering above her.
“Brandon?” she whispered, staring into his blood-red eyes, the sharp, glistening fangs descending from a predator’s snarl.
He snapped his teeth, yanking on the chain binding them together once more.
Chapter sixteen
Louder this time, Celeste called, “Brandon! Snap out of it.”