Throne of Oak (Maggie's Grove)

by Dana Marie Bell

  Kate sat on the bed, her hair carefully done up, her makeup flawless. Her silk charmeuse suit was unwrinkled. The heels she normally wore were tucked neatly under the damask-covered chair.

  Her blue eyes were hooded, blank and unseeing. She breathed, but no one was home. “Oh fuck.” Mina closed her eyes. “Shit fuck hell.” Whether it was soul death or mind death, only Selena would be able to tell.

  But Kate’s body lived.

  The demon might still be able to get into Maggie’s Grove through her.

  “You had no choice.” Mina found herself wrapped in Amara’s embrace. “Kate would have done this to you in a heartbeat.”

  Mina jerked. Of course! “That was her plan.”

  “Huh?”

  “Keeping my body alive would have kept Dragos from going completely feral. My scent would be there to soothe his beast, my blood still would have pumped to feed him, but no one would have been home.”

  “And since our good mayor isn’t into necrophilia, Kate’s attempts to get him back into her bed would have succeeded.”

  “She’d have what she wanted. A willing Dragos, money and power. And if she did join with some kind of incorporeal being, it would have had power over the forest once it took over my mind. The exchange was willing, Amara. Kate allowed something to use her—meaning this...this was planned all along. They used what Terri did to me, to weaken me through fear.” Mina pulled away from Amara, her anger at Kate once more roused.

  “Is Kate soul dead?” Amara’s voice was getting rumbly, her hamadryad nature responding to a threat that was no longer there.

  “I don’t know. Only another witch would be able to tell.” Mina wasn’t certain she wanted to find out, either. If Kate’s soul was indeed dead, the witch would no longer be a part of the great wheel, would never be reborn. All that she was and could have been would be forever lost.

  While part of her mourned that loss, another was grateful that she’d been the one to survive.

  “Mina?” The concern in Dragos’s voice had her hurrying from the room. Mina barely got out of the doorway before she was swept into Dragos’s arms.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amara receiving the same treatment from an anxious Parker. “Sweetness!”

  “I’m fine, Parker,” Amara soothed her vampire.

  Dragos hugged her tightly, his fear and relief pouring into her through their bond. She relaxed into his hold, hoping he’d feel she was all right. “We’re okay, Dragos, I swear.”

  He growled low in his throat, the sound more dragon than vampire. “We saw the broken door and thought...” He squeezed her tighter.

  “Can’t. Breathe.” She sucked in a deep breath as he barely loosened his hold. “Kate’s dead. Sort of.”

  He relaxed further. “Good.”

  “Not good. I don’t know if I killed her soul or not.”

  “We could find out if you wish.” He sounded indifferent, his attention already returned to her. Kate was forgotten as he strode out of the bedroom with Mina in his arms and back into the living room, his shoes crunching the porcelain bits under his feet.

  She shook her head. “Is it bad that I don’t feel too bad?”

  “I heard the theory you and Amara came up with. No, I can’t find it in me to feel sorry for her. Whatever happened to Kate, she brought on herself.”

  “Karma being a bitch.”

  “Exactly.” He settled her on the couch. “Sit. Stay.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Woof.” Dragos strode out of the living room toward the bedrooms, leaving her sitting on her rival’s sofa, staring at a loving portrait of Dragos and Kate together. “Blech.”

  Mina grinned as Parker carried Amara into the room and set her right next to Mina. “Stay. There’s a good girl.” Amara stuck her tongue out at Parker, who leered at her. “I wouldn’t do that unless you plan on using it, sweetness.”

  Amara glared and he chuckled, leaving the two women alone on the sofa.

  Amara broke the silence first. “So. That picture.”

  “Does it bug you as much as it bugs me?” Mina doubted it. She really loathed that picture. The last thing she wanted was to stare at the reminder that Dragos had been in a relationship when they’d met. It might be petty, but it was the truth, and Mina owned up to it.

  Amara stood. “I never was good at obeying.” She ripped the picture from the wall and broke it in half. “Oops— What’s that?”

  “A cliche.” Mina grinned as she stared at the wall safe. “My my, Kate. I wonder what you were hiding in there.”

  “Shall we find out?” Amara’s fake British accent was atrocious. Parker would pee himself laughing if he heard her.

  “Let’s.” She gestured for Amara to take the lead. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” Amara grabbed hold of the dial and yanked, pulling the mechanism clear of the door. “Give me a sec.”

  It took the hamadrayd more than “a sec” to get the thick metal door off the safe, but she managed it. When Mina peered inside the safe, all she saw were scattered documents and the occasional bit of jewelry. “We can go through this while the men check her computer.”

  “If Kate was smart, she deleted files off her computer. She wouldn’t want to be caught red-handed.”

  “You think she used snail mail?” Mina wouldn’t be surprised to find Kate had gone that route. For one thing, it would be much harder to trace her activities.

  “Or phone calls—either one. It’s too easy to recover data from a computer these days, even things you delete.” Amara began pulling out papers a fistful at a time, handing them to Mina who put them on the coffee table in a haphazard pile.

  When Amara was done she rubbed her hands together. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  Mina picked up the first pile of papers and began to flip through it. “Hmm. We have... The deed to the house, house insurance, blah blah blah, car deed, blah... Oh, what do we have here?” She dropped the papers she’d already sifted through to the floor. “The return address is H. Carpenter.”

  Amara blinked. “No one would be that stupid.”

  “Apparently, someone would. Or they thought they wouldn’t get caught.”

  “He might have thought it would be impossible for us to get through his defenses even if we discovered Kate’s involvement.”

  “Or he thought the demon would keep Kate safe.”

  Amara snorted. “Not even a Van Helsing would willingly work with a demon.”

  “I never thought Kate would, either.”

  They exchanged a worried look just as Dragos’s voice broke the silence. “Mina, I need you here.” Dragos’s voice rang out from the back of the house.

  “What is it?” Mina and Amara ran toward Kate’s office, the witch’s correspondence still in their hands.

  Three men stood around Kate’s computer. Hell, she’d been so busy dealing with Dragos and Kate she hadn’t even seen Ash enter the home, let alone head for the office.

  Then again, Ash was a sneaky son of a bitch, and if he’d planned on questioning or killing Kate he wouldn’t have stopped for anything. From the grim smile on Ash’s face, they’d found something. “Tell me.”

  It was Dragos who answered. “She’s got schedules—times when the witches shore up the defenses, times when they’re weakest. She made damn charts and forwarded them to Harold Carpenter.”

  “It’s how they’ve slipped in and out of town so easily. They knew exactly when to come in and when to get back out.” Ash’s fists landed on the desk. “But we still don’t know anything about their defenses. Apparently the exchange wasn’t mutual.”

  “Parker?” When the vampire turned to Amara she took hold of his hand. “What about Greg? As a ghost, he should be able to slip through just about anything. He could go in, get us the information we need and get back out before they even realize he’s there.”

  Parker swore under his breath. “Bloody hell. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Will it be safe? They
managed to take the witch doctor, a dryad and a werewolf enforcer.” Dragos shook his head. “I don’t want to risk Greg if we don’t have to.”

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  He sighed roughly. “Go through Kate’s paperwork and pray one of them was extremely stupid?”

  “Well.” Parker’s cheeky grin couldn’t hide his concern. Greg was his best friend, living or dead. The thought of him in danger did not sit well with the vampire. “So far stupidity is the only thing we’ve found with any regularity. I say let Greg try, if he’s willing.”

  “He’s right, Dragos.” She put her hand on her lover’s shoulder. “As a ghost, Greg should be undetectable.”

  Dragos nodded. “Ask him and Brian. If they say yes, send him in. But make sure Brian is somewhere outside the compound. As a physical medium and his spouse, his connection should give Greg some strength.”

  “Go in at night. That will also give Greg strength outside Maggie’s Grove. Ghosts naturally strengthen at night, and lose that strength during the day.” Ash hadn’t taken his eyes from the computer screen, but instead of staring angrily his hands were moving on the keyboard, searching for who knew what.

  “That will also allow you to keep an eye on Brian.” Amara stroked Parker’s hand. “Love, it’s the best idea we’ve come up with yet, and you know it.”

  Parker reluctantly nodded. “I’ll call him.”

  “Tonight?”

  “I think it best, before they discover Kate is...indisposed.” He left the room, Amara right on his heels.

  “They might know already. I think Kate was in league with a demon.” Both Ash and Dragos drew in startled breaths as Mina continued. “Amara doesn’t think the Van Helsings knew. I’m not so sure, but I could be wrong.”

  “The Van Helsings fight supernaturals—they don’t consort with them.” He stroked her cheek, calming her. The man had faced Van Helsings before. He probably knew what he was talking about. “I’m siding with Amara on this one, my Mina.”

  That eased her mind somewhat. Still, Mina wished she could take this burden from Parker. He’d lived through Greg’s death, watching his best friend slowly waste away from cancer. Losing him would kill something inside the man permanently. “I’ll keep going through the stuff we found in the safe. Maybe I can come up with something and we won’t have to involve Greg at all.”

  “What safe?”

  “Ash, keep searching Kate’s files.” At Ash’s nod she pulled Dragos from the room to show him. “That one.”

  “Ah.” He grimaced at the sight of the broken picture. “Sorry about that.”

  “Mm—hmm.” She shoved some papers in his hands. “Start reading, Mr. Ibanescu.”

  He cleared his throat. “Yes, dear.”

  “I’d better not find a love letter.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Are you listening to me?”

  “No, dear.”

  She bopped him on the head with the stack of papers, but it was hard to contain her smile. “Dork.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kate mysteriously died while they went through her belongings. Dragos had his suspicions as to who had murdered her. The neat slice across her jugular had Ash’s signature all over it. Ash had dealt with the body with the same brutal efficiency he showed in everything else.

  Whether her soul had died as well was not an issue for the dryad—only that her body could not be used against them. If Mina was correct that a demon had been consorting with Kate, using her for its own purposes, then it had still been a portal for the creature.

  Now it was not, and Dragos couldn’t find it in him to be angry with Ash. He would have done the same if he hadn’t been so terrified for Mina. A demon had been playing around in her mind, trying to drive her insane.

  He was going to have his own nightmares after this.

  It had taken all day for the others to finish going through Kate’s belongings, but they’d finally found the key to breaking through Carpenter’s defenses. They’d informed him the moment he’d woken from his day sleep.

  When Greg had returned from gathering information on the compound, Brian had taken one look at his lover and turned white as a sheet. He’d feared for Parker’s Renfield until they all realized that Greg had somehow been hurt during his reconnaissance. Brian wouldn’t say how Greg had been injured, explaining that none of the living could truly understand except, perhaps, Selena. The Van Helsings had more power at their disposal than they’d feared, and Dragos had decided to bring out the big guns in response.

  Apparently, the two had their first major argument when Greg insisted they’d be joining the battle, and it had taken an entire evening on Greg’s part to get the frightened Renfield to agree. Even so, Dragos wished he could tell them to go home. Brian was still pale, his hand clasped tightly around what appeared to be thin air. His lover was at his side, and their unique bond would help tremendously when the Maggie’s Grove forces moved in.

  Damn it. He hated putting his people at risk, especially the ones like Brian. Brian was no combatant. But... he was needed, and he was here. There was nothing more Dragos could ask for.

  Armed with the information Greg had gathered, Dragos had sent out the call, requesting volunteers to raid the Van Helsings’ compound. There was barely any time to gather, but his people had come through for him. For Maggie’s Grove.

  Tonight was the night. They were going to free the prisoners at the Van Helsing compound or die trying.

  “No dying, Mr. Ibanescu.”

  Dragos smiled at his sotiei, standing proudly next to him, Amara right at her side. Ash also stood on the stage with Dragos, Parker, Noah, Trajan and Greer. Mollie, as the unofficial head of the elementals, was also there, along with the new coven leader, a black witch by the name of Gideon Brantley. Despite Selena’s talk about how black witches weren’t necessarily evil, Dragos wasn’t certain he was happy with the coven’s choice. He’d have to wait and see.

  If the man proved himself, so be it. If he turned out to be anything like Kate, Dragos would destroy him without hesitation.

  He would not risk his people again.

  “She had you bespelled. Let it go.”

  “When our people are home safe and sound, I’ll consider it.”

  He looked out over the crowd and smiled grimly. Dragos hadn’t seen a gathering of the population of Maggie’s Grove like this outside of a town hall meeting in years, and it would be a while before he did again. The town hall had been demolished after Terri nearly brought it down around their ears, so this meeting was being held in Dragos’s ballroom.

  It seemed everyone wanted some payback against the Van Helsings. After sifting through Kate’s papers and computer files, he’d realized that more people had been taken prisoner than he’d known. Why hadn’t he been told about the kidnappings?

  All of those present had a relative who was missing or had turned up mysteriously dead.

  Hell, even some of the town’s psychics had turned out. He recognized one who had the power to see things happening over long distances, and another who could speak into the minds of those he knew. They would come in handy as far as coordinating the attacks was concerned.

  Looking out over the crowd Dragos caught the eye of the dark-haired, dark-eyed man standing with the rest of the psychics. Lore nodded to him but didn’t move, and his grim expression said all that needed to be said. Lore was ready for battle, to bring their people home.

  “He’s volunteered to lead the psychics and Renfields and keep them safe.” Parker gestured toward the crowd waiting for them at the edge of the town. “Let’s go find out how deep this rabbit hole goes, shall we?”

  “From the stuff that was found in that Kate person’s house, it’s pretty damned deep.” Trajan wasn’t thrilled to be separated from Eddy, but he’d agreed to come along and help put an end to the Van Helsing threat once and for all. “I’m thinking of changing Eddy, you know.”

  Trajan growled.


  “He’ll be better able to defend himself, and he won’t lose his psychic abilities. But I’ll only do it if you both agree.”

  At Dragos’s raised brow Trajan huffed. “What’s involved in this changing?”

  “I’ll bite him three times—”

  Trajan growled.

  “It’s not like the mating bite, Trajan. I won’t sleep with him. I’ll merely exchange blood with him. After the third time he’ll essentially fall into his first day sleep, and when he wakes he’ll be a vampire.”

  “He’ll never walk in the sun again.” Trajan stared out over the crowd, but Dragos knew his thoughts were with his lover. “Eddy was meant to bask in the sun.”

  What could he say to ease Trajan’s fears? “He’ll be able to fly with you.”

  Trajan exchanged a glance with Dragos. Both dragons understood what it meant to fly with a lover, the slide and dance of aerial foreplay. It was something Dragos would never experience with Mina, but for Trajan, it was still a possibility. “Fine. But if he does take you up on your offer, I want to be present when you do it.”

  Dragos nodded. “Then let’s do this.” He stepped up to the edge of the stage, ready to address the volunteers. “Ladies and gentlemen.”

  The crowd quieted, turning toward Dragos. He saw fear, eagerness and sheer determination in their gazes.

  His people would no longer be victims.

  “The plan is a simple one.” He pointed, and Dominic lit up the projector. He’d put up a plain white sheet, and the image of the Van Helsing base showed up fuzzily. “We know now what each of these three buildings house.” He took the pointer Noah held out to him and gestured to the smallest of the buildings. “This is their administrative office, where they have their servers. The group that heads in there will have to steal the computers or hard drives and get out. They’ll defend it, so some of Noah’s enforcers will be going with you.” He nodded to Greer. “Greer and Mollie will be spearheading that group, with some of our psychic mediums to help them communicate with the ghosts. If you have any questions or problems, let them know.” The people who’d volunteered to handle the data extraction murmured their understanding. “The second-largest building is housing. Several Van Helsing families live there—”