Legacy of the Shadow’s Blood

by E G Bateman

  Dolores paused for a moment. “No single group can do it. It would require the Kindred council and the Fae Council of Elders.”

  Lexi looked at Scott as he released a frustrated breath. She knew he had the same thought as her—some kind of alliance between Caleb and the Elders. She turned to the cell. “We’re going to see Albin in an hour to see if he recognizes the guard. I guess we should have returned to the museum earlier.”

  The fae tutted. “Oh, dear. You’ll be lucky to find him. I expect Albin has sequestered himself somewhere.”

  The young people shared a puzzled expression. She asked, “Why would he do that?”

  Dolores’ voice sounded hesitant through the speaker. “He wouldn’t want to be caught with someone while the wards are down.” She waited for her boss to continue. “You did realize he’s an incubus, didn’t you? Good heavens, I hope he’s alone. I pity anyone who’s with him when the wards are down.”

  “I’ll call you later.” Lexi disconnected the call. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Of course. That explains it.”

  They hurried to a line of cabs. “I’ve heard of incubi,” Scott muttered, “but I’m not certain what they do.”

  “It’s a demon. They are irresistible and use that ability to gain control over their victims to plant their demonic seed.” She clenched her fist. “Dammit! I knew he was too good to be true. We need to get there. Dick could be in real danger.”

  They reached the opulent high-rise apartment block twenty minutes later. The sorcerer stared at his phone. “I’ve tried Dick about fifty times. There’s still no answer.”

  The elevator opened onto the floor and they found the right door. “It’s almost seven. He’s been in there an hour.”

  Lexi drew her katana. She raised her hand to knock on the door but Scott stopped her.

  “Wait.” He held his hand out, palm up.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I tried to do some magic I know would be restricted. We have no other way to know whether the wards are up or down right now. It looks like they’re up.”

  She nodded, then knocked.

  A few moments later, Albin opened the door wearing nothing but a towel around his hips. “You’re early.”

  Lexi paused and stared at his sculpted face and muscled arms. Her gaze traced the muscles from his chest to his towel “Wow!” Her eyeballs sent signals to parts of her body she didn’t need to think about in that moment.

  “Lexi… Lexi,” Scott muttered urgently. She slid her gaze to him. “Breathe.”

  With an impatient shake of her head, she pushed Albin back into the room. “What have you done with Dick?”

  “Do you want to know everything?” His lip twitched. “Well, let me think.”

  “Is everything okay?” the vampire called from another room.

  “It’s Lexi and Scott. I think they’ve come to warn you I’m an incubus.”

  Dick walked into the room with wet hair, wearing a hotel robe and with a cut crystal glass in his hand. He looked at Lexi. “Oh, I know that, silly.” He took a sip of the drink. “Did you find the talisman?”

  She shook her head. “It appears the thief threw himself from the balcony of the hotel.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Appears? Do you think he might have had a little help?”

  “I’d bet money on it.” She folded her arms.

  The historian gestured expansively. “Well, you’re in the right town.”

  Scott turned to Dick. “Were you here on time?”

  Albin snorted.

  The vampire looked offended. “I would have been on time, but I stumbled into Tiffany on my way to the car.”

  Lexi looked at their host. “Where were you this afternoon?”

  He walked to the bar and held his hand out for Dick’s glass. “I was concerned about the wards so I came straight home to be alone. I almost canceled our meetings this evening.”

  She nodded. “It’s a good thing you came home. The wards have definitely come down twice today. Once to steal the pouch and once to steal the money from the casino. I suspect it might have happened again at around six pm.”

  Scott turned to her, surprised. “When the guy went off the balcony?”

  “It sounds like the money’s gone.” She nodded. “It would only take a few seconds for a mage to translocate in, throw the guy off the balcony, and disappear with the cash.”

  Dick raised his hand “Excuse me, but doesn’t that constitute the exact opposite of lucky?”

  Albin released a relieved breath. “Thank goodness I was alone and you were late.”

  “Dick was saved by his tardiness.” Lexi pulled out the silver cigarette case and handed it to the man.

  The vampire chuckled. “I wasn’t tardy, I was fashionably late. Anyway, I’m not the one who would have been in trouble. Albin would have been incredibly irresistible. I would have become…bitey.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” She was embarrassed that she’d made sweeping assumptions.

  He shrugged and patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m quite flattered that you came to save me. I’ll get dressed and you can show Albin the video.”

  The historian looked at his towel and blushed. “Yes, of course. Help yourselves to drinks. I’ll make myself more presentable.

  Lexi watched him disappear through the door and felt a little disappointed that he would get dressed.

  The moment he closed the door, Scott turned to her. “It’s a roof over his head.”

  She studied the huge apartment with its high ceilings, curved windows, grand piano, and lavish furnishings. “I bet Dick’s in heaven with this furniture.”

  “And you’d win that bet,” the vampire called.

  Albin returned in jeans and a polo shirt. She looked at him and sighed.

  “How do incubi get on if they don’t live in a warded city?” the sorcerer asked. “It can’t be very practical walking down the street and having humans diving onto them in a frenzy.”

  “We’re supposed to be able to turn it on and off. I was cursed, so I have to stay within wards, be protected by some other magic means, or put a bag over my head.”

  Scott took the cell phone from his pocket. “Who cursed you?”

  “My father. He cursed me and disowned me.”

  Lexi sighed. “I thought our families were bad.”

  “The whole point of an incubus is to impregnate women. That was supposed to be my job.”

  The young man scrolled through the cell phone and glanced at him. “You didn’t want to do that?”

  “It may have escaped your notice, but I don’t like girls in that way.”

  Dammit!

  “Praise the Lord,” Dick responded from the bedroom.

  Scott shook his head and started the video. Lexi pointed to the screen. “That’s the guy who threw us out of the room at the museum.”

  He watched as the thief walked out of sight. The hand came through from the back of the case and grasped the gold poker chip.

  When the video ended, he gave Scott his email address and he sent the video file to him.

  That done, the sorcerer put his cell into his pocket. “There you go. The guard did it.”

  Albin raised an eyebrow. “Except that I’ve never seen that guy before. He didn’t work at the museum.”

  Scott looked crestfallen.

  Dick entered the room wearing his new black shirt with the Barocco printed collar. “Was the jumper definitely the guy from the museum?”

  Lexi wiggled her head from side to side noncommittally. “Honestly? It’s difficult to say. His head looked like spaghetti and meatballs.”

  The vampire rolled his eyes. “Charming.”

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Lexi woke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She answered it with her usual early-morning disapproval. “Urgh! Oh! Hi, Dolores. Another one?” She continued to listen as she sat and yanked one of the rolled socks out of her boot and threw it at Scott’s head. “Wake up.” It hit his face and la
nded next to his nose.

  “Gross.” He threw the sock at her and they both stared as it burst into flames mid-flight. She batted it away. His eyes went wild as he leapt to pick her boot up and pounded it until the flames were out.

  She returned to the phone. “Let me guess, the wards are down again.” Lexi walked into the bathroom still with the phone at her ear.

  Scott thumped the wall between their and Dick’s condo and shouted, “We’re up.”

  “I know. Dolores called me first.” The vampire stood in the doorway with two cups of coffee. “I was able to warn Albin about the wards.” He passed a cup to Scott.

  “Did you reach him in time?” Lexi called from the bathroom.

  “Barely. He was heading to the door but he’s called in sick.” Dick took a sip of coffee absent-mindedly and spluttered. He stared at the cup in his hand as though it were an alien, then began to heave.

  Lexi walked into the room and took it from him. “Thanks.” She watched him retch and slapped him on the back. “Are you okay?”

  He pointed at the mug in her hand.

  “It amazes me that you vamps can tolerate alcohol at all. I think coffee might be a step too far.” She took a gulp and rummaged through her dimensional pocket for another pair of socks.

  Dick recovered and shook his head. “With alcohol, the higher proof, the better. The margaritas are pure, dogged determination. I don’t know what I was thinking, drinking coffee. Perhaps the daywalking has gone to my head. I’ll order McRibs next. Then I’ll know I’m ready for the final death.”

  Scott looked up. “I love McRibs.”

  The vampire shuddered.

  Scott looked from one to the other. “So, what’s happened? Why are the wards down?”

  She put her hand into her dimensional pocket and thought, clean panties. When she pulled a pair from her pocket, she gave them a sniff. Just to be sure.

  “Dear God.” Dick turned away from her to Scott. “I’ll tell you outside.”

  As the two men exited, he began the story she’d been told by Dolores. “Someone had a very lucky win at one of the casinos last night.”

  They stood at the security desk in New York, New York while Lexi showed the Security officer the forms Dolores had given them. “We merely need to look at the video feed of your lucky customer from last night.”

  The man gazed at the papers, nodded, and turned away to speak into his radio.

  Dick leaned forward and tried to read the documents. “What does it say?” he whispered.

  Scott shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t read it. Lexi?”

  She responded with a mirrored shrug.

  The vampire rolled his eyes. “The lack of professionalism in this team disturbs me. We’ll probably get arrested.”

  The man turned to them. “This way.”

  Dick appeared disappointed that they hadn’t been challenged.

  They followed their guide to a control room with banks of screens and people watching them. He led them to a workstation at the back of the room where a young Asian man sat in front of several screens.

  The security officer tapped him on the shoulder. “Okay, Mo, go ahead.”

  They watched the recording in silence. Mo pressed pause, then zoomed in on the man’s face. “This is him. He’s not in our database.” He pressed play again.

  No one spoke as the feed showed an average man in his fifties—wearing a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a large cocktail—won on the roulette table a few times in succession. He moved to the craps table and repeated the process. A large crowd gathered around him.

  After a few minutes, Lexi asked, “How long does this go on for?”

  Mo paused it and spun in his chair. “About an hour and a half. He cashed out at one-point-four million.”

  Dick whistled. “So who is he?”

  The man checked his paperwork. “Melvyn Dunk from Idaho.”

  She frowned at the paused screen. “Any idea where he might be now?”

  He looked at his notes, which was a list headed Time and Activity. “Still in his suite.”

  Scott looked openly surprised. “He’s here?”

  “Of course. We comped him a suite and we’re taking his ‘wife’ shopping today.” He very deliberately added air-quotes around the word “wife.”

  Dick nodded. “While he’ll be in the casino giving you the chance to win your money back.”

  “That’s what it’s all about.” Mo spun to face the screen. “But we can’t work out how he did it.”

  The sorcerer frowned. “There’s no chance he won fairly? Surely it must be statistically possible.”

  In response, the security officer chuckled. “Melvyn left the world of believable statistics a long time before his run ended. He also shot straight through the land of outlandish possibilities and out the other side of dumb luck. Nope. Melvyn cheated and finding out how is more important to us than getting the money back.”

  “Leave that to us,” Lexi answered. “Are you sure he’s still in his suite?”

  “Yes. The wife left half an hour ago for her free treatments in our spa. I mean, the ‘wife.’” He did the air quotes again with a smirk on his face.

  “Yes, I get it. He’s with a hooker.” She made a mental eye-roll. “Which room?”

  Mo looked at a screen and read a suite number out. She noticed that conveniently, one of the security cameras was in the hallway directly outside that room.

  She smiled. “I’d like to meet Mr. Dunk. Give me a bunch of flowers and a bottle of champagne.”

  The security guy’s eyes traveled down her body and seemed to take in the leather jacket and tight leather pants. “You don’t exactly look like a representative of this hotel.” He studied the three of them. “In fact, he’s the only one who does.”

  Dick’s face lit up. “Why, thank you.”

  Lexi stared at the man and continued to do so when she didn’t receive the response she expected.

  “Right, well…I’ll get that sorted for you.” He swallowed a little nervously and turned to his radio.

  Once he nodded confirmation that arrangements had been made, the team headed to the elevators where a young man waited with the champagne and flowers.

  She entered the elevator while Scott took the flowers. Dick held the champagne and sneered when he looked at the label. The hotel employee entered the elevator behind them, and they continued to the room in silence.

  When Lexi knocked on the door, there was no answer.

  “Mr. Dunk?” She knocked again as she called through the door. “I have gifts from the hotel management.”

  Once again, no answer was forthcoming.

  After a few moments, she stepped aside and gestured to their escort to use the keycard. He opened the door and stood in the doorway. A little of the room was visible behind the security officer—a huge spa bath along the left wall. She had to peek around the man to see why he appeared to have frozen on the spot. Melvyn Dunk lay on the bed at the far end of the room with his throat cut.

  “Mr. Dunk appears to have run out of luck,” Dick muttered.

  Lexi put her hand into her pocket to retrieve a weapon.

  “Security cameras,” the vampire reminded her softly.

  The young man uttered a strangled cry, shook himself, and bolted out and down the hallway. She stepped out after him, turned to face the camera and looked into it. “We need to see the”—she held her fingers in little air quotes—“wife.”

  She lowered her hands and returned to the room, which was partially sectioned off midway down on the right by what looked like a large, floor-to-ceiling closet. It gave the large space the feel of a suite of rooms and partially blocked the view of half the room. A case lay on the bed and she suspected it either held or had held the money. She wanted a peek.

  Lexi turned toward the unexplored section and gestured for the men to keep an eye on the grisly scene. “Stay here.” She stepped into the room and was only a few steps in, having reached the spa bath, when a man da
rted from the hidden side of the room. It was the security guard from the museum, now in jeans and a baseball cap. As he snatched the case, he noticed her, shock on his face. He bolted behind the closet and out of view.

  With a yell, she broke into a run, raced after him around the corner of the cupboard, and expected to see he had entered from a connecting room. Before she could stop herself, though, she raced through a fae door.

  Shocked, she stopped and realized she was in a forest not at all like the one surrounding the glade Scott had described to her. This one smelled unhealthy, stagnant, and decaying. The man sprinted through the woods in front of her. She spun but the fae door was gone.

  “Oh, shit.”

  With no way to go back, she gave chase. She tried to tie his laces, but it didn’t slow him. It occurred to her that he probably didn’t wear any. She gained ground slowly and thought about the energy ball Scott had created. It was time for a little on-the-job learning. She touched the scar.

  I’ll have one of those energy balls, please.

  The ball appeared on cue but didn’t grow in her hand the way her friend’s had. It was simply there and about the size of a basketball. She wished she’d taken the time to let Scott teach her how to create them properly because this seemed large. Unfortunately, she didn’t know what size it should be for this purpose, nor was she sure how best to throw it.

  How hard can it be? I’m a perfect shot with a blade.

  She simply lobbed it as best she could. As she did so, a root seemed to rise and trip her and she tumbled awkwardly. She scrambled to her feet as the ball hit a tree.

  The trunk exploded

  Oops!

  Lexi landed hard again and the man was thrown sideways. His hat came off and she could make out pointed ears. It wasn’t a surprise.

  Quickly, she conjured another ball but visualized one half the size. The ball appeared and seemed better proportioned than her previous one. She hurled it as he created another fae door and disappeared. Her projectile flew past the portal and damaged another tree.

  “Oh no, you don’t.” She increased her speed. When she was almost at the door, something on the ground drew her attention and she immediately recognized the little silk pouch. She stooped, scooped it up, and launched herself through the portal before it could close.