"I can't—"
"What if you went out like that with the car in motion? Or at a high speed while on a chase?" Levi shook his head. "We need to find answers, Crwys. As soon as possible."
* * *
Crwys's mind felt murkier as the day went by. The more the tried to concentrate, the sharper the headache became. After a while, he rested his head on his arms and slept at his desk.
When Prescott woke him up and told him to go home and take some Nyquil, he checked his phone. No messages. So he sent Sam a few. A quick hello. Want to meet for lunch? I love you.
An hour later, still nothing.
Prescott arrived back sometime after eleven and approached their desks. "I told you to go home."
"I'm fine. Just a late night."
"Okay." She looked at both of them. "What have you got?"
Crwys let Levi fill their captain in on what they had, which wasn't much. Not a big change since yesterday, or rather, not a lot they could share with her. Telling Captain Prescott that a body-jumping Demon Vampire called a Leviathan had found some soul-stealing creature and was using him to gather bodies wasn't exactly an every day occurrence on the police blotter.
"Holliard," Prescott said as she moved around Levi's desk and slapped her hand on the table.
Crwys had been staring at his computer screen. Too bad it'd flipped to the screen saver due to inactivity. "Sorry…"
"You look like shit. Have you tried the hospital?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired."
"Then stop staying up late with that crazy girlfriend of yours and her wolf and get out there with Tulose and find this son of a bitch. I've got the Chief of Ds on my back because he's got the Mayor on his. Two houses full of bodies with no suspects is a PR nightmare." She snapped her fingers. "Now!"
The two of them grabbed their things and headed out the door. Crwys tossed Levi the keys before he dialed the shop.
"Bell, Book and Candle—your one-stop shop for magic and herbs. Jack speaking."
"Jack, it's Holliard. Is Sam in?"
"I don't think so. Lemme ask Kyle."
Crwys heard the phone hit the counter, then Jack's voice. Another voice before, "Hey Crwys, it's Kyle. Sam's not here."
"She's not?" He frowned. "Did you see her leave?"
"No, but her Jeep's gone," he paused. "Have you seen Grey?"
Crwys stood outside the passenger side and leaned his arms on the roof. "What do you mean have I seen Grey? Sam said she stayed with you."
"No, she didn't. She was with us last night—but I can't remember if she rode back with Sam or not."
"Maybe she went with Sam?" He knew this was a false hope.
"No…usually Grey comes in to say hi and I take her for a walk. But she never came downstairs."
"I'll be right over. I want you to tell me everything that happened last night."
"Sure, but—"
Crwys hung up and jogged around the car. He opened the door. "I'm driving. And don't argue with me. I think Grey's missing. We're heading over to the shop. You can come or you can stay here."
Levi stayed where he was. "I'll drive us to my place first so I can do a little investigating on my own. But I'm driving. I like this body, Crwys. I don't want it plastered all over the side of some semi in New Orleans traffic."
SEVENTEEN
CRWYS
Jack and Kyle were busy with customers, so Crwys poured himself a cup of coffee after letting them know he was there and then walked upstairs. A quick look around at the mess told him Sam hadn't been back, so he went back downstairs and wandered into her office.
Nothing in there gave him a clue as to what was happening. The desk was as disorganized as always, so were the stacks of mail and flyers, and there was a pile of clothing in the corner he was sure had run well past its expiration date. He spied one of Sam's old overshirts. Wanting to feel a bit closer to her, he strolled to the pile behind her desk and picked it up. When he did, a huge gray feather fell out of it and sailed slowly to the floor.
He stared at it for a few seconds, thinking he saw something blue around it. He dropped the shirt and traded it for the feather. The thing was the length of his elbow to the tip of his longest finger, plus an inch. What freak'n bird had feathers that big? He knew of one person who had wings—but as far as he knew, that guy was still in Savannah, Georgia. And his wings were black and white. One of each color.
That's when he spotted the computer. It was on and it wasn't on the screen saver. The mouse moved now and then as windows opened, then shut, web pages scrolled by and then closed, and finally the system preferences box came up.
He dropped the feather on the desk and sat down in Sam's chair just as a text box appeared and the cursor typed out, Hello, Detective Holliard. Long time no see. You look like shit.
He leaned in close to the screen and then looked up at the webcam atop the monitor. "Ivan?"
The one and only. Why are you in Sam's office?
"Why am I—" he put his hands on the desk. "Where the hell are you? You do realize she's been worried sick about you."
She saw Dharma last night. She knows I'm okay.
"She saw Dharma? Was Dharma one of the Clerics who escorted Blackwood into Alfheim?"
Yeah. She got in really late this morning—or that could be early depending on how you look at it. She's sleeping.
"So…you guys are together? I mean I know you're together, but you're in the same place?"
Yes.
"But not your apartment?"
Oh hell no. My apartment's been compromised. I can't even access my network anymore thanks to—
When the typing didn't continue, Crwys looked at the keys for a second. Then he looked at the external speakers set together to the right on the desk. They were wrapped together in their own cord. "Ivan?"
Sorry. I had a few bits of intel come in.
"Why can't I hear you? Why are you typing?"
Because I can't use the microphone at the moment. I'm in a deep dive.
Crwys knew that meant Ivan was pretty much inert to the rest of the world. "So…why can't you access your computers at home?"
I'm not sure. My fish-feeder told me that Sam broke in, and then she…I'm not sure how much you know yet.
"Know what?"
About the soul stealer?
Soul stealer? He reached up, grabbed the webcam, and brought it closer to his face. "Ivan, when did this thing attack her?" He kept seeing the bodies piled in the basement of those houses.
Wow, you have really big pores on your nose. She didn't tell you?
"No. Never mentioned it. Ivan," he sat the webcam back on the monitor. "I'm working in the dark on this one. I've been tired and unfocused, and we found two houses full of bodies with no souls—"
Yeah, I know about the bodies.
"Then you know some Elder named Cosgrove, Arden and Dryden brought Sam in to Track who did it?"
Yes. I don't know what or who he is. He's not Faerie, so stop looking there. I've been all over the World Wide Web, and the magical one, and can't find anything on Faeries stealing souls like that.
Crwys sat back. "Ivan…"
That's when the door opened and Kyle came in. Dressed in oversized shorts, sandals and a thin shirt, he looked ready for the New Orleans heat. "Hey…why are you in here?"
Crwys pointed to the computer. "Did you know Ivan was in Sam's computer?" He expected Kyle to be surprised.
But he wasn't. "Yeah. Ivan's helping me track down Faeries that steal souls. I don't think that's what he is though. The guy she saw in her Track."
Crwys looked from the screen, to Kyle, and then back to the screen. "So you two have been talking all this time that Sam's been worried about Ivan?"
"Only since this morning. While we were waiting on Sam to finish her meeting with Tzariene last night, Dharma told me that she and Ivan had a little run in with Blackwood—"
"What?"
"Just calm down," Kyle put up his hand. "They can tell you and Sam all abo
ut it once we figure this out. Let's just say that Ivan's keeping out of sight because Dionysus would love to separate Ivan's soul from his body just like he did all those other victims."
"Why? Because he's close to Sam?"
Kyle looked at the screen. "You want to tell him?"
I can. Crwys, you know we drank your blood while in Alfheim, right?
Crwys nodded. "I know that Tzariene made a deal with that damn wolf just to tell you my blood was there. It restored your eyesight and made all of you immune to my Dragon fire."
Right you are. It not only restored my eyes, but it enhanced them. I can see things now.
"You're gonna have to be a little clearer than that."
Kyle finished it off. "Dharma said he can see magnetic fields now."
"I thought he could see those anyway. Like part of his whole computer thing."
In a system, yes. But now I can see the magnetic fields of people. Living things. It's like seeing auras but not so woo-woo sounding.
"Woo-woo sounding?" Crwys shook his head.
You know. If I say I can see your magnetic field, I don't sound as weird as if I'd said I could see your aura.
"No. You still sound just as weird."
Kyle snorted. "Told you. The point is, he can see a disruption in the field. And nothing disrupts a person's magnetic field more than having it possessed or tampered with by another entity. Especially a Demon."
Crwys sat forward and looked at the webcam. "You mean you can tell who's possessed or overshadowed just by looking at them?"
Yes. And it's come in handy these past few weeks. But here's the thing—remember I said Dharma and I got into an altercation with Blackwood? We won, but I got a little banged up. So I've been recuperating.
"He's in a deep dive. His body's healing, but his mind's been watching things from the web." Kyle winced. "Kinda creepy isn't it? To know Ivan's looking at you through your webcam?"
Yeah, you and Jack really need to turn yours off before you do that thing with the cheese.
Kyle snatched the webcam off the top of the monitor and shoved it in the top desk drawer. "Pervert. The issue is Blackwood found out what Ivan can do, which means he could see where Dionysus is. What body he's in. But he can only do it with his physical eyes. And right now, he's not in any condition to defend himself."
Enter a group of the Parliament known as The Eldritch group. The typing continued, with or without the webcam. They've been protecting me while that soul stealer's been looking for me. Dharma's been with me, but she had to go help last night. And this group? You can't tell anyone about it. Not Cromwell. Not Sam. Not anyone. Not yet.
Crwys sat back and digested this news. "Sam doesn't know any of this, does she? About you?"
"We were gonna tell her but…" Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. "She didn't want to talk after her meeting."
"Tell me what happened last night."
Kyle pulled the other chair around and sat down.
Please put the camera back up. You know I was kidding.
Crwys fished the webcam from the drawer and put it back on the monitor.
"It was like any other ritual. Aunt Arden's people Cut, and we escorted Blackwood to the Summer Palace. Tzariene greeted us. We met a bunch of Faeries and then she escorted us to a different room with food that didn't have dust in it. Then she and Sam went through another door to talk." He sighed. "I talked to Dharma about she and Ivan. I figured this was a good break, because once Ivan's on his feet, he can actually see Dionysus. Then Sam came back in and wanted to go. Tzariene never came back, and her guards thanked us and escorted us out. We piled into the cars and went home."
"And you don't remember where Grey was?"
Kyle shook his head. "No. I don't remember Grey coming with us. Ivan, can you ask Dharma about Grey when she wakes up?"
Sure will.
Crwys told them about his morning with Sam. Her digging about the apartment, then her reaction to him. And now no one knew where she was. "You think Tzariene said something that pissed her off?"
"Oh, that's a possibility. I'd need to talk to Sam and see for myself." He looked at the desk and picked up the feather. "Wow. That's huge. Is this real?"
"I suppose so."
Oh, there are several of those in my apartment. They came off the soul stealer.
The world pinched in on itself when Crwys read those words. The edges of his vision darkened slightly as he focused on the black and white type on the screen. They came off the soul stealer.
Only one race of beings had feathers that big and he could have kicked himself for not recognizing this earlier. But wasn't this just more proof that something was wrong with him? Hearing the description should have been a huge clue. And if not that, then the description of blue Arcane.
Was it possible? After all this time? How long had it been, since he'd seen the thing he feared was now loose in the city?
An eon, maybe? What were years to their kind, and to his own?
"Crwys, you're looking at little pale. What is it?"
He stood and pushed Sam's chair back. "I have to go to your apartment, Ivan. Where is it?"
Why?
"Just tell me where it is."
Kyle stood up as well. "I can take you there."
"No…I think this is gonna be dangerous. I have to go there alone."
"Like hell. Crwys, have you looked at yourself? You're pale, you've got circles under your eyes, you're gaunt, and you keep standing at a weird angle like you're going to fall over. I'm not letting you go anywhere by yourself."
"Kyle—" Crwys held out his hand to emphasize what he was about to say. "I appreciate your concern. But you're just not—"
"Powerful enough? Is that it? So Sam's got you convinced that I'm just the Hedge Witch that sits in the background till he's needed to make a sachet or an amulet or to burn some incense, too?"
Oh boy. Here we go.
"Oh shut up, Ivan. When are you three going to realize I'm just as much a part of this group as you? No, I can't summon Elementals to help me in a fight, and I can't turn people into human torches with a thought, and I can't…" he looked at the computer for a beat and gestured to it with a wave of his hand. "I can't do the creepy and weird shit Ivan does. But I am a Witch. And I can help."
Crwys couldn't help but smile at Kyle's passion. This was probably the most he'd seen the man speak since he'd been around. It was true—he'd noticed how Sam tended to relegate Kyle into support backup. And the few times he'd seen Kyle in action, he'd been impressed. But those instances had been few and far between. The guy was related to the most powerful Witch family in the South. His name might be Kendrick, but he was a Vervain by blood.
He took in a deep breath and then let it out. "Okay, fine. Go arm yourself for a fight—things you think you'll need. Meet me at the Mustang in five."
You're really gonna take him?
Kyle shot the webcam a bird and ran out of the office.
Crwys looked back at the computer. "You think bringing him along with me is a bad idea?"
No. I think it's the smartest decision I've seen you make.
EIGHTEEN
CRWYS
Crwys stood outside the door of Ivan Westerfield's apartment with the key in his hand. Kyle stood to his left, a satchel of his "weapons" thrown over his shoulder. He knew the Hedge Witch was looking at him with what Sam would call a hairy eyeball, but the reason for his hesitation at going inside was too long, and too complicated, to go over at that moment. He just hoped his instincts hadn't dulled over the centuries or else this could go from a great idea to a disastrously stupid idea.
"All the wards are down?"
Kyle nodded. "I told you that like four times. You'd feel them if they were still here. Aunt Arden said they didn't activate them when she and Sam left."
He thought of Sam being trapped inside of this apartment with what he believed this person was and knew she was lucky to be alive, which was a testament to her power. Even without her Arcane workin
g. "Remember what I said, just stay behind me, okay?"
"Aye aye. You got the flamethrower power. I'll be backup." He heard the slight disappointment in Kyle's tone.
Sorry kid, but I really, really don't want you getting hurt. And I did warn you to stay with Jack. Crwys unlocked the door and pushed it open. Cool air brushed his face as he stepped in and onto something crunchy under his boot. He looked down to see one of those desktop magnet puzzles with the metal pieces. Kicking it away, he moved inside and stood in the living room.
Kyle came in behind him and shut the door. "Wow. They really did a number on Ivan's computers. I hope he has insurance."
"Me too." Crwys took in the broken monitors and overturned desk chair. The refrigerator was open, the light still on. Papers, office supplies and kitchen utensils all littered the floor, collateral damage from either Sam's fight with the intruder or her come to Jesus argument with Arden.
He'd half expected to find Sam here, and he was relieved and a little disappointed he didn't see her. He took a quick look in the bedroom and bathroom. When he stepped back out, Kyle was picking up a monitor and setting it on the desk. By the look of things, Crwys was pretty sure it had been an elaborate setup.
"There are a lot of these big feathers in here." Kyle had two in his hand.
Crwys spotted a feather under the desk. He bent down to retrieve it and froze, his fingers inches from it. The feather was on top of the debris. Meaning it fell after the fight.
"Crwys—"
He felt the slight hitch in the air seconds before Kyle said his name. Crwys closed his eyes and pinpointed where it would appear, where it would rip that hole in the world and step through, moving through space.
Gritting his teeth, Crwys half jumped, half ran from where he'd been standing to where Kyle was, in the living room, and stood in front of him. When he felt his internal furnace ignite, his confidence, which he realized had been waning, boosted as he faced down the intruder.
It appeared just as Sam had described. A tall blond man with alabaster skin, dressed in robes that might have looked right on a monk, but looked a bit odd on his physique. He was tall, a good foot and a half over Crwys's height, and as he manifested to the left of Ivan's ruined computers, he fixed his gaze on Crwys.
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