Chaos Burning

by Lauren Dane

  “We’ve got another place, a building in South Seattle we own and use for storage and various other stuff. Used to have offices there, but they’re all empty now. We can convert one of the interior file rooms to a cell.” Meriel got her phone out and began to give orders as Lark planned on her own.

  Chapter 11

  “I’LL get down there and begin the warding. Gage, I need a list of your top five people. We need to get them working in teams. And I think it might be a good time to bring on more hunters. Nell, I’ll keep you in the loop but you need to focus on one thing just now and that’s staying healthy.”

  “I hear that.” William leaned down to kiss his wife’s head. Nell grimaced.

  “This is important and I’m not there. It’s killing me.”

  “I know. I know it’s hard. But there are things that take precedence over this stuff and having a safe and healthy pregnancy is at the top of the list.” Meriel took Nell’s hand and squeezed it. “Take care of gestating and we’ll do the rest.”

  “I promise not to break your hunter team.” Lark winked and Nell laughed.

  “Not even a worry.”

  “My top five would be Lori, Teodor, Ginger, Quinn and Mike. All have been on the team for at least five years. Four of them at least eight years. Longtime members of the clan. Families involved in governance, et cetera. What do you need them for?”

  It was time to really lead, so she did. “I want to make a special team for this. I’ll take three of those five and have them each pick a partner if they don’t already have one. I want them out on the streets investigating. I want to step up the weapons training. I’ve seen a lot of smart witches too dependent on their spellcraft. Sometimes your energy gets depleted, or you’re outmatched skillwise. What then? It’s not enough that you can shoot energy from across a room, I want those hunters trained to kick ass too.”

  “Nell’s been saying the same for two years. Meriel has been trying to get it done.”

  “This isn’t an attack on the way things have been. I want to say that up front. I don’t mention any of this to make people defensive. But if I’m in charge, things need to change and change quickly because this threat…” She rubbed her belly, the tension roiling. “This is something I don’t think any of us could have predicted. We don’t even know the details really and yet I have the feeling it will be very, very bad. If we’re not ready, we’re going to get mowed over. The very idea of that offends me.

  “Lastly, the team has twenty hunters. I think it should have at least twice that much. Then we can have people on patrol in sweeps from the outer edges of our territory inward. This would get us in everyone’s general area at least once a week.”

  Nell nodded.

  Dominic spoke, “We agree. This is why we brought you up here. Get us trained. Help us deal with this. Take what you need. The problems of the past are not impediments now.” He meant Edwina’s reluctance to open their world up to dealing with other, non-clan witches and other paranormals.

  “I’ll get some schedules worked out and set this team up. I’ll keep you apprised. Gage, I want you to focus on the rest of the stuff. Just because this crazy old-school evil thing has maybe surfaced doesn’t mean we can afford to lose focus on the mages or even the regular day-to-day hunter stuff.”

  Gage nodded. “Agreed.”

  They finished breakfast, but the tension remained in the air. Lark knew Nell was bummed that she couldn’t get there and kick ass. And she knew this was a serious issue. Such a breach of clan security was a problem. They needed to get to the bottom of it and that meant interrogating the remaining prisoner and whoever was on duty after Lark and Gage had left. She tried to figure out how to broach that subject.

  Finally she decided to stay with blunt.

  “I’m going to need to question whoever was on guard duty last night after we left. There’s no way the wards on that building should have been breached, much less those cells. My general feeling is that it was a door built into the dead mage’s senses. But it could have been someone on the inside giving out information, helping them get through our wards to get at those mages. We can’t afford to ignore the latter any more than we can the former.”

  “They can do that?” Gage looked surprised.

  Dominic nodded. “Do you think it could have been possession? Like via a relative?” Lark knew the bare facts—that Dominic’s mother, a turned witch, had used her biological connection to him to attempt a possession.

  “Good point. I’ve closed a similar doorway. The spell shouldn’t be too very different and it’s best if we have a full-council witch do it. To boost the power.” Full-council witches like Meriel were at the very top of every clan’s leadership. They were the witches who had the strongest magickal energies.

  “In this case I don’t think it’s possession. But sometimes the mage or turned witch can build a sort of backdoor into their minions. So they can get in at will. I’ve never seen it happen through so much warding though. It’s probably that, or something like that, though. Most likely built by the dude’s master. But we can’t take any chances. We need to see if this leak came from inside. “

  Gage put his coffee down. “Are you telling me you think one of my men is working with those assholes?”

  “As it happens, I don’t think so. But I can’t take the risk. You can’t take the risk. We can’t pretend people don’t do all manner of things for all manner of reasons. The truth is, it’s a possibility and it would be criminal of us not to examine every single possibility.”

  “I trust all my people.”

  “Good. I don’t until I have reason to. I’m going to be sure I have a reason to.”

  Nell stayed out of it, which Lark appreciated. Simon watched her like a predator and it made her shiver with delight and a little bit of trepidation. He looked at her like he was just waiting to pounce.

  “I won’t have my people interrogated like you did last night.”

  She waved that away. “Of course not. I want to ask questions. See what they might have noticed or not noticed. I want to know every detail I can. How can you possibly imagine doing it without that? What sort of investigation only interviews part of the people who may have information?”

  “You can do that without accusing my men.”

  “Look, I get that you don’t know me and how I work. I get that you want to protect your people. But they’re my people now too and this is our job. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to on your job, but it’s your job anyway. And the assumption that I’d come in and beat them up all Pulp Fiction–style is offensive. I know how to do my job. I know how to ask people questions without accusing them. Frankly, as I said, I don’t suspect our people of any wrongdoing, but I will ask them questions and if you don’t like it you can fire me or shut up about it.”

  He sat back with a sigh.

  “I hate it when other people are right.”

  “Yeah, me too.” She winked.

  “It was Teodor.” One of the five people Gage had mentioned and someone Lark had worked with a little already. She’d found him able, competent and she doubted very much there’d be anything nefarious to be found about him.

  “All right. I’m going to want to talk to everyone who had contact with the prisoners and anyone else who may have been around during those hours after we left.”

  HE drove her back to the apartment where Meriel and Dom met them. Meriel investigated the hallway wards while Simon prowled around and peeked as she packed her few belongings into her duffel bag.

  “Lark is going to stay with me until this clears up.” Simon said this to Dominic, who nodded.

  “Appreciate that.” Dominic turned to her. “Lark, you can also stay with us, or get a hotel. You’re here working for us on our request and now the place we gave you to stay has been fouled up. Seattle has some pretty swank hotels.”

  Simon spoke before Lark got the chance to. “She’ll have my car to borrow so she won’t need it. My land is safe. She’ll be f
ine there.”

  “I’m noticing how he’s talking about you like you aren’t here.” Meriel smirked as Lark came back out to the main room with her stuff. “I’ve packed the food from the fridge too.” She thrust the bag at Simon, who took it without complaint.

  “Seems like everyone is acting like I’m not here.”

  “You told me I could carry the heavy things.” Simon shrugged. “You can’t give me a task and then complain.”

  “I totally can. But I won’t. This time.”

  “Dominic, why don’t you ride with Simon. I’ll give Lark a ride.”

  “You don’t need to come to my house. I’m not going to ravish her or anything.”

  “I sort of like how he gets agitated,” Meriel said in an undertone. “But he can hear everything and I want to talk to you. You and Dominic can talk about that server who keeps thrusting her boobs at him. You should talk him into finding a way to deal with that before I do.” Meriel took Lark’s hand and they walked out.

  “We’ll all go down to the garage together. These assholes are hunting you. Hunting you both and there’s no need for you to scurry off to talk about boys and periods when you’ll be alone in the car to do that.” Dominic smiled at Meriel and she batted her eyes up at him.

  Lark loved the interplay between the two. It was so clear how much they loved each other. More than that, they liked each other and that was evident as well.

  “I don’t see why you two need to come to my place anyway.” Simon glared as Dominic held the car door open for Meriel and they got in.

  “Because we want to. We’ll see you two in a few minutes.”

  Meriel waited until they’d gotten on the freeway before she spoke. “He looks at you differently. Than he did before I mean. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t!” she added when Meriel snorted. “We were friends. We played cards and watched movies and he consistently kicked my ass in every athletic activity we engaged in. And then last night… something happened and then it was just different. He’s all bossy now. And he kissed me!”

  “How’s he kiss?”

  The heat of her blush flamed over her face. “Really, really well. You know how back in high school you’d kiss and kiss your boyfriend? You didn’t have anything else to do yet so you kissed for hours and it was so…” Lark sighed. “Wonderful and sexy and totally thrilling. He’s that kind of kisser.”

  “I knew he would be. Okay so what happened last night to change things? Was it the fight with the mages?”

  “It started when I got back from my date. I brought him back a huge slice of cheesecake. You know what a whore he is for sweets.”

  “Um, no I don’t. But you did. I’ll continue with that in a moment. Finish.”

  “Anyway, so I hung out and he ate and we talked. I didn’t even have a drink. He was pissy about the date. Didn’t like that I went out with a shifter. Probably because he’s a Lycian and all alpha and there’s some sort of beef between them or some such. He didn’t want me going out for a walk on my own. We bickered, went outside after he convinced me to run at his house and stay over and then, bam, we were attacked.”

  She heaved a sigh.

  Meriel laughed. “There’s no beef between Cascadia and Simon. The local wolves respect him and they give each other a lot of space. He can be… well… I mean, he’s not just Lycian, but a prince so he thinks like one sometimes but he’s big enough and powerful enough that he gets away with it.”

  Lark nodded. “God yes.”

  “Anyway, so he’s just fine with the local wolves. It’s not the who, it’s the date itself. He’s totally acting to mark his territory.”

  “Huh?”

  “You! He can’t stop looking at you. He wants you at his house. Driving his car. He’s taking care of you.”

  “But why? Before I went to Toronto he never looked at my boobs. Well,” she amended, “not more than the way all straight guys look at boobs. I know he thinks I’m a fashion disaster. He’s all GQMF and I’m totally not.”

  “GQMF?”

  “GQ mother fucker. You know, all suave and gorgeous, wearing handmade Italian loafers and suits he has made in London. I’m not that girl. And then this morning he kissed my knuckles. He sniffed me and then he laid a kiss on me. Well more than one. He said he wanted to take a bite but then he backtracked and said he wanted more time. I’m just confused.”

  “Whatever set him off, he’s clearly liking what you’ve got now.”

  “Maybe. Could be he’s just horny. Boys are like that.”

  Meriel laughed. “I’m really glad you’re here, Lark. It could be. But I’ve seen him in action. He’s a smart guy. He’s not banging the chicks in his immediate circle. That’s dumb. What if you get attached and he has to flick you off? And he does flick them off. Nicely of course. But he’s not bringing the ladies around, not more than once or twice and usually he wines, dines, fucks and we never see them at all.”

  “Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Yes! Don’t you get it? He’s putting you in his house. To a Lycian male of the warrior class, installing a woman in their den is a big deal.”

  “Oh. Well, jeez. Now I’m nervous. He’s not my type.”

  “Yeah, I can see how tall, muscley and gorgeous would turn you off.”

  “Ha. If only. Not the problem. Not that anyway. He’s bossy. I’m bossy. It makes for a lot of bossy. Which was fine when we hung out as buds, but dating? I tend away from bossy, overbearing alpha males and toward nice hipster boys. They’re good in bed. They’re nice to my family if I take them home and they don’t try to tell me what to do. Simon tells me what to do all the time.”

  “He’s not dating you. He’s marking you. Also, I noticed you ignoring his orders and telling him what to do right back. How much do you know about Lycians?”

  “Not much. I mean, I know they’re from the other side of the Veil like the Fae. I know Lycia is ruled by packs of shifters and he’s one of them. I did a little research so I know they live in both their forms more often than shifters here do.”

  “All true. They’re like Weres in a lot of ways. Especially the high-ranking ones. Dominant, alpha males. Big and bossy. Really Dominic would fit in just fine. He’s a big, bossy man too.” Meriel grinned. “Anyway, they don’t have the one true mate thing the werewolves have, but they do have some version of that. They do mate and they mate forever in some cases. And they’re uber protective of their females.” Meriel raised both brows as if to say, see?

  “He saw me in my panties and in a tank top. He wants to sex me up. And okay, I can admit that I’m quite amenable to being sexed up. But he needs a princess or whatever, right? I’m no princess.”

  “He doesn’t actually. He’s third oldest. He has two older brothers who rule at his father’s side. They’ll find and mate with females of equal rank within their own ruling family or in another. I don’t know all the specifics of it. But I can tell you without a doubt that he’s interested in far more than your ass in some cute underpants. Though cute drawers never hurt.”

  “Thank god they weren’t my period panties. I’m sure he’d have really been turned on by that.”

  Meriel burst out laughing. “What? Maybe some guys like granny panties with worn-out elastic that cover you belly button to thigh. Oh my god, now I’m totally dying thinking about how Dom loves to riffle through my lingerie to suggest things for me to wear. I should pull a few pairs of the period panties from the very back and leave those. See if he notices.”

  “I’ll give you five dollars if you do. But only if you tell me how he reacts.”

  They both laughed as Meriel turned onto the off-ramp and headed toward Simon’s.

  “I live in Los Angeles. We can’t be long distance. It would never work.”

  “No, you don’t. Come on, Lark. You’d have never taken the job here if that was true.”

  “I can’t get into this right before we’re going to arrive at Simon’s.”

  “
All right. You and I have a date for lunch. We’ll get your stuff dropped off and then we can head to the building so you can choose the best place to hold the prisoner. Afterward we’ll get lunch and you can tell me about Helena.”

  Lark swallowed hard. “This is a lot for one day.”

  “Welcome to Clan Owen.” Meriel pulled off the main road and started up the steep incline to Simon’s place.

  “SO do you need the talk or something?” Dom had the audacity to smirk and so Simon had the audacity to punch him extra hard.

  “We don’t need to speak about this anymore.”

  “She’s one of my people now. I know I may have come to this clan business slowly and maybe even reluctantly, but I take it seriously. You’re marking her.”

  Simon sighed. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

  “Fine, but don’t fuck her over. Meriel will get mad and she’ll blame me because I’m your friend. I don’t like it when she’s mad. She’s got enough on her plate right now.”

  “I’m an idiot. See, I normally keep women, those who are mate worthy anyway, at arm’s length. I don’t have time to settle down. So here comes this funky chick. Badass witch and all. But her hair is blue. No, it’s blue and pink. For today. I’m afraid to even think about what she’ll do the next time I see her. Hell, having her at my house will at least give me the jump on any crazy shit she might try with her appearance.”

  “I think it’s cute. In that way women like her have. Quirky and interesting. She makes it all work.”

  “She’s beautiful in the right light. I mean, she’s pretty all the time. Even if she has odd ideas about what colors go with each other. She’s got gorgeous eyes. Her lips, have you noticed? No, don’t. Don’t notice.” He heaved a sigh. “But it’s not the looks. She’s got an awesome body so once the color explosion is gone, what you’ve got underneath the layers of clothes is impressive. Even the tattoos are gorgeous. I can get around that stuff though. Contrary to popular opinion I don’t think with my dick. But she’s a warrior. At first I was impressed with it. I’ve come to admire her strength and the way she just never quits. She’s got some serious stamina to keep up with me the way she does.” And that was hot too.