Daddy looked at Constantine. “Why would you get your brother involved in a human murder trial? What could possibly motivate you to-”
“It was Fee, father.” Constantine’s voice was hollow and broken as tears slid down his face. Daddy got quiet and dropped his head.
“I’m sorry to hear that, son.” Daddy knew about Constantine’s relationship with the human. Did he know everything?
I slid the paper across the conference table. “Did Daddy know you were still in contact with her?” Daddy’s head jerked up at the news. “How long have you been having an affair with her?” I asked softly.
Constantine laughed bitterly. “How long? It never stopped. Why do you think I moved to Charlotte?”
The entire room was cemetery quiet. I had to finish or I’d choke. I hated being the one to drag my brother's secrets out into the open. “Constantine, you’ve got to tell us what you spoke about with Fee the last time you talked to her. It looks like whoever the Fae is that’s after you, is targeting your work. Did you mention anything pertaining to your research to Fee?”
He shook his head no, and then looked at me with a puzzled look. It was Tamerlane that gave a voice to his confusion. “Hold up, did you say Fae? Are you sure?”
Irulan leaned forward to look Tamerlane in eye. “I searched the house for traces of magic right before we came here.” She shuddered as she remembered the backlash of power that momentarily dazed her. “It was definitely Fae and stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before.”
Daddy tilted his head in my direction. “Stronger than you and Valeria?”
Irulan winced and slowly shook her head. “Yes and no. I’m not sure, Hadrian. It tasted familiar, but nothing I’ve met had power like that. So I can’t be sure.”
Daddy dipped his head at Constantine. “Answer your sister, son. What did you tell your human?”
Constantine slapped his hands against the table and groaned. “For the second time NOTHING!!” He brushed his hands across the deep grooves in the paper. The impressions were all he had left of Fee; letters written and erased time after time, setting up meeting after meeting behind William's back.
I looked over at David and lost my temper. “I’m tired of your lies, Constantine. I might have kept Valerian’s case a secret, but it was because you asked us to. I have not outright lied to anyone’s face like you did, and continue to do.”
I pointed to David and held up my hands. “Whatever this thing is has been in my home. It's been near my son. Do you hear me? It tried to fucking fry me by sabotaging my car while I was out trying to get YOUR girlfriend’s husband off for a murder; you're indirectly responsible for. Stop lying to me and tell me the truth, T!”
Daddy’s eyes bled to black, and he pushed his aura at Constantine, forcing him back into his chair. “For the last time answer the question, Constantine. You will no longer endanger your family with your inability to tell the truth.”
Constantine shook his head back and forth as tears slid down his face. “I swear on everything I hold dear, I NEVER spoke about my work with Fee! Father, look in my head, you'll know I’m not lying.”
Daddy pulled back his aura and Constantine fell forward against the table. “Valeria, your brother is not lying,” he muttered after a few moments.
Constantine wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. “I wasn’t worried about work when I was with Fee. The time we had together was too precious to waste on shop talk.”
I had all the pieces to the puzzle, but they wouldn’t fit together. I looked at Valerian and Tamerlane. “What am I missing? It's all right here, but something is missing.”
I didn’t get the chance to dwell on it because alarms started blaring. The lights blinked off, and thick, steel blinds slammed shut, covering the windows. I heard the click of locks sliding into place on the door as Thade and Tamerlane jumped up and flew over to the only source of light in the room. A glowing security panel embedded into the wall near the door.
Thade’s growl was laced with power as he punched in a sequence of numbers and leaned forward to have his retina scanned. A few seconds later, his cursing filled the room.
“Fuck! I don't believe this!”
My father was the epitome of cool as he slowly rotated in his chair to look at Tamerlane and Thade. “What’s the situation boys?”
Tamerlane raked his fingers through his braids and hissed. “The building has gone dark, Father. We've got a hostel on the premises. The guards at the gatehouse are dead.”
The conference room became a blur of motion. Thade and Tamerlane were busy trying to coordinate the guards outside of the room and get a team of Sentinels en route from the CMS. We might have had our own forces, but we were still under their jurisdiction.
Thade stuffed his cell into his pocket and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Uncle Marcus is on his way with three teams, e.t.a. ten minutes. Have you gotten anyone on their coms yet?”
Tamerlane hurled his small watch-like com into the wall and growled as it shattered to dust. “Even the emergency lines are silent. Either everyone is compromised and forced to observe radio silence, or they're all dead.”
I shook my head, tossing a stray burgundy strand of hair out of my face. “A mix of both, I think, but I can find out for sure.” I closed my eyes and pushed my aura ahead of me, fanning it across the room and out into the building. It passed through room after room in a massive wave, briefly brushing the bodies inside as I searched the main tower.
I pushed my aura farther away from me than I ever had before, until I got a feel for every person that was on the premises, everyone except our intruder.
When my aura slammed back into me, it was with enough force to double me over. I jerked forward and wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to hold it together under the weight of the emotions that came back at me.
Irulan was there at my side, holding me by the shoulders. “Baby block it. Shut down your shields. You can’t lose control in here. We've got nowhere to go, and I can cover everyone if you blow.”
I gritted my teeth and nodded. I knew she was right, but it was so much. There were over three hundred people in the building right now. Almost every person was scared out of their minds, because we'd never gone black before. Going black was bad, really bad, and they didn’t know what to expect.
Others were in pain. I didn’t sense our intruder, maybe two, but they-it was definitely out there. I’d touched the auras of over twenty incapacitated guards. They weren't dead, but they were damn near close to it. Whatever it was, took out the muscle first.
Anxiety, anticipation, frustration, and anger, so many other emotions, all strong and fueled by adrenaline, ran rampant through the building, and they all came rushing into me. I fell forward onto my knees as tears gathered in my eyes. The rush of blood in my ears was so loud it was hard to hear anything.
Irulan’s voice sounded muffled and far away as she nervously called for my other half. “Valerian, get here now. I need you.”
My brother gingerly took my face in his hands and raised it so he could look me in the eyes. Crackling blue lights danced across his face, and I knew that my eyes were flooded with Fae power. My body was trying to protect itself, but there was nothing to fight, but the emotions riding me.
“Valeria,” his voice was calm and soothing as he called out to me. “I’m here, Sis, let me help you.” I heard footsteps come closer and felt a wave of panic. I jerked away from the emotion and Valerians grip, and scuttled backward across the floor. “No,” I moaned. “It’s too much, keep away from me.”
My shields were blasted wide open, and I couldn’t close them no matter how hard I tried. “Father, stay back, your panic is only going to make things worse,” Valerian ordered. It was rare to hear him talk to Daddy that way. Even rarer were the emotions coming off of Daddy. I’d never felt my father so scared. Knowing that the ultra-cool Hadrian Trumaine was capable of that level of fear didn’t help. I moved farther away until I’d backed myself into a
corner.
“Val, hey. Why’d you leave me? I thought we were going to talk.” Valerian inched closer and closer until he was sitting next to me. “We really got to stop meeting like this, Valeria.”
My quiet laugh was part sob. “It’s too much, Vedo. I can't take it.” My voice was barely a whisper. I was scared to talk any louder for fear that my voice would turn into an endless stream of moans.
“You don't have to, Val. Let me take some of it.” I shook my head no and inched away from him.
“I can't do that to you. Don't want you to feel the hurt, Vedo.” Valerian pulled himself to his knees and let his forehead fall against my own.
“Seeing you like this hurts me, Val. You're my twin. How do you think I feel? Your aura is beating at my shields looking for an out. I can give you that. I promise you; I can handle it.”
It sounded nice, but I couldn’t do it. “NO!”
“He won't have to handle it alone, Valeria,” Constantine dropped to his knees beside me. “I’m so sorry I’ve gotten you hurt, wooly booger. I’ll help Vedo. He can funnel some of the emotions into me.” He rubbed the side of my leg and smiled. “I can do this.”
I heard the soft thud of two more bodies hitting the ground. When I looked around me, I was surrounded by the men in my family. All of their eyes had bled to black in anticipation. Valerian tilted my head and pushed his aura against my own. “Let go,” he urged, before giving one final shove.
It felt like a damn had been blown open inside my heart. All the added emotions went rushing out of my and into my brother. Valerian fell forward onto his palms, his back bowed, as he shook under the emotional onslaught. His gasp was filled with awe and pain. “I had no idea,” he moaned.
His faces shifted as he fought for the control he needed to channel the emotions away from him. Soon both Tamerlane and Constantine fell forward under the weight of emotions that hit them. Both of their faces shifted as their teeth gnashed together under the strain.
The last person to catch the fallout was our father. When the last of the wave hit him, his chest bowed out as he fought to hold his shift. His eyes flew open, and he looked at me as if he were seeing me for the first time. “This is just a portion of what you were holding inside you.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement full of awe. Daddy clamped his mouth shut, his hand balling into a fist, as he processed the wave. True to form, Hadrian Trumaine refused to lose control. His fangs dropped, but he held his shift. He was the only one who managed to stay upright.
Chapter 12
The dancing blue lights began to fade, and I exhaled. I let my head fall forward onto my knees, and was promptly knocked backward by a body barreling into me. Said body was David, hurling himself into my arms. “Don’t ever do that again,” he said through clenched teeth.
In the excitement I’d forgotten all about him and his friends, in their quiet little corner. If we'd been at home, Irulan would have sent him to the crawl space under my bed. Here, there was nowhere for him to run to, so he witnessed everything. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” I didn’t know what else to say. The thought of David being scared of me brought tears to my eyes.
David pulled away from me and swiped his hand across my face. “You’re sorry for what, Ma? That was, so kick ass what you just did.” He jerked his finger toward my father and brothers who were just picking themselves up off the floor. “Look at them. Not a single one stayed upright. Like I said, so kick ass.”
The strong voice he was trying to project cracked and he hugged me again. “Just don't do it again, seeing it one time was enough.”
I nodded and let my head fall into the crook of his neck, “Whatever you say, David.”
A hand gripped my arm and hauled me to my feet. David, hanging onto my neck, came along for the ride. “She’s fine, David, go see to your friends.” Although David acknowledged my father with a bow of his head, he didn’t move until I told him, it was okay
Daddy brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ears. “Are you alright, Valeria?" His voice was controlled and measured, choking down the last of the emotions that he'd taken on.
“I’m good, Daddy.” He rubbed his thumb across my forehead and pressed a soft kiss there.
“We’ve got work to do, sweetheart.” That was the Hadrian I knew.
“Yes, Daddy,” I sighed.
Irulan pulled me away from him and into her arms.
“You don't have to go if you're not up to it,” she whispered in my ear.
“No baby, I’m fine, really.” She kissed me in the same spot my father had and together we joined Tamerlane and the others.
Thade squeezed my shoulder and poked me in the side with a finger. “Go ‘head, Xena, with your bad ass.”
Tam looked up from the glowing section of the table he was looking at, “You good?”
“Yep.”
“You ready?”
“Always.”
He pointed a finger at the building plans that were illuminated by the table and traced his finger along a path. “Marcus is outside and ready. His Sentinels are going to start searching the lower levels, and we're going to start on this floor and work our way down. Any guards we find, we'll assimilate into the search.”
He slapped his palm against Thade’s bare chest. “Since the only way Valeria has been able to catch any sign of this thing is through scent, Thade will run point in wolf form. I’ve advised Marcus to have a few of his shifters do the same. It's open season on anything that doesn’t smell like a were, vamp, or shifter.”
He looked at Irulan and frowned. “Sorry, Ire, the thing that we're hunting is Fae. Most of these guys have never scented a true fae before so they might not be able to tell you from whatever is stalking our halls.”
Irulan smiled, letting a touch of power creep into her eyes. “I can take care of myself, Tam. Don't worry about me. I’m not sitting out.” She kicked off her pumps and the tingle of magic enveloped the room. Her grey business suit darkened and began to change.
The pressed cotton melted into leather until she stood in a black suit similar to our own. Valerian had a lopsided grin on his face. “That was so cool.”
I looked down at her bare feet and frowned. “Um, I was kidding about running around in bare feet, Ire. Why didn’t you transform the shoes into something more appropriate?”
She looked at me like I’d slapped her. “I’d never. Those shoes are my favorite.” She called Rowan over.
“Yes, Mrs. Trumaine.” I almost corrected her, but Irulan shook her head, no. She slid her foot next to Rowan's and smiled.
“Mind if I borrow your shoes, dear. I promise you'll get them back.”
Rowan kicked off the dainty slides, and Irulan stepped into them. Magic slid down her body and transformed them into a pair of sturdy, black, thick-soled sneakers.
Rowan was visibly surprised, but it wasn’t in the way I thought. She tapped Irulan on the shoulder and pointed down. “Um, Mrs. Trumaine, those were my Steve Madden's.”
Irulan held up a heel and admired her handiwork. “Oh…he'll do, but he's no Manolo. No worries, I’ll get you a pair of real shoes when this is all over.” Irulan shooed the shocked child back to David and Dante.
“Are we all good?” Tamerlane asked. Everyone nodded, and we divided into groups. I was leading Irulan and Gridlock. Thade had Tam and Ballistic. The plan was to work our way out in either direction, searching each office as we went.
Constantine and Valerian both coughed. “What about us, Tam?” Valerian asked.
Tamerlane looked past him and winked at David. “What about you? You're a lawyer, and he's an anthropologist. What are you going to do? Throw a briefcase and a textbook at our perp?”
Valerian looked hurt, and Constantine looked pissed. Tamerlane shrugged his shoulders. “What? I didn’t stutter. Don't look so shocked. What did you expect me to say? Pick up a gun and join us.”
“Listen; I know you can fight, especially you, Constantine, but warfa
re is different now. We aren't dealing with swords and catapults, and you don't have the training that we do. The best way you can help us, is to stay here and protect them,” he said, pointing at the teenagers.
“We don't need protecting!” They called out in unison.
“The fact that you think so proves my point.”
Tamerlane went to the console near the door and began the override sequence that would unlock the door. While he procured our exit, Thade stripped down to his tidy whities and began shifting. Once he was done, the almost pony-sized, grey wolf padded over to my side and sniffed my pants leg.
He looked up at me with his wide, intelligent gold-eyes and whined. I looked down and jumped inside his head. “Is that what we’re looking for?” He asked.
“Yeah, that’s the scent that I caught outside my home and in the Baker house.”
Thade snorted and trotted over to Tam, eager to get going. Tam touched a finger to his lips, and we got quiet. Irulan and I raised our power levels, and Gridlock lifted his mini-assault cannon. We moved into the hallway, waited for the door to lock, and got down to business.
Irulan and Gridlock formed a triangle formation behind me as I moved to the first office. I scented both the doors on either side of the hall before I let them go anywhere near them. Gridlock moved to the adjacent door, and we began the override sequences so we could get inside to look for employees.
Irulan and I went together, quickly searching under the desk and inside two small closets. Everything was clear. One room down. When we met Gridlock in the hall, there were two, scared-out-of-their-minds; looking women huddled on either side of him.
“What do you want me to do with them?” He thought as he looked down at the near-hysterical women as if they were carriers of a new age, bubonic plague. Men are such wusses when it comes to a crying female.
“Take them back to Daddy and the boys, and then catch up.” And so it went. We searched the rooms, taking any employees back to the conference room with the others. We moved as fast as we could, but it still took us thirty minutes to search ten rooms. There were thirty two on the floor.
Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) Page 10