“Cars carry a lot of fuel.”
“Right … except the investigation is still open. Into the accident. The authorities haven’t figured out the cause.”
“Most accidents usually involve another vehicle.”
“Exactly. Or, say, brake failure.”
“And neither is possible?”
“Well, look at the damage to the front end of the vehicle …”
“I really don’t want to.”
Jasmine snorted. “I mean, it looks like it hit something. But no other car was found at the scene. And any vehicle that caused that much damage probably wouldn’t have been able to drive away … or at least there would be evidence that a second vehicle was at the scene.”
“And … brake failure?”
“Flat road. No damage to the nearby trees … or the gravel at the edge of the road.”
“Did a magical investigation team sweep the area?”
Jasmine eyed me grimly. “Not yet.”
“Could a car hitting a vampire create that sort of damage?” I asked.
“I don’t know any Adept who could get hit by a car and not be at least severely injured.”
“And Yale was in London,” I murmured.
“Supposedly.”
“It could all still be a coincidence.”
“Yeah. It could be.”
My phone pinged. I glanced down at the screen to see a text from Kett.
>I’m in San Francisco. Don’t leave LA without me.
San Francisco? Since when? “Are there any vampires in San Francisco?” I asked. Jasmine had lived in the city off and on for many years.
She shrugged. “Rumors, maybe. Why?”
“Apparently, Kett has jetted off there.”
“Classic. Vampires, always team players.”
Ignoring the enigma that was Kett for a moment, I called us back to the subject at hand. “Was the car accident in Connecticut?”
“New York State.”
“What’s the protocol? Do we ask the Convocation to send a team to look into the accident?”
“Not without more than my hastily put-together guesses.”
“Or my hunch.”
Jasmine shrugged. “I could look into the family more. Find out if there was anything nefarious going on, any reason they’d be targeted. If their deaths aren’t just a weird, unexplainable accident.”
“But logically, we should be focusing on Ruby and Jack.”
Jasmine sighed. “I’m not sure I’m getting anywhere tracking them either.”
“Have you uncovered any other bank accounts somehow connected to Yale? Any large deposits around the time of Ruby or Jack being kidnapped that you could trace back?”
“Nope. Though I’ve really got nothing substantial on Amaya, Mania, or Valko. Money could have been routed through them, using their real names. I could make the assumption that an immortal being with three dependents would have needed more money than I’ve uncovered, so there could be other accounts, other caches.”
“Three former dependents.”
“Yeah. Yale’s bank account will be pleased there aren’t so many mouths to feed.”
“Sick, Jasmine.”
“You started it.”
“So as far as we reasonably know, Yale kidnapped, and likely killed, two witch children. Because he has a thing for young, magical blood.”
“Yep. As long as we ignore the fact that we have no idea why Yale would target these specific victims. Especially because it’s likely that Jack himself didn’t even know he was magical. And we ignore that Ruby and Jack have the same birthdays as Declan and you.”
“Ignoring the birthdays as coincidence, Yale’s witch, Mania, could have crafted a spell to identify and track Adepts.”
Jasmine shook her head. “Her specialty was poisons, combined with some low level of warding magic. Or she purchased spells that she combined with her potions. Crafting a spell sensitive enough to track underage witches, that’s detailed work.” Jasmine paused, thinking. “Most witches specialize in flashier magic. I know of one witch I went to the Academy with who could do it.”
“And Dahlia,” I said.
“Well, if you want to bring Fairchild witches into it, anyone in the main coven could probably do it. Maybe even Rose. Or you, now. If you felt like it.”
I gave her a look, keeping us on task rather than discussing what magic I was willing to wield. “Which likely puts all the Convocation members on our list. And … Copper?”
Jasmine eyed me for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay. So then, if that is the case, why would a witch employ a vampire to kidnap children? And why would Yale bother, if not for money?”
“We already know one vampire who’d never turn down a willing witch,” Jasmine said. She was quoting Kett from when he’d caught us talking about him in the dark hallway of a funeral home.
I sighed, pressing my thumb and forefinger to the bridge of my nose. “I prefer it when the clues just naturally link up and lead to each other.”
Jasmine laughed. “That’s because you’re only brought in when the clues are there to collect, or there’s a scene to reconstruct. Investigations take months. You … you and Declan should probably go home. I can call when I need you.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I said gruffly.
“You’re restless, Wisteria. And feeling useless. I’m accustomed to this part.”
I slipped off the couch, wandering to the windows. The buildings stretched out on either side of the hotel were a blur of lights, blocking any chance of stargazing. I couldn’t see the moon. I let my gaze drop to the street, which was bustling with traffic and pedestrians despite the late hour. Between the sealed windows and the air-conditioning continually running, I couldn’t hear anything from outside.
“We still have a few months,” my best friend said. “Before … before you leave us. You probably have things to do. Things —”
“I don’t,” I said sharply. “I’m fine here. With you. Don’t get rid of me before I’m ready to go.”
The silence that fell between us felt strained, contrary to our normally comforting moments of quiet companionship. I kept my gaze out the window, though I saw nothing. Just waiting for Jasmine to start typing again. She didn’t.
“Do you think you will be ready?” she whispered. “To go?”
I shook my head, not answering because I didn’t have an answer. Maybe it had been stupid to delay at all, once I’d known I had no choice but to accept the terms of the contract. I wasn’t sure what I was accomplishing with the delay. Maybe a clean break would have been better for all of us.
Except … I’d already walked away from Jasmine and Declan once. And I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to do so again. Not yet.
“Let’s go to New York,” Jasmine said, struggling to keep her tone light. “I can work remotely, and you can follow up on your hunch. If something is up with the car accident that has nothing to do with our case, we’ll have the Convocation open a file and send another investigative team.”
I waved my hand helplessly. “There must be other things you need to do in LA.”
“Like what? Question Jack’s friends? Asking what? It was obvious he didn’t know Yale. Though, by his exact wording, he’d rebuffed the vampire at least once previously. We saw as much as anyone else saw in that room, of the kidnapping at least. Probably more, with Yale ensnaring Jack’s companion. Jack doesn’t have any credit cards, and the thirty-five dollars in his bank account hasn’t been touched.”
Jasmine closed her laptop, standing to stretch. “There’s a safe-deposit box in his mother’s name, which he likely gets access to at eighteen. So it maybe holds bonds of some sort, or family heirlooms, or even information about the Adept, if his mother had magical roots and didn’t tell Jack. But if it was something the state could have seized to fund his upkeep, they would have.”
“If I wasn’t here, hovering and bothering you with hunches, what would you do next?” I asked.
“Keep tracking Yale. There must be another credit card or bank account. I don’t even know how he got from Chicago to LA, then back to New York. He has to be flying. Otherwise, the cars he’s rented don’t make any sense. Unless he just randomly exchanges rentals … but even then, how is he paying for the gas? Or do vampires somehow get by on way less cash than the rest of us need just to exist?”
“Maybe he simply takes what he wants, then wipes people’s memories of the transaction. He might resort to using his credit card, or cash, only if he can’t manipulate the situation. Say, if too many people are around.”
Jasmine stared at me aghast for a moment. Then she snapped her mouth shut and shook her head. “Text Kett. Tell him we need the jet to go to New York. He won’t let you go without him, so when he shows up, we’ll grill him.”
“It’s difficult to grill someone who just doesn’t answer questions.”
Jasmine tilted her head. “He’s warming up.”
I offered her a smile. My heart was still heavy, though, so it wasn’t a particularly sunny smile.
“Do you think the stores are still open in the lobby?” she asked thoughtfully.
“I can call down and ask.”
“Let’s go buy bathing suits and sit in the hot tub,” she said. “I can afford a break, especially since I’m pretty much just spinning my wheels without a new direction.”
Jasmine lifted her hand to me, and I took it. She tugged me forward into a hug. “Though you’d probably prefer an expensive meal first. Check and see if the restaurant is still open. We’ll charge it to the Conclave. Serves them right for letting vampires run wild.”
She let me go. I reached for the phone on the corner of the desk.
“And then,” she said, drawing out whatever she was about to proclaim, “I’ll research Copper a bit. Just in case your ‘coincidences’ are actually something, and not just rampant jealousy over how much time she’s spent in Declan’s bed.”
I picked up the phone, tilting my head thoughtfully as I dialed down to the front desk. “Declan isn’t really the bed sort.”
“Eww! Wisteria!”
“You started it.”
The desk clerk answered. “How may I help you?”
“Hello,” I said. “Are any of the restaurants still serving dinner? And can any of them accommodate a table of two in the next ten minutes or so?” I glanced up at Jasmine with a grimace, then added, “Actually, that might need to be a table for four.”
Jasmine lifted her lip in a fake snarl, then pulled out her phone. She took my hint to text Declan, inviting him and Copper for a late dinner.
“Our main restaurant would be happy to accommodate your party in fifteen minutes,” the desk clerk said. “We’re featuring a sushi bar tonight, and I can request that they hold it open for you. Would that work?”
I woke to a faint wash of moonlight streaming across the bed. And for a breath, I waited, listening for whatever had roused me. Listening for Kett visiting in the dark again. But when nothing more happened, I rolled toward the windows.
Jasmine was perched on the opposite edge of the king-sized bed, looking out at the sprawl of bright city lights beyond the windows. Her knees were tucked to her chest.
“Jasmine?” I whispered.
“I’m okay.” Her voice was hushed but bright. “Just awake.”
I tugged the covers up to my neck, curling my arm underneath my pillow. I had almost dozed off when she spoke again.
“I told Dahlia,” she said. Her tone was still steady and clear. “Before I left Connecticut this last time. I told her what he’d done.”
“Valko?” I asked sleepily.
“Jasper.”
My uncle’s name and Jasmine’s admission felt as though they had suddenly sucked all the air out of the room, leaving my chest heavy and constricted. I waited, suspended in that airless space, for my best friend to elaborate. She often spun tales about our life together — half of which I swear hadn’t actually happened in the way she rendered them. But we never talked about Jasper or her parents.
“She didn’t want to believe me,” Jasmine finally said. “She said you’d polluted my mind.” She laughed harshly.
The sharp sound pooled in my stomach, giving rise to a flush of anger. “As if you can’t think for yourself,” I said, sitting up. My hair spilled down around my neck and shoulders.
“He told me I was beautiful …” Jasmine’s voice cracked.
I was scrambling across the bed and wrapping my arms around her before I’d even thought to move.
She grasped my forearms as if steadying herself. Then she forced herself to continue. “He told me … that he couldn’t hold back with me, like he could with you and Declan … because I was just so beautiful.”
I squeezed her tightly, fighting my own tears. Wanting to keep that moment focused on Jasmine, and not on our shared pain.
“I was older then, of course,” she said. “Fourteen … fifteen … sixteen. On the edge of being a woman, he said. So I suppose it was … different than when we were younger.”
She fell silent.
I remained still, my arms cinched around her shoulders. Barely daring to breathe for fear of upsetting the delicate balance of her confession. Of causing her more pain with the wrong reaction or with ill-chosen words. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how to make any of it better, other than being there and holding her.
“Dahlia …” she said. “I think she believed me in the end. I mentioned his birthmark. The one just above his genitals. And her face sort of … crumpled. Then I got up and left.” Her voice became strident. “I left her there with it. She followed me to the door and she just kept repeating that she hadn’t known. That I hadn’t ever said anything. I kept walking.” Fiercely, she wiped the tears from her face. “I’m so tired of crying about it.”
“Valko biting you … assaulting you has brought it to the surface,” I said. “It will fade again.”
“I’m not sure I want it to fade. Some part of me wants … blood … vengeance. On them all.”
“I know. I understand.”
“He’s not going to let you stay,” she whispered. “He’s too careful. Of you. And me.”
She meant Kett. She meant after I was remade, transformed.
“You’ll never be without me,” I said. “Not if I can help it. Even if we can’t be in the same … space. Isn’t that what Skype is for?”
She laughed. The sound was harsh, soul bruising. But it was a laugh.
“Come back into the bed,” I said. “Under the covers.”
“I’m not cold.”
“I am.” I slid back on the bed, making sure to keep my hand pressed to her back as I moved. Tucking my legs underneath the covers, I lifted the duvet, coaxing Jasmine away from the edge near the window.
She settled in beside me without further protest. We lay there for a few moments, side by side with only our hands linked.
“What was I supposed to say to them all those years ago?” she said. “I woke up in the hospital and you were gone. They came to me, already questioning what you’d told them. They thought you were lying to protect Declan. They thought the deal you’d made was the truth. That in leaving, in running away, you’d admitted as much.”
“They wanted to believe the lie.”
“I don’t think they really cared one way or the other. Like on some level, what Jasper did to us was expected. Maybe even mimicked from their own upbringing.”
“For the accumulation of power,” I said. “For the fortification of the coven.”
“Yes.”
“Are you glad you told Dahlia?”
“I am … though it felt cruel while I was doing so. She hasn’t tried to contact me since. And that tells me everything I needed to know.”
“Maybe she doesn’t know how to fix it.”
“Maybe she really doesn’t give a shit.”
The sky outside had begun to lighten. As if on cue, I noticed that the traffic noise had increas
ed. Without the air-conditioning running, even the triple-paned windows couldn’t completely muffle it.
“When Kett remakes you,” Jasmine said, sounding suddenly sleepy. “Even if you can’t stay here with me, you’ll be able to email more. And FaceTime. I don’t think vampires have the same issues with technology.”
“I’m sure I’ll be able to get my crypt wired with Wi-Fi.”
Jasmine laughed, proving she was more awake than she sounded. “I can totally imagine Kett rocking a mausoleum. He likes being a monster.”
I chuckled.
“Will you like it?” she asked. “Being a monster?”
I opened my mouth to say that I wouldn’t like any aspect of being a vampire. Then I thought about all the implications of her question. “If I survive.”
“You’ll survive,” Jasmine said. “That’s why Kett chose you. Or at least one of the reasons. Like Jasper always said, you’re the power, Declan is the force, and I’m …” Her voice trailed off.
“The heart?”
“Yes. That’s better than simply ‘pretty.’ ”
“It’s the truth. Can you imagine Declan or me without you? Who would we love?”
“Each other.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, but I think you’re wrong. I think you suppressed your ability to love the way you suppressed your magic. Because without power or emotions, you couldn’t be manipulated.”
“See how well that worked out for me?”
“There’s always a choice,” she murmured. “Even in the deepest darkness.”
I fell into a light slumber as the sun rose, sleepily regretting that we hadn’t pulled the curtains, but unwilling to break contact with Jasmine in order to get up and close them.
“Will you be my guardian demon, Betty-Sue?” Jasmine whispered the words, hushed as if she was wary of waking me. “Will you watch over me when you’re the monster in the dark? Will you bring me the blood and vengeance I crave?”
My heart constricted with a terrible pain, a terrible need to declare my intention of watching over her for every day of her life. But I didn’t know. I didn’t know who I’d be when Kett remade me.
Jasmine might believe that there was always a choice, even in the deepest, darkest moments. But I knew without question that there was always a payment to be exacted as well. Immortality and invulnerability would come with a heavy price. One that I would be forced to pay, first with my humanity and possibly my soul.
Unleashing Echoes (Reconstructionist 3) Page 14