Elysian Fields

by Suzanne Johnson

  CHAPTER 6

  Sleep wasn’t happening, and it wasn’t just the Axeman bothering me.

  My muscles ached, and my limbs twitched under the covers with nervous energy. After flailing around my bed until my legs were entombed in a knot of sheets and blankets, I extricated myself and slumped into my library-slash-workroom.

  Here, I stashed my magical gear and the spell and potion ingredients that comprised the stock-in-trade of Green Congress wizards, the ritual magic- makers of the wizarding world. The bottles, jars, and containers—most from my collection of Early American Pattern Glass—sat, orga nized and meticulous, on their floor-to-ceiling shelves in a way only achieved by the truly obsessive-compulsive. Cinnamon, mint, and ginger scents swirled in a comforting mélange, and I took solace in the order of it.

  Speaking of demons, Sebastian, an evil minion of Satan with crossed blue eyes, grabbed his rubber rat and fled the room. He lived under the mistaken impression I coveted the slimy thing.

  I paused next to the worktable. If I turned loup-garou I might want to eat rats. At least one or two days a month, I’d probably want to eat Sebastian. My funk reached the status of utter and epic.

  Books consumed one wall of the library: magical histories, textbooks on fables and lore, and grimoires—spellbooks filled with magic both legal and black as evil. Along with Sebastian, my elven genes, the staff, and the gutted shell of a house in Lakeview, the black grimoires were my legacy from my father and mentor, Gerry.

  I spent an hour pulling out anything that might address the issue of wizards’ immunity to werewolf viruses, but found conflicting information. Enough to keep hope alive, but not enough to offer relief.

  I didn’t dare log onto the Congress of Elders’ secure online database and do a search. Big Brother might be watching. Probably Adrian Hoffman, the Speaker of the Elders. My translation: PR flack and receptionist, although I guess he had to have decent wizarding skills to even hold that position.

  I would never be a fan of Hoffman’s, and held him at least partially responsible for the rampage of the killer nymph last month, a debacle that left me in the hospital. Had he done a background check when I’d asked, or given any credence to the red flags raised by my elven abilities, my merman friend Rene Delachaise wouldn’t have lost his twin brother and Tish Newman, the closest I’d had to a mother since my own mom died when I was six, would still be alive. She’d been murdered on my front porch when the killer couldn’t get inside to me, and part of me would forever lay the blame at Hoffman’s feet.

  I felt Tish’s absence like a physical weight now. She could always ground me, give me perspective, provide moral support. We’d buried her only a month ago, and the memory of her death, violent and unnecessary, hurt worse than my ribs. Until she was gone, I hadn’t realized how much I loved her, and maybe had taken her for granted.

  So, yeah, Adrian Hoffman wasn’t my favorite person, and since he’d been publicly chastised by the Elders for not doing the background check on the killer as I’d asked, the feeling was probably mutual. If he found out I’d been exposed to the loup- garou virus, my life value would sink to the price of cheap Mardi Gras beads, Jake’s life would be forfeit, and Alex might as well open a chain of fitness centers.

  I sat in the armchair by the window and stared into the branches of the live oaks outside. Horns blared and car stereos rumbled from the buildup of Monday morning traffic along Magazine Street.

  Why couldn’t I have psychic skills instead of empathic? I could get my hands on that shirt Jake had found and tell where the Axeman was—maybe even tell when he’d strike next. I would know the outcome of my loup-garou exposure and could either forget it or send myself into a full-blown panic.

  Holy crap. I might not be psychic, but I knew who was. I hurried to the desk and flipped open my laptop, logging onto the Elders’ site and clicking until I had the wizard directory. No Yellow Congress wizards had lived in New Orleans before Katrina, which had been fine with me. They excelled at mental magic, often telepathy and divination. I absorbed too many emotions from other people through my empathy to not be freaked out by the idea of someone else being able to read me—not just my emotions, but my thoughts.

  However, all kinds of folks interested in the city’s renewal, both human and wizard, had flocked here since the storm, so we might have one now. Finally, I found one name with a New Orleans address. A familiar name.

  I’d met Adam Lyle, a Houston psychiatrist, during a harebrained foray to the post-Katrina temporary morgue. I’d been desperately looking for Gerry, and Adam had been working the morgue as a volunteer—they’d needed help so badly, even a psychiatrist was welcomed. Guess he’d decided to stay.

  Phone numbers had been removed from the database after a group of young Australian Blue Congress wizards had dreamt up a pyramid scheme last year, calling wizards and posing as Elders. The only contacts listed now were email addresses.

  I clicked on Adam’s link and dashed off a quick note. I re- introduced myself and posed a hypothetical question I’d supposedly been asked at a party and couldn’t answer: whether a wizard exposed to a virulent strain of lycanthropy such as the loup-garou could be turned. If so, what signs should one look for, and would a Yellow Congress wizard be able to tell if the change would occur without waiting for the full moon?

  It made sense that if a thought-pattern change had occurred from human to garou, a Yellow Congress wizard might be able to detect that through psychic skills. Of course if it were possible, I’d have to put a lot of trust into Adam Lyle. I’d worry about that later.

  My Green Congress colleagues were geeks; we were almost always scientists or engineers—or risk-management experts. Adam should have no trouble believing this was a subject we might discuss at a cocktail party.

  Relieved I’d done something proactive, I flopped on the sofa to watch the last dregs of the local morning news and mainline caffeine, still wearing my favorite Gryffindor pajamas. I closed my eyes and tried to feel anything in my own body or energy field that had changed. I still had the low-grade fever, but nothing else. If I were giving off werewolf vibes, would I be able to tell? I didn’t feel my own wizard’s energy, so probably not.

  About nine, the back door rattled a few seconds and I was halfway off the sofa when I heard the dead bolt slide back and keys jingling. I relaxed again. The only other person who had a key to my house was the guy slamming cabinet doors and pouring himself coffee. “It’s me,” Alex said as an afterthought.

  I’d given him a key to my house shortly after Katrina, when I’d needed a bodyguard. The immediate danger passed, but he never gave the key back and I never asked. Didn’t mean anything. At least that’s what I told myself. It must be true or I’d at least sit up and try to look presentable.

  He came into the living room with a cup of coffee and one of his cardboard-coated- in-wax protein bars. Unlike me, he was neatly dressed, pressed, combed, and presentable.

  “I called Ken to ask if he’d heard from Jake and he said there’d been another attack—made the TV news yet?” He shoved my feet far enough off the sofa to sit down on the other end. Sebastian raced in, dropped the rubber rat on Alex’s lap like a sacred gift, and purred in contentment. Traitorous wretch.

  “Nope—is it the same as the others? Was it in the Quarter? How the hell did he come back after one day? Can you get me into the crime scene? Has Ken heard from Jake?”

  Alex stroked Sebastian and scratched behind his ears. “No news on Jake. I’ll be able to get into the scene after the NOPD lab guys are done, as a courtesy, but I doubt I’ll be able to get you in. Ken won’t fall for the ‘Axeman expert’ thing twice. And you tell me—how can he come back this soon?”

  I sat up, holding on to my ribs to keep them from falling out. “I guess all bets are off on his return time because of the media attention he’s getting. They’re even reading original newspaper stories on the air. He’s probably strong right now.”

  Alex bit off a piece of chocolate-flavored wax a
nd wiped a crumb from what I called his winter fighting clothes—black pants, kickass boots, and a black long-sleeved T-shirt. In summer he changed to short sleeves. When running, he changed shoes. The man was easy to shop for.

  On TV, the anchor launched into a story on the upcoming holiday light display at City Park with no news on the Axeman. Alex turned sideways on the sofa to face me and rubbed my ankles. “Did you get any sleep?”

  “Not for lack of trying.” I put my cup on the coffee table and told him about Adam Lyle and my email. “I’m out of ideas.”

  Alex stretched, a flex of taut muscle that distracted me more than anything I’d come up with on my own. “I bet even if your wizard DNA doesn’t protect you, the elven-wizard combination will.”

  “How quickly would I feel something? Does it mean anything that I have a fever?” I’d been so jumpy since the argument with Jake, I didn’t know if my problem was heightened loup- garou senses, fear, or paranoia. Maybe all of the above.

  “Not sure. I’ve dealt more with werewolves than loup- garou. Everything’s amped with them. Don’t forget, Jake healed so fast after his attack that a Blue Congress guy had to go in and doctor his medical rec ords. He even had to cast a confusion spell on the medical team.”

  I eased my sleeve up, baring a forearm that still showed a scratch. Lighter and scabbed, but still there. “No fast healing. It’s a good sign, right? And my ribs still hurt like a sonofabitch.”

  Alex reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “No clue, DJ. Jake was seriously torn up and had more virus in him from the get- go. Scratch like yours, you might not be able to tell anything till the full moon.”

  “Great.” I slumped back again. “You go by the Gator?”

  He slouched next to me, stretching out long black-clad legs and propping his feet on the coffee table. “Yeah, it’s locked tight and doesn’t look like he’s been home. The ledger from last night’s sales is still propped against the door to his apartment. I left a note for Leyla that Jake was called out of town unexpectedly and to keep running things as normal.”

  “I bet he went to Old Orleans,” I said. Their hometown of Picayune, Mississippi, was full of nosy relatives, and Ken would ask too many questions.

  “It’s probably a good place for him right now.” Alex slid an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. He was warm and safe, and I wished we could stay like this all day.

  “What are you going to tell the head of the enforcers about Jake?” The enforcer chief, who also had FBI connections, had helped get the DDT set up. He’d have to know if half of his two-man investigative team was off- radar.

  “I’m not going to volunteer that Jake isn’t here. With headquarters in Virginia, I can cover for a while.” Alex rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “But if I’m asked point-blank, I won’t lie for him. Not anymore.”

  I prayed Jake would come back before Alex had to report him AWOL. With a loup-garou it would mean an immediate death sentence and I wasn’t sure Alex could live with that, however brave and fed-up he sounded right now.

  “But this does mean it’s time to tell Ken about the Division of Domestic Terror.” Alex got up and began to pace. “With Jake gone and this Axeman case getting bigger, we need help.”

  The Elders had already approved the move, but Ken was a hundred-percent human and reasoned his way through problems like a cop. He didn’t realize things like wizards existed, much less that his buddy Alex could turn into a pony-size dog and that Jake was a rogue werewolf with control problems.

  But having someone inside the NOPD would be more than helpful. Alex and Jake thought Ken could handle our wacky world, and I tended to agree. I didn’t know him that well, but he struck me as serious and level-headed and not prone to drama. “When do you want to talk to him?”

  “Tonight. He’s coming to my place at nine when he goes off duty, and I’d like you to be there,” Alex said. “If he makes me go furry to prove we’re not lying, you’ll have to keep him from running.”

  Fabulous. I’d done such a good job at keeping Jake from running away, why not go oh- for-two?

  CHAPTER 7

  I’d become so engrossed in the local NBC affiliate’s special on the Axeman that I jumped like a cat with his tail on fire when my cell phone blared its new Zachary Richard ringtone. I’d spent most of the day doing Axeman research and was skittish from trying to figure out the mindset of a psychopath. “Crap.” I knocked the phone off the coffee table and had to lean over to get it, which in turn squeezed my sore ribs. Zachary got off a full chorus of “Big River” by the time I’d slapped a hand on the phone, picked it up, saw an unfamiliar number, and punched talk. “DJ’s orthopedic ward, how may I help you?”

  “Open your back door. I have dinner.”

  Dinner sounded good.

  I’d ended the call and shuffled halfway to the kitchen before realizing I had no idea who I’d be dining with. Male voice, but not soft enough for Jake. The right timbre, raspy and deep, but not Southern enough for Alex.

  The kitchen was dark, and I glanced at the wall clock as I flipped on the lights, opened the kitchen door, and stared at Quince Randolph. He lived catty-cornered across Magazine Street in an apartment above his landscaping business, Plantasy Island.

  I didn’t like him because unlike every other human I’d met, alive and historically undead, he gave off no emotional signature whatsoever. Which meant he either had been trained to shield his thoughts and emotions, or he wasn’t human. I tolerated him only because my best friend Eugenie had convinced herself he was The One. What was The One doing at my house at six p.m. with dinner and minus his girlfriend?

  “Where’s Eugenie?” I gazed past his shoulder at her house directly across the street. No sign of her. “Is she on her way?”

  He pushed past me with a big plastic bag and two bottles of beer—Abita Amber, my favorite. He was tall and lean, built like a swimmer, with broad shoulders and a touch of muscled lankiness. Not to mention pretty as a girl, with shoulder-length, wavy hair the color of honey, and too-alert eyes a bluish-green.

  “Quince, seriously, what are you doing here?” I didn’t remember making plans, but the last twenty- four hours had probably killed a few brain cells.

  “This is just for us—and call me Rand, remember?” He pulled cardboard cartons and Styrofoam containers from the bag. “From Five Happiness. You like Chinese, right?”

  I loved Chinese, and the rich, savory aromas set my stomach to rumbling. I hadn’t done more than graze on junk since yesterday’s sugar-infused breakfast. Still . . .

  “Rand!” I shouted, and he finally stopped fiddling with the food to look at me, pretty mouth turned up in a questioning smile. “Why are you here without Eugenie?”

  I hated mysteries. Never liked Matlock reruns, didn’t watch detective shows, avoided whodunits. Okay, I’d watch CSI for the gross-out factor and had gone on a Law & Order jag when we’d first started investigating prete cases, but I got over it.

  Not understanding Quince Randolph annoyed me. I was almost sure he wasn’t human, but not sure enough to come right out and ask him. Another damning bit of circumstantial evidence: he always wore peridot jewelry. Peridot is a beautiful stone, but it can be spelled to hide a prete’s native energy and, face it, your average guy doesn’t constantly waltz around in peridot earrings. Plus, he just flat gave me the creeps.

  “No big mystery,” he said, smiling as my eyes widened. Coincidence about using the word mystery, right? Had to be. “I wanted Chinese tonight and Eugenie doesn’t really like it. So I’m eating with you.” He walked toward me and I stifled an inexplicable urge to back away.

  His smile wilted when he got close, and his gaze flicked downward.

  “What are you look—”

  He moved fast, reaching down to encircle my left wrist in a firm grip. He lifted my arm, pushed up my sleeve, and studied the scabbed-over scratch.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I jerked out of his grasp and walked around him to the table. The f
ood smelled like twelve kinds of heaven. Maybe even good enough to eat with the wackadoodle. Who surely couldn’t be human, or he wouldn’t have sensed my injury. I didn’t think he was a shifter, though, unless it was some exotic animal I’d never encountered. Maybe he was fae. I needed to research them. I’d never met a faery, but I bet they were pretty like him.

  “How did that happen?” His gaze remained riveted on my arm.

  “Scraped it on the back fence when I took out the trash last night,” I said. “Stupid of me. I should’ve turned on the floodlights.”

  “You’re lying.” He raised his gaze to meet mine.

  Enough already, freak show. “What are you, Rand?”

  He smiled and handed me a pair of chopsticks in a paper sleeve. Maybe I’d poke those pretty eyes out. “I’m hungry.” He sat down at the table, cracked his chopsticks, and dug into a carton of steamed dumplings. “I got you the fried pot stickers.”

  I loved pot stickers, which he obviously remembered from the one time I’d accompanied Eugenie and him to dinner. I’d expected to feel like a third wheel, but instead he’d been inappropriately attentive to me, and by the time we left, Eugenie was almost in tears.

  Which is why this wasn’t going to happen. I still held my cell phone, and I punched Eugenie’s speed dial. When she answered, I invited her to dinner. “It’s Chinese, not your favorite, but you and Rand can play with the chopsticks and keep me company.”

  She laughed. “Sounds good to me. Got to finish up Mrs. Reese’s perm and then I’ll be over. I’ll call Rand.”

  I looked at the offending party, who sat at my kitchen table watching me with a bemused expression. Jerk. “I’ll call him. Just come over as soon as you finish.”

  I pulled the carton of pot stickers in front of me and slipped my own chopsticks out of the sleeve. “Take off your earrings,” I said, popping a fried dumpling in my mouth and chewing. He wore peridot studs in both ears.