by Tara Rose
“It’s possible. How did Dagon find this document?”
Konstantin chuckled softly. “I don’t know. We probably don’t want to know. I’m sure none of the Lidérc ever believed their lists of potential conquests would one day become so accessible. It’s ridiculous that our kind love to keep track of what we do to and with humans in any form, let alone written form.”
“Pride and bragging rights. We seal their fates with both. So how do we find out if the name on this document and our Faina are one and the same?”
Konstantin grinned. “Our Faina?”
Alexei cursed his stupid tongue. “You know what I mean.”
“Don’t fall for her, brother. It’s not possible.”
Konstantin was the younger of the two, but he’d always been the wiser and more levelheaded. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It was a way of marking her as the girl in our home, nothing more.” Liar. “Now, how do we find out if they are one and the same?”
Konstantin placed her ID back in the drawer, locked it, and then turned off the computer. “We need help. And there’s only one being to trust this task to.”
* * * *
When Faina woke, bright sunlight streamed in the windows and the doors to the balcony were open. She sat up, thinking Alexei and Konstantin were out there, but the voice she heard singing wasn’t male.
Magda came inside and closed the doors. She held a dirty broom in one hand. “Ah, you’re awake. Good. I was sweeping the leaves off that porch out there. We get so many of them, especially on the upper floors.” Magda pointed toward clothes that had been laid out on a chair. “They chose them for you, but said you may wear anything you wish today. When you’ve showered, ring the bell and I’ll bring you food and different clothes if you wish.”
“Where are they?”
“In town. They’ll be back before dinner. I’m to keep you in this room for the day. You may read or watch TV, but they don’t want you wandering around the house until they return. There is also a chess set in here, as well as a deck of cards.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Magda shook her head but didn’t smile. “I’m afraid not. But the staff is completely at your disposal, so you won’t lack for anything.”
“Why did they go into town?” Was it something to do with the turf war? Were her friends all right? They’d made it sound like it was dangerous for any of them to leave. It must be very important if they were risking it. But why hadn’t they simply teleported, or whatever it was they did? What was so urgent and involved that they had to be gone all day?
“They don’t share all their plans with me. Get up and get ready for your day, and then I’ll bring you food.”
Magda left and Faina heard the lock click in the door. She hugged her knees and tried not to cry. This was no different than when she’d awoken yesterday morning and found herself in the other room. Had nothing they’d shared yesterday or last night meant anything? Had all their tender words and sexy looks been nothing but a show? Were they really keeping her safe, as they’d said over and over, or was she merely their prisoner and they were playing her?
As Faina crossed the room, she stopped to stare at the tub where they’d made love to her last night, and the tears came. The inside of it was bone-dry now, as if last night had never even happened. She glanced around, looking for some tangible evidence she hadn’t dreamed the entire thing, finding only the candle that was now on the dresser from which Alexei had first retrieved it, snuffed out.
They’d placed her tan capri pants and a lime green tank top, plus clean underwear, on the chair. An ornate pair of cream-colored satin slippers were on the floor in front of it, and they’d even placed matching earrings on top of the clothes. If they’d taken the time to do all that while she slept, would it have killed them to leave a note explaining where they’d gone and why?
The toilet, sink, and shower were housed in a room next to the tub. She took a short shower, not wanting to linger in there, hoping the memories that the scent of this soap brought back from last night wouldn’t be as strong if she was done quickly. What the hell was she supposed to do all day in this room while she waited for them to return? What was she? Their plaything?
She didn’t see the point in wearing anything special, so she put on the clothes they’d chosen and rang for Magda. When the woman arrived, she brought enough food for two meals. “What time is it?” asked Faina, glancing around for a clock. It was so weird how they had so few of them in the house. Then again, what did time matter to them?
“Just before noon. You must have been tired.”
“When did the guys leave?”
“Before six.”
Faina didn’t say anything. She had no idea whether Magda or any of the staff knew what had gone on in the bedrooms, but she wasn’t about to discuss it with her. She sat down to eat, and Magda told her to call when she was finished.
“Can’t I at least walk around upstairs? I feel claustrophobic locked up in this one room.”
“You may go out on the balcony if you wish. It’s a warm day but breezy. It might storm later.”
Great. Just what she wanted. To be locked in a room all alone during a thunderstorm. Magda left and Faina ate only because she was starving. Every spot on her body ached, but it was a sweet pain because it brought back memories of the most amazing sex she’d ever had. But at the same time, a profound sadness settled over her as she let the images dance in her mind.
She missed them.
How was that possible? She’d known them less than forty-eight hours, and it’s not like they’d met at work or in an acceptable social situation. They’d kidnapped her from the cemetery and were now holding her prisoner in this house.
Nothing she’d done with them so far was even close to what anything else in her life had been, except for the demon visit all those years ago. Were they connected to that somehow? Neither man had hinted that was true. But as Faina mused over the possibility, the look on Konstantin’s face last night, just before they’d made love to her in the bathtub, came back. What had him so worried? Was that the reason they were gone today?
She rang for Magda, who placed a pitcher of lemonade and one of ice water on the dresser, along with two clean glasses. Then she wheeled the trolley toward the door. “Just ring for anything you need.”
“Thanks.” Faina walked around the room, opening dresser drawers at random, and then the nightstand drawers. Alexei had everything in his room she’d expect to find in any man’s bedroom, just as if he were human. His scent was everywhere. There was no desk, and she wondered if he had an office or a study somewhere. The only other door led to a walk-in closet that was as large as one of the rooms in her apartment back home. It even had a window that faced the back of the house, as did the patio.
How did a demon need this many clothes and shoes? She had girlfriends who didn’t have as much stuff in their closets. She wondered what Heidi, Dani, Shayla, and Erin would think of this, and suddenly missed them all so much it was painful.
What were they doing right now? Were they truly safe, or had Alexei and Konstantin merely told her that so she wouldn’t worry? Why couldn’t she at least talk to them, just once? Just to make sure they were okay, and to let them know she was alive and well?
On the back wall of the closet were shelves filled with odds and ends—hats, umbrellas, and candles. That explained the heavenly scent in here. One candle particular caught her attention. It was taller than the others. Much more so than most tapers. And she’d never seen one that color before. It was the color of a mango, but had a metallic finish which she wasn’t used to seeing on a candle. She moved closer to get a better look.
It was set into the shelf itself, as if the well had been built specifically for it. When Faina picked it up, she yelped and jumped back slightly as the shelf slid to the left, revealing another small room that looked like a closet. “Holy shit.” She supposed it wasn’t all that much of a shock to find out they had secret passages in the house. D
id Magda know about them?
Faina glanced behind her, wondering what Magda would do if she came back and found her gone. But she was more curious about the other room than what Magda might say. She took the candle with her, thinking she might need it to return, and crossed into the other room. It had an identical window that overlooked the same area, but there was nothing on the shelves or hanging on the bars.
Faina placed the candle on a shelf and opened the door to reveal a bedroom. It didn’t look as though anyone used it. She opened drawers randomly, but there was nothing in or on any of the furniture. Someone must come in to dust it, though, because it was as clean as the rest of the house.
Why had secret doors been built into the closets? To hide a mistress? Is that why Alexei had this particular room? Surely he and Konstantin were aware of the sliding door. Were they even the original owners of this house? She realized how little she actually knew about either of them.
She opened the door to the hallway and recognized it as one she’d come down last night with Alexei after her bad dream. She tried not to think about that right now. In that dream she’d been chased through this house, but surely that meant nothing. She found her way to the room they’d originally put her in, but as she approached it, she heard voices and ducked down an unfamiliar corridor. If the staff saw her out of Alexei’s room, would they tell him and Konstantin?
As she tried to circle around and find Alexei’s room again, she realized she was lost. How freaking big was this damn house? And how could someone actually get lost in a house? She listened at a set of double doors at the end of a hallway, heard nothing, and opened them.
One sniff told her this had to be Konstantin’s room. She crossed to the open French doors and stepped out on the balcony, realizing it overlooked the same view as the one outside Alexei’s room, but further east. She glanced west toward a balcony as large as the one at the far end, realizing that must be the one outside Alexei’s room. Several smaller balconies were between this one and the one at the end.
Somewhere below her the sound of hedge clippers startled her for a moment. She tried to find the source, but couldn’t see more than an occasional flash of red that the gardener must be wearing. She stood at the western edge of the balcony, judging the distances between them. Rather than running continuously along the house, they were separated by wrought iron rails about a foot apart and approximately three feet high. She knew they were that high because at five foot five, they came up almost to her waist.
It was too bad she hadn’t had the chance to take all those ballet and gymnastics lessons her parents would have been forced to enroll her in if they’d stayed in the Soviet Union. She’d heard the story often enough from her mother, mostly, and had only once told her that she’d love to take those lessons here, in the US. Her mother’s expression had turned red and angry, and Faina had to listen to an hour-long tirade about how they didn’t have money for such things here, and being forced to enroll in camps at such a young age was hardly the same as choosing to learn such an art.
Faina had never asked for anything like that again, but had still enjoyed watching gymnastics, ballet, and even ice skating on TV while growing up. Some of those skills would come in handy now if she wanted to cross these balconies and get back to Alexei’s room undetected.
But she also didn’t want to fall to the ground below, so she went back inside and poked around Konstantin’s bedroom. She found nothing that gave her any clues to where they might be today, or to any of the other nagging questions in her mind.
One door led to his bathroom, where he didn’t have a large bathtub, but there was a shower where all three could easily fit. Another led to a smaller room without windows. When she flipped on the light switch, she stood staring at the bondage wheel with her mouth hanging open. It looked old and worn, but the leather straps on it weren’t. Had they used this recently? How many women had they kept “safe” inside this house?
Lining the walls on either side were shelves with cuffs, chains, and bottles of lube and scented oil. There were also candles, glass bowls, and toys still in packages from various fetish shops right here in New Orleans.
She was so engrossed in examining Konstantin’s hidden dungeon that by the time she heard voices in the hallway, it was too late to do anything but close the door and crouch against the wall, just as she heard the door to his room open.
Chapter Eleven
Konstantin had to ask Dagon to repeat what he’d just said about a demon chopping off a charlatan’s head two nights ago, because he had a sudden vision of Faina wandering through the house alone, and Magda unable to find her.
“That happened two nights ago? The same night we found Faina in the cemetery?”
“Yes,” said Dagon, his voice filled with impatience. “I’m talking about the war going on. We have magi hating witches, witches fighting vampires, and now the ghosts are involved.”
“We know all that. But what about Faina? How does this affect her?”
“She was seen by others in that cemetery. They all were. She and her four friends.”
Konstantin and Alexei exchanged a glance. It was as bad as they’d feared.
“And while we’re on the subject of Faina, who is Lisette Trudeau? Has she mentioned her?”
“Yes. That’s why she and her friends were in the cemetery that night. They were trying to find Marie Laveau’s tomb. They wanted to make a wish for their friend, Lisette. She died ten years ago, and they still feel guilty about it. Faina said something about talking her into leaving her gris-gris bag home that night because it was so valuable to her. The five were separated, and Lisette was killed.”
“Her throat was slit. She was a sacrifice. Does Faina know that?”
If Konstantin was able to feel sick to his stomach, he would right now. “Obviously she and her friends were never given the detail about her being a sacrifice, but they do know she had her throat slit. Faina also said something about a symbol on her forehead in ashes.”
Dagon nodded. “Yes. And that solidifies what I found out. The reason Faina and her friends didn’t know Lisette was supposed to be a sacrifice is because the local police in Oxford, Mississippi didn’t have a clue who slit her throat or why. How could they? There was no DNA to find. There were no fibers they were able to trace back to anyone. Humans didn’t kill her. Vassago’s followers did. But they weren’t too bright because they left her to be found by the police. My sources think they might have been interrupted and chose to leave her rather than risk taking her with them.”
Alexei ran a hand through his hair. “How the fuck are we ever going to tell her that her friend was supposed to be a sacrifice?”
“You need to tell her and her friends. This is all related to what’s going on now, at least in part.”
“A sacrifice?” asked Alexei. “You mean by demons like us, trying to earn back our humanity?”
“No. I’d know about them if that was the case. There was a group of demons involved in the current turf war operating in the Oxford area at that time. Lisette had strong psychic powers. Has Faina mentioned then?”
They both nodded.
“From what I’ve been able to find out, I believe Lisette was supposed to be the same sort of sacrifice that Faina might have been two nights ago if you hadn’t taken her from that cemetery.”
Alexei and Konstantin exchanged a glance.
“You saved her life. As for the Lidérc who visited Faina, all I could find out was that he disappeared shortly after that. That’s probably why he never came back.”
“Disappeared?” asked Konstantin.
“Yes. Whether another being got to him or something else happened. I have no idea. But if he had come back, you two wouldn’t be here right now asking about her. She’d have been claimed by him a long time ago.”
“Do you think one of his kind spotted her in the cemetery?” asked Alexei. “Is that who’s after her?”
“One of the beings currently after her is a Lidérc, yes.”
Konstantin raised his brows. “One of them?”
Dagon grinned, but the emotion didn’t reach his eyes. The hair on the back of Konstantin’s neck prickled. “The other is Vassago. My sources tell me Sargatanas sent him to find her, because he’s afraid you two will find a way to get out of the contract and keep her at the same time.”
“He must have a lot of faith in us.”
Dagon shook his head. “No. That’s not it. There’s a loophole we haven’t found yet. No other reason would make him so worried about one human woman.”
“Or is it that he’s worried about this particular human woman?” asked Alexei. “Could her past association with the Lidérc have something to do with this?”
Dagon nodded. “I believe that is also close to the truth, but I don’t yet know how or why. I’ll work on it and let you both know as soon as I hear anything.”
“What do we do in the meantime?” asked Konstantin.
“Exactly what you’re doing. Keep her indoors and off her cell phone and computer.”
“What about the grounds? The spell is on them as well.”
“It might be best if you don’t let her outside. You have neighbors. Those trees can’t hide everything. You don’t want anyone who doesn’t live in that house to even catch a glimpse of her. Vassago and Sargatanas can’t enter your house or grounds, but there’s nothing to stop either one from getting information from your neighbors.”
A shiver ran down Konstantin’s spine as the vision of Faina lost and wandering in the house came back to him. They needed to get back to her, and quickly. They never should have left her alone this long.
They’d left early this morning because traveling to see Dagon wasn’t possible by astral projection. They had to use conventional methods if they wanted to talk to him face-to-face. Fallen angels were such a pain in the ass to deal with one-on-one.