Garden of Dreams and Desires

by Kristen Painter

  Fenton shifted nervously. “Augustine, I understand you’re upset. And with good reason. What those men did to you and Detective Grantham was abhorrent. We will find a way to make them pay, but killing one of Pellimento’s men, even threatening to kill Pellimento—”

  Lally stepped in front of Fenton, hands on her hips. “Lay down, Augustine. Near as I can tell, you’ve got a couple of broken ribs, one of your horns is chipped and your face is swollen up like a birthday balloon. Fenton called the fae doctor.”

  Fenton nodded. “Yes, Dr. Carlson is on his way.”

  Lally pursed her mouth. “And you ain’t going nowhere till he sees you.”

  Augustine stood, creating more nausea and freshening the pain that had begun to subside. “I’ll heal, Lally. Right now, Harlow’s in trouble.” He looked at Fenton. “Cy was tailing her. He called me to say that something bad was going down, but Sutter skinned my com cell off and I lost the call. Have you heard from him? What happened?” He dropped his head to look Fenton straight in the eyes. “More importantly, where is Harlow?”

  “I haven’t heard from him.” Fenton paled. “And I have no idea where Harlow is. I didn’t know any of this was going on.”

  “There was no way you could.” He looked at Lally. “Any sign of her?”

  Lally shook her head. “She hasn’t been home all day. With Ava Mae acting all uppity, I just figured she was out doing who knows what.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “That poor girl.”

  Growling in frustration as much as pain, Augustine patted himself down. His coat and sword had been removed. “Where’s my coat? My LMD was in the pocket and I need it. I’ve got a chip on the Bentley. I can at least track the car. Fenton, call Cy.”

  Fenton nodded and pulled out his LMD as he moved to a corner of the library.

  Lally ran out of the room and came back with his coat. She dug in the pocket and fished out his LMD, handing it to him. “Here. Find our girl.”

  “That’s the plan.” He listed to one side, righting himself with a small effort that made him wince. He definitely had at least one broken rib.

  She tipped her chin at the couch. “Sit down before you fall over.”

  “Augustine.” Fenton pushed his glasses up, the hand holding his LMD trembling. “Cy’s not answering.”

  Augustine slumped onto the couch, his pain numbed by the soul-deep feeling that something very bad had happened. “Call Dulce. Call Sydra. Call—”

  “I have,” Fenton said. “I’ve sent a text to all of them.”

  A noise sounded from the back of the house. The kitchen door maybe. Lally patted Augustine’s arm. “That must be the doctor. I’ll bring him right in.”

  As she left, Augustine checked the tracker he’d put on the Bentley. “The car is parked in the Quarter.” He looked up at Fenton and Grantham. “Harlow was meeting with Ogun today. You can add him to the list of people I’m going to kill if—”

  “Augie! Augie! Come quick!” Lally’s joyous shrieks tore through the house. “Praise the Lord, she’s home!”

  Augustine didn’t wait for further explanation. He leaped off the couch and sped to the kitchen, Fenton and Grantham behind him. He skidded to a stop, the pain catching up to him a moment later. Ava Mae stood in the middle of the room in nothing but a purple lace bra and underwear, hair wet, makeup smeared.

  Lally came back into the room with a bathrobe. “Here, let’s get this on you.”

  Fenton and Grantham both made awkward noises and turned around.

  Augustine was as done with Ava Mae and her antics as a person could be. He was also done pretending he didn’t know that Ava Mae had taken over Harlow’s body. Anger fueled his words. “Listen to me, Ava Mae. I don’t know where the hell you’ve been or what you’ve been up to, but coming back here like this is unaccepta—”

  With a soft whimper, she lunged for him, catching him off guard as she wrapped her arms around him. “It’s me, Harlow. I swear it. Ask me anything, but I promise Ava Mae’s gone. At least I think she is. She might still be in the witch’s pond with Cy and Rufus. I’m pretty sure the witches tried to kill me. Either way, they’re up to something bad. Very bad.” Harlow looked up at him, her amber eyes filled with emotion but not a trace of the bottomless black he’d come to associate with Ava Mae. “It’s so good to be me again, but it’s even better to be me again with you.” She sighed wearily. “Did that even make sense?” Her face screwed into a questioning expression. “What on earth happened to you? You look like you were in an accident.”

  Harlow was in his arms. He smiled, despite the pain her hug was causing him. Hell, he’d stand this way for hours if she wanted, even if she did smell like an old mud puddle. “Yes, it made sense. I’m thrilled you’re you again. I’m not sure I understand about Cy and the witches’ pond, but we can figure that all out. What happened to me is not important. You’re home. You’re back. That’s what matters. Although, I’d love to hear how you got rid of Ava Mae. Queen Jewelia said it would take dark magic to free you.” He bent to kiss her, but reeled back as the pain almost blacked him out.

  She pushed him into a chair. “Sit down before you fall down.” She cupped his face gently and kissed his mouth. “I missed you so much,” she whispered.

  “Me too you,” he whispered back, the pleasure of her mouth a fair trade for the throbbing ache of his body.

  “As soon as you feel able, I need to hear more about what Queen Jewelia said about dark magic.” She shivered. “That falls right in line with what—”

  The doorbell rang.

  Harlow looked toward the front of the house. “Who’s that?”

  “Probably Dr. Carlson.” Fenton cleared his throat. “I’ll bring him in.”

  “Doctor?” Harlow let Augustine go and stepped back. “I assume that’s for you?”

  Lally pushed a chair next to Augustine and directed Harlow toward it. “Yes. Sit, child. Augie’s in a bad way. As you can see.”

  “I’m not—”

  Lally didn’t let him finish. “We think he’s got a couple of broken ribs from the beating he took. And you can see his face.”

  “Beating?” Harlow’s eyes widened as she sat beside him, her hands soft on his thigh. She seemed incapable of not touching him. If he felt better, he’d be reciprocating. She leaned in. “Who beat you? No discussion later. I want to know now. Then we need to figure out what to do about Cy and all the other souls trapped in that pond.”

  While the doctor examined him, Augustine explained about Pellimento, her loathing of all things fae, her missing son and how the police weren’t getting very far with any of the missing persons cases.

  Lally sat nearby while Fenton stood, both allowing enough space for the doctor to work. Harlow listened intently. “How many tourists have disappeared?”

  Before Augustine could answer, Dr. Carlson pulled out a tablet from his bag, then gestured at him. “Shirt off, please.”

  Augustine shook his head. “Getting my arms over my head isn’t currently an option. Cut it off me.” He went back to Harlow’s question as the doc set the tablet down, took out scissors and went to work. “At last count, six.”

  Harlow’s mouth opened slightly and she shook her head, her gaze drifting to the silver brand on his chest that marked him as Guardian. “I know where they are.”

  A hush fell over the room and everyone except for Dr. Carlson looked at her. He was busy scanning Augustine with the tablet, making little noises and nodding.

  “Where?” Augustine prompted. His patience was thinning, but that was because of the pain, not Harlow.

  “They’re the souls in the witches’ pond. In the holding pit. There were six people already in there when I fell in, then they threw Rufus Ogun in after me and then Cy, but Cy said he heard one of the witches say something about ten down, two more to go. Whatever they’re planning, they need twelve souls for it.”

  “Father Ogun. That stupid fool.” Augustine thought a moment. “Sounds to me like the witches knew you had Ava Mae
inside you somehow.”

  Harlow looked appalled. “Because that’s what Ogun took Ava Mae there for—so she could get rid of me and have my body to herself.”

  The doctor shot a quick glance at Harlow, then went back to work. Let him wonder. He didn’t need to know what had happened. Augustine growled in disgust. “Unbelievable. They were all working together. Although Ogun got the short end of that deal. Not surprisingly.” He glanced at Grantham. “We might need Jewelia again. And now we should be able to return Pellimento’s son to her and get her men out of our city.” He tried to turn to see Fenton and groaned.

  Dr. Carlson shook his head and flipped the tablet around so Augustine could see the bone scan. “You have one broken rib and two cracked ones. I need to bind them but they’re still going to hurt until they heal. Even with our fae metabolism, that will take two or three days. Bed rest would be—”

  “Out of the question. I’ve got too much to do to lie around. I can handle the pain.” Augustine held his arms out as far as he could without passing out in agony. “So bind me up. I’ve—” He grinned at Harlow. He was done leaving her out of anything. “I mean, we’ve got some planning to do. After we rescue the people from that holding pit, our next job is to put these witches in their place once and for all.”

  Fenton chimed in as Dr. Carlson started wrapping a mesh bandage around Augustine’s torso. “I won’t argue about including Harlow, but we’ve got to be smart about this, Augustine. There are human lives at stake. If this isn’t done right, there’s no telling what the witches will do.”

  “Agreed,” Grantham said. “I want to rescue those people as much as anyone else, but I’d like to get a team together, maybe call in SWAT.”

  Augustine considered it. “So long as the fae play lead on this. The witches are human, but they’re still more powerful than your guys.” He lowered his arms as Dr. Carlson finished the binding.

  Grantham nodded. “I’m sure that’ll be fine. I know the fae have an understanding with the NOPD about these kinds of things.”

  Harlow raised her hand. “I feel horrible about this with Cy trapped in there, but if I don’t get a few hours of sleep, I’m going to be worthless. Being stripped of Ava Mae has left me feeling…” She shook her head. “I’m just worn-out. Having said that, if you think it’s best we go now and try to take advantage of the element of surprise, I’m there.”

  “I know you are.” For the first time since she’d returned, Augustine took a hard look at her. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes and her usual spark was missing. “But a couple of hours of sleep isn’t going to cause us to lose that advantage. We both need the sleep and I can do a lot of healing in a few hours. Who knows, Cy might have this whole thing wrapped up by then.” Although Augustine doubted that. Cy was good, but none of them had ever gone up against three witches at once.

  “Excellent,” Dr. Carlson said. He whipped out a short, silver wand and tapped the blunt end into Augustine’s naked shoulder.

  It stung like a mother. “What was that?”

  “Painkiller and a sedative.” Dr. Carlson tucked the high-tech syringe back into his bag. “You’ll thank me when you wake up.”

  Fenton smiled conspiratorially. “And while you two are sleeping, Detective Grantham and I will make plans.”

  “I feel like I’m being ganged up on, but I’m going to let it slide considering the circumstances.” Augustine pushed to his feet and offered his arm to Harlow, who took it to stand beside him. Smiling down at her, looking into her eyes, the sense that all would be right washed through him. He kept his gaze on her as he spoke. “Besides, I have more important business.”

  They were on the second floor landing before either of them spoke. Harlow started at the same time Augustine did. She laughed softly. “You first.”

  “No, you.” He nudged her with his elbow, then winced.

  “You hurt pretty bad, huh?” She was thrilled to be reunited with him, but ached that he was in so much pain. Her anger at the men who’d done this to him simmered inside her like a pot forgotten at the back of the stove. If she didn’t deal with it soon, it would boil over. Fortunately, dealing with Ava Mae had schooled Harlow enormously about controlling and using her emotions.

  “Not as bad as I did before. Whatever the doc gave me has taken the edge off.” He grinned and his voice came out a husky whisper. “I’m so glad you’re back, sweetheart. I missed you so much. I love you, you know.”

  “I know. I remember that.” She nodded, tickled by his drug-induced gushiness. “I love you, too. Which is the only reason I’m not going to give you grief about drugging me.”

  “I did it for your own good.”

  “I know that, too.” She grinned, unable to contain the happiness of being beside him again.

  His expression shifted toward sternness. “Those witches are going to pay.” He shook his head. “None of those people deserve to be trapped in there. Cy especially.”

  “No, he doesn’t. Maybe he and Ogun will come up with a way to get themselves out before we do.”

  “Ogun’s a snake. A worthless, lying piece of garbage.”

  “Shh.” She stroked his arm. “No point in getting yourself worked up right before you’re supposed to be resting and healing. Save that for the battlefield.”

  As they rounded the landing toward his attic room, his brows knotted in surprise. “Are you sure you’re the same Harlow you used to be? Because that Harlow never talked about battlefields unless it was that online game thing.”

  She laughed. “That was me, but so is this. The new me, I guess.” Her smile faded. “Having Ava Mae inside me and in charge of things definitely changed me.” She walked him to the bed. He sat and she kneeled to help him take off his boots.

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “Changed you how?”

  She looked up. Concern etched his face. She leaned back on her heels. There were no pretty words for the truth of what had happened. “Augie, I killed a man.”

  “That was Ava Mae.”

  “It was both of us.” She turned away, feeling the sting of tears threatening to spill.

  He patted the bed beside him. “Come sit, beautiful.”

  “Beautiful is sweet, but hardly accurate. I’m wearing Lally’s old robe and smell like a fish tank.” She took the spot he’d indicated anyway.

  He stared into her eyes and nodded. His pupils were wide with the effects of the meds. “You don’t smell good, but you’re still pretty.”

  She laughed. “I feel like I should be asking you all kinds of things right now since the drugs he gave you apparently double as a truth serum.”

  Augustine shrugged lazily and lifted his hands. “What do ya wanna know?”

  She rubbed her thumb over the broken tip of his horn. “Do you think you can stay awake long enough for me to take a shower?”

  “Are you going to keep doing that?” His eyes took on a wicked glint.

  “I might.”

  “If it means you’re coming back here afterwards, all cleaned up, then yes, I can stay awake.”

  Barely suppressing another laugh, she answered, “Yes, all cleaned up. I just… want to be close to you.”

  “Oh yeah.” He grimaced from the effort of nodding. “I’ll be bright-eyed and… awake.”

  She doubted that.

  He raised a finger. “On one condition.”

  He was really slurring his words now. “What’s that?”

  The finger went to his cheek. “Kiss me.”

  She played coy. “On the cheek?”

  “No,” he growled, struggling to move his finger to his lips. “Here.”

  “I can do that.” She leaned forward and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his as their mouths collided. His raw emotion spilled into her through his skin, a sweet fog of love and happiness laced with threads of pain and anger that he hadn’t done more for her. She almost lost it right then. She pressed her mouth to his and like a thirsty woman finding water, she drank him in, this man who loved her. T
his man who’d fought for her. This man she was about to fight beside.

  He kissed her back with the eager sincerity of a teenage boy in love for the first time, no doubt brought on by the drugs, but in the moment, it was the perfect kind of response. She needed to be wanted with that kind of abandon, to know that she was his whole focus, the center of his world. He didn’t disappoint.

  Those emotions flowed into her, suffusing her with a pure, bright joy and making her whole again. The emptiness that had plagued her life was gone. She was no longer the wounded child who feared being touched and shied away from interaction. For all of Ava Mae’s destructiveness, she had made Harlow stronger.

  With a soft nibble on Augustine’s bottom lip, she gently broke the kiss, but held the contact by touching her forehead to his. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “For what?”

  “For not giving up on me.” She pulled back to see his face.

  His lids were heavy, but his face shone with happiness. “I would never give up on you.” His smile broadened. “Or us.”

  She returned his grin. “We do make a great team.” She eased him back until his head hit the pillow, then she stood and hoisted his legs onto the bed. She unlaced his boots and pulled them off. “I’m going to shower, but I’ll be right back, okay?”

  No answer. He was already asleep.

  She kissed him one last time, then slipped out to her room on the floor below. The clothes that Ava Mae had purchased lay in piles here and there, but otherwise, everything was pretty much the same. She’d return most of it, but that could wait for a day when Cy and the rest of the trapped souls were freed and there was peace in the city.

  She reached for one of the nighties Ava Mae had picked out. This one wasn’t too bad, a slip of teal green that was as soft and light as a feather. Might be nice to sleep in something like that. Not as nice as Ava Mae being gone. She started for the bathroom, ready to stand under a long, hot shower when a thought struck her immobile.

  Ava Mae was out of Harlow’s body, but chances were good she was still stuck in the well of souls. And if they freed the souls trapped in the pond and Ava Mae was still down there, what did that mean for Harlow?