by T. A. White
"Nothing to say?" he asked, his voice a sultry rumble.
What did he want me to say? That I'd do it again given half a chance. That my loyalty to Caroline meant any word out of my mouth would be a lie if it in any way threatened her well-being. I'd failed her once. I wouldn't make the same mistake again, even if that put me in hot water with Liam and the vampires.
My only regret was getting caught.
"How did you know I'd be here?" I asked. I was interested in learning how he'd tracked me, so next time I wouldn't get caught.
He chuckled, the sound a dark rumble as his eyes watched me like I was a fascinating specimen. "Where else would you go to track down your friend?"
"Could have gone to the witches," I said.
He shook his head. "Their price would have been too steep, and the sorcerer has already demonstrated an attachment to her."
I did not like that he knew me so well.
My frustration seemed to amuse him, draining some of the intensity from his eyes and leaving the normal Liam behind. He released me and stepped back.
"Besides, the sorcerer has already agreed to work for me on locating Caroline."
Wait, what? My eyes went from Liam to Peter and then back to Liam before returning to Peter as I processed that statement, unable to believe what I'd just heard. "You're working for them?"
I took back any regret I had that he'd probably been tortured. My only hope was that they'd made him suffer.
"It's not like they're giving me much of a choice," Peter snapped. "Believe me, I want as little to do with vampires as possible. That goes for you too."
"You're a sorcerer. Aren't you supposed to be all powerful?"
Nathan snorted, the sound anything but amused. "Maybe if he was fully trained or had reached maturation. For now, he's on the low end of the spectrum and will be for a few decades more, I'd wager."
Shock silenced any question I might have, as I turned incredulous eyes on Peter.
"Oh, shut up," he snapped before I could say anything. "This is all your fault. I never would have been on their radar if you hadn't messed everything up."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I had a good thing going before you decided to make that mark permanent. Everybody thought I was my master, so they left me alone." He gave me a fierce frown—one with enough heat to it to have incinerated me where I stood.
"It would have made little difference had you been past your maturation," Liam said, his voice amused. "Thomas was most put out to learn his yearling had a sorcerer's mark and her master had gone so far as to use it to hurt her." He looked at me with a somber expression. "Furthermore, he had a very strong reaction to learning what the sorcerer did to your eye."
There was a hesitation before the word ‘reaction’ as if Liam had to think of a less violent word than the one he'd originally come up with.
Peter flinched at Thomas’s name, his face going ghost-pale and his shoulders rounding.
So, it wasn't only Liam and his men who'd been involved in this. Thomas too. For someone who wasn't supposed to be in my life unless I invited him, he was sure finding lots of ways to interfere.
"You know she won't forgive you for helping them catch her," I said, ignoring that for the moment. "You help them and any chance of a friendship between you two is over."
Not that there was much chance either way. At this point, I’d say anything that might keep him from handing her over to them.
"That's enough." Liam's voice cracked through the air. "You've put me in a difficult position. The wolves know about your little adventure and are calling to have you turned over to them. Their accommodations would be much less nice than the ones we've provided."
"Not to mention, I'm seriously pissed you sic’d a pack of harpies on me," Nathan said with a scowl. "They stole my wallet, phone, and even my lucky penny."
"I've been lenient with you because of your unique set of circumstances. That ends now." Liam gestured, and Nathan sighed before ambling over to me. "See her to the car and don't let her out of your sight again."
I started to protest but was cut short by Nathan as he guided me to the door. "Come on, Aileen. Don't make it worse than it already is."
"It's not my job to make yours easy," I snapped, feeling like a two-year-old put in time-out.
"Yeah, yeah. Tell it to someone who cares," Nathan said, his tone bored and disinterested. One hand settled on my arm, the grip confining but not bruising, as he led me out of the room.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I TRIED TO shrug out of his hold, but Nathan jerked my arm, his grip tightening. "That's enough. We're going to sit in the car until Liam concludes his business. I'll drag you out of here if I have to." Nathan's tone left no room for argument, the fun-loving, laid-back guy of before, gone.
He escorted me the rest of the way in silence, his anger a live thing around us. Guess he really wasn't happy about the manner in which I'd ditched him.
He put me in the car and climbed in after me, forcing me to scoot to the other side or be sat on. Nathan pressed a button in the key fob he held and all the locks in the car clicked on.
"That's a little much, don't you think?" I said, fixing him with a narrow-eyed stare.
He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Is it? Given your tendency to run, I think it's best to be cautious."
"You're mad at me," I stated.
He fixed me with a flat stare. "That would imply I care about you one way or another."
Yup, definitely mad.
I sighed, trying to decide if I wanted to attempt to fix this or not. While Nathan's loyalty lay with Liam, he had proven a valuable ally in the past and keeping on good terms could help me in the long run.
We sat in silence for several minutes, each consumed by our own thoughts.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I set the harpies on you." And I was. Sort of. Not because I wouldn't have done it again, but because it had been necessary.
The leather seat creaked as Nathan shifted, facing me more fully. "Do you have any idea the hot water you've put us both in? Liam's not happy. Don't let his little routine in there fool you. There will be repercussions—not just for you but for me too. I haven't failed a mission. Ever."
"Is that what you're upset about? The fact that I showed you up in front of your boss?" I could sympathize with that as I hated when the same happened to me. No one wanted to look like a fool in front of someone they respected.
"Never mind. You'll understand soon." Nathan sat back and faced forward. His hard expression made it clear he was done talking.
The quiet between us was not an easy one. It was uncomfortable and full of the weight of unsaid things. It was the sort of quiet that came when there was a regard for one another—the sort I usually only had to worry about with the people I cared for. Not the sort of thing I associated with Nathan. We weren't friends, nor were we likely to become friends given he drank gladly from the vampire Kool-Aid, while I tried to get as far from it as possible.
The driver and front passenger doors opened, saving me from any further awkwardness.
"Get what you needed?" Nathan asked.
I pressed my lips tight together to keep from asking if Peter had given Liam a way to track Caroline, knowing they were unlikely to share, and not sure I wanted the answer.
"We got a piece. Evidently, it’ll take time to create the rest." Liam didn’t sound happy about that.
Eric started the car and pulled away from the office building, one that blended in with the rest of this side of town. Nothing marked it as anything unusual. Nothing that shouted ‘sorcerer's stronghold here’. As with so much of the spook world, it was as nondescript and ordinary as everything else in the area. It was no wonder humans never suspected the presence of the supernatural. How could they when we blended almost seamlessly into the everyday world?
"You're quiet, Aileen," Liam said. "I expected a lot of questions about what we got from the sorcerer."
Precisely why I hadn't bombarded him with those
questions, since I knew he'd withhold the answers just to aggravate me.
"Just thinking about my next move," I said.
"There will be no next move. After your little escapade with the harpies, you're on lockdown. You're not going anywhere but the mansion, where you will stay until your friend has been located." His words had a note of finality to them.
That he thought things would work out that way was downright hysterical. He should know by now that the more he tried to put me under his thumb, the harder I'd try to escape.
"You know I'm not a prisoner, right?" I asked. "Certain law enforcement types would frown on this attempted kidnapping."
His chuckle was warm and brushed against me with the feel of a fur-lined glove. "There’s no attempt about it. You’re caught, my dear. Resign yourself to your fate."
I was quiet for a long moment as I faced forward.
"What did you think to accomplish by this?" Liam asked. "You must have known we'd track you down eventually."
I shrugged. Yes, but I thought I'd have longer before that happened.
"What did you plan to do with Caroline when you found her?" Liam looked over at me, his eyes somber. "With your current lack of power, it's likely she would kill you the first time you upset her."
"Whatever you say, however you try to convince me, I'm not going to believe she's lost hold of herself," I said, meeting his eyes. "She's still Caroline."
"As you are still Aileen?" he asked, no judgment in his voice. My face darkened as I got his reference.
I looked away without answering, folding my arms and watching the city pass outside the window. His sigh was heavy before the leather creaked as he turned to face forward again.
Now what? I was caught, and by the sounds of it, they didn't plan to give me the chance to repeat my little excursion. Whoever they put on me would be twice as guarded against any attempt to escape. How was I to help my friend if I couldn't even look for her without bringing the vampires, and by extension, the wolves down on her?
A phone rang, the sound splitting the quiet.
Liam fished it out of his pocket, hitting the button and holding it to his ear. "Go."
I could hear Makoto as he gave his report. "Boss, there's been another incident. This time it's bad. There are bodies."
"Where?"
"Off Third Street in German Village. I've already sent two enforcers over there to secure the scene, but you said you wanted to be apprised of anything to do with our little problem."
"Are they ours?" Liam asked.
There was a hesitation before a softly voiced, "Yes."
"Okay, I'm on my way." He hung up and set the phone down before letting out a soft curse. "Looks like you're going to get a crash course in exactly what your friend is capable of."
My skin turned cold at the implication. I bit back my protest, knowing it wouldn’t make a difference. They were already convinced Caroline was responsible for these deaths. It would take proof to convince them otherwise.
Eric turned the SUV, pointing it towards German Village where the site awaited. It wasn't too far from our original destination, just a few blocks south of downtown Columbus. This area was one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. It was partially settled in the 1800s by German immigrants, giving rise to the name German Village. It was also probably why Columbus had such a strong German influence, stemming back to the city's founding. It was now a coveted area of town for couples. The historical houses, wrought iron fences and carefully cultivated lots were a hipster's dream property. The area was also walkable and home to many of the unique features that made Columbus an interesting place to live.
Eric turned down a street not far from the Book Haven and its secret bookstore that catered to spooks. He navigated slowly down the brick streets, careful not to scrape the sides of the SUV on the surrounding buildings. This area was not built with modern conveniences in mind. The streets were narrow and from a time when your own two feet were your primary mode of transportation. They were a real bitch to clear during winter.
Eric parked several streets over, and we disembarked, Nathan taking his place at my elbow in case I got it into my head to bolt again.
We turned down the street, following Eric as he led the way to the site. It announced itself through smell first, the stench of human bowels and dead meat greeting me before I'd rounded the corner. Under it were the delicate notes of blood that even now, sated from the blood I'd drunk this morning and feeling slightly sick at the sight of the bodies before me, called to me with a siren's temptation.
The scene was enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs. It looked like a slaughterhouse but without the organization or purpose. The closest I'd come to anything like it was in Afghanistan when a soldier walked over an IED and set it off. The force of the blast had ripped him to pieces before he'd even known what was happening. That had haunted me for months. If I was being truthful, it haunted me still. This new scene would join it in my nightmares.
Whatever did this had ripped its victim to pieces just as effectively as that IED. Judging by the fact there were too many arms and legs in the small alley, I was guessing there’d been more than one victim. One was a little more intact than the other, but that wasn't saying much. The torso and head were still attached as they leaned against the brick wall, but the person's arms had been ripped off and strewn across the ground in several pieces.
I moved closer, careful not to step in the blood pooling around the torso. I thought I recognized the person. It was difficult to tell with the face frozen in a rictus of terror, but she was familiar. Her long blond hair had turned almost pink from all the blood, and her heart-shaped features were missing the sweetness from our first meeting.
Catherine. I wasn't sure, but I thought it might be.
My stomach turned as I noticed a bone that had been largely stripped of flesh.
"Are those teeth marks?" I asked, my voice weak.
"Yes." Liam crouched near one of the pieces, lifting a ribbon of flesh away to get a better look at it.
It looked like some animal had chewed on the bone, cracking it and then sucking out the marrow. Behavior typical of a dog or wolf, but abhorrent when you thought of the person that bone used to belong to.
The other person would need DNA testing to be definitively identified. Their body was unrecognizable. Like the other, it had been ripped apart, but whatever had done this had demolished it. The torso was in two pieces, the spine visible, and what was left of the intestines on the other side of the alley. There weren't enough pieces, which meant the attacker had probably eaten part of them.
"The head's missing," I said in a low voice, looking around. It could be hidden under some of the other pieces or further down the alley. I stayed where I was, not willing to disturb the scene any more than we already had. The brick alleyway was slick with blood, as if someone had poured a vat of it all over the place.
“The head’s not missing,” Liam said, his voice grim as he stared down at the ground in front of him. An odd shaped blob rested on the cobblestone, bone peeking out with what might be blood-matted hair mixed into the mess. It had been crushed so that it was virtually unrecognizable.
"What's she doing here?" Anton snarled, advancing on me.
I took a step back, the sight of an angry vampire distracting me from the scene. Nathan pushed me behind him, stepping to meet Anton.
"She shouldn't be here," Anton spat, his eyes finding me over Nathan's shoulder. The black in them seeming to bleed over into the white as his fangs dropped down.
"Anton, that's enough," Liam's voice cracked through the air. He straightened from where he crouched, his eyes doing that eerie glowing thing as he stared at the other vampire.
"Her meddling caused this," Anton responded, his voice heated.
"That's enough, my friend." The Viking from game night stepped forward, taking Anton by the shoulder and steering him away. "Why don't you take a breather?"
Anton sent another snarl my way before st
alking off into the night.
Viking turned back to us, his eyes flicking over me in derision before he turned his attention to Liam. "Forgive him. His companion is among the dead."
Liam nodded, his face grim.
"What was Makoto thinking sending him here to stand guard?" Nathan muttered.
Viking flipped him a dark glance. "Perhaps he had no choice seeing as three of our own were forced to track down the yearling. Again. We’re understaffed since we also have to provide security for the master."
"Enough. This situation is bad enough without fighting amongst ourselves," Liam said, his voice brooking no argument. "Daniel, tell me what you know so far."
Daniel and Nathan stared each other down for a moment longer before Nathan's body relaxed, and he stepped beside me instead of in front. Daniel's gaze moved over me, something in his eyes making it clear that he held no more love for me than Anton.
It was a significant change from last night when there had almost been a camaraderie building. I didn't want to admit it, to them or myself, but the loss of that hurt. More than I thought it would. I missed being part of a team. I missed the jokes and the teasing and the sense that there was someone who'd guard your back no matter what came.
I had no one but myself to blame. I'd even gone so far as to make sure there would be no chance that I could build it into something better, but it stung just the same.
"From what Anton shared, Catherine said she was tired of being cooped up and wanted some fresh air. She likes the cream puff pastries from Schmidt’s and had planned a short excursion for one."
Damn. I was right.
My heart clenched in sympathy. No wonder Anton wanted my head. I hadn't known her well but from what I'd seen of her with him, the two had seemed like they'd had real feelings for another.
"Theo volunteered to go with her. We think he's the other victim."
Theo? I looked at the other body with sad eyes. The man had struck me as shy but nice and the thought of him lying dead and unrecognizable was more depressing than I wanted to think about while standing among those who now viewed me as an enemy.