Blood and Fire (Guardian Witch)

by Ally Shields

  “She has no human feelings left. Not even a spark.”

  “I know, Arianna. I knew that two hundred years ago.”

  Ari frowned at him. “Yet you were with her.”

  “Yes.” A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he didn’t look at her. “Need I remind you it was not by choice.”

  “Was it as awful as I imagine?”

  Andreas turned his head, a bitter twist to his lips. “Worse. You do not have the experience to imagine such things.” A darkness filled his words. “Please, do not ask Gabriel to describe what happened.” He hesitated. “It is a painful memory for him.”

  Not only for Gabriel. Ari swallowed hard, sorry her question had caused his discomfort. “I won’t say anything.” She’d never heard Andreas sound so hollow. That Ursula had inflicted some horrible perversion on two young, vulnerable vampires was obvious. Ari didn’t need or want to know the details, but she had a bad taste in her mouth, a loathing for the vampiress…no, the monster that had hurt them. “Before this is over, I hope to make Ursula sorry she ever came near any of us—then or now.”

  Andreas’s grin was almost genuine. “You sound quite blood-thirsty.”

  “Only half of what I feel.” She shifted in her seat, growing restless with the dark thoughts that had dogged her over the last few hours. She sought a topic that would lighten the mood. “Did I tell you Dona rejected the really nice lady who wanted to adopt her?”

  Andreas treated the topic change as normal. “You mentioned it in passing. What do you plan to do with her now?”

  “I was wondering if she could stay at your place.”

  “In my home? She is already there.”

  “I mean when I return to the apartment. You’ve got all that room, and the weretigers seem to like her.”

  He swiveled to look at her with a hooded expression. “You still intend to leave?”

  “When it’s safe again.” She cocked her head. “I thought you understood from the beginning this was only temporary.”

  Andreas looked away. “The cat may stay. I am meeting with my lieutenants when we land. Do you wish to be part of that conversation?”

  Now who was changing the subject? “Not unless you think it’s necessary. Otherwise, I’m going to bed.”

  He nodded. “I will give them the update. Can you talk with Samuel and Russell tomorrow and have one of them contact Toronto?”

  “Sure, but I’ll call Mike myself. We’ll brainstorm about strategy.”

  They lapsed into silence. Ari was drained by the experience in Canada and hoped to get a full night’s sleep before she had to deal with anything else. Yawning, she rested her head on the back of the seat and dozed off. When Andreas woke her upon landing, she struggled to stay awake until they were home and she collapsed into bed.

  Ari woke countless times during the night, and the dreams began. She saw Ursula rampaging through Bolivar’s compound, tearing off heads and limbs, and heard the screams. She seemed to be gagging on the cloying scent of blood.

  Choking, Ari jerked upright in the bed to find Andreas’s arms around her. He rubbed her back.

  “Hush, Arianna. It is only a bad dream.”

  When she shivered, he tightened his hold.

  “It was so real,” she whispered. “What time is it?”

  “Almost dawn. I was on my way to bed when I heard you cry out. Ursula?”

  “Yes.” She rested her head against his chest as his hand smoothed the top of her hair. Her world came back into perspective. “How’d your meeting go?”

  “Nothing new, but everyone understands what they need to do.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Go back to sleep now.” When he tucked her under the covers, she drifted into a dreamless world and didn’t hear him leave the room.

  * * *

  Ari woke on Saturday with midmorning sun streaming in the windows. She stretched, oddly content, despite the nightmare she still remembered. Her thoughts flashed to Andreas’s predawn visit. She would miss that kind of attention when she went home. Andreas provided some kind of anchor for her. She yawned and hopped out of bed. It was much too early for serious thought. Grabbing clean underwear, black jeans, and a T-shirt, she headed for the shower.

  With hot water clearing the cobwebs of sleep away, she tried to put the disturbing events of the last two days into perspective. The rogue coven, Ursula. Both of them were deadly threats against her and the people she cared about. She needed plans to stop each of them, and she’d begun to see glimmers of their weaknesses.

  Take the witches, for instance. They were down in number since the fight with Ursula, and Ari thought they’d lost confidence, too. Sophistrina’s blind allegiance was weakening. Ari would find a way to take advantage of that. And if one was wavering, maybe others were shaky too.

  While Ari might have predicted the coven’s shaken resolve, Ursula’s lack of psychic abilities had come as a complete shock. The ability to bespell victims was so basic to vampirism that she’d never thought to question Ursula’s power. That didn’t make the vampiress an easy mark or any less deadly, but it did make her different and potentially vulnerable.

  While the coven and Ursula were her most pressing problems, there were other thoughts still on her mind. Ryan would consider them equally important since they were tied to a murder. Where was Dyani? And Hawkson? Where was the bloodstone?

  Ari stepped out of the shower and toweled off. Quickly slipping into her jeans and shirt, she sat down on the bed and tugged on her boots. She had to do something about her growing list of tasks. After she talked with the security chiefs, she’d start scratching items off that list by tracking down Hawkson. He might be the easiest of her problems. As far as she knew, he wasn’t trying to kill anyone.

  * * *

  The hospital cafeteria staff was moving through the halls with early lunch trays by the time she approached Joe Hawkson in the hallway outside his sister’s room. His face sagged with grief. He pointed his chin toward the open door and the sleeping patient inside. “My sister is going to our ancestors. The bone marrow transplant failed.”

  “I’m sorry for your family.” It had taken an entire morning of phone calls, but she had found Hawkson at Riverdale Memorial Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. The nurse told her the twenty-five-year-old Native American woman was dying of leukemia.

  “If I could have found the bloodstone, maybe it would have helped. Even this late.”

  “Is that what you were doing on Tuesday? One last search?”

  He frowned. “I was here on Tuesday. I have been here every day since we last met.”

  “You weren’t in the caves?”

  “No.” Concern flashed across his heavy features. “Someone has been there? They must not take the stone away.” He looked at the door to the ICU. “I need that stone. She needs it, but I cannot leave her.” He grabbed Ari’s arm. “You must find it. Please, Ms. Calin.”

  His fingers dug into Ari’s arm, and she gently pulled away. “I’ve looked. Unless you know something you haven’t told me, I don’t know how to find it.” He shook his head. “For now, we’re watching the cave and keeping everyone away. That’s why I thought you’d been there. Our guards ran off an intruder.”

  An intruder who left a print from footgear similar to a moccasin. If it wasn’t Hawkson, only one other person popped into her mind. Stereotyping, maybe, but Dyani was missing.

  “I haven’t given up,” she said. “You take care of your family.” There was an awkward pause. “I, um, hope something turns things around for your sister.”

  “Thank you.”

  Without more to offer, Ari said her good-byes and walked to the elevator. Pushing the down button, she looked back once more to see him disappearing into the ICU to resume his vigil. She’d told him she’d try, but she had no idea how to keep her promise.

  By the time the elevator arrived, Ari was concentrating on the possible whereabouts of the Indian woman, Dyani. If she was in Riverdale looking for the bloodstone, where would she be stayi
ng? Ari pulled out her cell phone and talked to Ryan.

  “I’ll have an officer check the hotels and motels,” he said, when she finished. “With her native coloring, she’ll stand out, no matter what name she’s using.”

  “That’s great. I’m going back to the new tunnel to see if I can pick up a trail. I didn’t bother when we thought it was Hawkson, but things are different now. I want to know who our intruder was.”

  “Want some help?” His voice was hopeful. “I’m sure this mound of paperwork could wait while I do something more important.”

  She laughed. “You’re a tracker now?”

  “I was a Boy Scout. Does that count? We learned all kinds of woodsy things.”

  “I knew it! I told Claris you were a Boy Scout.” She clamped a hand over her mouth, remembering that hadn’t necessarily been a flattering conversation about his sometimes rigid approach to things. “Oops.” She ruined any impression of remorse with a laugh.

  “Uh-huh, and what rule-breaking did I fail to approve at the time?”

  “I have no idea.” She gave the phone a cheeky grin, knowing he’d hear it in her voice. “It isn’t as if we don’t have a bunch of incidents to choose from.”

  “Do you want me to come or not?”

  “Sure. I’m on my way now. Meet you there. But if you don’t arrive within ten minutes, I’ll figure you chickened out.”

  He made it in eight.

  Ari and Ryan searched for an hour, using her witch senses and his sparsely remembered Boy Scout tracking skills without any positive results, unless they counted the opossum or the ground snake they unearthed. If Dyani had been there, she had done a good job of concealing her trail.

  Ryan swatted a branch out of the way.

  “Tracking skills a little rusty?” Ari asked.

  “Give me a break. The tracking I learned was for animals and birds that weren’t trying to hide.” He threw her a smug look. “I don’t see your infamous witch magic doing any better.”

  “No.” She sighed. “You don’t. If I hadn’t heard the commotion and seen the footprint in the tunnel, I would wonder if anyone had been there.” She scuffed her boot on the barren path. “There’s no magical trail, which confirms our intruder was human. It makes Dyani at least a possible suspect.”

  “Maybe the hotel search will turn her up. I’ll add taxis, car rentals, and the airport if they don’t.”

  “How about buses? And car rentals near that mammoth dig in Iowa. I suspect she never went to Oklahoma.”

  Ryan pulled out his cell phone. “While I call in, why don’t I drive you to the diner? I’ll buy you a coffee, and you can tell me about your latest trip to Canada.”

  “It’s a deal.” She followed him to his cruiser. Until they decided their next step, a coffee break would be nice.

  Although the Daily Diner was a favorite haunt of cops, it wasn’t very busy at 2:00 in the afternoon. They ordered coffee, and Ari reported on her trip to the slaughter scene in Canada. She stopped abruptly when a man scooted onto the bench next to her.

  “Two of my favorite cops.” Eddie West brushed windblown strands of reddish-brown hair off his forehead and gave Ari a boyish grin. He was older than she was by more than a year, yet he looked about eighteen. “We haven’t talked in a while.”

  “That’s because there’s been no news to pump me for.” She returned a reluctant smile. “What’s a crime reporter doing here during working hours? Late lunch?”

  “No, just thought I’d grab a Coke.” He flushed as she made a face at the lame excuse, and he turned to Ryan. “Ok, I saw the cruiser outside. Have you closed the Barron case?”

  “Nothing left to investigate.” Ryan’s words were careful. “Doc says it was his heart.”

  “Yeah, I heard that. But when Ari’s involved, I figure weird, earth-changing things are happening. What’s the rest of the story?”

  Ryan’s shake of the head was emphatic. “You’ve got it wrong. I called Ari as a precaution. Turns out it wasn’t necessary. Barron died a natural death.”

  “Uh-huh, and then threw himself off the cliff?”

  “Accidental fall subsequent to or causing heart failure. Either way, it’s no longer a police matter.”

  “So, what are you two working on now?”

  Ryan frowned, and Ari jumped in. “Are you fishing for something in particular? Or just nosing around in hopes you’ll turn up a story?”

  Unabashed, Eddie turned to her. “The cliffs are still barricaded. A dwarf is guarding a collapsed entrance. I’ve been asking myself why.”

  “And what did you answer yourself?”

  “Smartass.” He slanted his upper body forward and lowered his voice. “You guys are hiding something. If it’s about Barron’s death, the public has a right to know.”

  Ryan stirred his coffee repeatedly and said nothing. He’d recently cut his sugar and cream content in half and seemed unsatisfied with the result. Ari was tempted to kick him on the shin. Couldn’t he obsess about his coffee after they dealt with Eddie?

  “What more can I say?” She sighed, growing impatient. “We’ve both told you you’re on the wrong track. A heart attack is a heart attack.”

  “Unless it’s not.”

  “You think Doc falsified his findings? That’s a pretty serious accusation.” She scowled at him, hoping he’d drop it. She didn’t need his persistence today.

  “I talked to him. Something about not liking inconclusive findings, so he made his best call.”

  Ari shrugged. “Sounds good enough to me.” She set down her coffee cup. “Look, Eddie, don’t try to stir up trouble to improve your circulation. The case is closed.”

  He held her gaze a moment longer than necessary. “OK, if you won’t talk about that, what’s the story at the vampire caverns?”

  “Nothing much. Intruders,” she said dismissively. “Some cavers were trespassing.”

  Ryan looked up from his coffee. “At the request of the vampires, we put up barriers to remind tourists and reporters that it’s restricted territory. The vamps have a right to their privacy just like everybody else.”

  “Trying to keep out the treasure hunters, huh?” Eddie sipped his Coke. “That’s the rumor. That Jase Barron was going to film the recovery of buried treasure.”

  “Rumors,” Ari scoffed. “I hope that isn’t what The Clarion prints these days. What kind of treasure? Like pots of pirate gold?” She chuckled. “Somebody’s been watching too many adventure movies.” Inside, she cringed. How much information had already leaked out into the general public?

  “Haven’t heard what it is, but why else would Jase Barron be in town with a film crew?”

  “Stopover maybe. They’re gone now. I guess any imaginary treasure around here will have to stay buried.” She gave Ryan a significant look. Further conversation about the case would have to wait until a better time. “I have a ton of paperwork to finish.”

  When Eddie took the hint and stood, Ari slid out of the booth. “I hope you won’t print wild rumors,” she said. “The national press has finally left, letting us all get back to work.” She frowned to emphasize her words. “No meddling in this, Eddie. Not only would the media come back, but you’d bring the crazies and speculators who want to get rich quick. The vamps would freak out if they had more strangers poking around. Somebody could get hurt.”

  Ryan stood. “I’ll walk you out.” He looked at Eddie. “The vampires won’t be the only ones upset if you bring a bunch of treasure hunters to town.”

  Eddie looked thoughtful. “I won’t print until I have confirmation. But I haven’t forgotten the kids’ ghost either. Something weird is happening. If you two decide you need a friendly reporter, give me a call.”

  They left Eddie sitting by himself, already talking on his cell phone. Ari hoped it wasn’t about the activities in the caves, but she had no illusions that the reporter would give up.

  “Damn,” Ryan said softly. “That’s all we need.”

  “I’m not too worried.
” Ari tried to sound upbeat. “Nobody involved wants publicity, and I don’t think The Clarion will print a story without confirmation. If no one talks to him, how’s he going to verify his suspicions?”

  * * *

  Ari spent the next two hours at her office in the Cultural Center, writing her latest report for the Magic Council regarding Ursula and the massacre in Canada. Putting the grisly facts on paper raised the hair on her neck. She typed the last line, saved, and printed, planning to drop off a copy at the front desk on her way to the club. Andreas would be up soon, and he’d want to discuss their next steps regarding Ursula.

  She turned off the computer and reached for the report. When her cell phone rang, she picked it up instead, hesitating when she saw an unknown ID. “Hello?”

  “We’ve captured intruders at the caverns.” Ah. She knew that stern voice. One of Andreas’s weretigers. She’d forgotten his name; the guy with the piercing gaze.

  “Who are they? Kids?”

  “No, two adult human males. One has a camera. We’re holding them at the dwarf’s station.”

  “I’ll be there shortly.” Hanging up, she grabbed her report and called Ryan on her cell as she headed out her office door. Leaving the report with the receptionist to distribute, she walked out the front entrance, still talking into her phone. Ryan agreed to meet her at the cave. He just might need to make an example of these guys.

  She jogged the few blocks to the cliffs. It was faster than navigating the one-way streets and tourist traffic. She wondered who she was going to find. Hawkson or more treasure hunters? Did a camera mean Carmody’s crew had returned? Or maybe it was curious tourists. He’d said males, so it wasn’t the Indian woman Dyani.

  She approached the cave entrance. “What happened here?”

  The dwarf appeared to be sitting on something. Drawing closer, she turned a startled laugh into a cough. The “something” was a man securely tied with magical twine. The dwarf held a beanbag-style billy club over the captive’s head of tousled reddish hair. Eddie West’s face flushed a rosy pink.