“I wish I could say I thought that too.” Jack let a single, sardonic chuckle. “But I’m honestly not so sure it’s the case.”
Everything Jack had heard about the great Peter Masterson had made him out to be a man of morals and principle. The type of man who literally had an official code he lived by, the same code that stated in no uncertain terms that vampires were not to be trusted.
Jack didn’t think his grandfather would have been proud of who he was, or rather, who he was becoming. His grandfather would have been like Margaret. He would have hunted Jack down, and it would have been the right thing to do.
“There’s no way to know what how he would have felt, but that’s alright,” said Sheriff Carter. “Every man reaches a point where he has to decide who he is and what he’s about. It’s a choice, in the end. For all of us.”
Sheriff Carter didn’t say anything for a minute or two. He was there in the room with Jack, but at the same time, he seemed like he was far away, lost in his memories.
“Anyway, I didn’t come in here to lecture you,” said Sheriff Carter. “You’re free to go.”
“I’m…” Jack shook his head, almost doubting his ears in the same way he’d started doubting his eyes. “…What?”
“The poor realtor who got caught in the crossfire woke up and corroborated your version of events,” said Sheriff Carter. “Made it clear that you weren’t the one firing those bullets. I’m still concerned about why your mansion was under attack in the first place, but that’s a question for another day.”
Jack heard Sheriff Carter’s words, but it took him several seconds to truly process them. Margaret had vouched for him. He couldn’t begin to fathom what her motivation was, but at the moment, he wasn’t sure he cared. All that mattered was getting free.
“Thank you,” he said.
“I had nothing to do with it,” said Sheriff Carter. “You owe your thanks to that poor woman for pulling through in the end.”
Jack nodded. He stood up from the bench, swaying on unsteady legs and forcing himself to focus through his mental fogginess and hallucinatory haze. He still had one question left, one that he felt like Sheriff Carter might be capable of answering.
“Do you remember… the car crash that killed my parents?” he asked.
Sheriff Carter stiffened slightly.
“That’s an odd thing to bring up right now,” he said. “But yes, I remember it. I’ve been in this town a long time, Jack.”
“It’s hard for me to remember completely,” said Jack. It was hard for him to keep his thoughts in line, but he forced himself to focus, knowing he needed the answer. “Did… both of my parents die in that crash?”
Sheriff Carter glanced away from Jack. When he made eye contact with him again, there was something distinctly distant about his expression.
“It was a long time ago,” said Sheriff Carter. “Best just let it be. Maybe you should—”
“Please!” said Jack. “Tell me. I… need to know.”
Sheriff Carter sighed and looked behind him, as though hoping for an interruption and not finding one.
“It was a horrific accident, Jack,” he said. “Your mother died in that crash and… your injuries were also severe. There were some strange circumstances surrounding the incident that even I don’t understand. Your father was never seen again after it.”
“He was never seen again?” asked Jack. “What does that mean?”
He blinked. The blood hallucinations were coming back in full force. He couldn’t look at Sheriff Carter without seeing two identical crimson trails dripping from each corner of his mouth.
“I mean what I said, Jack,” said Sheriff Carter. “We assumed he was involved in the crash somehow, because of that. That maybe he’d been in the car and his body had just never been recovered. Didn’t make a lick of sense, otherwise.”
“You never followed up on it?” asked Jack.
“I was still the sheriff back then, and trust me, I did think that it was strange,” said Sheriff Carter. “When I spoke to Peter… It just seemed like he needed to move on. He was in pain after losing his daughter, and her husband was gone. I didn’t pry any further than I needed to in the process of doing my job. As far as I know, Jack, your father is dead. Either from that crash or because of it.”
As much as Jack wanted to push the sheriff for more information, he couldn’t find the questions to do it. He remembered his father only through his childhood memories, and they felt distorted in a way that went beyond the effects of time. The car crash. His leaving the island so abruptly afterward. His father’s missing body. How did it all fit together?
“Thank you,” said Jack. “If you remember anything else from back around that time, can you…?”
Jack trailed off, suddenly feeling dizzy. One of his knees buckled, and he had to grab the bars of his cell to steady himself. His head hurt, and he could feel the blood pulsing through his veins, hot and demanding.
“I think it’s time we get you out of here,” said Sheriff Carter. “You need some sleep in a proper bed.”
Sheriff Carter fished a large, jingling ring from his pocket and twisted one of the keys into the lock of Jack’s cell door. Jack took a calming breath, fighting a sudden, unwanted compulsion to attack the man.
“You should give your maid a raise,” said Sheriff Carter, chuckling. “She’s loyal to a fault. Stayed out in the lobby for ten hours straight, just waiting for something to happen.”
“Ten hours?” muttered Jack. “It’s been that long?”
Sheriff Carter frowned at him.
“I’ll go get her now,” he said. “Think it might help you regain your bearings. Confinement does strange things to a man’s mind, sometimes.”
He left Jack standing outside his cell, returning with Ryoko a moment later. She was still in her maid uniform, and from the redness around her eyes and her smudged makeup, she’d obviously been crying.
“Sir…” Ryoko hurried over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I’m so sorry!”
Jack wanted to comfort her. He wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t her fault and that the blame belonged to him and him alone. But he couldn’t think of anything other than her sweet, overwhelming smell. Her neck was so close to his mouth already. He let his lips nuzzle against the sensitive skin there, not caring about where they were.
“I know,” she whispered. “Let’s go out to the car.”
She took him by the hand and started leading him through the sheriff’s office. Jack kept his eyes squinted and his gaze downcast to keep Sheriff Carter from noticing his condition.
“Take it easy, Jack,” said Sheriff Carter, as they passed by. “Rest up these next few days.”
“I’ll make sure he does,” said Ryoko.
CHAPTER 32
It was nighttime outside, which caught Jack off guard. Ryoko had parked on the street, and she opened the car’s back door for him instead of the one up front. She slid in ahead of him, and Jack closed the door as he followed behind.
He moved without thinking, his instincts and urges finally overwhelming him. Jack grabbed her and pulled her underneath him. He didn’t want to be rough with her, but his body wasn’t obeying his mind’s commands. He couldn’t control himself, and that scared him.
“It’s okay,” whispered Ryoko. “I know. I understand, Jack.”
She brushed some of Jack’s hair back from his forehead, and then turned her head to the side, exposing her neck to him. Jack hugged her tight, squeezing his fingers against her shoulder and one of her buttocks as he sank his fangs into her neck.
The relief was instant. It was like stepping into a hot shower. Jack’s head cleared, and the lingering hallucinations faded. Ryoko’s blood tasted so good, and it sent a rush of euphoria through him that was better than any drug. She was a goddess, and she was kind. She’d saved him.
The moment stretched on, and Jack kept drinking. He blinked, realizing how much he was taking from her, and then forced himself to stop.
Ryoko was shuddering and biting her lip, and her eyes were halfway closed. She was moving against him, undulating her hips, and trying to pull Jack closer with her arms.
“Ryoko,” said Jack, suddenly realizing something. “Did you take the potion first?”
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“I brought it with me,” she said. “Katie had to make more. The workshop downstairs was a mess.”
“Yeah,” said Jack. “Sorry about that.”
He sighed, finally able to properly consider the situation, now that he was thinking clearly again. The Order of Chaldea and Emanuel’s gang were both problems that he needed to deal with. Given that Margaret would pose no threat from a hospital bed for the next few days, it was easy for Jack to see which one took priority.
“I have to go after Emanuel,” said Jack. “He’ll attack us again if he finds out that I survived the drive-by.”
“Jack.” Ryoko frowned at him and shook her head. “This is all because of me. I don’t like the idea that you have to put yourself in danger because of me.”
“It might have started with what they did to you,” said Jack, stroking her cheek. “But it’s going to end with what I do to them. And it will come to an end soon. I promise.”
The words tasted sinister as he said them out loud. Sheriff Carter had told him that every man reached a point where they had to decide who they were and what they were about. This wasn’t about revenge or violence for its own sake. This was about Jack finishing what he’d started.
They drove back to the mansion in companionable silence. Jack gave Ryoko a tight hug and another kiss as soon as they were out of the car. He deeply appreciated everything she’d done, and he wondered if she knew just how much he’d come to rely on her. She made him feel things, emotions that he wasn’t sure he fully understood.
“It’s still a mess inside, sir,” she said.
Jack smiled and flicked her on the nose.
“I’m going to bite you again if you don’t eventually start remembering to call me Jack,” he said.
Ryoko looked like she was trying to keep from smiling.
“I might enjoy that, you know,” she said. “Sir.”
Jack resisted the urge to pin her against the garage wall and ravish her right there and then. Instead, he headed into the mansion, wincing as he saw the extent of the damage to the foyer alone. Most of the front windows had been shattered. Ryoko had hung tarps up in the place of glass, but it wasn’t enough to keep the night’s chill out of the mansion’s first floor.
She’d mopped up most of Margaret’s blood from the tile, but the spot where it had been spilled still had a pinkish hue to it. The mansion’s front door had a dozen obvious bullet holes across its surface, and the back wall that faced toward the driveway was distinctly more porous than it had originally been.
Katie was waiting for them in the lounge, sitting in front of the fireplace where it was still warm. She stood up when she heard them approaching and immediately hurried over. She looked nearly as upset as Ryoko had been and surprised Jack by wrapping him into a tight hug.
“You fucking idiot,” she said. “Getting yourself arrested? Do you even know how bad that could have been?”
Jack let himself enjoy the hug more than he probably should have. Katie worrying about him brought back memories of them as kids, running around the neighborhood and getting into trouble. He let go of her after a few seconds, and she seemed to only reluctantly pull back.
“I know how bad it could have been,” said Jack. “Hell, I know how bad it was. It’s not a situation I ever want to put myself in again.”
An involuntary shudder ran through him as he thought about how far gone he’d been in the jail cell. No, he couldn’t go through that again. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull himself back from it, even after the symptoms had let up.
“All I could think about was what your grandfather would have said to me, if he’d known,” muttered Katie. “If he’d seen you in there, like that, after all the bad decisions I’ve already made that have led to this point…”
“None of it was your fault,” said Jack. “Really.”
She nodded slowly, but she didn’t meet his eye, and the gesture seemed halfhearted.
“Well, at least you’re out now,” said Katie. “Are you feeling alright? Do you… need to feed?”
“I already did.” Jack smiled and glanced over at Ryoko.
“Oh,” said Katie. “Right. Of course.”
She had an odd expression on her face, as though Jack rebuffing her offer carried more meaning to her than it should have. She looked from him to Ryoko, blinking a couple of times, and then nodded. An awkward silence persisted for a couple of seconds, until Jack finally cleared his throat and brought up the next point of discussion.
“Katie,” he said. “The Order of Chaldea knows about me. They sent an undercover agent to the mansion, and she tricked her way in. It’s part of the reason why I was arrested in the first place.”
Katie nodded. “I’d figured as much. I saw plenty of evidence of pyromancy downstairs. What did she look like?”
“Red hair, cute face,” said Jack. “Uh… She was very proportional, if you, well, know what I mean.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “She had boobs. Yes Jack, we get it. Did she give a name?”
“Margaret,” said Jack. “But I’m not sure if—”
“I know who she is.” Katie’s eyes flashed with recognition, and not in a good way. “Oh, I know her, alright. Fuck.”
“It doesn’t sound like she’s a friend of yours,” said Jack.
“It’s… complicated,” said Katie. “The point is, her being the mage in town makes the rest of my plan a little less straightforward.”
“The rest of your plan?”
“We can’t just leave things alone now that this gang has attacked the mansion,” said Katie. “Sheriff Carter and Bruce aren’t going to be able to handle this gang you’ve gotten us entangled with on their own. We need to gather evidence. Find their hideout. Take pictures of their crimes. Get enough proof of wrongdoing for a federal agency to step in.”
“That sounds reasonable,” said Jack. He agreed with her, to a point. They needed to find the gang, and that part of her plan was in alignment with his own.
“I think we can find them,” said Katie. “With this. Assuming Margaret can be convinced to help.”
She held up a partially intact rifle round. Most of the tip had crumpled, and its shape was deformed, but it was still recognizable for what it was. Jack glanced down the hallway toward the foyer, wondering how many bullets were still embedded in the mansion’s wall.
“How is that going to help us?” asked Jack.
“Most true mages dabble in divination,” said Katie. “The magic of knowledge and location. I never bothered, since I mostly studied under your grandfather and didn’t receive much formal training. But Margaret… could technically use divination to track this bullet to the gun that fired it. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get her to help us.”
“It’s a possibility,” said Jack. “The only reason I’m out of jail right now is because she corroborated my version of events. She might have other reasons for doing that, but who knows? It’s worth asking her, I think.”
Katie rubbed a finger across her lips, considering for a while longer.
“Yeah,” she said. “It isn’t like we have many other options. Fuck.”
“You’re going to have to fill me in on whatever history the two of you have,” said Jack.
“None of your business,” said Katie, turning to face away from him.
Jack rolled his eyes.
“In that case, I’m going to speculate wildly,” he said. “But seriously. We should head out immediately. The sooner we get this over with, the better.”
“Visiting hours aren’t going to be open at the hospital,” said Katie.
“When has that ever stopped us before?” asked Jack. “I can get us in
, and then it’s just a matter of finding out which room she’s in and getting to it.”
Katie smiled mischievously and nodded in approval.
“Alright,” she said. “I brought my cat suit. I should change into it, just in case we run into trouble.”
“Right,” said Jack. “I’ll go grab my coat.”
He’d left his grandfather’s leather duster up in his room. The library book Margaret had taken to be evidence of his guilt was lying dog-eared on the floor. Jack folded it closed and placed it into his dresser instead of leaving it out in the open, not that it was likely to be found again.
The duster was in the bottom of that same drawer. Putting it on made him feel a little more confident, as though he had an extra card up his sleeve to fall back on. He hoped that the night wouldn’t end up calling for it.
“Sir?” Ryoko was waiting at the door for him. She’d returned to cleaning while Jack and Katie had been talking and had a dust tray full of shattered bits of drywall and plaster in one hand. “Are you heading out for the night?”
“Yeah,” said Jack. “I am.”
He walked over to her slowly, taking the dustbin out of her hand and setting it down on the floor. He let his hand cup Ryoko’s cheek, and then kissed her softly on the lips.
“Please, be careful,” she whispered. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to finish this for my sake.”
“I don’t,” said Jack. “These men are a threat now, regardless of what started it in the first place. But I will make them pay for what they did to you.”
Ryoko’s eyes lingered on his, and Jack saw an uncharacteristic flash of anger in them.
“I hope you do,” she said. “But I care more about you coming back safe.”
“I will,” said Jack.
He kissed her again and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Jack?” Katie’s voice came from the hallway, interrupting the moment. “Are you ready?”
Jack pulled back from Ryoko’s embrace and looked past her at Katie. He did his best not to gape at the skintight fit of her leather catsuit. It left very little to the imagination, and as always, it reminded Jack that Katie’s usual outfits significantly understated her endowments.
Shadow Form (Dark Impulse Book 2) Page 19