Luci and her gaggle of friends were chatting in a tight cluster beside an older red BMW, midway across the lot. The friends appeared to be playfully bickering, but Luci laid her brown-eyed gaze on Kett as we approached, then didn’t look away. She appeared calmly resolute, so I assumed that the vampire hadn’t ensnared her.
“Luci Jennings?” I asked as we stopped a few feet away.
Her gaze flicked to me. She nodded, then looked back at Kett.
Every one of her four friends stopped talking, turning to look at both of us with equally stony gazes. Had I been sixteen years old — and not a Fairchild witch — I would have been terrified.
The boy in the group — a sandy-haired athlete who stood a good two inches taller than Kett — narrowed his eyes at the vampire. “What do you want with Luci?” he spat.
Luci laid her hand on his forearm, stepping forward from the group. “It’s okay, guys. Give me a second.”
Her friends — all crossed arms and glowering faces — took three measured, oddly choreographed steps to the back of the BMW.
“You’re here about Colby,” Luci said. “I expected you days ago. And not in the daylight.” The brunette cocked her head to the side. She was wearing diamond studs in her ears. “Or is this enough cloud cover?”
Kett was completely motionless beside me. There was something in his lack of movement or response that I found exceedingly menacing. I refused to glance over at him, though, keeping my attention on the teenagers and desperately trying to figure out a way for this conversation to not end in violence, blood, and five teenaged corpses.
Finally, Kett cast his gaze over Luci’s head, capturing the attention of the four teens grouped behind her. One by one, their eyes widened in fear.
“Please,” the girl whispered, then swallowed. “They were only helping me.”
Kett returned his gaze to the teenager directly in front of him. Luci’s mouth parted, revealing the perfect teeth that only optimal health and a talented orthodontist were capable of producing. Her expression became blissful. She swayed forward.
I laid my hand on the vampire’s arm, pushing past the adrenaline spike that came from touching him without permission, along with the swirl of fear that the corded, hard muscle underneath the soft cashmere of his sweater evoked.
“Don’t,” I murmured, regretting speaking the second after I did so.
Kett clenched his hand, bending the arm I was touching at the elbow. “You dare, witch,” he said, not looking at me.
The teens behind Luci began to shuffle their feet, as if they were concerned and thinking about doing something about it.
“Can you ensnare them all at the same time?” I asked, carefully measuring my tone. “Modify their memories right here and now in this parking lot, with dozens of humans nearby?”
Kett didn’t answer.
“Witches can,” I said, emboldened by the fact that he hadn’t begun rending his way through the crowd. “Without even laying eyes on them.”
I lifted my hand from his forearm, reaching over to pluck one perfectly straight strand of hair from Luci’s head.
“Ouch,” the teenager said.
Kett dropped his arm back to his side.
“Luci?” I spoke quietly, coaxingly. “Who helped you in the graveyard? Who did you tell about Colby?”
“John and Melinda,” she said dreamily. “They brought the gasoline and the shovel when I texted.”
“Just them, no others?”
“No others,” she repeated.
“John. Melinda,” Kett said, calling to the other teens.
I shuddered at the seductive power laced through his voice. Two of the teens stepped forward. Their eyes were glazed and their expressions blissful.
The vampire’s control was mesmerizing and completely horrifying. What happened when Kettil the executioner stopped playing at ‘passing’ for human? What happened when the vampire grew fatigued with dampening or limiting his power?
Kett took a single step forward, then appeared on my other side with his pale hand extended before me.
I flinched. Usually, power displays — such as moving quicker than a human eye could track — just irked me. But around Kett, I felt as though I were hanging off the edge of a cliff by my French-manicured fingernails. Continually.
Two different strands of hair were entangled between the vampire’s fingers. Plastering a professional smile across my face, I reached into my bag and pulled out my compact. I took the two strands of hair from the vampire, twined them through the strand I’d collected from Luci, then coiled all three strands on the mirror and snapped the compact closed. The hair would be powdered with foundation by the time I handed it over to Pearl, but that wouldn’t hinder a witch of her power. The teens would sleep well tonight and wake knowing their friend had tragically committed suicide. And nothing else.
“You were expecting us?” I asked Luci.
She shook her head. “Him. Not you.”
“Why is that?”
“Colby got the blood from somewhere, so it made sense that someone … someone who sent the blood … would come to get him.”
“What do you mean by ‘sent the blood’?”
“Cicely said there was a bucket and bags of blood when she found him in their bathroom,” Luci said.
I looked at Kett, now certain that I had been picking up the image of a container of some sort from the drop of blood in the Bradford apartment reconstruction. He nodded in acknowledgement.
“Cicely?” I asked gently.
“Colby’s sister.” Luci glanced back over her shoulder at the younger girl, around fifteen, standing beside John. “We’re making sure she gets to and from school … for a while. That’s the right thing to do.”
Colby’s sister’s eyes appeared almost bruised. She hunched her shoulders as we all looked at her, dropping her gaze to the pavement. I shuddered at the idea of finding Declan or Jasmine dead and believing they’d committed suicide.
Kett was holding a fourth strand of hair before I’d even thought to collect it. I added it to my compact without question. Pearl wouldn’t be able to wipe the memory of Colby’s death from Cicely’s mind, but she could help ease the circumstances.
“How did Colby meet the blood donor?” I carefully avoided using the term ‘vampire’ in the school parking lot with Kett at my side. Humans weren’t stupid. Most people would see magic if you pointed at it and screamed its name. Luci had already come to the illogical conclusion that such magic existed before even seeing an actual vampire. It seemed a safe bet that her friends wouldn’t be all that hard to convince.
“I don’t know that they met,” Luci said.
I glanced at Kett, wondering if he had any idea how a rogue vampire could turn a human without meeting him. Standing stock-still, he resembled a marble statue swathed in cashmere in the middle of a high school parking lot. If not for its curly hair and softer jawline, I would have sworn the statue of Michelangelo’s David had been modeled after the vampire.
I tore my gaze away from contemplating his chiseled cheekbones and deliciously curved pale lips. Only seriously stupid witches stared at dark magic long enough to let it ensnare them.
“How did you know the pencil would vanquish him?” I avoided the word ‘kill.’ Pending memory wipe or not, I didn’t need the teenager thinking she’d murdered her boyfriend.
“It’s wood, right? I guessed.”
“He could have killed you.”
“I … I couldn’t leave him like that. He thought he would be happy, but you can’t … grow in darkness.”
Well, that was an interesting assessment.
“Did Colby expect someone to come get him that night?” Kett asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It was a secret. He left me a note.”
“Do you still have it?”
“I burned it, along with all the others.” Tears flooded Luci’s eyes.
“You loved him,” I said.
“I didn’t want him to be
a monster,” she whispered.
“How did Colby communicate with his donor?” Kett asked, blithely ignoring the suffering of the heartbroken girl. “If they never met?”
“Online.”
“Where?” I asked. “Facebook? Instagram?” I had no idea what social platforms teens thought were cool.
Luci shook her head. The movement was exaggerated, causing her tears to fan out across her cheeks. “Gaming site,” she whispered, pressing her hands to either side of her head.
“Strong,” Kett said. “She’s fighting my hold.”
“Let her go,” I said, more sharply than I’d intended. “She’ll answer our questions without being ensnared.”
Kett turned his silver-blue gaze on me and a chill ran down my arms. I shivered, but I met his stare determinedly.
“What gaming site?” he asked without looking away from me.
“I don’t know.” Luci started quietly sobbing.
Kett disappeared.
I blinked rapidly, forcing myself to not glance around for the vampire.
Luci brushed the tears from her face, shaking off any residual hold Kett’s magic had on her. “Sorry,” she said. “What did you say?”
I smiled, hoping for professional but getting a tight grimace instead. “My condolences for your loss.”
“Did you know Colby?”
“Not really,” I said. “I only saw him once. He’s lucky to have had you.”
I wasn’t sure about that last part, but it sounded good. Colby was dead, after all. Was it better to be dead or to be a vampire?
Luci sucked on her lower lip, then nodded.
I smiled, managing the expression genuinely on my second try. “Thank you for your time.”
“Okay.” Luci turned back to her friends.
The best thing I could do for all of them — Cicely included — was get the strands of hair back to Pearl as quickly as possible. I had hope that once the elder witch worked her magic, it would ease their confused grief.
I turned, swiftly walking back to the visitor parking lot. It was starting to rain. Again. The vampire was waiting for me by the BMW SUV. The lot was more than half empty, and vehicles were still leaving the school in droves.
Ignoring the drizzle that misted my face, I locked my gaze to Kett’s. “I’m an accredited reconstructionist,” I said, steady and determined. “I’m also a Fairchild witch and a personal friend of Pearl and Jade Godfrey.”
I rarely acknowledge the second claim and was stretching the third, but I continued brashly nonetheless. My constant state of fear was making me reckless.
“We are operating under Conclave jurisdiction,” Kett interjected before I could continue.
“No,” I said. “You’re operating under your own self-defined parameters. If you want my help, you will not harm anyone in the course of this investigation —”
“Even if it is your life they are threatening?”
“There are ways to subdue a suspect or a threat without harming them. Ways I’m sure you’re proficient at.”
“Fine. I will use no unnecessary force, little witch.”
I lifted my chin defiantly at the insult. “I’m at the height of my powers —”
Kett laughed. The short bark of amusement echoed through the practically empty lot. “Not even close,” he said. Then without another word, he climbed into the SUV.
I had no idea what the vampire thought he meant. I had no idea whether he’d keep to his promise of minimal force. And I had no idea why he thought my life could possibly be threatened during the course of our investigation. As far as I’d been able to tell so far, he was the biggest threat I faced.
What I did know was that I had to get the hair samples from the four human teenagers to Pearl, then make it to the airport before seven thirty.
I crossed around and climbed into the passenger side of the vehicle.
I was never late if I could help it.
Vampire games or no vampire games.
❒ ❒ ❒
“I found another dead teen,” Jasmine said, dragging her bag out through the international arrivals area at Vancouver International Airport. She was wearing a heathered brown merino-wool cardigan that fell around her knees, over a long-sleeved black V-neck T-shirt and skinny-legged black jeans. Her brown leather boots almost perfectly matched the laptop satchel slung across her shoulders.
“Where?” Kett asked, appearing out of the crowd of travelers and the swarm of family and friends currently greeting each other ecstatically.
My cousin flinched, whipping her head around and sending a rampant cascade of dark-blond curls across her shoulders. She hadn’t seen the vampire before he spoke. It was unnerving to have a vampire sneak up on you, even when you were expecting to meet one. I knew. He’d been doing it to me all day.
“Kettil, the executioner and elder of the Conclave,” I said formally and as per protocol, introducing them as I had tried to do when they’d spoken on the phone. “Jasmine Fairchild, tech witch and certified investigator. Also, gourmet cook.”
Jasmine laughed at the gourmet comment. But compared to me, she was a five-star chef. As long as her short attention span didn’t distract her.
“Yes,” Kett said, smiling pleasantly. “Wisteria’s cousin. Dahlia’s daughter. Half-sister of Declan Benoit.”
Jasmine thrust her hand toward him, smirking sexily. “Well, you’ve done your homework.”
Kett’s smile widened to reveal a hint of white teeth as he shook her hand.
Jasmine laughed again, enjoying the attention. Me, the vampire decided to keep in a heightened state of fear. Jasmine, he decided to flirt with. Perhaps he preferred effervescent, slightly sarcastic personalities. Or perhaps it was Jasmine’s curls and bright-blue eyes. My cousin’s eyes were a lighter blue than Jade Godfrey’s, but a lot of witches shared that coloring — including my entire family.
Except for Declan. But then, he wasn’t a blood relative on the Fairchild side. No, Declan’s eyes were a golden hazel, and —
“Daydreaming in the middle of a case?” Jasmine folded me into a hug, effectively drawing my attention back to the present day. “That’s not like you, Betty-Sue.”
I laughed, gratefully accepting the embrace and the distraction. Jasmine was the only person in the world — besides our Aunt Rose — who hugged me. “It’s good to see you, Betty-Lou.” I whispered the childhood nickname into her mass of pineapple-and-coconut-scented hair. We’d been greeting each other as such since we were nine.
“The dead teen?” Kett prompted, scanning the crowd. The mass of humanity surrounding us hadn’t yet thinned out. Vancouver was a highly sought-out all-season tourist destination, so international arrivals was presumably a constant stream of people.
“Suicide,” Jasmine said, casting her voice low underneath the constant murmur of nearby conversation. “Same as the others. In Seattle. I found Colby and Dennis on a couple of gaming sites together. I compiled a list of Dennis’s user names, then started cross-matching and tracing all the players he interacted with.”
“Passports,” Kett said, holding his hand out to us.
Jasmine still had her arm linked around my neck. She was holding her laptop bag as far away from me as possible in her other hand. She hated having to replace her computer, so was especially careful with it every time we visited.
“I’ll have a flight plan logged,” Kett said. “The jet is on standby, but it will still take an hour or so to recall the crew.”
Jasmine’s jaw dropped, then she wagged her eyebrows. “A private jet, eh?”
I chuckled, shaking my head and digging through my bag for my passport.
Kett’s expression was as impassive as always, one hand still extended as he dialed a number on his cellphone with the other.
Jasmine deliberately glanced around the bustling arrival area, letting out an anguished sigh, then dropping her passport into Kett’s open hand. “Well, the Vancouver airport seems nice at least.”
Indeed, Vancouver
International Airport was built out of miles and miles of steel and glass, all tied together by wood accents and well-placed First Nations art. It was one of the prettiest airports I’d ever seen.
“I’ll have your possessions brought from your hotel,” Kett said to me.
Before I could respond with my room number or offer up my key card, the vampire slipped back through the crowd, speaking to someone quietly on his phone in a language other than English. German, maybe? I didn’t have an ear for languages or music.
“I wouldn’t have minded some cupcakes,” Jasmine said mournfully.
I slipped my arm through hers. “I grabbed a dozen when we stopped by the bakery to drop hair samples to Pearl. They’re in the car, along with Dennis’s laptop, which I’m assuming Kett will also grab, since I don’t have the keys.”
“Yes! You completely rock, my friend.”
I chuckled, allowing Jasmine’s effervescence to buoy me as we meandered in the general direction Kett had gone. I assumed we’d need to go to some private section of the airport, but I had no idea how to get there.
“So … dibs on the vampire,” Jasmine said.
“You’re joking.”
“So … no? You want first crack?”
“Seriously, Jasmine. He’s not … not …”
“Powerful? Dangerous? Sexy? Actually, crazy hot. In that ‘I might devour your soul, but I could also love you forever’ kind of way.”
I stopped, pulling her to an abrupt halt, then disentangling our arms so I could look her in the eye. Her three-inch-heeled boots made her the same height as me in my two-inch heels. “Please be joking.”
“You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed. And … it’s been twelve years —”
“No.”
“No, you haven’t noticed? Or no, you aren’t ever going to love another human being ever again?”
“I’m not sure vampires are capable of love. Nor do they qualify as human. And I do love. I love you.”
“Your devotion is heartwarming. But it doesn’t warm your bed.”
“Neither would a vampire.”
“Fine.” My lovely cousin shrugged, then linked her arm through mine again.
Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1) Page 9