by Jami Gray
Yet, on some level, she worried it was already too late. Not going after Aaron Talbot had proven almost painful, but when he died a few years later in a car accident, she considered it her reward for not killing him, taking her peace where she could.
The discordant sound of the tires going over the bridge heading into Portland pulled her out of the past. Gavin had stayed quiet, leaving her to wonder what was going through his head while she wandered through her twisted past.
Before they hit the office, she needed to know. Turning to him, she asked, one last time, “Are you telling Mulcahy?”
“For now, no,” his tone was careful. “I can’t see what it would accomplish.”
Her shoulders slumped, relief leaving her shaky.
He pulled up to a red light and faced her, his face carved in stone. “Understand this, Raine,” his voice was utterly cold. “If I find out you’ve lied to me about the last three murders, I will personally drag your corpse into Mulcahy’s office.”
Since she understood his threat, she was glad she finally told him the truth. That pitiless emptiness, indicating he would kill her, she understood. It was what allowed her to do her job. She nodded.
The ringing of his cell phone shattered the strained silence. The traffic light flash green and he turned back to the road even as he picked up his phone. “Durand.” He listened to the caller as he drove, and then his tone changed fractionally. “When?” Another pause made her turn to watch his face. “Did anyone see anything?”
An expression flashed across his face. It was so fast she might have imagined it. The only sign of his unease was the whitening of his fingers around the cell phone. Whoever was on the other end of the phone was not sharing good news.
“We’re about twenty minutes out.” His face returned to his normal inscrutable expression. “We’ll be there.” He hung up and put both hands on the steering wheel. She waited while his fingers flexed on the grip. He kept his eyes forward. “They found Dimtri Rimmick.”
She blinked. “Alive?”
He shook his head. “No, his body was left out behind Zarana’s.”
“Witnesses?”
Again, Gavin shook his head.
She moved on to the next question. “How’d he die?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but let’s see if Mulcahy does. We’re to report to his office when we get back.”
Taking a deep breath, she turned and stared unseeingly at the passing scenery. “It has to be a message.” From the edge of her vision, she caught his nod and her stomach knotted with dread. A grim certainty grew that whatever Dimtri was involved in would link to Talbot.
It bothered her that Dimtri’s body was dumped in neutral territory, with no one the wiser. Someone should have seen something, heard something. Her stomach clenched as a nagging worry raised its ugly head. “Who found him?”
Gavin’s jaw clenched, his voice flat, “Alexi Savriti.”
A spark of fear ignited. This was why she shouldn’t let anyone close to her. If it was Talbot, had he figured out who was hunting him? Did he know how Alexi helped her? Had going to Zarana’s endangered her friend? The questions chased one another until the spark of fear be-came a burning flame. As soon as she realized how scared she was, she got angry. Anger was good. It was a hell of a lot better than fear.
“If it’s Talbot, we have to move fast.” Gavin was obviously followed the same logic.
Letting her anger and fear harden her resolve, she agreed. “If it’s Talbot, it won’t be fast enough.”
Gavin didn’t argue. The heavy silence lasted all the way to Taliesin.
Chapter Sixteen
The inky darkness pressed against the windows in Mulcahy’s office. With the two chairs in front of Mulcahy’s desk already filled, Raine was once again leaning on the wall by the bookcase, arms folded, listening. Gavin stood near the opposite wall reciting what happened at Mayson’s.
Cheveyo’s long frame was folded into the chair nearest her. In the other chair, near Gavin, sat a small, delicate looking blonde. Her nylon-clad legs were demurely crossed. Deep blue, three-inch heels encased her small feet. Her elegant hands lay calmly in the lap of the matching short skirt. A jacket of the same deep blue hue topped her icy-lavender scoop camisole. The dramatic color combination brought out the periwinkle blue eyes in her triangular face.
Raine found the face almost witchy, but men seemed to be endlessly fascinated. Kind of like rabbits with a snake—except this snake would do more than just swallow a man whole. Natasha Bertoi did not become the ruling head of one of the most powerful demon houses by being the epitome of femininity she resembled.
Mulcahy had called in both Cheveyo and Natasha because of the earlier report of Bane Mayson’s death. The hope was they would be able to shed some light on what exactly had been done to him. As Gavin finished describing what occurred when Raine tried to touch the remnants of magic, Natasha turned her strange gaze to Raine.
Raine never liked Natasha. Something about the woman always set her nerves on edge. It wasn’t because the ultra-feminine, half-demon made her feel like the ugly duckling. No, it was the calculation lurking behind those eyes. As if Natasha continually examined the angles before deciding who, or what, she could and couldn’t use to her advantage. That level of ruthlessness meant Natasha could only be trusted to look after her own ass in any situation. Everyone else would be on their own.
“What made you think it was a demon or wizard?” Natasha’s husky voice flowed through the room, while her eyes remained flat, dispassionate. “If the trace magic could affect you so strongly, your magic may not be up to judging who set the spell.”
Raine’s face went coldly blank at the implied insult. “I’m an expert at death, Ms. Bertoi, and it was a death spell. It wasn’t meant to simply harm, it was meant to kill, slowly, painfully. In my experience, the only Kyn able to put that much hate and malice into a spell are those who get a kick out of hurting others.”
Natasha’s gaze remained steady. “Why not a witch from the Magi house, or someone from the Fey house, Ms. McCord? Pain and suffering could appeal to anyone.”
And the demon bitch would know all about that. Raine refused to drop her gaze. “Witches hold their three-fold law inviolate. I’ve yet to find a witch willing to risk that much negativity coming back to them. Nor did the spell hold traces generally associated with Fey magic. Shifters are out because they would either eat him, or tear him up. That leaves the wizards and demons.”
Mulcahy cut off the emerging argument. “Wizards or demons, we need to know which Kyn is out hunting.”
“And who they’re hunting for,” added Gavin.
“You have any idea who they might be working for?” Mulcahy scrutinized Gavin.
Raine’s heartbeat sped up as she strove to keep her face blank and unreadable. Trusting Gavin to not reveal her part in the case and appear relaxed and unaffected, took effort.
Gavin nodded, flicking a look at her. “We think Mayson’s tied to Talbot.”
“How?” Mulcahy’s question was sharp.
Cheveyo and Natasha stayed silent, waiting for Gavin’s answer.
“The one name that keeps coming up on every thread we pull is Talbot. It’s possible Jonah Talbot is picking up where the rumors say his old man left off. Mayson can be tied to the senior Talbot.” Gavin didn’t look at Raine, but gave steady eye contact to Mulcahy. “It seems Aaron Talbot was involved in questionable experimentation with Kyn and humans. Mayson was one of those experiments.”
“How do you know that?” Cheveyo’s voice cut through the silence following Gavin’s statement.
He turned, giving Cheveyo an inscrutable look. “I have my own sources, and they don’t need to be revealed.”
“They can be trusted?” Cheveyo pushed.
Deep inside Raine went still, waiting for Gavin’s answer. She wondered if he fought not to look at her.
“Yes, I trust them.” Only then did he turn his attention to her, his expression unreadable.<
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She broke first and looked away, glancing at Mulcahy who stared at the two of them, his thoughts well hidden.
“Why did you go to Mayson’s in the first place, Durand?” Mulcahy asked as his indecipherable gaze focused on her.
“He contacted me, said he had information on who was taking out Talbot’s men.”
“Why would he help you find the killer, if Talbot’s father tortured him?”
Gavin shrugged. “I didn’t get a chance to ask.”
“So,” Natasha drawled pulling Mulcahy’s unnerving stare away from Raine. “Can you prove Jonah Talbot is following in his father’s footsteps?”
“Not yet,” Gavin said. “I want permission to get more information on Talbot. Especially since Rimmick’s name appeared on Polleo’s computer disk. The wizard had to be held at their lab before we got in. We need to figure out who’s keeping Talbot one step ahead of us.”
Mulcahy’s gaze narrowed. “You think there are two separate individuals involved?”
Gavin gave a short nod. “If I’m right, then Talbot has a Kyn tipping him off. It would also explain how they’re luring in those like Rimmick. The murders Jonah asked us to look into were a ploy to get us involved. I’m betting he really didn’t think they were connected.”
“Are you saying they are?”
“Not sure.” Gavin didn’t flinch at Mulcahy’s penetrating look. “It’s highly probable it’s the work of one of his experiments looking for payback.”
“Speaking of Rimmick,” Raine cut in, interrupting the staring contest. “How did he die?”
A small sound of disgust drew her attention from her boss to Natasha.
Impotent fury washed across the woman’s face. “Someone wanted it to look like a demon attack, but it was a poor imitation.”
Raine blinked at the unexpected answer. “What do you mean?”
“He was eviscerated.” Despite the small hand clenched into a fist, Natasha’s voice didn’t betray any emotion. “Something tried to lay him open. His heart was missing, along with his eyes and tongue. He’d been pulled apart at the joints. There was a rite circle carved around him, the etched runes belong to the Minuo branch but they were in the wrong order.”
Not familiar with the branch, Raine asked, “Minuo?”
Natasha threw her an unfriendly look. “Demons who can draw blood from any being without making a wound. There wasn’t enough blood at the dumpsite, so whoever drew the runes and circle wanted whoever found him to believe it was the work of a Minuo. However, they don’t know their demonology because a Minuo would never pull the body apart, nor would they remove parts.”
Raine wasn’t going to ask why any demon, even a Minuo demon, wouldn’t tear a body apart. She could guess. Rogue demons enjoyed playing with a human body. Possessing a mortal form allowed a demon to create chaos between both Kyn and mortals.
Natasha was right. Whoever killed Rimmick really didn’t know demons. Destroying a perfectly good body didn’t make sense. Even for a rogue demon.
“Let me play devil’s advocate here,” interrupted Mulcahy. “If someone is trying to imitate a demon, is it possible it wasn’t demon magic that killed Mayson?”
Cheveyo shook his head. “Mimicking the actions of a rogue demon is one thing, but you can’t copy someone’s magic. If your Wraith feels it was a demon or wizard, I’d say chances are you’re looking for a demon or wizard.”
“Would a wizard imitate a demon?” Gavin asked.
Cheveyo was silent, thinking. Finally, he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Most wizards know enough about runes to not put them in the wrong order.”
Mulcahy watched the witch. “You’re leaning toward demon then?”
Cheveyo nodded.
“It’s not one of mine.” Natasha’s voice held no trace of doubt.
Mulcahy studied her. “How do you know?”
A feral little smile played over her face, and Raine caught a brief hint of the beast hidden inside the diminutive form. “None would dare bring such attention to my house. They all know how displeased I would be. There is no one who would risk it.”
Mulcahy took her at her word. Pushing up from his desk, he walked over to the night-blind windows, his hands crossed behind his back.
He spoke without turning. “Before anyone else goes missing, we need more information. What McCord and Durand pulled from the lab at Polleo is a start, but even that is too vague for our people to translate. We need stronger lines to tie Talbot to Rimmick and Mayson’s death.”
Raine studied her uncle’s back. “Just how are we going to do that? Talbot’s too smart to leave incriminating evidence lying around. He wouldn’t want to risk his precious foundation. In the time it would take to dig that dirt out, he could take another Kyn.”
The older man’s shoulders tightened fractionally, the only sign of his growing frustration. “You and Durand will be attending his fundraising ball, as representatives of Taliesin. Ask him.”
Chapter Seventeen
Raine hated shopping and today’s little expedition didn’t alter her opinion one bit. Unfortunately, her limited wardrobe options forced her to face the pushing, shoving, and innate rudeness of those armed with a shopping bag. Going to the ball with Prince Charming ranked just below getting poked with needles on her list of not-so-fun things to do.
Most of her morning and part of the afternoon was shot looking for the perfect dress. Trying to find something sophisticated, comfortable, and able to hide various weaponry was more difficult than she expected.
Walking across the mall parking lot, she let the plastic covered dress and accompanying shoes bang along her left side. Popping the back hatch of her SUV, she looped them over the garment hook in the ceiling. Not like leather could wrinkle, but it was on a hanger so might as well use it.
Checking her watch, she decided to swing by Zarana’s and check in with Alexi, make sure she was okay. Besides, there were a few questions she wanted to ask her friend. Climbing into her SUV, she headed to the Pearl District, music washing over her as she navigated through downtown Portland.
Pulling open the heavy bar door, Raine stepped across the threshold and shivered as the warding hit her. The bar wasn’t as dim as normal, though shadows laced the edges of the room as the mid-afternoon sun hid behind sporadic clouds.
“Just a minute.” The muffled voice came from the back room.
Raine sat on one of the padded barstools and waited.
The sounds of heavy boxes being shoved around was quickly followed by the clinking of bottles. Light footsteps preceded the dark haired barkeep. Alexi’s normally bright face seemed slightly drawn, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. Her smile was a pale imitation of its normal self, but seeing Raine perched at the bar made it reach her tired eyes. “Hey, McCord. What brings you here in the light of day?”
Raine cocked her head. “You doing okay?”
Alexi set down the bottles she carried, then motioned for Raine to follow her over to one of the tables. Once seated, the smaller woman’s fingers began a tap dance on the tabletop. “Did you want your usual? I forgot to ask.”
Raine shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Looks like you could use a stiff drink.”
“Yeah, but I’m afraid one won’t cut it. ‘Sides, the owner of the bar can’t come to work blitzed.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Something Raine couldn’t read flashed through Alexi’s eyes, and her tapping fingers paused. “Not particularly,” her tone was more scathing than Raine expected. “But I’m sure you’d like to hear about it.”
Feeling the rebuke, but knowing it was necessary, Raine kept her gaze steady. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to, Alexi, believe me.”
A slight blush worked its way up Alexi’s face, washing away the angry edges. “Sorry, I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you.” Her fingers resumed their erratic dance, her gaze restlessly roaming the room. She couldn’t seem to settle. Watching her strung Raine’s
nerves taunt.
“It was horrible. I had nightmares all night,” Alexi’s soft voice trembled. The face she turned to Raine was bleak. “How do you get that image to go away?”
Raine didn’t have an answer. Her stomach tightened with frustration and under the table, her fist clenched. Alexi didn’t deserve to be dragged into this. Her friend’s frightened look was one more thing for Talbot to answer for. “I don’t know, but I swear it fades eventually.”
Alexi’s curly mop bounced as she shook her head. “I find it hard to believe right now, but let’s hope you’re right.” She took a deep breath and let it out, visibly steadying herself. She lifted her head and met Raine’s gaze. “Okay, what do you need to know?”
“Just tell me what happened, what you saw.”
Alexi shifted and stared out across the empty room. “It was a busy night, and one of my busboys had to take his boyfriend to the hospital. Appendicitis, I think. I let him leave and tried to help cover his duties and my own at the bar. We had a live band, so the noise level was pretty high, but I felt a vibration through the wards as if something had slammed up against them.”
She shook her head, face puzzled. “I haven’t felt anything like it before. Everyone knows Zarana’s is neutral territory, so I’ve never had any serious interference with the wards. This was different. Like a really strong shove. I went out back to find out what was going on, I opened the alley door and there he was.” She shivered and rubbed her arms as if she were cold.
Raine kept her voice gentle. “Did anyone pass you on the way out the back?”
Alexi blinked as if trying to focus past the horrible images in her mind. “No, the crowd was up front with the band. There wasn’t anyone there.”
“Did anyone in the crowd stand out?”
The barkeep shook her head. “We had a lot of new faces. We generally do when a band comes to play. No one sticks out though.”