‘That’s a good point,’ Olivia stared at Elias. ‘In the future, in my time, they have secret headquarters hidden deep below London in Piccadilly which can be accessed by the tube stations.’
‘The tube?’ Elias replied in confusion.
‘The subterranean metro system,’ Scarlett informed him. ‘This new railway is only the beginning. In a few more years, they’ll learn how to burrow deeper underground, creating more and more stations and train lines.’
‘Fascinating,’ Elias murmured.
‘Scarlett,’ Olivia contemplated, ‘I know the headquarters we were taken to were under Piccadilly but what if they’ve built another one like, I don’t know, a precursor to the Piccadilly one.’
‘I guess it’s possible,’ she replied. ‘It would explain what he’s doing there and besides you know the Veritas; they like to have their fingers in as many pies as possible. With a project this big and important, I’d be very surprised if it didn’t have their fingerprints on it somewhere.’
‘You think the Veritas is involved with the new railway?’ Elias asked.
‘Maybe,’ Olivia shrugged. ‘We can’t know for sure unless we sneak down there and have a poke around.’
‘We can’t,’ Scarlett shook her head. ‘In the present day no one would have batted an eyelid to find two women down in the tube stations, but at the moment it’s still under construction, filled with workers. Two women down there would raise too many questions. We can’t.’
‘But I can,’ Elias replied as he looked up at them with determination. ‘I can go down there, maybe see if I can get them to take me on as a laborer. I know they’re nearing the end of the project but there are always accidents and they’re always looking for crews.’
‘That’s true,’ Scarlett’s gaze narrowed thoughtfully.
‘If I can get work down there, it will afford me the opportunity to have a look around and see what’s going on.’
‘I guess so,’ Olivia replied skeptically, ‘but what if you run into Bower. What if he recognizes you?’
‘It’s unlikely,’ Elias said. ‘It was dark, my back was to him most of the time and all of his attention was on you and Scarlett. I was incidental. Trust me, in laborer’s clothes and with a layer of dirt on me, he won’t give me a second look and if he does turn up, well that’s even better.’
‘I guess it’s a plan of sorts,’ Olivia nodded, ‘just be careful.’
‘Olivia I can’t die,’ he told her bluntly, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’
‘Plenty,’ she smiled ruefully, ‘but right now I suppose it’s the best plan we’ve got.’
‘Good,’ Elias rose to his feet, ‘you stay here then and watch over Eve. I’ll return soon.’
‘Wait, you’re going now?’ Olivia looked up at him.
‘There’s no point in waiting and besides, I need something to do. I’m feeling itchy and its best if I keep myself busy.’
He didn’t want to mention the cravings that had already begun, but he was serious when he’d told Olivia that he wanted to change. That he wanted to take on the Veritas and if he was going to do that then he needed to deal with his addiction to the poppy, no matter how painful. He clenched his hands tightly to hide the trembling and turned toward the door.
Olivia and Scarlett watched as he left the room, followed a few moment later by the sound of the front door closing.
‘Do you think he’s alright,’ Olivia worried.
‘I think he’s got a long road ahead of him. Opium addiction is no picnic to kick,’ Scarlett replied.
Olivia stood, her skirts rustling as she moved restlessly toward the fireplace, staring down into the soothing flames.
‘Are you alright?’ Scarlett asked.
‘Not really,’ she admitted quietly. ‘The last twenty-four hours have been pretty hectic. I was so close to going home. I had the Hourglass, I held it in my hand,’ she sighed. ‘Now I have to wait another month and I just… I miss my children. I miss my husband.’
‘I know,’ Scarlett replied as she rose and stood beside Olivia, laying her hand sympathetically on her shoulder, ‘but you will see them again I promise.’
‘I know,’ Olivia murmured as she stared into the flames, ‘I just… I wonder what’s going on back home.’
19
Mercy, present day.
The weather seemed typically cliché, Roni thought to herself, as her slow gaze tracked over a sea of black umbrellas. The assembled mourners crowded beneath the bruised and heavy sky, which was laden with turbulent slashes of gray and black as the rain hammered spitefully down on them.
Her heels were already sinking into the waterlogged earth and she could feel tiny needles of rain pricking the backs of her legs and saturating her stockings. She shifted the large black umbrella, so it covered more fully the precious little dark-haired girl perched on her hip.
Theia didn’t seem to mind the weather. She curled into Roni’s side, wearing a sweet little black dress with a white peter pan collar and a matching coat. Her short white socks folded neatly at her ankles and ended in shiny patent Mary Janes. Her dark hair, so like her father’s, hung in thick curls, tied back at the temple with a neat, black bow.
Roni glanced across to Louisa and Tommy, both holding umbrellas over the two little boys standing in front of them, pressed against their legs. Olivia and Theo’s son Logan, and Louisa and Tommy’s son Jace, wore adorable matching suits of black, their hair, one dark, one blonde was combed neatly and for once the pair of them, maybe sensing the solemn overtone of the occasion, were content to stand quietly and well behaved.
Turning her head back, her gaze fell on Jake’s somber face as he stood rigidly, eyes forward and back straight. His white gloves fisted at his sides as the rain bounced against his ruthlessly pressed dress uniform. Danae stood beside him wearing the same, their colleagues flanking them either side as they lined up alongside the open grave, watching as Mac’s shiny walnut casket topped with an elegant spray of white lilies, was lowered into the earth.
There was a terrible pressure on her chest and her stomach felt like it was lined with lead. Her throat burned and ached as she ruthlessly blinked back the tears. One rebel tear managed to break free and slid slowly down her cheek. Suddenly she felt a little finger tracing the path of that tiny errant bead and Roni looked down to see Theia staring at her curiously.
‘Mac,’ she said quietly.
Roni nodded silently, not trusting her voice.
‘Mac,’ Theia repeated pointing toward the grave.
Theia reached out and cupped Roni’s cheek, her chubby little hand warm. Her skin tingled beneath the little girl’s palm and suddenly her ears were filled with a strange humming.
Roni turned to look, blinking rapidly. For a second, she could have sworn she saw Mac standing beside Jake. His eyes locked on hers and she gasped, feeling Theia release her face and as she did, he disappeared.
Roni turned and looked down at Theia, who nodded as if satisfied she’d made some kind of point, before she once again rested her head against Roni’s shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth.
Roni could do nothing but stare down at the little girl in her arms and then back at Jake who was once again alone, surrounded by the rest of the Mercy police department. Had she really just seen Mac? And had Theia been responsible for her being able to see beyond the veil, even if just for a split second?
Roni found herself frowning unconsciously as she shifted the little girl on her hip and glanced around. There were so many people who should be there that weren’t. It had been nearly two weeks since Theo had been kidnapped by the Veritas and also as long since Olivia had gone after him and yet they’d still not heard anything from either of them.
Roni swallowed past the uncomfortable knot in her throat. There was no way either of them would stay away from their children for this long, something had to be very, very wrong and the thought sat like a stone in the pit of her belly.
She was worried, there was no poi
nt in trying to hide it. The others were too. None of them had said it, but they were all thinking it.
What if they didn’t come back?
Even the mysterious Elias Black, who’d been revealed as Theo’s long dead brother, Logan Beckett, had disappeared without a word.
There were days when she could hardly believe that this was her life… her reality. Magic, Gods, Goddesses, Ghosts, Witches and most recently…Angels. She’d certainly had a crash course in supernatural forces 101 since she’d come to live in Mercy. It had been nothing short of a baptism of fire, one which she’d not only survived but triumphed over. But this? This was something else.
The Veritas were human, the most vicious, greedy and unpredictable animals on the planet. There was no spell, no book, no magic which would make this situation any better.
She glanced around nervously. Even now while burying their friend, she felt as if they were being watched. She could feel them. It was like a thousand eyes crawling over them in their grief, picking them apart like birds of prey.
They were living on a knife edge, not knowing what was going to happen next and even worse, not knowing friend from foe. At least with the supernatural creatures they’d come up against before, they could be identified by their various monster parts. These people were… well… people. They blended into the crowd, faceless, silent and deadly.
Her gaze was once again drawn to the grave as Mac’s coffin was slowly lowered into the sodden ground and she swallowed, the hot, hard ball of misery burning painfully at the back of her throat as she blinked back stinging tears.
Mac was dead.
It pounded in her temples, as grating and painful as a toddler banging a pot with a wooden spoon. Tammy should have been there, but she too was MIA. Although no one blamed her. Of everyone, Temperance was the one who’d lost the most when Mac was killed. She’d barely recovered from her kidnapping and torture at the hands of the demon Nathaniel and now she’d lost the man she loved.
Roni’s gaze flicked back to Jake who stood rigid guard along with his colleagues as the queue of mourners began to shuffle past the gaping hole in the ground, paying their final respects to their beloved Chief of Police, Layton Macallister.
Reluctantly she joined the queue, trailing past the grave, holding a white rose in her hand. When her turn came, she tossed it into the ground, watching as it landed with a barely perceivable thud against the glossy curved wooden lid.
‘Mac,’ Theia remarked gravely, her whiskey colored eyes sad and serious.
Unable to hold back the dam any longer, the tears began to slide down Roni’s pale cheeks and a small choked sob caught in her throat. Her hold on the little girl tightened gently as she rocked and hugged her close, as much to soothe herself as the child.
She felt Theia’s small cold hand patting her hair in that innocent childlike way and another sob escaped.
Suddenly she felt large strong arms wrapping around both herself and Theia. She didn’t need to look to know it was Jake, the familiar scent of him mingling with the rain. He turned her gently away from the grave as the first shovelful of soil slapped down wetly onto the coffin.
Jake stared down at his wife with grave eyes. The deep blue irises no longer sparkling with humor and mischief but instead carried the unmistakable weight of responsibility, overlaid with deep and profound sorrow.
He reached out and stroked Theia’s hair gently, giving her a quiet smile, which didn’t quite reach his tired eyes, before cupping Roni’s jaw and brushing away the tears with the pad of his thumb.
‘I just can’t believe he’s gone,’ Roni whispered.
Jake nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Mac had been more than just his Chief. In the years since Mac had come to live in Mercy, the two men had grown incredibly close. It was like losing a brother and on top of that, his best friend was missing.
His gaze hardened as his spine straightened. The Veritas had a helluva lot to answer for and he was keeping score. They’d shed blood at his wedding for fuck’s sake, it didn’t get any more personal than that.
Olivia was right, they’d declared war and one thing was for damn certain, he was going to make them pay. For messing with his town, for trying to hurt Olivia, for kidnapping Theo but most of all… they were going to pay for Mac.
‘Jake?’ Roni drew his attention softly.
She could feel the tension in his body, see the strain in every line of his face. He had a lot to deal with, especially as acting Chief. Everyone was looking to him for answers. Answers he couldn’t give. He couldn’t really tell anyone outside their inner circle that a psychotic secret society had murdered the former Chief as an object lesson slash revenge killing.
‘Come on,’ Jake leaned forward and pressed his lips to her temple, ‘let’s get the kids home. The others will meet us there.’
He didn’t need to elaborate further; she knew exactly who he meant.
‘Are we not going to the wake?’
Jake shook his head.
‘We’ll say goodbye to Mac our way,’ he replied quietly. ‘Those of us who knew him best, those of us who know the truth.’
Roni nodded in understanding.
‘And after?’ she stared at him thoughtfully.
‘After, we have decisions to make that can’t be put off any longer.’
‘Hey Man,’ Tommy dropped his hand heavily on Jake’s shoulder. ‘We’re heading out, we’ll meet you up at the house.’
Jake nodded at his brother in law as he glanced over to his sister who was holding onto her son Jace with one hand and Olivia and Theo’s son, Logan with the other.
‘Do you want us to take Logan with us?’ Louisa asked.
‘No, it’s okay,’ Jake shook his head as he held out his hand.
Uncharacteristically quiet, the small boy shuffled forward and took his hand. They watched in silence, the man and the boy, as Tommy and Louisa disappeared through the neatly ordered rows of the damp cemetery.
Kneeling down, Jake straightened Logan’s cute little tie.
‘Hey buddy,’ he smiled gently, ‘don’t worry. Jace will meet us at the house and then you guys can play.’
Logan stared into Jake’s eyes.
‘Miss your mom and dad, huh?’
Logan nodded.
‘It’ll be okay,’ Jake told him seriously. ‘I’m going to get them back, I promise… okay?’
Logan nodded again slowly before leaning forward and wrapping his arms tightly around Jake’s neck.
Roni watched with a pang of sympathy as she held his sister in her arms. It was hard on them. The twins had never been away from their parents for so long before. Now with both Olivia and Theo missing, the children were clearly struggling with the separation.
‘Jake,’ a brisk voice called out as he turned to look.
‘Danae,’ he nodded to the young woman who was technically Olivia’s aunt as well as his colleague and friend.
She stopped beside him, smoothing the rain from her own dress uniform with white gloved hands, her white blonde hair tucked neatly beneath her cap and coiled into the nape of her neck, as she watched him with pale, arctic blue eyes.
‘You guys heading back up to the house?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ Jake nodded, glancing across as Davis stopped beside his twin sister, his almost white hair scraped back from his face in a knot, the slightly bohemian style a complete contrast to his elegantly tailored suit and expensive raincoat. ‘Davis,’ Jake nodded in greeting.
Davis’s gaze flickered over Jake’s shoulder to a slightly rain drenched priest as he made his way over to their little group.
‘Father,’ Jake greeted politely.
‘Such a sad day,’ the priest shook his head slowly, ‘such a waste of a great man still in his prime. We can only take some measure of comfort in knowing that God called him home for a reason.’
‘Works in mysterious ways huh?’ Jake replied.
‘Indeed,’ the priest replied, missing the note of sarcasm and bitterness lac
ing Jake’s tone. ‘He was not that much younger than I am myself and to be struck down from a heart attack, out of the blue.’
‘Pardon?’ Jake frowned, ‘did you say heart attack?’
‘Poor man,’ the priest looked up as another mourner caught his attention and beckoned to him. ‘I’m sorry, if you’ll excuse me, I’m needed.’
Jake stepped back frowning as he wandered off.
‘Okay that’s the third person whose said that today,’ Danae’s frown matched Jake’s.
‘What?’
‘That Mac died of a heart attack.’
‘But it’s common knowledge that he was shot,’ Jake’s frown deepened further. ‘We’ve had officials crawling all over our asses; pretty much everyone in Mercy knows what happened at the wedding.’
‘Carl,’ Danae called out and beckoned over one of the older deputies.
‘Sad day,’ Deputy Carl removed his hat and smoothed down his gray hair to hide the thinning patch at his crown. ‘I’ll miss Mac, and that’s a fact. Best darn Chief we’ve had. Especially after all the bad blood we had with Chief Walcott before him.’
‘Carl,’ Danae asked, ‘why does everyone think Mac died of a heart attack?’
‘I’m sorry I don’t understand the question,’ he shook his head in confusion. ‘Why wouldn’t they think that? He did die of a heart attack.’
‘No,’ Danae shook her head, ‘he was shot. You were there when they zipped his bloodied body into a bag and loaded him into the coroner’s van.’
‘Are you feeling alright?’ Carl’s eyes narrowed on Danae.
‘Answer the question,’ she insisted.
‘I saw the paramedics trying to revive him, then I saw him loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.’
Danae looked over to Jake who seemed equally baffled.
‘Carl?’ Jake asked slowly, ‘did anything strange happen at mine and Roni’s wedding?’
‘You mean apart from Mac collapsing?’
Jake nodded.
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