I guessed the others were thinking the same thing because as we moved through the dining room, we were all silent, lost in our own thoughts. I was glad we’d found Jim, Frasier, and Girard alive and well but I was wondering if our enemies had let us into the house, if they’d set a trap for us.
Maybe they thought we were foolish enough to bring the torc here and they hoped to take it from us. The older vampires I’d dealt with in the past had a sense of arrogance that sometimes made them underestimate everyone around them.
The vamps I was dealing with here were far older than any I’d encountered before so their egos were probably off the charts. That could work in our favor if they underestimated us enough to let us get the drop on them.
I opened the door that led to the ballroom and stepped back when I noticed the lights were on in there. The room was bright beneath the glow of the crystal chandeliers. I saw figures in there, at the far end of the room.
“Come in,” said a male voice that sounded as cold as a cemetery breeze.
Chapter 29
I stepped forward into the ballroom, my fingers tightly clenched around my sword’s grip. At the other end of the room stood the two vampires I assumed to be Korax and Damalis.
Korax was similar to Davos in appearance with long straight black hair that reached beneath his shoulders but he wore a loose white poet’s shirt with lace at the cuffs, dark breeches, and high black boots.
Damalis wore a long red and black dress that plunged low in the front to display her ample cleavage. Her long black hair was piled on top of her head. Her eyes were dark and cruel and when they looked at me, I looked away.
On the floor between them was Gloria. She had no visible injuries at all but she lay on the floor with her eyes closed, looking as if all the life force had been drained from her. At least I could see she was still breathing; her chest rose and fell slowly beneath her green-check shirt.
“What have you done to her?” I asked through gritted teeth.
It was Damalis who answered. She sneered, showing me her fangs, and said, “You don’t come into our house and demand answers from us. We demand them of you. Where is Davos? And where is the torc that belongs to this creature?” She indicated Gloria with a dismissive wave of her hand.
They didn’t know I’d killed Davos. Their arrogance probably wouldn’t let them even entertain that idea.
“Come closer, all of you,” Damalis said softly.
“Don’t look in her eyes,” I warned the others.
We remained where we were, weapons ready. Tension filled the room.
Korax broke the silence. “Where is Davos?” he blurted out. He didn’t have the poise or control of Damalis and I knew that when this standoff became a fight, I was going to have to take him out first.
“Korax, control yourself,” Damalis told him.
“But they must know where he is,” Korax said angrily. “They know where my beloved Davos is.” His voice became pitiful. “Why did he not return to us, sister?”
If they thought Davos was still alive—whatever that meant to a vampire—I had an extra card to play in my gamble to get Gloria back. “I know where he is,” I said.
“Where?” Korax demanded.
I ignored him at looked at Damalis. “I believe you want to bargain with me. You know what I want: the faerie queen. I know what you want: the torc and the location of Davos. So how are we going to play this?”
“It’s quite simple,” she said. “You tell us where Davos is and give us the torc or the faerie will die. That is how we are going to play this.”
“I tire of this,” Korax said. “We should torture the information out of them, the same as we did with the faerie.”
“Perhaps,” Damalis said, “but we will not have time to do that if the Cabal take over this operation. We might never find out where Davos is.” She reached down and picked Gloria up by her throat.
The faerie queen was as limp as a rag doll and didn’t even struggle. Damalis glared at me. “Tell us what we wish to know now or I will end the life of this faerie.”
“Victoria,” I said, “lose those shutters.”
Victoria nodded and spread her hands, muttering an incantation. The shutters twisted and ripped themselves from the walls. As they fell from the windows, sunlight streamed into the room.
Damalis and Korax screamed in pain as their flesh blistered and smoked. Damalis dropped Gloria and turned to flee the room. Korax was also running for the door but the pain he was experiencing made him stumble.
Michael fired the shotgun, steel and wood ripping into Korax’s body and knocking him off his feet. I rushed forward, ready to strike a killing blow and cut off the vampire’s head. He was scuttling along the floor on all fours like a spider, his speed superhuman despite the weakening effects of the sunlight on his body.
Damalis had already gone through the door to the library and I thought Korax would make it there before I reached him but just as he got to the open door, it closed in his face. Damalis obviously valued her own safety over that of her brother.
“Sister,” he cried out, “why are you doing this?” He reached up for the door handle but by the time he wrapped his blistered fingers around it, I’d reached him. He turned to face me with wide eyes. “No!”
I swung the sword so hard that it passed through his neck and dug into the wood of the door so deeply that I had to brace my boot against the door to pull the blade free.
Korax’s head and body burst into flames. I stepped over them and went to Gloria, crouching down beside her and cradling her head in my arm. “Gloria, can you hear me?”
Her eyes opened slowly and she looked up at me with a weak smile. “Alec, you came to rescue me. My hero.”
“I’m going to get you out of here.” I handed my sword to Jim, slid my arm beneath Gloria’s knees and lifted her up.
She put her arms around my neck. “I think it may be too late for that. The vampires burned me with iron until I told them where the torc was. It was too much for me. I’m mortally wounded.”
I wasn’t sure if she was being serious or overly dramatic. She looked fine. “I can’t see a scratch on you.”
“Of course you can’t. My appearance is a glamor. It isn’t real. You should leave me here, Alec, because I’m dying. I’ll only slow you down.”
“I’m getting you out of here,” I told her again. I looked at the others. “We need to get back to the village. Look out for Damalis; she’s been hurt but she may have some fight left in her.”
Leon and Michael led the way through the door to the library. Felicity hung back with me, a concerned look on her face as she kept glancing at Gloria in my arms. She obviously believed the faerie was dying. I was beginning to believe it too; Gloria telling me to leave her here had been more than just a dramatic gesture.
Frasier and Girard stayed close behind me and Jim and Victoria took up the rear as we passed through the library and then into the marbled foyer. There was no sign of Damalis. She was probably hiding somewhere upstairs, licking her wounds. I just hoped we could get out of here before she recovered enough strength to attack us.
Leon opened the door that led outside and went out with Michael to make sure our escape route was clear. He came back inside a moment later. “We may have a problem. There’s a boat in the harbor that wasn’t there before.”
“You see anyone on it?”
“No.”
I turned to Victoria. “Call Devon and get ready to cast that spell as soon as we get to the church.”
She nodded and took her phone from the pocket of her dress.
We left the house and began to move north across the rocky waste ground toward the village. I could see the boat Leon had mentioned, a luxury yacht tied next to two smaller ones we’d seen earlier.
“It looks like the high-ranking Cabal member has arrived,” I said to Felicity.
“Yes, but I can’t see anyone on board. Perhaps they know there’s a problem so they’re not coming ashore.”
<
br /> “Let’s hope it stays that way,” I said.
I should have known it was too good to be true. Less than a minute later, the yacht burst into life. Figures swarmed over the decks and onto the dock. They weren’t preternatural creatures, just normal-looking men and women dressed in black combat gear and carrying guns. They began running up from the harbor toward the village.
I broke into a run, glad that Gloria was a lightweight. “Victoria, get that spell going,” I said. “We haven’t got a minute to spare.”
She gave me the thumbs up, running with her phone pressed to her ear as she spoke to her sister.
“I could hold them off, sir,” Michael offered, brandishing his shotgun.
“No, we’re all getting out of here,” I said. “Those soldiers are probably the security detail for whoever is on that boat. I have a feeling those guns aren’t just for show.”
As we ran, I estimated that we would reach the church before the black-clad army but only by a few seconds. We might have to try to hold them off after all while Victoria and Devon got the spell working.
The trouble was, we were armed for vampires and demons, not humans with assault rifles. We’d brought swords to a gunfight and we might end up paying for it with our lives.
When we finally reached the ruined village, Gloria looked at me with tired eyes and said, “Alec, I’m not going to make it.”
“Just hold on a little longer,” I told her.
We ran into the church ruins and gathered together while Victoria began reciting the spell. I could faintly hear Devon on the other end of the phone doing the same.
The armed members of the group—Jim, Leon, Felicity, and Michael—formed a protective circle around Victoria, Gloria, and me. I could hear the boots of the Cabal security force pounding on the ground outside the walls.
Then, suddenly, they swarmed into the church and surrounded us, rifles held at shoulder height, red laser sights steady. Now that I could see them closer, I could see a red magic circle emblem on the left breast of their combat jackets. I’d never seen it before but I assumed it was the symbol of the Midnight Cabal.
They kept their distance, simply pointing their weapons at us. It was a standoff, except we were outgunned and had no hope of surviving if they pulled their triggers.
Victoria and Devon continued to work the spell. The air became charged with magic.
I didn’t understand why the soldiers were letting us continue the spell. If they were members of the Midnight Cabal, why weren’t they shooting? A vortex of energy began to swirl around us and the soldiers stepped back slightly.
The soldiers near the gap in the wall parted to let a woman through. Unlike the others, she was dressed in white—white pants and a white sweater with the same magic circle emblem on the left breast but fashioned into a gold pin.
She walked up to the edge of the swirling magical vortex and looked at me.
When I saw her familiar brown eyes, I knew who she was immediately. My mind tried to reject the information at first, telling me this woman couldn’t possible be who I thought she was. I must be mistaken. But the doubt crumbled when she said, “Alec.”
That voice was etched in my memory. The last time I’d heard it was in a car eighteen years ago. I’d been nine years old at the time and it had been the last time I’d seen my mother.
“Mom?” I said.
“Alec, I—“
Whatever she said next was lost to me. My mother and the soldiers disappeared and I was standing in the magic circle at Blackwell Books, Gloria in my arms, my friends standing with me.
I felt numb inside. All this time I’d thought my mom was dead, she’d been part of the Midnight Cabal. Why hadn’t she tried to contact me? Why had she chosen not to be a part of my life?
Gloria reached up and touched my cheek. She smiled weakly, a tear running down her cheek. “Alec, thank you for coming to save me.” The touch of her fingers felt like soft petals against my skin. Then I realized her fingers actually were petals.
Her hand had changed, becoming a mass of white flowers. The flowers spread down over her arm, onto her shoulder.
“Gloria, what’s happening?”
“It’s okay,” she whispered gently.
She closed her eyes, relaxed in my arms, and died, her body turning into white orchids, lilies, roses, and daisies. They tumbled over my arms and onto the floor until I was holding nothing and all that was left of the faerie queen was a pile of flowers at my feet.
“Oh my God,” Felicity said, stepping away from the flowers. She removed her glasses and wiped tears from her eyes.
The room became silent as everyone looked down at the mass of white flowers on the floor.
I’d failed the Lady of the Forest. Failed to protect her. Failed to help her get her land back. Some hero I turned out to be.
I left the room, feeling guilt and anger warring within me. I swore an oath to myself that the Midnight Cabal was going to pay for this. In their eagerness to defeat the Society, they’d steamrolled over everything in their path, not caring who got hurt.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to face Felicity.
“Alec, don’t blame yourself for this.”
“I’m going to make them pay, Felicity. I’m going to show them that they can’t just destroy whatever stands in their way.”
“That woman at the church. You called her—“
“It was my mother. I don’t understand how or why but she’s obviously part of the Cabal.”
She nodded slowly, thinking through the implications of that in her mind.
“Do you think your father found out she was still alive and that has something to do with his disappearance?”
“I have no idea. All I know is that I’m going to stop the Cabal, no matter who its members are.”
Chapter 30
We all stood around a low table in the Blackwell Books reading area. The sisters obviously didn’t mind people coming into the shop and reading books for free because they’d arranged a table and armchairs for just that purpose. There was even a coffee machine sitting on an antique credenza.
They’d collected the flowers from the floor of the back room and placed them in a silver bowl, insisting that we all drink a toast to the faerie queen. I’d gone out to the Land Rover and retrieved the torc, putting it on the table next to the bowl.
Frasier had called her family, telling them that she was coming home soon. I wasn’t sure what story she was going to tell them to explain her absence.
Felicity had spoken to her mother on the phone, saying she was still in Exeter and would be home later today.
Devon and Victoria were standing at the credenza, fussing with wine glasses and a bottle of something dark that I hoped they hadn’t concocted themselves. Their herbal teas were bad enough; I wasn’t sure I could drink something they’d made with alcohol and live to tell the tale.
When they turned and handed out the full glasses, Victoria said, “Here we are, a nice glass of sherry for everyone. I’m afraid we only keep store-bought liquor in the shop. We keep the good stuff at home.”
“Don’t worry about it, this will be just fine” I said, accepting a glass and reminding myself to never go to the witches’ home for a drink.
Devon stood by the bowl of flowers and raised her glass. “To the Lady of the Forest. May her spirit return to the land of eternal summer.” We drank. The sherry was sweet and strong.
“Now, to the matter of getting everyone home,” Victoria said. “We’ll send the Canadians first, I think, then Felicity can be on her way back to England. Is that okay with everyone?”
There were murmurs and nods of assent.
“I’ll be going back to England too,” I said. “Just for a short trip. There’s something I have to do.”
Chapter 31
When we’d all drained our glasses and the witches had gone to the back room to make preparations, Jim, Frasier, and Girard came over to me.
“Thank you for making sure we got h
ome safely,” Frasier said. “My husband and kids would thank you too but I’m not sure what I’m going to tell them about all this. I’m still trying to process it myself.”
“You’ll think of something,” I said.
Girard shook my hand, his grip strong. “I don’t know what to say. I was an ass.”
“Yes, you were,” I said, grinning.
“Well, I won’t be closing my eyes to what’s really going on anymore,” he said. “The next murder case that comes across my desk, I’m going to say to myself, “Was this done by humans, trolls, or God-knows-what?” Maybe I’ll close more cases that way.”
“Maybe you will.”
“Alec,” Jim said, “if you need any help taking on the Cabal, call me. Call me anyway and we can have a beer out back of my house sometime, hopefully without the demon party-crashers.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Take care of yourself, Jim. At least you have two members of the force who will be only too willing to help the next time you get stuck on a case.”
“Stuck?” he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Well, you did call me because you couldn’t figure out those murders.”
“No, I called you because my dreams were being manipulated. Otherwise, I’d have solved everything on my own.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
He wrapped his huge arms around me and hugged me. “It was good to see you again.”
“You too,” I said when he released me from the bear hug and I could breathe again.
They went to the back room. I assumed the witches would send them to a church in Huntsville. I just hoped there wouldn’t be anyone in the church when Jim, Frasier, and Girard appeared out of nowhere.
“Hey, Alec,” Leon said, “Michael and I are going to head home. Call me if you want to hang out or drive the Porsche or something.”
“I will. Thanks for your help.”
Dead Ground (Harbinger P.I. Book 4) Page 19