Song of Midnight Embers

by Dana Marie Bell

  “Deadly brilliant.” Noah grimaced. “And it might have worked if you and Carter hadn’t gotten suspicious. I owe him now.”

  “Carter thought Web was the medical link, but I knew it was Bernadette. I just wish it hadn’t been.” Mollie stared at Noah, but there was no sympathy there, no sense of loss to be seen. He’d mourned, and now he’d discovered the person he thought he knew was nothing like the warm-hearted person they’d known. “We need to see the coroner’s reports on Lily, Bernadette and Allan, to see if any of them were infected.”

  “Give me a sec.” Dr. T stood up off the floor and headed for his desk. “It’s here, somewhere.” He rifled through the files and pulled one from near the top, flipping it open and grunting as he read. “Bernadette wasn’t infected with black blood.” He glanced up, his expression stoic. “Sorry, Noah.”

  Noah nodded once, sharply, his gaze locked on Tyrone. “Lily or Allan?”

  Dr. T pulled a second file and began scanning the contents. “Allan was poisoned. Wolf’s bane.”

  “How the fuck did they pull that off?” Noah looked ticked. “Every wolf is familiar with wolf’s bane. It grows in the mountains nearby, for fuck’s sake!”

  “It looks like it was dried out and added to some pesto sauce. From the autopsy, that was Allan’s last meal.” Dr. T flipped the page over. “We can’t be certain if Lily had any or not, but it’s highly toxic to just about everyone. The only people I know of who are immune to it are—”

  “Dryads,” Greer muttered, flipping over another page. “No plant can truly harm us.”

  “If the kids had gotten some of that pesto sauce, they’d be dead too.” Noah was snarling, and his claws were out. “Bernadette was our fucking cousin. Of course they would have taken some homemade pesto sauce from her.”

  “A strong enough flavor would mask the taste of the dried aconite. Those same spices would have masked the scent as well.” Dr. T shook his head ruefully. “I’m sorry that one of my people was involved in this.”

  Noah waved his hand dismissively. “Not your fault. I didn’t see Bernadette coming either.”

  “If Lily did get the aconite, she might have been in that alley behind the coffee shop because of its effects.” Mollie tapped her finger on top of some of the papers she’d sorted out.

  Tyrone started ticking the symptoms off on his fingers. “Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations...”

  “And whoever flamed her might have done so to cover up Bernadette’s tracks.” Greer finally looked up, locking eyes with her. “Which means we still have someone with a fire power involved.”

  “They might have tried to do the same to Allan, but we got to him too quickly.” Noah strode toward the door. “I’m going to check with Lore, see if he can question the neighbors. I want to know if anyone suspicious showed up at Allan’s and left right before my wolves showed up to check on him.”

  “Right.” Mollie was going to have to investigate each of her fire elementals, because one of them had destroyed Lily Wulfenbach’s body. With Dr. Kogon’s death, they’d missed the aconite poisoning while trying to look for something completely different. It was maddening. “How much do you want to bet the fire elemental or witch involved is a member of the pack?”

  Noah froze. “Fuck my life. You might be right.”

  “That narrows down the suspects, at least.” Greer handed Mollie a notepad. “Start marking down your elementals. Then give the pad to Noah, and he can mark who’s mated to one of his wolves. Those are the ones we need to question.”

  “We’ll have to have Gideon do the same for the witches, but...” Mollie grimaced. “Shit. I really think it’s one of my people now. The demon theory worked, for a while, but we know now that the black blood hasn’t infected anyone new, and alone it can’t set someone on fire.”

  “Are you sure it hasn’t infected anyone?” Noah shrugged. “It’s entirely possible one of yours is infected and we just aren’t aware of it.”

  “If that’s the case, bring them here.” Dr. T flexed his hands. “We’ll infuse them with vampire blood. If it works, then we can question them on what they remember.”

  “I like it.” Noah nodded sharply. “If it is a fire elemental who’s mated to one of my wolves, I’d rather find out they were under demonic influence than just being a greedy asshole.”

  “Amen,” Mollie whispered. “And if the person wasn’t acting under the influence, we agree on the punishment together.”

  Noah nodded. “I can agree to that.”

  Mollie started writing down names, each one hurting more and more. Damn it. Why did one of hers have to be involved in this horror?

  The first name she listed was her own. She wasn’t about to leave herself off it, not after she’d been suspected and especially considering who’d cleared her name. No. They could give her vampire blood if they wanted to make sure, but mostly her name was at the top so no one would think she’d acted with prejudice.

  The next name was Tyrone’s.

  And on and on it went, each name breaking her heart until the pen shook in her hand. She didn’t even realize how badly until she looked up and saw the sympathy on the faces of those around her. “Done.”

  “Let me see.” Noah took the pad and began ticking off names. “I’ve got...hmm. Maybe six names here.”

  “Maybe?” Mollie stood and walked over to him.

  He held out the note pad. “See? This one—” he pointed toward one of the names near the bottom of her list, “—I think is with one of my wolves, but I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, we’ll put a check mark anyway.”

  Noah did as she suggested. “Let’s go.”

  “Roger.” Mollie squawked with surprise when someone grabbed her from behind. “Damn it, Greer.”

  “Not going alone, sweetheart,” he whispered in her ear.

  “She won’t be alone. I’ll be with her.” Noah’s deep rumble would have reassured most people. The man could bench press a Buick on a bad day.

  But not her mate. Greer wouldn’t release her as he glanced down at the list. “So, who are we interrogating first? Dr. T?”

  “Who, me? I’m not involved with a wolf.” Tyrone tilted his head. “Although that Paisley is kind of yummy.”

  “And gay.” Greer shrugged. “She’s very into vaginas.”

  Dr. T glanced down. “Nope. I’m way too attached to Mr. Happy to go get a vagina.” He sighed sadly. “Damn it.”

  “And on that note, let’s go question some suspects.” Noah led the way, but Mollie caught a quick glimpse of the almost-smile on the alpha’s face.

  It was probably the last time any of them would laugh for a while.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “There’s one thing we both forgot.” Greer glanced at Mollie as the three of them drove toward the home of one of their suspects, a fire elemental named Mike Lawson. Noah was driving, with Greer and Mollie in the back. “How could a fire elemental kill from a distance?”

  Mollie stopped. “Huh. They have to see the person, don’t they?”

  “They do?” Greer hadn’t known that.

  “We can’t just think ‘Burn, Greer, burn! Muahaha!’ and have it actually work.” She glanced at him through her lashes. “You know how many times your ass would have been on fire if it did?”

  “Again, remind me not to piss you off.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “So. You need to see the person in order to light them up.”

  “Which means the fire elemental visited Dr. Kogon.” She bit her lip. “And there’s no sign-in at the hospital, is there?”

  “No. Which might explain why my brother’s body was untouched.” Noah’s tone was grim. Whatever rage might be flowing through him in this moment, it didn’t manifest itself in the way he drove.

  Greer was certain they wer
e on to something. “Nothing smoked it before the autopsy was conducted, because you need a security badge to get in there.”

  “Something a demon wouldn’t need.” Mollie nodded. “You’re right. It was a fire elemental all along.” Her shoulders slumped. “Damn it. I didn’t want to believe it.”

  “The fire was strong enough to convince you that a demon was behind it, so we might not be too far off the mark.” They’d know for certain once they got their suspect back to the hospital and injected them with vampire blood.

  “We’ll find out for sure soon enough.” Noah was watching everything around them, sniffing the air as if he sensed a threat. The windows were down so the alpha could catch anything they might miss.

  Mollie shook herself. “If one of them is that strong without the blood, then I’m not the strongest fire elemental in Maggie’s Grove.”

  “Well.” He wanted that defeated expression off her face so badly, he’d tell her the sky was purple if it would help. “I’m not sure I’d want the asshole burning my friends to death to lead the fire elementals, you know?”

  She coughed. “Yeah, well, if he defeated me in combat—”

  His arm tightened until she squawked. “Never. Happen.”

  “Can’t. Breathe.”

  He loosened his grip. “Sorry.”

  She rolled her shoulder and rubbed it, batting at him when he tried to massage it.

  He hadn’t meant to hold her quite that tightly. “Do you have any idea who might approach your level of hotness?”

  She eyed him for a moment before replying. “I’m going to take that the way you meant it, as a question and a compliment.”

  He grinned. “I knew you understood me.” He gently put his arm around her once more, this time careful not to squeeze the life out of her. “So. Any ideas?”

  “Not really. The level of control needed to sustain a fire and fight attempts to put it out once you’re out of the room is beyond what I can do.”

  “So we’ve got a demon-possessed fire elemental with a webcam?” When she glared at him, he shrugged. “I’ve got nothing else to offer you but a cute butt and sarcasm, and you’re in the wrong place to look at my rear.”

  She patted his arm. “Yes, dear.”

  “You didn’t have to agree with me.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Are you even listening to me?” He pouted at her, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention.

  “Yes, dear.” She frowned, the expression so intense he started to worry. “Fuck me. Hybrids.”

  “Hybrids.” Greer froze, the implications running through his head. Usually, when two species intermarried, the children took on the characteristics of one or the other. Humans and elemental pairings would result in either a psychic child or an elemental child. A wolf and dryad mating would produce either a wolf or a dryad, while a wolf and human pairing would create a wolf or a human, or sometimes a psychic. A true hybrid, someone who had the powers of both parents, was extremely rare, and extremely dangerous. Their powers tended to be amplified, as Mollie’s had been by her human parent. “Holy shit. A child of a psychic and a fire elemental.”

  “A remote viewer.” It all made sense, in a twisted sort of way.

  “A psychic with the ability to see someone as they are in that moment, and focus their fire on them.” Mollie shivered. Because of her human parent, her powers had come late, but fierce, and her control over them was phenomenal. If the same could be said of another fire elemental in town, then Mollie might be right. She might not be the strongest fire elemental.

  “Then why wasn’t my brother’s body burned along with Lily’s?” Noah looked confused.

  “Because using that much energy, remote viewing and fire to do what our killer did, must have taken more energy than he or she thought.” Mollie tried to think of any other explanation. “The more heat I put out, the more gets sucked out of me. An energy exchange like the one we’re talking about would knock our killer on his or her ass. Given the short amount of time between when Lily’s body was discovered and Allan’s, the killer might not have been able to bring his or her reserves back up to finish the job before the autopsy was done.”

  “Then one of the six we’ve got listed has to be the one.” Noah’s knuckles cracked, and Greer saw the alpha’s claws emerge. He was ready to do serious damage to whoever had killed his brother.

  Greer took the list from Mollie’s hand. “Mike Lawson, Ella Daniels, Kristopher Welch, Neil Dunn, Linda Hall and Lena Armstrong. Any of these ringing any bells?”

  Mollie shook her head. “All I know is they’re fire elementals.”

  “Lore might have an idea.” Noah opened his phone and dialed. “Lore, I need you to listen to a few names and tell me if any of them belong to you. Better, if one of them has a parent who belongs to you.” Noah rattled off the names and waited. “No kidding? Thanks. That narrows down our search.” He paused, scowling. “Wait for you?” Noah glanced toward Mollie, who nodded. “We will. You deserve to be there for this.” Noah clicked his phone shut without waiting for a response. “Lena Armstrong’s mother is a clairvoyant.”

  “Fuck.” Greer took a deep breath. “We have our answer.”

  “Not all of it. Why is she doing this? Why was she helping Arlene and Bernadette?” Mollie took the paper Noah held out to her and glared at it like it could answer.

  “We’ll find out, I promise you.” Noah started toward the street where Lena Armstrong lived. “There has to be a link between the three women.”

  “A plot to take over the pack.” Mollie shook her head. “I really hate to say this, but what if...”

  “What if?” Greer stroked her arm and captured her hand, twining their fingers together.

  “What if the Van Helsings had nothing to do with this? What if this was just something else Bernadette lied about?”

  “But why?”

  “To protect her friends,” Noah growled, pulling the car to a stop across the street from Lena Armstrong’s house. “That has to be the connection.”

  “And the black blood?” Greer tilted his head back, thinking hard as he stared at the roof of the car. “Something else is going on there, but its appearance was timely, don’t you think?”

  “Or not.” Noah got out of the car as Lore’s patrol vehicle pulled up next to him. “Let’s go have a chat with Ms. Armstrong.” He grinned, his fangs showing. “I want to know what she has to say for herself.”

  “Agreed.” Greer also got out of the car, aware the only one of them truly fireproof was Mollie. She’d be the one handling Lena if the woman went bat-shit insane on them.

  It pissed him off that he couldn’t fight this battle for his mate. Mollie deserved better than to have to take down one of her own, someone she’d trusted once. While she might not have been close to Lena Armstrong, the need to take care of her people would have driven Mollie to at least know a little bit about her. “Anything we should know about Lena before we go in there?”

  “She’s a loner, likes to keep to herself. Reads a lot, kind of quiet.” Mollie stared at the house, the wind blowing through her hair as she listed off what she knew about their enemy. “No one has ever said anything bad about her as far as I’m aware.”

  “At pack meetings she’s reserved, and she’s been putting off the gamma who wanted to mate with her.” Noah shook his head. “This is going to kill that boy.”

  “Are they true mates, like you and Iva?” Greer could understand that sort of heartache, even if Mollie had become his.

  “I don’t know. I hope to the gods not.” Noah shrugged. “Lore?”

  “I didn’t have much to do with her, as it seemed she took after her fire elemental father, not her mother. Her brother is a good kid, and her parents volunteer at the station once a month to help with kids like the Van Helsings we’ve been working on.�
�� Lore grimaced. “Every time I’ve met her, she’s been—”

  “Quiet? Unassuming?” Greer sighed. “Yeah, we know.”

  “Let’s go find out if we’re right.” Mollie headed the group, stepping briskly across the street to rap on Lena’s front door.

  Nothing happened.

  Mollie rang the bell.

  Again, nothing.

  “Is she home?” Greer peered toward the driveway, but he couldn’t see anything beyond the garage door was closed. “I’m going to check and see if there’s a window into the garage. If her car’s there, she might be hiding inside.”

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Lore muttered. “But I’m doing it anyway.” He lifted his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Lena! It’s the police! We got a tip you might be in danger. Open the door!”

  Other doors around the neighborhood opened at Lore’s bellow, but Lena’s notably did not.

  “You all heard that?” Lore asked loudly. The gawking neighbors responded with nods and “Yes, sir.” “Good. I’m going in.” He pulled his piece and kicked at the door.

  Greer wasn’t going in the same way Lore had. Nope. He was going in through the roof, just in case. Noah was there to watch over Mollie, and Mollie was the best equipped to deal with Lena if the elemental decided to get frisky.

  Greer smiled. Hell. Maybe Noah and Lore were Mollie’s backup.

  He jumped onto the roof and headed for the window. It wouldn’t take him long to crack it open, and then he’d see what he could find out about Lena Armstrong.

  * * *

  The first thing Mollie noticed when they entered Lena Armstrong’s house was the heat.

  Lore swore softly as he stepped inside, the heat so palpable everything looked hazy. “She’s here.”

  “Somewhere,” Noah growled.

  “Stay back, guys.” Mollie took a deep breath and concentrated on her own fire. The embers were banked, but it wouldn’t take much to ignite into a blaze, not when she was already surrounded by such warmth. She had to keep herself under control or her nerves would cause her own fire to blaze before she was ready. “I can handle this.” She began sucking in some of the heat, but there was just so damn much of it she was afraid for the others.