Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4)

by Rawlings, Rachel

  "He could easily follow you in the between but I was referring to someone else. Don't worry, dear, if he wanted to harm you, he wouldn't have bothered with the runes. It seems you've piqued the hunter's interest."

  "Fantastic. Just what I need. Another admirer."

  "Yes, you seem to have more than your share of suitors. Still, having gained his attention will help you in your lessons."

  "My what?"

  "The hunter has agreed to teach you how to defend yourself from fae magic. We are not the only ones who can move through the between, you know."

  "Actually, no I don't know. You and Aidan never tell me anything. Who is this hunter?"

  "All the more reason for you to train with him. I don't recall his first name. But Hunter is more than a surname. It is what he does. After centuries with the Wild Hunt we stopped calling him anything but Hunter."

  When I groaned and flopped myself onto the couch in a rare but totally justified grown up temper tantrum, he conceded to postpone the training until after I had wrapped up my murder case.

  "But you will train with him. You will learn to master the between and your powers under his skillful hand. Worse things than Kellen could follow you home through the between. The wolf is at the door."

  While I was trying to figure out where I heard that saying before, a wolf in fact knocked at my door. I let Cash in and went to make more coffee, trying not to think about what could be worse than Kellen.

  "You didn't go through with it." The relief in his voice cut me. I had gone through with it and I knew it was going to hurt him when I told him.

  "Go through with what?" Arawn sat at the table looking at Cash and then me. When I didn't answer he leveled Cash with a gaze that would have had lesser men pissing in their pants.

  "The mark. Aidan was going to give her his mark but she didn't go through with it."

  One hand flew to my exposed neck while the other fumbled to release the hair clip. Instead of freeing my mass of hair all I managed to do was get the clip knotted up.

  Arawn flew out of his chair. "Absolutely not. I forbid it. You will not be bound to anyone outside of the fae."

  "Relax, Arawn. I said she didn't go through with it." Cash leaned against the doorway to my kitchen.

  My fingers nervously traced the skin along the left side of my neck, hoping to hide the marks until I made my father understand why they were necessary. Except they weren't there. I spun around and looked at Cash. He dropped his head when he realized I had in fact gone through with it but something had gone wrong.

  "Don't tell him."

  "It's a little late for that, don't you think?" Cash wouldn't look at me. Now he knew that while there might be a little physical attraction he was already too far into the friend category for me. Once there, it was nearly impossible for a guy to make it back into the potential boyfriend category.

  "Not him." I jerked my head in the direction of my father. "I mean him!" I pointed to my bedroom where Aidan slept. "If you tell him he won't let me near Caligula."

  "As if that would stop you."

  I moved across the kitchen, closing the distance between us. "You're right, it wouldn't stop me. But, you also know it would be better if I didn't go alone."

  "You don't have to go alone."

  "I need a vampire, Cash."

  "You've made that abundantly clear."

  "Cash, please," I pleaded.

  "Fine. I won't say anything but he's going to find out sooner or later. My money's on sooner."

  "Maurin." I turned slowly to face Arawn. The fact he called me Maurin instead of daughter meant he was pissed. I backed into Cash selfishly taking the support he offered. "You will explain yourself. Make me understand why my daughter would allow a vampire to mark her or worse, claim her?"

  "He wouldn't let me question Caligula unless I agreed to wear his mark. I need to question this vampire, Father. I'll do whatever it takes to bring him down. What's one more mark if it gets me closer to finishing this?" There was more to it than that but I thought appealing to his practical side would be the best course. He wasn't interfering in my relationship with Aidan but I knew he wanted me to find a nice fae to settle down with.

  "What's one more mark? You would compare what he tried to do to you to the mark of a warrior you bear on your neck?"

  "It's not the mark of a warrior. It's the mark of a demon." Cash's fingers closed on my hip, stealing a caress in the name of friendly support.

  "It is the mark of a survivor. The one who gave you that mark is dead and you live. Some would say that makes you a warrior. And what about the marks of your power? Would you compare that to the mark of a slave?"

  I stepped away from Cash. It would be wrong to take comfort in the warmth of his caress, to accept his support, when I said this: "Aidan told me what the mark used to mean so you can stop trying to shock me by throwing the word slave around. He also told me what it meant to him. I'd be under his protection, nothing more. Unless I want it."

  "Because you’d belong to him. I doubt all vampires have romanticized the mark in such a way." I rolled my eyes but it didn't bother him. "I wonder how liberal he would be the first time you did something he disagreed with. And if your protector should meet his true death? Then what? Will the next in his line inherit you along with the rest of his holdings? Never let someone put themselves above you. If someone seeks to claim your heart let it be as your equal, not by offering yourself and the power to control you."

  I sank down in one of the kitchen chairs. "It doesn't matter anyway. It didn't work." I was hoping this wasn't an omen for our relationship because despite what my father said about the mark, I knew it was different for Aidan. I wanted things to work between us with or without the mark. Still, there was a small part of me that felt like I dodged a bullet.

  "Its disappearance, I can only assume, has something to do with your rate of regeneration. A mark was traditionally given to humans. Very few fae are willing to give themselves to a vampire in such a way. The cost is too great. I believe this vampire has honorable intentions today but forever is a long time to live with the scales tipped out of balance.

  “I told you before I was tolerating your little love affair because a suitable match has yet to be made." His eyes slid to Cash, letting him know even if I hadn't squarely placed him in the friend column he wouldn't be a suitable match either. "But heed this warning, daughter, do not pursue the mark again. You will not like the outcome."

  "I appreciate your concern but you don't need to worry. And you definitely don't need to arrange any marriages." Gods, my dad was so old school.

  "You are my daughter and very soon you will understand what that means. Remember what I said about the mark." He took my face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs along my cheekbones. "You are just like your mother. Her stubbornness was her undoing. I pray every day you don't fall to the same fate." He kissed the top of my head before fading away.

  "Is he always that intense?" Cash spun the other chair around before straddling it, arms resting on the top.

  "Unfortunately, yes."

  10

  Too afraid Aidan would notice the marks weren't on my neck before we questioned Caligula, I decided to head over to Risqué on my own - well not entirely on my own, I had Conry with me. The less time Aidan and I spent together the less likely he was to notice.

  It was a couple hours before sunset but I knew Agrona would be up. The ancients weren't bound to the sun like the younger vamps. Sure they'd still roast like a campfire marshmallow if they got caught in it but one of the perks of living past six or seven centuries was not having a bed time so long as they stayed indoors. I left Aidan a note explaining my conversation with Masarelli, my plan to talk to Agrona about the new chief and that he should meet me there.

  The face that greeted me at the back door of Risqué caught me off guard. "Nolak, I thought you were headed back to Boston."

  He nodded his head in greeting. "That was before the Council position. Now I'm heading up security
." Nolak was massive, easily pushing seven feet and all muscle. His Native American heritage was more pronounced under the security light behind the club than when I first met him on Winter Island. He wasn't GQ gorgeous but had a rugged quality that made him attractive. He must have been a beautiful wolf. "Nice dog." He gave Conry a scratch behind the ears.

  "Thanks. A gift from my father." Nolak eyed my guardian warily, truly seeing him for what he was. "So, manning the door? I'm going to have to get you cleared for permanent residency."

  "No need. It's already been taken care of. And I'm not manning the door I'm waiting for you, to escort you."

  "Well then, by all means lead the way." I followed him through the door and down the stairs even though I probably knew my way around here better than he did. Well maybe not if he was now head of security. "So who filed the paperwork and how'd they get it back so fast?"

  Nolak held the door leading to the Council chambers open for me. "I don't know, new liaison I guess."

  "What?"

  He shrugged his massive shoulders and nudged me inside the room before I could pump him for more information. The door bumped my ass, knocking me further into the room as he closed it. I turned and scowled even though he couldn't see it.

  "There she is. See, darling, I told you not to worry. Maurin always finds her way." Kedehern was behind the bar again, mixing something that looked like a tequila sunrise- I bet that wasn't grenadine. He looked like Hugh Hefner in his heyday, smoking jacket and all.

  Agrona looked up from her paper, devoid of the worry my appearance was supposed to wash away. "Something to drink, dear?" She took the highball glass from her husband, swirling the stirrer before taking a sip.

  "Vampire." I eyed the vampire king slide behind the bar and mix the vodka, Chambord, cranberry and lime just to be sure of no funny business.

  "Interesting choice given your latest assignment." Agrona gave a small laugh and then set her drink on the small end table beside her settee. She swung her satin pajama covered legs around and leaned in. "Unless of course you're craving blood. Feeling the side effects of the marking?"

  "How did you know that? What side effects?"

  She laughed, a full belly laugh. "I didn't need anyone to tell me he would try to mark you. He fears what you will become, daughter of Arawn. As for the side effects? Well, it's been said that the marked feel their master's hunger. It's what drives the slave’s desire to feed the master, to quench the burning thirst and ease the pain."

  Kedehern handed me the drink, it was a dark red color, suddenly turning my stomach. I hesitated, the glass perched on my lips but before the delicious concoction could pass over my tongue I set the glass down. With a little wink, he picked it up. "Perhaps an Irish coffee instead."

  "Thanks." It was weird, their domesticated bliss. They both looked like they were settled in for a relaxing Sunday morning but I knew what they were capable of. I wouldn't be surprised if brunch was tied up and waiting in the room hidden behind this one.

  "It didn't work," I said taking the coffee from Kedehern. I waited until he was seated beside his wife before I continued. "The mark, it didn't take."

  "Of course it didn't. Once again Aidan failed to read up on his history. Your magic, fae magic, has already claimed you. To be claimed by another you would have to forsake your lineage and power." Kedehern stroked his hand along Agrona's thigh, skin sliding along silk.

  "Arawn didn't tell me that. Are you sure?"

  Agrona gave her husband a sideways glance. "I think he was concerned what you would do with the knowledge that it could be possible. You've been known to look before you leap."

  I swallowed my denial with quite possibly the best Irish coffee I have ever had. "With or without the mark, I'm going to talk to Caligula."

  "You see, there's that stubborn streak." Agrona smiled, settling against her husband's side as he wrapped an arm around her. Their warmth, for lack of a better word, was seriously throwing me off. They were up to something, trying to disarm me with their cuddling. I shuddered. "So you believe it is Caligula then? He has been getting restless but I chalked it up to age. The ancients have been known to struggle with keeping their sanity after a millennia or so."

  "So this happens a lot then? Slaughtering women? Any more ancients who need a lithium drip or a lobotomy that I should know about?"

  I caught the glance Kedehern gave his wife. They were holding back. "Look, if you know something now's the time to tell me. There's a fed running SPTF now. None of my people are in charge and that's going to make my job a lot harder as liaison. I'd like to get off on the right foot with this guy especially since we have to keep him away from the case and sell some bullshit story about how these girls died."

  "They were never your people. It doesn't matter. The cleanup is no longer your concern. You've been alleviated of those responsibilities."

  "What? Kedehern, you can't be serious. You can't take me off this now. I'm close. I can get a confession. You can mete out whatever justice you see fit, just let me bring him in."

  "I am well aware of your record with SPTF and your unharnessed power, daughter of Arawn. Which is why you will be taking up the position as Regulator for the New England region."

  "I didn't know we had a Regulator. Is that like a sup sheriff? What would I be doing exactly?"

  "You will no longer be responsible for acquiring passes for the pack or reporting new registrations to the authorities. Otherwise your position will remain basically the same."

  "So let me see if I'm following you here. All of the ass kicking and none of the paperwork?"

  "That would about sum it up." He chuckled. "Does this mean you accept?"

  It was my turn to laugh. "Oh, I'm under no delusion I had a choice, but yes I accept. Aidan said you put me on his team. I assumed it was in addition to being liaison. So does this promotion come with a raise?"

  "You're not joining Aidan's team. You'll be leading it."

  And there it was. The reason they were so sweet and affectionate. What did Mary Poppins say, a teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down. Agrona smiled, all fang, and I knew there was more to my new position. This was about keeping Aidan in check and her royal highness seemed to think making him report to me was the way to do it.

  "You'll have a team of two cleaners and two investigators working under you. They will report to Aidan and he will report directly to you." Agrona waited for my usual temper fueled reaction but she was going to be disappointed.

  I was sick of pushing paper anyway. I liked the action and I've been ass deep in it since the Council first came into my life. I was finally coming into my own, a little later than most but I'm good with a blade, come equipped with a scary fae dog and a unique skill set perfect for chasing down bad guys. I wasn't about to let vampire politics ruin the moment.

  "So do I need to meet the new captain at SPTF?"

  Kedehern pulled his wife’s legs across his lap and proceeded to rub her perfectly manicured feet. I think I would rather watch them eat from live donors. Something was seriously creepy about watching them like this. The look on his face said they knew it too. "The new liaison will take care of the initial meeting. She will keep him abreast of your progress. Meet with Caligula."

  "I was headed there after this. So who's the new liaison? I'll need her contact info."

  "You already have it. We chose Amalie as your replacement. She'll be expecting your call." I started to walk out but he called me back. "And, Maurin, try a little finesse. Caligula can't tell you anything if he's dead."

  Aidan still hadn't shown. Did he know something was wrong with the mark? Was there some connection between master and their marked that was missing, tipping him off? I really didn't want to have it out with him but if he tried to stop me from going because of a failed marking, it was on like Donkey Kong.

  Actually, he couldn't stop me now that the Council made me team lead but this was about us. He said he wanted to protect me but I wasn't used to having someone at my back or at my fr
ont blocking every move I tried to make. It was a little suffocating to say the least.

  I leaned against the wall next to the rear entrance, the cold bricks leeching my body heat. The longer I stayed the longer I stewed. I'd developed a terrible habit of hashing and rehashing things. Someone would do or say something and I would turn it over in my mind, analyzing every detail. If I didn't pull the information myself it couldn't be trusted. So the longer I waited, the longer I had to think about everything that had happened on the case, with Aidan, Cash and even the hunter's wards. Conry was pacing, gravel crunching under his paws, as he tried to shake off my anxiety.

  By the time Aidan pulled up in the Camaro I was well and truly pissed. I watched him get out of the muscle car, and my mood soured even more. Something I wouldn't have thought possible. While I counted stars to kill the time waiting on my vampire, I obsessed over my failed marking and the likelihood it was more than my protection that had him attempting it.

  Aidan was always gorgeous with impeccable taste and designer clothes, but seeing him in jeans, untucked white button down and leather jacket had my brain screaming we were mad at him to the more traitorous parts of my body. He had stopped to feed before coming here. He crossed the parking lot with casual determination, his sights set on me. A crooked grin ignited a fire low in my body. This would be easier if he hadn't dressed like my fantasy Aidan. I couldn't let it distract me. I had to know if there was more to his attempt to mark me.

  "I'm glad to see you at least had the sense to wait for me instead of going off to Caligula's on your own."

  "Only because I didn't have his address." He was teasing, I wasn't. If I knew where Caligula lived I would have left fifteen minutes ago.

  He leaned in, pressing me tighter against the bricks. I bristled as his hands slid up my hips and his lips worked their way along my jaw. "What's wrong? I feel the tension rolling off you."

  "Nothing," I lied. Everything was bothering me.