The spear tore through the shield of the woman as if it was made of paper and buried itself inside her body, thrusting right through her heart. She didn’t have time to scream. Her mouth gaped open. Looking down at the spear and the blood that pooled out from the wounds, she dropped the baton and slid noiselessly to the ground.
No one dared to move.
Slowly, I stepped to the side and faced the other two. The door was behind us now, and they were the ones who needed to make their escape. Two against two; the odds were suddenly in our favor. One of them dipped a hand inside his shirt and pulled out a clock.
He threw it in the air.
I leapt to catch the device but it was too late. A high-pitched sound erupted from the clock and both Aaron and I covered our ears. The assassins simply winked out of the room. They had invoked a special, powerful magic that was so rarely used that this was the first time I’d seen evidence of it. It was their escape plan.
Assassins didn’t usually need one.
When they took on a job, it got done.
But now this was the second time they attacked me and I managed to get away. And I killed one of them. Turning around, I looked back at the spot where the body lay. It wasn’t there anymore. I wasn’t surprised. They never allowed anyone to crack their identity.
“Assassins,” Aaron muttered. “In the name of all that is good, why?”
For a moment, I stood still, taking it all in. For now, we were safe. The spear was covered in blood. The whole room was a mess. The fine dining place that spelled comfort and indulgence was now in tatters. Two of the tables were broken. The walls were covered in soot. The marbled floor was burned and black in places. A few stray flames crackled over the walls. Battered chairs were spread all over the place, some of them with missing legs. Shards of crockery littered the floor.
With a gentle wave of my hand, the spear broke apart and the knives and forks formed a mound. “I think you would need to replace those. Not a good idea for people to eat with these now.”
He raised an eyebrow. The flames that sparkled on the wall winked out of view as if he silently commanded them. “You think?”
“I’m sorry about the mess.”
I did feel bad. There was a lot of labor and love that must have gone into this place, and now it was shredded to bits because of me.
“You feel bad?” He stepped a bit closer. The waves of hostility that emanated from him were almost like a physical force. Resisting the urge to step back, I held my ground. He was pissed off with me? Frankly, I didn’t give a shit. He invited me over, and trouble followed me. Not my fault. And yet the guilt simmered under the bravado. “Why?”
“They attacked me before also. I didn’t think they would do so again, at least not while I was here. If I didn’t come for lunch, your place wouldn’t have suffered so much damage,” I admitted.
“This wasn’t the first attack?”
I shrugged. “Of course. I was the target. Did you think you were?”
“The thought did strike me.” He paused and then cocked his head. “Plenty of enemies who would like to get rid of me, but…you say they attacked you before. Hmm.”
“I’m sorry about the damage.” He moved so fast that I couldn’t react as he grabbed by wrist and pulled me forward. Planting my hand on his chest, I growled. “Careful.”
His eyes glittered with ire. “Someone’s got a contract out on you, and you failed to tell me.”
“I didn’t see any reason to tell you.” A stab of guilt shot through my heart. “I should have, though. They could have killed you in the attack today. I shouldn’t have come out with you.”
Last time it was Bryan who nearly died, and now him. Of course, Aaron was in a better position to hold his ground in the face of such a danger. He helped me. Without him, I might have died today.
“I don’t give a damn about the damage,” he growled. “I’ll build the place again. You could have died. Twice. No one has survived an attack twice from these people.”
Wow. It must be nice to be so rich. He really didn’t seem to care a whit about the damage.
“I just did.” Swinging my arm free from his embrace, I stepped away. “And thank you for your help. Without you being there, it would have been…difficult.”
His gaze landed on the heap of cutlery that played a huge role in our victory. The assassins certainly didn’t expect it. Their shields were prepared keeping in mind our magic; my forte was air and his was fire. Hence their shields held for so long because they were designed to withstand attacks by those elements, but few people knew that I also possessed the magic of metal. It was a seldom-used magic, as it required me to rely on available metal. Air was always there, and I could draw on it without any depletion.
Of course if someone tried to fight me in a sealed room, the depletion of air would make me lose power quickly, and the resulting lack in oxygen would render me unconscious.
But so far that never happened.
“Metal? I didn’t know you were a dual mage.”
“I am.”
His grin made my heart jump. The man was devastating handsome when he used all of his charm. “You constantly amaze me, Cleo. A woman who can command air and metal, and yet uses her talent to work with the FBI to catch the bad guys. If you wanted, you could have joined the guild of assassins and earn a hefty sum of money or else you could have offered your services to any number of guilds and societies as a mercenary. You could earn a truckload of money.”
“Money doesn’t matter all that much.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
For the last time, I surveyed the destruction. It was terrible, and even though I felt bad, there wasn’t much I could do. “I’m not good at cleaning up so I’ll leave this up to you.”
He laughed. “Sure, no problem.”
“I do feel bad about it.”
“Don’t worry, I will find a way to exact a payment from you.”
That glint in his eyes was back. My body tingled all over from the promise of his words.
Oh yeah, right.
Like that was ever going to happen.
“I don’t think so. I don’t feel all that guilty.”
He laughed again and walked with me to the door. The side door opened and the waiter peeked out. He’d crawled right in when the trouble started. Somewhere in this mess was the Salmon I was promised. Oh, well. Another day.
The waiter looked around; I could read the confusion and misery in his eyes. “Sir?”
“Tell the manager to get this mess cleared. We will rebuild soon.” Aaron stopped at the door. “And I guess we’ll have to push the opening day ahead by a few weeks. Tell him to call me once it’s clean. And John?”
The waiter dared to step into the room, completely at a loss. “Yes, sir?”
“Throw away all the cutlery.”
John’s gaze darted to the bloody mound. He swallowed. “All of it, sir?”
“Yes, every last one. Recycle it. Thank you.” After opening the door, Aaron stepped through, blocking my path with his body. Once he appeared sure that no danger lurked outside, he moved aside to let me out. Sweet, right? It was a bit annoying. I could take care of myself, and yet it felt nice, in a strange kind of way, that someone wanted to take care of me. “I don’t think the assassins will come back in a hurry now that you have killed one of them.”
It would be hard to take them by surprise next time. Their shields would be reinforced when they reappeared. Third time lucky also? I doubted it.
“I hope so.”
His gaze settled on my face. Something swirled in the depth of his eyes, something that drew me in, and yet at the same time warned me to keep my distance. He was a dangerous man, and I saw plenty evidence of that back in the room. While my magic was dual, his command over his element was legendary. Another mage might have lost control and let the fire overtake the entire room, but his flames held their place as he controlled them even though he was busy fighting.
He was a man I needed
to watch.
I definitely didn’t want him as an opponent.
“But you do realize that they will be back. Tomorrow. Day after. Soon. When the assassins take out a contract, they don’t back away.”
His words hit me with a finality that I’d tried to ignore for so long. The assassins wouldn’t let go. I was their next target, and if they had to throw all of their force against me, they would do so in a bid to protect their reputation. If it ever became known that they missed a target, their whole guild would fall apart.
Wherever I went, whatever I did, I would remain vulnerable.
It was just something I would have to learn to live with…for however long that was.
“I’m always shielded.”
“That might not be enough.” He leaned forward. “If I wasn’t there today…”
What did he want? A bouquet? “I’ve already thanked you and apologized for the mess.”
His laughter took me by surprise. The sound of it soothed my tattered nerves. “You’re a bundle of contradictions, Cleo. Oh, I look forward to get to know you better.”
Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.
I intended to keep my distance from him. As my phone rang, I dug it out. “Yes, Jeremy?”
“Mark’s gone.”
Something on my phone must have shown because Aaron froze. “What is it?”
“Gone? What do you mean by that?”
“I called him. He didn’t reply. So I went over to take a look. His car is parked there, but he isn’t in it. His phone was lying on the seat.”
Mark was gone. He was supposed to be sitting in front of Smith Kline’s home right now. I was supposed to replace him in a couple of hours so he could take rest.
Where would he go?
And why would he disappear like that?
Mark was responsible. He wouldn’t do this if there wasn’t a valid reason or if he wasn’t taken against his will. My head spun as the phone shook in my hand.
Did I put Mark in danger by assigning him this chore?
Was he the third victim?
Chapter Thirteen
I would never be able to forgive myself.
Never, ever.
“Stop blaming yourself,” ordered Augusta.
It was perhaps the first time in my life that I found myself wringing my hands. Females in distress did that, and that wasn’t me. That word didn’t exist in my vocabulary. But right now I was at a loss. Mark was in danger. Perhaps he was dead already.
“I shouldn’t have send him there.” My voice was hollow, replete with despair. If I could wound back the clock, I would. But despite all the magic at my disposal, I couldn’t turn back time. “If I didn’t force him, he would be safe right now.”
Augusta sighed. “Cleo, you need to…”
Aaron spun me around. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he stared into my eyes. “If you want him alive, do something.” His voice was cold, hard. “Don’t just stand here and blame yourself. That’s not going to help anyone.”
It was as if someone poured cold water on me. My mouth opened and closed. “Jeremy, status please.”
Oh, how I hated the man. But he was right.
Springing into action was the only available choice.
I wanted Mark back in one piece, and I would do everything possible to make sure that happened.
“Glad that got sorted out,” muttered Augusta as she took a seat next to Jeremy. Even she appeared surprised at the way Aaron handled this situation, the way he handled me. I didn’t know him that well but he damned sure knew which buttons to push in order to galvanize me towards action. “Where were we?”
“The security footage shows him sitting in the car one minute and the next…poof, he is gone.”
“Magic,” said Augusta.
“Can’t be.” I eliminated that option. “Mark isn’t a spiritist, and only a true spiritist can travel from one place to another by walking through the land of the dead. And there is no spell powerful enough to open a portal without showing some activity in that area. We would have seen something on the screen that would have indicated the presence or use of magic.”
“Then what is it?”
Jeremy rewound the tape we’d acquired from the CCTV cameras located near Smith’s house. We watched it again. It made no sense. One second there, the other gone.
It wasn’t possible unless there was magic involved.
And that just couldn’t be.
“Give me a copy,” said Aaron. “I’ll send it to my people. See if they can find anything unusual.”
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have allowed it. He wasn’t part of our team. But hell, we were short of one man, and I didn’t want that man to end up dead, so if I could make a deal with the devil to bring him back, I would do so. Jeremy glanced at me but when I nodded, he handed Aaron a USB.
“Where is his car?” said Augusta.
“It’s back in the garage. I drove it back home.”
When I rushed to the spot next to Smith’s house, the car just stood there, empty and mocking us. We failed to protect one of our own.
I failed to protect one of our own.
No, this wasn’t the time to waste on regrets. I needed to see this through.
“Where was Smith when Mark disappeared?”
“At home,” I said. “He came out of the house three hours after Mark disappeared, got into his car, and drove away. He didn’t even look at Mark’s car. Clearly, he didn’t know that he was being shadowed.”
“If he is also not our killer, who the hell is he?” said Jeremy. “An invisible man?”
Nothing made sense. We had three suspects to start with. One of them was dead, the other was all the way in another city as confirmed by Agent Bryan, and now the third was eliminated because he wasn’t involved in Mark’s disappearance.
What was I supposed to do?
If this killer did something to Mark…
I couldn’t bear the thought.
Aaron put a hand on my shoulder. “I suggest you get word to the White Council.”
White Council?
Not a good idea.
The Council usually didn’t become involved until invited, but in cases like these, they wouldn’t wait around for us to issue a formal invitation. Two magical people were dead, and the third was…
They would come.
Aaron’s suggestion made sense. Either we call them and keep in touch or else have this taken out of our hands altogether. And in any case, the more people who looked for Mark, the better it was for him.
This wasn’t about territory anymore.
Mark was my friend. He was family, and I couldn’t take the risk to jeopardize chances of his safe return because of my apprehensions regarding the White Council.
Silence reigned in the room as everyone looked at me.
My team, my case, my call.
I nodded.
“I’ll do it,” offered Augusta. She left the room.
“I’ll go over the footage from other cameras. Although they don’t show his car, maybe I can see something that might point at the identity of the…kidnapper,” said Jeremy.
Killer?
Kidnapper?
What difference it made?
“I’ll interview Smith.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Aaron.
I glanced at him. “Why?”
He hesitated. “I don’t want you to become the fourth victim.”
I was too angry to worry about my safety, but the truth was that Aaron was a formidable mage, and if I needed backup to save Mark, he would be the ideal choice.
“Thank you.” I turned towards Jeremy. “If you see something, you call me. And…don’t go out.”
“I’ll be right here.”
Jeremy and Mark were best friends; I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through, but he was a professional, as was I, and we would get this job done.
Mark would be home soon, safe and sound.
I’d to believe it or else
I would collapse.
“We’ll take my car,” he said.
We moved out. Even if Smith wasn’t involved, he might have seen something. It was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase; we didn’t have a suspect, we had two corpses, and one guy who vanished. Mark had to be alive. I believed it, and as long as I believed it with all my heart, nothing would happen to him.
“I’ll come with you,” said Dubey. I turned to face him. Vampires could be stealthy. He’d sneaked up behind us while we discussed things. With a jolt, Aaron turned to face the vampire who appeared determined. “Maybe that Smith guy will talk to me.”
“You’re not offering yourself as bait.”
He bared his fangs. Dubey could be scary when he wanted to be. A passive vampire, he was committed to a non-violent existence. He lived on animal blood that was purchased by the commune for his comfort. “A mage, and a werewolf already dead. If this person wants to add to his glowing list, he needs me.”
“Smith is probably not the killer. There is no evidence,” said Aaron.
He glided past me with such speed that I barely noticed the movement. Aaron and I both walked out to find him already seated in the car. “I guess he is coming with us,” said Aaron.
I didn’t want to put anyone else I knew at risk, but hell…if there was anything better than a violent mage by my side, it was a violent mage and a non-violent, but pissed off vampire.
“He is a great friend of Mark's. They used to play cards almost every night.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow. A shadow of a smile flitted over his lips. “A card-playing vampire? Seems I have seen everything now.”
“You mess with one of us, you mess with us all.”
He angled himself so that his body blocked mine. “Is that a threat?”
I gazed into his eyes. There was something there, something that simmered around the edges. Power, coiled and buckled, restrained by will, held in check, but barely so. This was a man I didn’t ever want to be enemies with. He would probably level everything in his path if he was on a rampage, but then I liked to live on the edge. Maybe one day we would go head to head and find out which one of us would break first. Perhaps then we would be able to nip in the bud this bubbling attraction that plagued us…well, certainly me.
01 Serial Killer (FBI Paranormal Casefiles) Page 13