by Mina Carter
“Aye. Intuitive and straightforward, much like yer lovely mother.” His voice was sad and suddenly gentle.
Chaz almost jumped out of her chair. Reining in her emotions, she sat back to consider him and his pointed remark. Sliding her chair so she sat farther away from him, she leaned in on her elbows and narrowed her eyes. Unintentionally her voice came out as a hiss. “What do you know about my mother?”
“Easy now, love…easy.” He frowned.
“I will be easy when you answer my question.”
“I met your mother and father when they were here over six months ago. Please, Chazma, accept my deepest sympathies. I know how ye lost them and yes, it is why I wanted this time with ye.”
“You know? What exactly does that mean? What do you know about them?”
“I know that they were doing a bit of amateur sleuthing regarding some unusual animal slaughters, and the murders that had taken place in New York.” He shook his head. “I believe it is what got them killed. I want to find the bastard. And now he has challenged us to do just that by committing his savage acts right along our coast.” He touched her hand as though to assuage her. “Easy, lovey. I know what ye are thinking. I think it too, but ye could get hurt. I think he is headed for Brionn and Dunglebury. I feel it in my gut. He is moving this way and I think I know why.”
“Why?”
“Let me hold on to that till I’m sure.”
“Then tell me, tell me about my parents,” she requested hoarsely.
“I don’t know much. Your mother didn’t do a lot of confiding in me. I know this much because just before they left for New York, she took me aside and told me she had reason to believe she knew who might be behind the murders. It struck me odd at the time…because she said ‘behind the murders.’ A singular way of putting it, don’t ye think?” He shook his head sadly. “She wouldn’t tell me who she thought this person was. She said I wasn’t equipped to deal with such a man and she didn’t want me facing him head-on.”
Chaz digested this. “She was right. You aren’t equipped to deal with such a creature, and I don’t mean any disrespect to you or the garda as a whole, but these aren’t just ritual killings, and they aren’t the work of a man who is just a serial killer with a blood fetish. This is a monster that thinks like a monster and has strengths beyond the ordinary.”
“Then you tell me, Chaz. What is he?” Tom snapped. “I’ve got two dead girls torn and shredded and I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I tell you they were like the others, drained of blood.”
“Oh, no.” She looked at Tom. “When? Is he still killing a week apart?”
“Ah, so ye do know more than you let on, don’t ye?” He looked at her hard, his bent arm holding his fist under his strong chin, a finger tapping his lips. “We’ve kept it out of the papers, but these are small villages and word spreads faster than a snap of the fingers.” Tom directed a dark gaze at her. “You noticed how he times these slaughters? Exactly seven days between kills.”
“Yes.” How much would he believe? Carefully she said, “Tom I don’t know what you believe, but whether you believe in sorcery or not, he believes the blood is important to whatever sort of weird ritual he performs.” She stopped. No sense telling him more than that for the time being.
“Aye, that is why I believe it is indeed a serial killer’s fetish. I suppose he offers the blood to Satan?”
She shook her head. “This guy uses it for himself. Everything he does is about himself: what he wants, what he needs. His comfort zone.”
“What are ye saying?” Tom should have been shocked. He didn’t look it. “Are ye telling me he drinks the blood? Chazma, how do ye know all this? Did yer mother tell ye something? If ye know something ye must tell me—help me.”
Chaz leaned in. “Tom, if I told you what I think, you simply wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
“No. You would think me insane.”
“I think these savage murders are insane. He is insane.” He grabbed her hands and held her gaze. “Tell me, Chaz, what am I fighting here?”
“I am not certain that he is insane in the way that you mean. His goals are certainly those of a madman, but make no mistake, Tom—he is very clever. I don’t know who it is. I only know what side he is on. I suspect he thinks—believes—he will achieve ultimate power.”
“And ye came here to find him and avenge your parents’ deaths.” His palm slapped the table. An incredulous look crossed his face. “Ye don’t know what ye are about, a wee lovely, trying to take on this monster.
“I won’t lie to you. I am here to find this thing—because you and I both know he has evolved into something either less than or more than a man and is in fact almost in every imaginable way, a beast.” Chaz glared at him challengingly.
“Do we now? We both know it, ye say, and just out of curiosity, does anyone else know it?”
“I am not sure, but I am going to find out.” Chaz refused to give anymore away. She knew what he was asking. He wanted to know about Jethro McBain and what his lordship knew or didn’t know.
“And how do you propose to do that?” He gave her a half-smile. “Use yer beautiful wiles, for I tell ye, ye have me on the floor and nearly smitten.”
“The key word being nearly!” Chaz laughed warmly. She liked Tom Murphy. He was a bit of a pain with his constant questions and doubts, but she liked him.
“So then, all by yer lonesome ye mean to take on…what did ye call him? The ‘beast’?” He waved his hand in front of her face. “There isn’t anything to ye, lass, how can ye expect to stay alive?” Elbows on the table, he took both her hands and said, “Work with me, Chazma. We have a staff to help ye. We have a lab, such as it is, but more than ye have. Chazma, leave it to us.”
“I won’t get in your way, if that is what you are worried about.”
“Chazma Donnelly, my family goes back a long way. My ancestors believed many things and passed on those beliefs. Ye have been talking around those things, using double meanings in your explanations and I know why. I know what ye believe and while I am a modern man, I accept the possibility that there are things beyond what I can see and feel. Do ye understand what I am trying to tell ye?”
“Yes. You are telling me that you have a healthy respect for things beyond the imagination.”
“Aye, I do. Will ye believe me then, and let me help ye?”
She trusted Tom Murphy. “Soon…when I know more.”
“Will ye keep this in mind, Chazma Donnelly? Will ye remember that the closer ye get to the truth, the closer ye will be to getting hurt. I don’t want to see that happen to ye. It isn’t what your mother would want.”
For some inexplicable reason this triggered unreasonable anger in Chaz. She fought to control it and even then answered on a harsh note. “No? Do you think not? I will tell you what my mother would want. She would want this thing, this evil thing that killed her and my dad, this thing that keeps on killing to be stopped from killing any more innocent people. That is what my mother would want.”
“Aye, maybe so, but she wouldn’t be expecting ye to be out there, setting yerself up as bait, now would she—and that’s what I think ye mean to do?” His hazel eyes narrowed, sharp.
She pulled completely away—out of the conversation, out of the subject. His statement had startled her. How would he know that?
“It is obvious to me. Yer mother stuck her neck out looking for him, with what I believe were considerable unmentionable skills at her disposal.” He gave her a level look and then proceeded. “I believe in the end she knew who it was she was looking for, but it was too late. She couldn’t pull back and it got her killed. If yer mother couldn’t protect herself, how can ye?” He blew out a rush of air. “There is something out there that takes its victims by surprise—thrashes them with claws larger than anything our labs have ever seen, splits them open, Chaz. I want ye to picture it and walk away. Leave it to us.”
“No. This isn’
t something a police investigation can take care of.”
“Oh, but it is something a wee lass can handle, is it?” He sneered at her, but even so reluctant admiration shone in his eyes. “I won’t have ye getting in me way.”
“Don’t worry, Tom, I won’t do that. You handle your end of it, and I will handle mine.”
“Right then, we’ve drawn our markings, but, Chazma, I want ye to remember that if ye get into deep waters, call me. I’ll throw ye a line.”
“I will remember that.” She looked up and almost cheered. “Oh, our lunch is here, and I am famished.”
The waitress set down their meals and drinks and asked if there was anything else they needed. He winked at her and said, “Maybe later then…”
Chaz dove into her food with gusto. The Irish earth recognized the adult Fae woman Chazma had become and welcomed her by giving her a surge of power. It was rightfully hers to use, but its core was growing and suffering that growth with hunger pains. Food was fuel, and it fed the power.
Tom was doing his job. He had warned her off so she wouldn’t get hurt. Wasn’t that a fair estimation? Of course it was. Thus, she wasn’t really angry with him. She was irritated and it was making her jumpy. Dark X had been so close, and here she sat with Inspector Tom as though nothing had occurred. She trusted him to a point.
Her mother had told him a tidbit and then no more. Hadn’t her mother trusted him?
Maybe she was being overly cautious. He could be helpful. Hadn’t he just confided a piece of information to her that wasn’t widely known yet? Another two women had been killed, drained of blood, and it had been close by.
Conclusion? Dark X was in town. Was he staying at an inn like an ordinary fellow, or did he live here? She had to find him. Today he had openly taunted her. He had known she would not be in a position to follow.
In spite of that and his cockiness, he didn’t know that she had the advantage: he didn’t know the level of her power. In fact, she wasn’t quite certain herself what the extent of her magic was. She knew her weakness, however, and only hoped he did not.
Chewing another bite of her delicious lunch, she wondered if this area represented his comfort zone, or if he just couldn’t help himself.
The answer hit her. It wasn’t the usual obsession. He wasn’t in it for the kill, although the darkness in him probably enjoyed it. His goal had a deadline. The obsession didn’t lie with the killing, but with his schedule, the ultimate culmination of his route.
Blood rituals were an ugly part of black magic, used as an offering to the demons. Was he offering human blood for some obscure special power?
Instinct said no. Whatever else drove him eluded her. This—this thing that he now was had evolved beyond the dark inside his core. He had merged with the dark.
Tom interrupted her thoughts chatting about a recent nonsensical experience to draw her out of her mood. His gift of gab steered them to light conversation.
Chaz fell in step with his style, laughing and telling him about similar experiences she had at school and it wasn’t very long before they had fallen back into an easy friendship.
Not long after lunch he walked her to her jeep parked just outside the pub. He opened her car door wide and stood for a moment. Chaz picked up the slack. “Thanks for a wonderful lunch. Don’t worry about me. I know how to keep my head low.”
“I’ll just bet ye do, but if ye need an ear, call me. I slipped my cell phone number into your bag.”
Chaz laughed but as she bent to get into her car, a movement across the street caught her eye and she paused before sliding in.
Jethro stood across the avenue and looked her way.
He hulked like a mountain at the foot of the local bank’s wide stone steps. The view was beyond captivating and she gawked. Don’t stare at him, Chaz. Her gaze refused to move. Well, she excused herself, a girl shouldn’t be blamed for looking at that. He was eye candy of the finest quality. He wore a brown leather jacket, and she could just see the cowl of a cream-colored sweater. Jeans—tight, fine-fitting jeans hugged his trim waist and long muscular legs. She lapsed and imagined his hard body pressed up against hers…Stop that!
Mentally slapping herself, she shut away all such thoughts. The damn man used up the atmosphere, sucked it all in around him until there wasn’t anything else to look at.
His aura pulsated and rocked until a woman could only start imagining...
Holy shit! The primal vibrations filled the airwaves and her brain liquefied.
However, her system suffered a jolt when a pretty woman with dark auburn hair pranced up to him and stroked his arm sensually.
Jethro bestowed her with a warm smile, but made no move in her direction. It was obvious they were very well acquainted. Instead he turned from the woman’s chatter and locked gazes once more with Chaz.
Chaz lost the ability to breathe. Tom Murphy had been relegated to another planet.
Jethro inclined his head and his mass of black hair fell about his handsome face as he silently greeted her. Do something, Chaz shouted in her mind. Breathe in, out. That’s right, like that. Chaz managed a perfunctory greeting by giving him a nod of her head, before she dove into the driver’s seat and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she had a full vision of him in her rearview mirror. The dark-haired woman framed his face in her hands and forced his attention to her. She looked poised and ready for a kiss.
“Ah, Jethro—catches the eye, doesn’t he, love?” Tom bent at her window. “And himself is looking a bit predatory, if ye ask me.” His tone was thoughtful, as he looked back at McBain, and repeated, “Aye…predatory it is.”
“What…over that pretty woman?” Chaz asked trying not to sound too interested.
“Did ye not notice? It’s ye he was looking at all the while. It’s ye he wants—this time.”
“Now that is the funniest joke you have told me today!” Chaz almost snorted. This time, eh? No this time for him.
“Oh, there is nothing funny about it,” Tom Murphy declared, and then took a step back from her car, as though considering his next words carefully. “Look, maybe ye will say it is none of my business, but there is something you should know.”
“Okay, Papa…” An amiable tease lined her words.
“He is a charmer, love, but don’t be falling in that direction. He is a heartbreaker…or so I have been told.”
“No need to tell me that.”
“Och then—since ye know it, ye should be safe. So ye think.”
“You, my bright-eyed garda, aren’t any less the charmer. So it doesn’t look like I am safe on any front.” Chaz laughed lightly as she started to back out of her space.
Chaz hadn’t gotten far down the road when her cell phone rang. She had spoken to her grandmother the other evening just before she had turned out the lights, so she wondered who it could be as she put it to her ear.
“Chazma…”
Chaz heard the hopeful tone of his voice and it cheered her, someone normal and not after anything more than her company. “Hi, James, what’s up?”
He laughed. “You…you are what’s up. I am going to come right to the point and tell you outright, I’d love to see you again. Are you free for dinner tonight?”
Chaz hesitated because she really didn’t feel she had time for the dating thing and if the good young doctor had more than friendship on his mind, she wasn’t up for it. She wasn’t in a position to do the romantic entanglement scenario. Many things waited, piled up on her plate and she didn’t really want to get in a position where she would be leading on the big, sweet Dr. Dunboyne.
As she opened her mouth to decline, she realized he’d offered the perfect excuse for her to explore Dunglebury, especially at night. Also, he might be able to give her additional information about the recent murders—like the exact location. She would have to make it clear that friendship was all she was interested in. Is that true? a voice in her head asked.
She needed to get a feel of the village in the starkne
ss of the evening. Throwing a challenge to Mr. Dark X to see what he would do with it wouldn’t hurt, either. What hole did he hide in? Next on her list: ferret the villain out and then follow him.
His ego had laced his power. Eager to display his magical prowess with the orb, he only drew back when she turned it around on him. She knew he wouldn’t make that mistake with her again. Had he been in town today looking for information on her? That was something she had anticipated, but not so soon.
An audacious approach to lure him out was best. She had to appear cocky, draw him in and let him think her nothing more than a nuisance. She had to make him let down his guard.
“Chazma? Are you there?”
“Yes, thank you, I am free tonight.” Chaz quickly made up her mind.
“Fantastic. I see my last patient about five. How about seven?”
“Seven, huh? I’ll be starving by seven, but I’ll snack.”
“I’ll give you directions to my place. That will save us time.”
Surprise gave her pause. It was old-fashioned she knew, but it had been her mother’s rule: he should fetch you, or don’t bother. But, that was archaic. “Sure, give me the directions.” She pulled over and dug into her bag for a pen and a scrap piece of paper and jotted them down.
“You are a wonder. You coming out here will save me time if I run late with appointments. There is a lovely little inn just at the far corner of the village. I think you will like its old Irish flair.”
“Sounds good.”
Clicking off the phone, she put the car back in gear and started off. It wasn’t long and she was pulling onto Brionn Drive and the manor loomed large before her. Again she was reminded of the mansion in her nightmare. Cocking her head, the difference dawned on her. The mansion in her recurring dream was an oddly shaped small castle and appeared in need of repairs, while Brionn, although ancient, was classically lovely, warm, and welcoming. The two places were starkly different and yet she felt a connection. What?
As she parked the jeep in the courtyard she heard another vehicle pulling in and looked around to find Jethro parking beside her.