He was in the kitchen setting out plates on the small table. White cartons exuding delicious smells dotted the table. “You didn’t have to rush,” he said.
“Yeah, actually, I did,” I replied as I started opening drawers until I found silverware. The last time I’d been in this room it had been a filthy mess of spilled flour and sugar, broken bottles. Now it was spanking clean and smelled of Lysol.
We dished out food and began wolfing down pad Thai. One thing hadn’t changed—my penchant for wanting food after shocking experiences. After a few minutes I said, in what I hoped was a level tone, “I need to get to Manhattan, to the Dakota to leave word for Parlan, and can I use your phone?” I paused for a deep, steadying breath. “I need to call Big Red and Meg.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? The funeral has probably already occurred.” I raised stricken eyes to meet Jolly’s gentle gaze. “And who will you be? A friend of John’s from New York?” he asked.
Appetite gone, I set aside my fork and pushed away the plate. The doorbell rang and I tensed. A few seconds’ thought made me realize that kidnappers didn’t normally announce their arrival, and I let my shoulders relax.
“Stay, eat,” Jolly said, and rolled out of the kitchen. Instead I listened to the murmur of male voices from out in the hall. I didn’t think much of it, figuring it was some of the White Masons come to report to Jolly, but when he returned his expression was very odd.
“Lynnie, I think you need to come into the front room.”
“Okay.” I followed after him and froze on the threshold of the living room. My father was there. And Ken. There were two other people, a man and a woman. Their attitude screamed guards, though they held no weapons.
“What the hell?” I said.
“We’re here to help,” my father said.
I struggled to decide how to respond. Conflicting emotions warred in my breast. A desire to seek help and comfort, press my cheek against the tweed of his jacket, smell the aftershave and pipe tobacco. An equally strong desire to smash in his face. Instead I whirled, snatched a bookend off a nearby case, and threw it into the fireplace, where it hit with a shattering crash. Ken looked alarmed and tried to make like a turtle, pulling his head down between his shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” Ken gasped out. “I didn’t know … I didn’t realize … what would happen. I messed everything up.”
“So, fix it!” I growled. That was one thing my deeper voice did very well.
“I don’t know how.” He hurried on at my probably violent expression. “But I’m going to try. I’ll figure it out. I’ll fix everything, I promise.”
“Yeah, well, good luck with that, Ken, because there are some things you can’t fix. Dead is dead,” I said harshly and it gave me a bitter pleasure when he looked stricken.
Jolly stepped in before my rage derailed everything. “So what do you propose, Doctor?”
“First, a medical doctor to make a full examination of Lin … Linnet.” He stumbled over my name.
“We can arrange that. We have physicians among our ranks,” Jolly said.
“Can we get this thing out of me?” I asked. There was a subtle flutter inside my chest. Yeah, fuck you, I directed the thought at my little companion. I want you to die … horribly.
“Probably … possibly. I mean, we want to be sure it won’t fight back and harm you. Well, any more than it already has,” he added lamely.
Jolly shifted his chair so he could face my father. “What is your order planning?”
“Now that this has turned into a giant clusterfuck?” my dad asked. Jolly nodded. “They know they’re busted. We’ve”—he waved his index finger between Jolly and himself—“always kept things … well, let’s call it … civil. But now the Powers know. That bloodsucker got away. The Convocation’s going to be coming after us … them.” I noted the way he set himself apart from the Black Masons. “I think they intend to take the fight into the open since our plan’s been busted.”
“Start the revolution, eh?” Jolly asked. My dad nodded. “Not good.” He tugged thoughtfully at his upper lip. “Are there any more larvae out there?”
“Couldn’t say. That wasn’t my task. My job was to get close to the Powers. Form relationships, get information. All this other stuff didn’t interest and involve me until—” He broke off.
“Until you lost your daughter,” I said dully.
“Yeah.”
I looked over at Jolly. “I don’t understand. Apparently you’ve been watching, tracing this other group for decades—”
“More like centuries,” Jolly said placidly.
“So why didn’t you deal with them permanently a long time ago?”
“Because we weren’t certain what powers they possessed, and whether, if they had felt threatened, they might have used them in a way that would unbalance our reality. Also, it’s not what we do.” He gave me a quick smile. “We’re the good guys. Or at least we like to think so.”
“You should have told the vampires and the werewolves, they would have handled it for you.”
“And killed humans indiscriminately trying to get to the cabal, since their very survival would have been at stake. Which would have led to the war that seems to be threatening to break out now. No, it was safer to foil them.”
“You’re not as pure as you claim,” my dad said. “You didn’t manage to save any of the other women who were infected. You let the Spooks kill them.”
Suspicion bloomed and I stared at Jolly. “You really like to stir the pot, don’t you, Mr. Ellery?” Jolly’s kind smile was starting to look more like a grimace. Jolly met my gaze. “We didn’t have the tools, technology, or understanding before now to actually try to cure someone. In the past we focused on destroying the larvae, but once it was implanted, we had to rely on the Powers to end the threat. The last time they”—he indicated my father—“got this close was in 1908. The Powers took a rather extreme and violent action.” I frowned. There was something niggling in the back of my head about that date but I couldn’t place it. “Tunguska,” Jolly said quietly.
“Tunguska!” Ken yelped. “Jesus Christ! But wait, nobody was killed.”
“That’s the official story. One young woman and a predator were killed,” Jolly said.
“Talk about swatting a fly with a bomb,” I muttered.
“One assumes they were very close to releasing the predator. Rather like now.” I couldn’t help it, I cast a nervous glance at the ceiling. “Hettie has gone to the Convocation requesting a meeting. They won’t act precipitously this time,” he said soothingly.
“The vampires might not, but the werewolves?” My skepticism was evident.
“The world is a different place in the twenty-first century, and the Powers are in the open. They won’t risk destroying the acceptance they have achieved. They’ll hear us out.”
“Well, I sure hope you’re right,” I said. “Let me know how that meeting goes so I can decide if I need to go on the run.”
“Oh, you’re going to be there,” Jolly said serenely.
“Whaaaa?” was all I could manage.
* * *
I had fled after that, and returned to the kitchen, where I was in the process of furiously scraping my uneaten food into the garbage disposal. My father came in.
“May I talk with you?”
“No!”
“Look, I understand you’re upset—”
“Upset! UPSET! Upset does not begin to express what I’m feeling.
“Look, I saved the scientist. The others wanted to kill him, but I rescued him because I thought he might be able to help you. I came here for you.”
The plate hit the counter with more force than I’d intended and broke in half. I cringed. I was taking a real toll on Jolly’s possessions because of a combination of rage and strength I still couldn’t control.
“Oh damn,” I said. I leaned on the edge of the sink for a moment, then turned to face him. He wasn’t a tall man, but to me he had seemed tall. N
ow we stood eye-to-eye. “What do you want from me? Thanks? Forgiveness? What?”
“Maybe a bit of both.”
“Well, you can forget the thanks. You’ve stolen my life from me on every level and in every way. I was pushed into my career. I thought I was pleasing you and making you proud by becoming a lawyer, but it was just to further your plans. A man I cared deeply about is dead because of you, and I can’t even call his parents to offer my condolences because I’ve been violated in ways that are beyond description. How can I ever see Charlie again? Any of my friends?”
He studied my changed form. “I didn’t realize that could happen—”
“No, you just thought I would die and apparently that would have been okay.”
He fell silent and began spinning the salt shaker. The scratching sound of metal on wood filled the room. “You think I’m a monster,” he finally said.
“I know you are. Your group talks about the Powers as monsters, but you’re the real evil. You exemplify every hateful, xenophobic tendency that humans possess.”
Another moment of silence. He traced his mustache with his little finger, then looked at me from beneath his lashes. “Okay, so thanks is a no-go … How do you think we’ll do on the forgiveness front?” It was said with the light charm that exemplified his personality and smoothed his way through the world winning friends and contracts.
I made a choked sound and shook my head. Partly in wonder and amazement and partly in frustration. “Ask me in a few years.” I headed out of the kitchen.
“Assuming we live that long,” he called after me.
* * *
I woke in the gray light just before dawn. I got up, dressed, and slipped out of the house. Frost had turned the grass into white-tipped spears and it crunched beneath my feet. Hay had been thrown to the horses, and I could hear the engine of the John Deere Gator firing up over in the equipment shed. I went into the feed room and mixed up a bran mash for Vento, liberally sprinkled with carrots, and carried it to his stall.
His ears were flipping back and forth as he whuffled at me. Apparently he decided I was actually not a stranger, and he licked my hand. I slipped into the stall and poured the steaming mash into his feed tub. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressed my face against his warm hair, and breathed in the dusty, grassy scent of horse while he ate.
“You should take him out for a ride.” Jolly’s voice behind me.
“And you’re going to tell me I can use your clothes, right?” I gave Vento a slap on the neck and turned to face his owner.
“Yes.”
“Are you going to come along?” I tapped first Vento on the forehead and then Jolly.
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
I left the stall and sat down on the blanket box in the breezeway. “Okay, now I can ask you. How did you happen to be there at just the right moment in California?”
“I always left a small part of my consciousness in the horse. Whenever you turned up I paid closer attention. And it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when I got awakened at three in the morning to the sound of you crying, something was probably wrong. I took a look, realized what was happening, and called David while Vento worked that metal clasp.”
“Thank you. You saved my life.”
“Yes, I did rather.” He smiled at me and I found myself smiling back. “Good,” he said approvingly. “Now ride your horse and smile some more.”
“Okay.”
“May I watch?”
“Sure.”
Like the regular clothes, Jolly’s riding britches were too big, as were the boots, but I stuffed a sock in the toe of each boot and made it work. The day brightened and I worked on finding my balance point in the saddle.
“So, how is it?” he asked when I transitioned down from the canter and gave Vento a walk break.
“Different. Uncomfortable at points.”
“I set out an athletic supporter for you.”
“Yeah … and no.” I hurriedly changed the subject. “It is nice having a longer leg. I can cue the lateral work so much more easily.”
A BMW pulled up to Jolly’s house and I recognized it as Hettie’s. She and David climbed out, unfurled umbrellas against the sun, and hurried into the house.
“I think that is our cue to stop being equestrians,” Jolly said. He opened the arena gate for me and we headed back toward the barn.
“I haven’t seen Kim,” I said.
“No, I told her to take a couple of days off. We didn’t need any awkward questions right now.”
I didn’t like doing it, but I turned Vento over to one of the grooms. I preferred to tack and untack my own horse, but the real world had intruded and I couldn’t take the time. Jolly and I returned to the house.
Hettie and David were in the living room, to-go cups of Starbucks’ house-blend blood in their hands. All of the blisters were gone, but they had left faint scars as if he’d had a terrible case of acne in his youth. He had been a handsome man but, thanks to me, those good looks were being eroded.
“They’ve agreed to meet,” Hettie said as we entered. “Given the gravity of the situation they want to call in representatives from Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa so it’s been set in three days’ time.”
“Good,” Jolly said. “That gives us time to gather our own representatives.”
“Looking to keep up appearances?” David asked sourly.
“Exactly. We know how much importance your kind in particular place on protocol.”
While they talked, David had been edging toward me. Hettie reached out, grabbed the sleeve of his suit coat, and reeled him back. He gave her an irritated look. “I just wanted to say hello to Linnet.”
“No you didn’t. But nice try.” She crossed to me and gave me a quick, chill-inducing hug.
“How can you do that and not be tempted?” David demanded.
Hettie shrugged. “Don’t know. Just not interested.” David made a growling noise and paced away. “We’ve got you lined up to be examined by Dr. Maness this afternoon,” Hettie continued. She glanced at Jolly. “Ken should probably also be present.”
“Absolutely.”
David whirled. “Ken? How did you get him?”
“Linnet’s father showed up with him last night.” David reacted by crushing his cup, sending blood cascading over his fingers and onto the rug.
“Jeez, David, now you’ve wrecked Jolly’s rug,” I said.
“It’s all right. Small loss,” the Englishman said placidly.
“Is he still here?” David asked.
I didn’t mistake who the he was David was talking about. “Yes, as far as I know my dad is still here and, no, you still can’t kill him.” There was another growly noise from my former boss.
24
It had been a long afternoon. I had been poked with needles and had enough blood drawn to fund a blood bank. There had been X-rays, a physical exam that was intrusive and embarrassing, and there had again been an MRI. That had been hard. I had stood in the middle of the room, staring at the metal tube and shivering. Only Jolly’s quiet and calming presence had gotten me back into that machine. Ken had been present, standing at Dr. Maness’s side as tests were run. We were careful to never look at each other or speak to each other.
I was also quivering with anxiety because I had yet to get a message to Parlan about John. Red and Meg probably really needed their firstborn son and he wasn’t there because I was a terrible person, focused only on my problems, and hadn’t told him. It was now nearly six o’clock. I was seated on an examination table in a small, starkwhite and sterile room. Hettie had turned up a few minutes before and was now perched in a chair. Jolly was trying to maneuver his wheelchair out of the way of the door so Dr. Maness and, presumably, Ken would be able to get in when they finally finished reading the MRI and the X-rays and examining my blood and studying the entrails of a chicken for all I knew. I was not kindly disposed to any Masonic order right now—black or white.
; “So, you’ll take me to the Dakota after this?” I asked for probably the fifth time.
“We can’t get into the inner courtyard, Lynnie,” Jolly said. I detected less patience in the answer than there had been previously.
“There are Álfar guards out front too. They’ll know me.”
“Not as you are now,” Hettie pointed out.
I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to think of an answer to that, but came up blank. The door opened and the doctor entered with Ken trailing after him. The scientist was carrying a laptop. William Maness was a handsome man in his mid-forties with a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache and no gray in his brunette hair or beard. He was frowning down at the papers in a manila folder, but he smiled when he looked up at me. I looked back suspiciously, wondering if that was the patented “doctor smile,” meant to be reassuring when they’re about to give you horrible news.
“Well, Miss Linnet, you are an interesting conundrum. You have all the external indicators of a male, but you still have ovaries and a uterus, and your testosterone level, while elevated for a female, is still below what I would expect to find in a normal, healthy young male of twenty-eight.” He glanced up from his notes. “And your sperm is not viable.”
“Well, that’s a relief, I was so worried I was going to knock somebody up,” I said acerbically.
“So, you’re not attracted—”
“To women? No,” I answered before he could finish the question. “Look, all of this may be fascinating to you, but I only have one question. How do you turn me back?”
Now he had the serious doctor expression. “Well, that’s a problem.” He stuck X-rays up on a light panel, turned to Ken, and held out his hands, saying, “May I?” Ken handed him the laptop. Maness opened it and brought up the MRI scan.
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