by Lisa Emme
Nash’s breathing had become harsher, like he was trying to keep his anger in check. He remembered my dreams as well. As we progressed down the hall, we were able to begin to distinguish what the voices were saying.
“We don’t have any time left. You must finish now before they find us.” It was a man’s voice. He had an imperious tone, one that could easily belong to Bellemare.
“But sir, we haven’t even tested this iteration. We shouldn’t –” It was a woman’s voice. She sounded frightened and unsure.
“Time is up. We need to take what we have or we will lose all our hard work.”
There was another crash. The woman gasped in fright. “Please be careful sir. Some of the chemicals in the lab shouldn’t be mixed.”
“It doesn’t matter. We have to burn the place to the ground. No one can know what we’ve been doing here.”
“But all my research, my notes – “
“We don’t have time for any of that now. Just grab the samples and finish preparing a dosage.”
“I-I-I don’t think that is a good idea, sir.”
“I didn’t ask your opinion.” Bellemare’s voice sounded cruel.
The woman gasped. We had reached the room where the voices were coming from. Nash signalled for me to hang back, but I peeked in the window. It was a lab of some kind. There were several work benches and a fume hood along the side of the room. Broken glass and various coloured liquids littered the floor. The man’s voice did in fact belong to Bellemare. He was standing beside a work bench where a woman in a blue lab coat was working with some test tubes and other vials, sealing them and putting them into a foam-lined case. Bellemare was holding her at gunpoint.
“Just hurry up, doctor.” Bellemare sneered at her, waving the gun menacingly.
Nash tensed and I could tell he was about to storm into the room when suddenly, a door on the far side of the room opened. The woman gasped again and Bellemare turned to look at the newcomer. He was tall and muscular and very handsome. His hair was the deepest black I had ever seen. I didn’t need a playbook to figure out that it must be Elian Navarre, the Fae prince. Beside me, Nash froze. If he had been in wolf form, I would have said his hackles rose, his whole body seemed to go on alert.
“You!” Bellemare spat the word out. “You were supposed to supply me with the wolves I needed, not go off half-cocked hunting down every werewolf you could find. You brought this attention to our doorstep.”
Navarre stepped further into the room, a look of pure contempt on his face. “It was not I that brought the authorities to your doorstep, but rather your fool’s errand to find a cure for your own mortality.” Navarre waved his arms around the room indicating all the equipment. “There is no magic elixir for immortality, old man. You are nothing more than a puny mortal and that is all you will ever be.” He brushed some imaginary lint off his sleeve. “And now because of your stupidity, my time here is at an end.”
“No, you haven’t fulfilled your side of the bargain. You can’t leave.” Bellemare turned to face Navarre. “I called you to this plane, you must obey me.”
Navarre laughed heartily. “You are not my master, you little bug.” He held up his hand and made a pinching motion. Bellemare grabbed his throat, clearly choking. Omigod! Where was Tess when I needed her? Navarre was practically acting out one of her favourite Darth Vadar scenes from Star Wars. She was never going to believe me.
Bellemare continued to gasp for breath. The woman began to cry. “Please, please don’t hurt me.” She put her hands up as if to fend Navarre off.
Navarre cocked his head towards her as if noticing her for the first time. “Quiet girl. I hold no animus to you.” He released his invisible grasp on Bellemare’s windpipe with a flick of his fingers. Bellemare fell forward gulping for air. He caught himself on the edge of the bench, holding himself up with effort.
“Is that the magic elixir?” Navarre raised an eyebrow in question at the doctor, his words dripping with contempt.
“I…yes…no…I mean it is the latest version but…”
“Yes, yes.” Navarre waved his hand in impatience. “Give it to me, girl.” He held out his hand to the doctor who scurried over and dropped the syringe into Navarre’s waiting palm.
“N-n-now see here.” Bellemare coughed out the words. “That’s mine.” He straightened, facing Navarre. I had to give the guy some credit. The dude had balls confronting Navarre after nearly having the life squeezed out of him a second before.
Navarre turned an icy glare to Bellemare, who also had the brains to shut up. “Go.” He waved his hand at the doctor dismissively. “Scurry off before I change my mind.”
With a gasp of relief, the doctor turned and hurried towards the door, the door where Nash and I were hiding. We flattened ourselves up against the wall and waited for her to pass, hoping she wouldn’t give us away. She flinched as she stepped out into the hallway, but a finger to Nash’s lips silenced her.
“Oh yes,” Navarre’s voice purred, “I almost forgot about our audience. Do come in and join us.
Chapter Nineteen
Nash and I froze at Navarre’s words. A chill ran down my spine.
“Come, come. I know you are out there. Detective Nash, I believe? I have so looked forward to meeting you.”
Before I could even think about what I was doing, I found myself walking through the door. Nash followed close behind me. I had no control over my actions. I was under a compulsion, a puppet and Navarre was pulling the strings. Nash must have been experiencing the same thing because I could hear his laboured breathing as he tried to fight against the pull of Navarre’s command.
“My, my, my, what do we have here? I wasn’t expecting you.” Navarre took a step towards me. I was frozen in place, my katana held out in front of me, but unable to move. He examined me from head to toe and then waved his finger at me. “You won’t be needing that. Put it away.”
At his command, I slid my katana home in its scabbard. My arms fell uselessly to my sides. “Very nice.” Navarre took another step towards me, close enough to reach out with his finger, tucking it under my chin to tip it up so our eyes met. “Lovely.” He took a deep breath, a devilish smile creeping over his face. “Oh my. This is wonderful indeed.”
A growling sound began to emanate from Nash. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, the only part of me I could move. He was visibly straining against Navarre’s compulsion, trying to break free.
“Why Detective Nash, this is such a lovely surprise. I thought I had lost the opportunity to hunt you down, now that my contract has expired, but here you are and with your mate no less. How fortuitous!” There was that damn word again. Mate! If I could have thrown Nash a dirty look, I would have.
The growling beside me got louder. Navarre frowned. “Bad wolf.” He pinched his fingers together again only this time it was Nash that started to choke and gasp.
I had to do something. He was going to kill Nash. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, trying to remember anything I could about Fae magic and compulsion spells. I recited a cleansing spell in my head trying clean the compulsion out of my mind. Nash’s gasping was becoming more sporadic. I fought against Navarre’s control to turn my head to look at Nash, but I was only able to move it an inch.
“S-s-s-top!” I gritted the word out through clenched teeth, but it was enough of a confidence booster that I was able to shake a little more of the compulsion off. I turned my head fully to look at Nash. His face was red, his eyes beginning to bulge. “Stop it, you’re cheating!” My voice was high pitched with fear.
Navarre released his grip on Nash and he sucked in air loudly. “My, you are a surprise.” He turned back to face me. “And more than the bit of fluff you appear to be.” He stroked his chin as if in thought. “What did you mean, I was cheating?” He waved a hand at me. “You are free to speak.” I felt a small
wave flow over me and realized that I would be able to speak with no effort.
“Exactly what I said. You’re supposed to be some great hunter, but you use magic to weaken and subdue your prey. Some great hunter you are. You’re like the coward that goes off into the woods with an AK-47 and shoots some poor bear that’s been lured to a baiting station. He’s not a hunter and neither are you.” I gave him my best look of contempt.
“I do not cheat!” Navarre looked incensed. He narrowed his eyes and raised his hand threatening to cut off my air.
“Oh yeah, big bad Elf doesn’t like to hear the truth so you’re just going to kill me now too. What’s the matter Eliassander? Afraid you won’t win in a fair fight?”
Navarre pinched his fingers together, a look of pure anger on his face. I felt my throat constrict. It was if all the air was sucked out of my body and I immediately began to struggle to breathe in more. My heart pounded frantically in my chest. I wanted to claw at my throat, but my arms remained frozen at my sides. My vision began to blur. I could hear snarling and growling but could no longer make sense of what was going on. And then suddenly, I could breathe again. The air rushed into my lungs. I sucked it in and out, panting.
Navarre stood in front of me with a smug smile. “I am not an elf.” The look of disgust on his face told me everything I needed to know about what he thought about the term, which is exactly why I had used it. “I am afraid of nothing.” He turned his back on me and stalked across the room to Bellemare. He spun on his heel and looked at me again. “And I will show you, but first, first I have a little business to take care of.” He turned back to Bellemare.
Bellemare, who had been frozen in place much like Nash and me, looked like he had been hoping Navarre had forgotten about him and his hope bubble had just burst. “You cannot harm me.” He raised his chin up haughtily. “You are bound by the covenant.”
Before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out of my mouth. “What the hell are you two going on about? Bargains? Covenants?”
Nash sucked in a breath. Since I was still able to move my head, I dared a glance at him. He rolled his eyes at me. Luckily, he still seemed unable to speak or I’m sure I would have heard what he thought of my big mouth.
“Well, how rude of me.” Navarre shook his head in mock distress. “Perhaps you have not formally met.” He waved his hand at Bellemare. “Allow me to introduce to you my great-many-greats-grandson Douglas Marshal Louis Elian Bellemare.” He paced closer to Bellemare and looked at him with a sneer. “I’m afraid the bloodline isn’t quite what it used to be. Too many generations of mortal blood muddying things up, you see.” He cocked his head. “But he is the oldest of his generation carrying my name and so he holds the key.”
I couldn’t help myself, my curiosity piqued. “What key?”
“Why the key to call me forth from Underhill of course.” Navarre looked at me like I was an idiot for not knowing.
“I’m afraid I don’t know that one.” I attempted to shrug, but found my shoulders didn’t work.
Navarre let out an impatient sigh. “Well, it really isn’t my job to educate you. What are they teaching you mortals now-a-days?” He waved a hand at Bellemare. “You tell her.”
“Prince Eliassander has been bound to Underhill and forbidden residence here in our realm,” Bellemare said, his voice monotone. “He can only cross to this world when called by blood and only once every ten years. If called by blood and a covenant struck, he may remain on this plane each day between the hours of sunset and sunrise for one moon’s cycle.” Bellemare attempted to stand a little straighter, his pride becoming evident. “I discovered the secret of my family’s heritage just over a decade ago. I was the first of my line to do so in generations.”
Beside me, Nash growled. If Bellemare had called Navarre forth ten years ago then he was responsible for the death of Nash’s father at Navarre’s hands.
“Yes,” Navarre added thoughtfully, oblivious to Nash’s anger, “I truly thought the knowledge had finally been lost and that I would be stuck Underhill the rest of my days, my vengeance incomplete.” He inclined his head thoughtfully. “For that at least, my great-many-greats-grandson, I feel a modicum of gratitude.” He stepped closer to Bellemare and brushed a hand across the old man’s cheek. “Which is why I will let you leave this place with your precious elixir.” Bellemare’s eyes lit up at the thought. Navarre raised his eyebrows pensively. “Do you accept? Will you allow me to give you this and set you free as a means to fulfill the covenant?”
I shook my head. It was a trick. The Fae could be just like vampires, twisting words and finding loopholes. “No!” I turned my head to face Bellemare. “Don’t…”
With a flick of his hand, Navarre cut off my words. “You, my lovely, stay out of it.” He turned to leer at me and then turned back to Bellemare. “Well mortal, what do you say?”
“Yes!” Bellemare’s face was full of hope. “Yes, I accept. Now give me my elixir and let me leave this place.”
“Your wish is my command. I believe that’s how your mortal saying goes.” Navarre’s smile was full of pleasant malice. He flicked the cap off the syringe with his thumb and grabbed Bellemare’s bare arm.
“Wait!” Bellemare’s hope was ripped away by terror. “What are you doing? You can’t – “
“Oh, but I can. You agreed to carry the elixir out with you. I am simply giving it to you to carry.” Navarre laughed and pushed the syringe into Bellemare’s arm.
Bellemare’s face froze in terror. For a moment, nothing happened and relief began to show on his face. In the space of several more heartbeats, a look of pure euphoria overcame him. “I- I- I can feel it! It’s working!” Bellemare laughed with glee. I looked at Nash in surprise. He never took his eyes off Bellemare and when a gasping sound of pure terror erupted from Bellemare, Nash’s eyes grew wide. I swung my gaze back to Bellemare and choked out a little shriek. His face was melting, his features shifting and reforming. Blood began to drip from his nose and ears, even his eyes. He let out a high pitched wail. His chest popped out, his ribs cracking and reforming. His joints began to crack and snap as his bones lengthened and then shortened. His entire body was morphing, but into what I didn’t know. What I did know, was that it was extremely painful and Bellemare remained conscious for most of it. What I also knew without a doubt, was that this was how the two university students, Charles Mathers and Jonathan Turner, had died. Finally, I could take no more and so I shut my eyes. I couldn’t shut my ears though and Bellemare’s bones continued to snap and pop like a bowl of breakfast cereal on steroids for several more excruciating minutes.
At last, the room fell silent. Navarre, who had watched the entire show with a look of pure glee, brushed his hands together like he was cleaning off some dust. He looked down at the broken, bleeding body of Bellemare and said, “You are free to go.” He laughed and then turned his gaze on Nash and me.
Chapter Twenty
The sound of many feet running down the corridor brought me a moment of relief from the terror I felt at Navarre’s gaze. The rest of the SRU had found us. My hopes were immediately dashed though when Navarre frowned and flicked his hand. The sounds suddenly became muffled and although I couldn’t see anything, because it was behind me and I couldn’t turn my body, I could feel the sizzling snap of a magical barrier falling into place.
“Well, that just won’t do,” Navarre said with a playful pout. “I’m nowhere near done playing with you and I still have hours left until sunrise.”
The muffled footsteps drew closer.
“Harry! Nash!” Tess’s voice sounded like it was coming through water, far away and distorted.
“Harry!” Isaac’s voice, like Tess’s sounded distant.
“Well,” Navarre sounded annoyed. “We’ll just have to take this party elsewhere.” He snapped his fingers and the world went black.
&nb
sp; ***
“Harry! Harry, wake up.” A hand brushed across my cheek. “Harry, come on.” I pushed the hand away. I was having the worst dream. Bellemare had been turned into a puddle of goo and...omigod it wasn’t a dream! I sat up quickly pulling my arms up in a defensive pose only to find that my left arm was trapped. I yanked my arm trying to pull myself loose. There was a masculine grunt.
“Easy there, little minx.” Nash’s voice was a welcome rumble to my ears. Large hands wrapped around my wrists pulling my arms down in front of me. A warm familiar scent surrounded me as Nash leaned in towards me, his head touching mine.
“Nash!” I turned in his arms to try and get a better look at him. It was so dark; I could barely make out his features. “What’s going on? Where are we?”
“I don’t know.” His hand cupped my chin forcing my head up. Nash peered at my face in the dim light. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
“No…I…” I pulled on my arm again. “Something’s wrong with my arm.”
There was a musical rattle and then suddenly I had more movement in my arm. I held it up taking a closer look. My wrist was encased in a solid gold cuff that appeared to have no latch or joins. It fit my wrist snugly and there was no way I could slip it off over my hand. Attached to the cuff was a gold chain made of large, chunky links. I grabbed the chain and started to follow it, trying to find the end.
“Are you looking for this?” Nash pointed to his neck. He was wearing a collar similar to my cuff. It was also attached to a chain of thick gold links, the same chain that I was harnessed to.
“Navarre chained us together?” I reached out to touch the collar around Nash’s neck. “Are you okay? It’s not too tight?” I looked at him with concern.