by E G Bateman
They walked through and Lexi looked around. She immediately noticed the truck driver again. He wore the same Raiders cap and plaid shirt and was seated at his table near the door, reading and drinking coffee. She was about to mention him but something more pressing was on her mind. “Is it my imagination or are we traveling an overly elaborate route?”
Dolores nodded. “Caleb knows you’re both with me, so all of Kindred probably knows too. It’s getting difficult to move around safely.”
The fae turned to the man. “Thanks, Bill.”
He looked up from his newspaper, smiled, and threw her a set of keys. “Take care, Dolores.”
Lexi did a double-take. She was certain the guy had been there last time.
They left the diner, climbed into an old Honda, and headed to the condo.
The moment they entered, Dick leaped to his feet. “We thought you were dead.”
Jesús walked into the room. “Mister Levin cried.”
“I did not.”
Jesús walked around the room, picking up glasses and tidying, but when he was behind his boss, he looked at Lexi and nodded his head as he mouthed, “He did.”
Dick rolled his eyes. “I know what you’re doing, Jesús.”
“Yes, Mr. Levin.” The man took the glasses into the kitchen.
“I wasn’t crying. I’m allergic to the cheap fabrics in my condo. I’m allergic to so many cheap things—like that oxblood leatherette jacket you wear, Lexi.”
She narrowed her eyes. “It’s leather.”
He looked pityingly at her. “I’m sure that’s what they told you in the store.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you too.” The vampire put a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want coffee?”
Lexi nodded and patted his hand.
Dolores smiled. “It’s so nice to see you two getting along.”
A few minutes later, he was back with coffee. He put the mug in front of her.
She looked at him and nodded her thanks. Then she looked at Scott and extended her arm. “What’s going on with me? Are we not matched anymore? Can that even happen?”
“I’ve never heard of this happening. I have no idea so I’ll message Bryan.” He took his cell out and began to tap it.
Lexi’s stomach flipped. Her first thought was that she might see Bryan and she must be an awful sight. Then she remembered he was married to her sister and she sighed. “Great.”
An hour later, he arrived and knocked on the frame of the open door. “Can I come in?”
Her heart lurched and she stomped on it mentally.
“Come in, Bryan.” Scott shook his hand. “Anything?”
“I might have something. Well…it doesn’t really explain why, but it might explain how…” He looked at them. “Here goes. As I said before, You and Ali were separated at a young age. The reason must have been because of what’s happened now. When she’s strong, you’re weak, and when you’re strong, she’s weak. I think this gives us some good news too. I think this tells us you’re a born legacy. You weren’t made one by ritual. At least one parent must have been a legacy.”
She frowned. “Why do you think that?”
Bryan crossed his arms and leaned back on the doorframe. “I think you’re identical twins, so you started as a single cell with the legacy blood already in your DNA, then you divided into twins. That makes sense, right?”
Lexi looked away and mulled over what he’d said. “The fight with Alicia did leave me feeling ultimately weaker, but I hurled energy balls at the fae who killed Melvyn.”
“You did?” Scott grinned.
“Yes. You’re a crappy teacher. I blew a tree up.”
The sorcerer gave her an incredulous look. “I haven’t even taught you that yet.”
“Exactly.” She waited for a beat, then winked at him. When she turned to Bryan, he was frowning. “What?”
He grimaced. “That was probably residual magic. Whatever magic you had remaining in your system from Scott.”
She clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “So, all we need to do is go to Alicia. I’ll touch her for a few seconds and get my mojo back.”
Bryan drew his brow down in a look of concern.
Lexi worried he would try to stop her. “I won’t hurt her.”
Quickly, he put a hand up to reassure her. “It’s not that. I’m simply trying to work out the logistics. She’s staying at the chief’s house so there’s always someone to look out for her.” He thought for a moment. “Okay. I’ll go back and I’ll contact Scott when it’s safe to come. You need to get out of Vegas so you can come immediately by fae door. We might only have seconds.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “We’ll be ready.”
Her gaze followed Bryan when he headed out the door and when she turned, the others were staring at her. Even Marcel was seated on his haunches with his head tilted and his gaze fixed on her.
“What?” It came out more aggressively than she’d intended.
Dick changed the subject. “So, what happened to the guy with the case?”
“I lost him, but he dropped this.” She pulled the little pouch from her pocket.
“The talisman?” He looked delighted.
Lexi waved it. “It’s empty.”
The vampire slouched. “Oh. Never mind.” He picked it up and examined it. She watched his face as he considered its relevance. “This is good, isn’t it? Because he went back to the museum for it. If it’s not important, why did he risk going back?”
She smiled. “That’s the conclusion we came to.”
“And he’d had the talisman for a couple of days before we arrived,” he continued, “but he didn’t start using it until he had the pouch. Oh… He needs this.” He handed it to her with a grin on his face. “We don’t need to find him. He’ll come to us.”
“Maybe it’s not the talisman that’s lucky at all. Maybe it’s the pouch.” She scrunched it in the palm of her hand.
With her fist closed around it, she wished with every hope inside her. “I wish I had my scar and legacy abilities back.”
Lexi tried to create an energy ball. She looked at the others who stared pensively at her once again and shook her head.
Scott sat beside her. “After you disappeared, Dick went through the security footage of Mr. Dunk winning on the tables. He realized that the security guy from the museum stood in the background at every table Melvyn had played at. He held something in his hand but we couldn’t see what.”
She leaned down to stroke Marcel as he walked past. “Could it have been the talisman?”
“No, Melvyn had that.” Dick picked Marcel up and kissed him on the head. “Jesús, would you take him out to do his business, please?”
Jesús took the puppy with a smile. “Come with me, little man.”
“Melvyn took the chip out of his pocket a few times and kissed it,” he continued. “In fact, every time he did that, Murder-Fae scowled.”
“Murder-Fae. That’s what we’re calling him, is it? Well, it fits.” She smirked.
Lexi scratched Marcel behind the ears as Jesús carried him past. “So Melvyn never was the lucky guy and you don’t have to hold it to be the one winning. Interesting.”
Dolores asked, “Where did the fae door lead to?”
“The first one led to a forest. Man, it stank like stagnant death.”
Her boss sighed. “You shouldn’t have chased him.”
“I thought he’d been in a connected room. I flew around the corner and was through it before I knew what had happened. I chased him, threw the energy ball that blew the tree up, and when he escaped through another door, I launched myself through it behind him but he got away. That’s how I broke my arm. God, that hurt.”
Dick put a hand up. “May I ask a question?”
Everyone looked at him.
“What if that energy ball had killed him? How would you have gotten back?”
“Well… Oh!” Lexi shrugged. She hadn’t considered that.
<
br /> Scott was hesitant but asked, “What was it like seeing your f…unit again?”
She paused before answering. “I’ve spent the last year demonizing them all in my head, but Maggie and Isaac were simply Maggie and Isaac. She was thrilled that we were matched and happy for me. What was it like seeing Warren?”
He ran a hand through his shaggy, blond waves. “I couldn’t believe his face. God, what a mess. That poor mage. I regret not taking the time to kill him. I hope they didn’t get to him in time. It would save lives in the long run.”
“His face?” She frowned in confusion.
“Oh, you wouldn’t have seen it.” The sorcerer sighed. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Lexi could see he was struggling. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“Do you mind if we don’t? Honestly, I feel sick thinking about it.”
They stood and headed to the cars.
She turned to him. “I’ll need your help with something else. I can’t get into my dimensional pocket. Everything’s there—my money, cell phone, weapons…well, the good ones. I haven’t lost it all, have I?”
“No, it’s still there. I’ll get your stuff out through mine.” He sat on the back seat of Dick’s car and hauled her gear out of his bag. She took a few items and rolled another twenty to hide in her vest.
Dick followed Dolores’ vehicle out of town to the diner. They parked and entered, and she handed the keys to Bill, who remained at the same table.
The man didn’t speak and instead, stared from the vampire to the clock on his wall. “My supe-dar says vamp but my clock says something else.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Vamp Two-point-oh.” Dick nodded at the man. “It’s a little upgrade we’re trialing.”
Lexi rolled her eyes. “Could we have three coffees and whatever Mister Two-point-oh’s having, please.”
They sat with their drinks and waited to hear from Bryan.
“Maybe something’s gone wrong. Should we call?” she asked when impatience finally won her internal battle.
“I’m not sure that’s—” Scott was interrupted by a text message on his cell and he glanced at it. “We’re up.”
She rolled her arm and bent her elbow to ensure it wouldn’t give her any more trouble. “How do you know where he is?”
“He gave us something to channel.” The sorcerer opened his hand. A small pin with a police badge on it lay in his palm. He held it while Dolores put her hand on his arm.
The fae door opened into a bedroom with a single bed. Lexi looked around before she stepped through. They surmised this had been Alicia’s bedroom growing up.
Scott was openly curious. “Huh. She has eclectic taste.”
She glanced at him. “What?”
“The posters. She likes Linkin Park, The Black-Eyed Peas, and Leonard Cohen.”
“That’s weird,” she commented as she studied the posters. They were the same as those she’d had on her walls.
The woman with her face lay asleep in the bed. Bryan stood over her and looked nervously from Alicia to the bedroom door.
Dolores put her hand on Lexi’s arm. “I can’t leave the door there. If there’s another mage in the house, they might sense it. Call me and I’ll come get you.”
They stepped through and the portal vanished.
Bryan stepped back. “Let’s get this done fast. The chief’s just told me Caleb’s coming over.”
Lexi’s face brightened. “That’s useful. I could simply kill him now.”
A voice came from outside the room. “Bryan? Is she awake?”
The man’s face was a vision of shock.
His hand jerked out toward them when the handle on the bedroom door turned. Suddenly, the two friends stood somewhere else.
She spun in confusion. “Where are we?”
Scott ran a finger across a row of coat hangers. “I’d say we’re in a closet.”
Fortunately, it was a fairly spacious walk-in closet and they were surrounded by clothes, tools, weapons, and books. She stretched to open a drawer and a full-length mirror at the end of the little room clicked and swung open. They exchanged a glance and walked through onto a platform that overlooked what resembled a convention hall. The space was arranged in row upon row of booths.
“It looks like comic-con with no people,” Scott said.
“I thought I heard you speaking.”
Lexi jumped. Several large screens around the hall all displayed Chief Rand. He looked directly at the camera.
“She’s not awake. I was talking to her anyway,” Bryan replied. The view switched to the sleeping girl.
The sorcerer raised his eyebrows. “We’re in his dimensional pocket.”
“What? But it’s huge. Mine’s like a cupboard.” She descended the stairs and he followed.
“It can look like anything you want it to. But I’ll admit, I’ve never heard of anything like this.” He looked as perplexed as he sounded. “Look at the signs. The booths are organized by year. Why would he do this?”
They walked past booths with pictures and screens on the walls while the conversation between Bryan and the chief continued. Lexi was drawn to one with pictures of a little girl. She recognized Braxton, the father of her unit, but he was far younger. Several pictures of a girl of about six playing with a doll caught her attention and she touched a screen on the wall. It immediately sprang to life.
The little girl was crying loudly and screamed, “I want Alicia.”
Braxton stood nearby talking to a woman she didn’t recognize. “This is horrible.”
The woman stroked his arm. “It’ll be okay. You know that sometimes, it can take a few counseling sessions to shift some memories. It’s for the best.”
The camera moved closer to the little girl and Lexi realized this was Bryan walking toward her. “Hi, Alexa. I’m Bryan. Look, here’s Alicia.” He placed a doll into the little girl’s arms and she hugged it. Slowly, he sat on the floor beside her and showed her a toy truck.
Lexi wiped the dampness on her cheeks.
“Ah, Bryan.” Caleb’s voice boomed over the speakers and she went rigid at the sight of him grinning on the screens above.
Bryan nodded briefly and turned to Alicia.
“I’m sorry,” Caleb continued. “I can’t remember—have we met?”
Bryan took Alicia’s hand and raised it to his face. “No… Well…” He suddenly appeared in the hall and stood at a noticeboard at the end of a row of booths. He was there for two seconds, at most, while at the same time, he tucked his wife’s arm under the covers. Calmly, he stood, turned to the visitor, and proffered his hand. “Kind of. We’ve spoken on the phone.”
In the dimensional pocket, the two friends walked to the board with Caleb written at the top. Beneath were two columns for the things Bryan should and shouldn’t know about the sorcerer. Lexi had the distinct impression that the man had tried to catch him out.
Caleb winced, then smiled. “Of course. Yes. How’s our little superstar?”
“Did you see that?” Scott pointed at the screen. “Caleb’s face? I bet that demon’s still driving him crazy.”
Chief Rand leaned closer. “We’re keeping her in a magic-induced coma until we can find out what’s going on.”
The visitor continued to address Bryan. “Could you bring her out? I have some questions I’d like to ask her.”
The young man paused before he answered. “Do you really need to? If it’s about Cabo, we’ve completed our reports. But if you need anything about her fight with Lorenzo, I’m afraid I already counseled her.”
Caleb smiled at him but his frustration could be sensed behind it. “Before she was debriefed? And why did you do that?”
“She was out of control and violent. I’ve never seen such ferocity and I assumed it must have been something Lorenzo did. I thought if she forgot it—I mean, that’s why we have counseling isn’t it? To protect us? But while it did remove the memories, it didn’t wor
k on her other issues.”
“You were both told to stay away from Lorenzo.”
“I didn’t know she planned to do it but perhaps I should have guessed. She was upset when she heard about what he’d done to Thomas.”
The sorcerer frowned. “Thomas?”
Chief Rand grimaced. “The vampire priest.”
“Ah yes. That was most regrettable.” Caleb sighed.
He leaned over Alicia’s unconscious form and swept his hand above her. “Her bone density is almost double any legacy I’ve seen. And her legacy ability readings are off the chart.” He grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose, then turned to Chief Rand. “Kevin, may I use the bathroom?”
“Of course, you know where it is.”
With a curt nod, he left the room
Chapter Sixty-Three
Caleb stood over the washbasin and his hands clutched the sides. Blood dripped from his nose onto the white porcelain.
What is the result of the experiment with the demon? Azatoth’s voice was so loud in his mind that his eyes rolled back in their sockets and blood pulsed at his temples.
He had anticipated the question and attempted to lead with the good news. “The demon has fulfilled our primary purpose. It tried to escape by drawing a thinner from the demon realms, as we knew it would. We captured the thinner.”
Azatoth hissed annoyance. I know that. And the experiment?
The sorcerer glanced into the bowl at the cascade of blood that now gushed from his nose. “As suspected, its body was strong but the mind is useless. It would not withstand your presence.”
The demon paused before he issued his command. Bring the girl. She will contain me. She will withstand my presence.
Caleb pulled toilet tissue from the roll. “What about the sister? She’s obviously been here. Bryan may know something.”
Find out what the boy knows but let him live. I can combine my power with his air magic through their blood match. You are pathetic. You house a mere fraction of my mind within you and you crumble. Look at the mess you are.
He forced his gaze to focus on the mirror as Azatoth stripped the glamor he projected and he saw his true self. Most of his body was almost entirely riddled with broken capillaries in his skin. His eyes were bloodshot and his head was almost completely bald now. He had lost weight and jowls hung from his face. More than ever, he resembled a cadaver. It disgusted him and he looked away.