Glamorous: A Grace Bishop Novel (Grace Bishop Novels)

by Denise Bossarte

  “Don’t push too hard, or Viora will figure out what you are up to, Niccolo.”

  “I know how far I can push such a spell. I am monitoring myself to avoid alerting Viora of my attempts to go against her command. The work we did when I was your apprentice is coming into good use these days.”

  “I was training you to survive what your father might force upon you. I didn’t dream at the time it would be something to use against Viora. Even so, there is no need to push things too far. You shouldn’t reveal to her that you can deviate from her wishes.”

  “Viora’s position as head of The Family might give her enough power to set the spell, but my power and skill can minimize the overall effects.”

  Gabriella gave him a calculating look. “I would be careful assuming you are that skilled, Little Raven. Clever enough, I am sure. But you have not been practicing your powers for years. You are not as skilled as you were fresh out of your apprenticeship. You cannot be sure the same is true for Viora.”

  “Then, it is a good time to get back into practice. There is a new piece on the board, and Viora seems interested in how it is played. That means I should be interested too.” Nicco pulled sharply on the cuffs of his shirt one-by-one, straightening out the sleeves.

  “Besides, I am intrigued by Miss Bishop’s resistance. I have not met someone unafraid of me in a long time, Gabriella. None of the Paranorms aligned with me would ever have thought to force me into a re-negotiation of terms. It was bold of her to use her raven tattoo as leverage, even when she was not aware of the full implications of the image.”

  Gabriella nodded. “The girl must have gleaned the importance of the raven’s location and posture from one of the Paranorms. But no one alive today in the Paranorm family knows the true significance of the scroll and the words it contains. Those words are themselves a distant memory for even our Family.”

  A distant memory that left Nicco disturbed when he tried probing for it.

  “Yes, I agree. Miss Bishop is piquing my interest in her and the activities of her friends. Even as an outsider, she is coming to influence both the Paranorms and The Family. I admire her.”

  “And maybe also have empathy for her situation?” Gabriella asked softly.

  Nicco grew somber at her question. “I am not sure how Miss Bishop’s situation and mine are similar.”

  “She is an outsider to the Paranorm family, just like you were in your own family. You ended up in my care because your father tired of having his wife’s bastard around as a constant reminder of her indiscretions. It was your mother’s obvious preference for you, almost an obsession in her attention and protectiveness, that added to the resentment against you. Especially for Viora, your mother’s youngest and most favorite child before you arrived.”

  “I know all this, Gabriella. Why are you rehashing the past?”

  “Because, Little Raven, the past has lessons to inform the present—lessons you have yet to learn.” She gazed on him with sadness filling her eyes. “The girl lost her parents. You lost your mother as well. Your mother’s suicide after you began your apprenticeship with me cemented the resentment Viora held for you. She blamed you for many things, including your mother’s death. I never blamed you because I understood how fragile Leorna was.”

  “My presence was the one thing that gave Mother the strength to stand up to her husband’s hostility, to stand up to his constant demands for her to reveal the name of her lover and my true father. If I had known as soon as I was free from her husband she would kill herself, I would never have let them send me away.”

  “She did it to protect you.”

  “But that left no one to protect her!” Nicco threw himself out of his seat to pace the room.

  “The only way I survived her death was to immerse myself into my studies, to learn everything I could about my warlock powers, hoping one day I would get a chance to enact my revenge on the man who drove my mother to kill herself.”

  “And you became one of the strongest warlocks The Family has ever seen.”

  “But that didn’t stop Viora from killing her father before I got the chance and becoming head of The Family, did it?”

  A flood of emotions filled him in response to the memories. To distract himself, Nicco walked to the bookshelf Grace had been examining earlier. He reached up to the top shelf to remove an unremarkable wooden box. Cradling it in both hands, he moved to sit behind his desk, and place the box in front of him.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Gabriella leaned in to peer at the box.

  Without answering her, he opened the roughly carved lid and, one-by-one, he removed nine small objects from the box. He turned the objects to position them in a line, their faces toward him and Gabriella.

  “Your oggetti di livelli just sitting in a plain box on a bookshelf in your office?”

  “Yes, just sitting on a bookshelf in my office. In an ordinary box I carved myself all those years ago. Where no one would think to look for them.” His tone was gaining back its lighthearted quality.

  “One object to match each of my earrings. One object for each of the levels of power I have attained.”

  “Objects I gave to you, as Master to apprentice. Each a female figure from a different culture around the world.”

  “You were always one to tweak the nose of tradition, weren’t you?” he teased her.

  Nicco picked them up one at a time, holding them up in front of her. “A stone carving of a Paleolithic Earth Mother.” The figure was solid in his hand.

  “Earth power,” she responded in a formal voice.

  He exchanged the stone carving for the next object in line. Call and response, they continued.

  “A pearl carving of Chalchiuhtlicue, Aztec goddess of lakes, rivers, seas, and storms.” The figure was cool and smooth.

  “Water power.”

  “A volcanic rock carving of Pele, Hawaiian Fire goddess of volcanoes.” The carving’s edges were rough and gritty.

  “Fire power. I had to get special permission from the priestesses to get that one,” she whispered.

  “An opal of Shinatobe, Japanese goddess of the wind.” The figure was light in his hand.

  “Wind power.”

  “A sapphire carving of Ushas, Hindu goddess of Dawn.” The figure caused his hand to tingle.

  “Ether power. My favorite one.”

  “A bone carving of Artio, Celtic bear goddess.” The figure sat cracked and yellowed in his hand.

  “Power over animals.”

  “A limestone carving of Isis, Egyptian goddess of magic and mother to her people.” The figure warmed his hand.

  “Power over people.”

  He hesitated before reaching down to pick up the next carving.

  “A slate carving of Kalma, the Finnish goddess of death and decay.” The figure’s sharp edges pressed into his palm.

  Gabriella’s response was brittle. “Dark magic. That one was the hardest for you to master. It does not suit your temperament.”

  “And the last, a diamond carving of Eunomia, Greek goddess of law.” The figure was heavy in his hand.

  “White magic. The last and most powerful.”

  One-by-one he held up the objects, and returned them to the box. A horde of memories held in such an innocent looking container.

  “Years of grueling effort and endless failures,” he mused.

  “But also years of success. Not everyone attains all nine oggetti di livelli in their lifetime, let alone by the age of twenty.”

  “I was motivated at the time.”

  He placed his hands along the edges of the box, looking to return it to its place on the bookshelf. His right index finger found the slight dent in the wood. With a grin of recognition, Nicco applied increased pressure on the dent until he heard a soft click, and a small drawer popped open under his finger. He eased the drawer out to show a velvet-lined space, holding a single object. He lifted the object from its hiding place and turned it over in his hands.

  “Wh
at is it?” Gabriella asked.

  He held up a simple wood carving of a woman. A woman with long, dark hair. A woman with a lithe but strong body and determined features.

  “I don’t remember giving you that one. Why was it in the hidden drawer?”

  “This is a carving I made during my apprenticeship, created from my own experiences. The experiences I had when learning spells of forecasting and premonition.”

  “Niccolo! You know making such things is forbidden. And you kept it all these years?”

  “Since when have I ever obeyed the rules, Gabriella?” he asked.

  He put the carving back into the small drawer, closing it and taking the box back to the shelf.

  “It was a childish whim, Gabriella, another act of defiance on my part. Let us leave it at that.”

  Nicco turned and met her gaze, keeping his face neutral, so she wouldn’t catch him in the lie.

  The truth was, he had made the carving in his late teens, depicting a woman important to his future. A carving he had forgotten as the decades rolled past. A carving that looking remarkably like Grace.

  Chapter 42

  There were several vehicles already parked outside the warehouse when Grace arrived. She was happy to see a group of people gathered by the cars. With luck, it meant the Paranorms followed her instructions and had touched nothing in the warehouse. Danny had reassured her the Glamour’s knives would be safe where he hid them, but she wouldn’t be comfortable until she had them in her possession.

  She parked her car near the others and hurried to join them. Danny got out of the car a block earlier to get to the warehouse on his own. Anthony knew about Sabra and might have told Nicco there were ghosts at the site. They didn’t want to take a chance another clairvoyant Paranorm was present and risk Danny being seen when they arrived.

  The group ceased their conversations as she walked up to then. All eyes turned to stare at her, most with cold appraisal. There was a general murmuring amongst them as they noticed she was wearing the earring. But they didn’t say anything loud enough for her to hear it. The strong wave of negativity she felt from them must have been due to the stigma of being an Aperto Rotto, as Nicco warned her.

  “Hi, I’m Grace Bishop. Who’s in charge?” Grace figured it was best to keep this as business-like as possible.

  This was her case and her crime scene. She needed to deal with their top person up front and establish her authority there.

  The group all turned to look at a lanky redheaded young man, dressed in a flannel shirt, blue jeans, and hiking boots.

  Grace was surprised he was the leader. There were older Paranorms there and others dressed in a more professional manner. But she was learning appearances could be deceiving when it came to Paranorms and their powers.

  “Good to meet you, Grace.” He took her by surprise when he held out his hand to her in greeting. “I’m Christophano, and I’m in charge of this lousy group of no accounts. But you can call me Fuoco.”

  He gave her a broad smile as he pumped her hand with enthusiasm. It was a wonder the rest of the Paranorms took what he said about them in stride—the main reaction being a few rolled eyes.

  “Fuoco?” she asked when she could get her hand back.

  “Yep, that’s what everyone in the family calls me. I’m a pyrokinetic. They nicknamed me ‘fire’ for short.”

  Grace grinned back at Fuoco’s continued enthusiasm. He, at least, didn’t appear to have a problem with her being there. Or her being an Aperto Rotto.

  “Hey, that reminds me, welcome to the family!” His demeanor became even more jovial, if possible. “Sophie called me and filled me in before I got on the plane.”

  There went having another ally in town. But maybe his enthusiasm for her would rub off on the other Paranorms. Then she realized the way he mentioned Sophie’s family was somewhat odd.

  “The family ‘here,’ you said?”

  “Oh, I guess they didn’t have time to get you completely up to speed, given everything that’s been happening. Sophie’s family is the one here in the Midwest. My family is the one out West, and I work for a different member of The Family there.”

  “There are different Paranorm families in the different parts of the states?” she asked.

  “Sure. Different ones in various parts of the US. There are different ones in various parts of the world, too. The Family we all work for in the states is only one of The Families across the globe.”

  Grace’s mind reeled a bit at the revelation. She never considered what the Paranorm world would be like beyond her doorstep. She was close to overwhelmed at finding out about the Paranorms in Sophie and Anthony’s family and about Nicco’s Family. Now she was discovering the world of the supernaturals was much larger than she imagined.

  “You look shocked,” Fuoco said, his voice lowered for only her ears as he reached out to squeeze her arm. “It’ll take some getting used to, now we’ve dropped you like Alice in Wonderland into our world. I’m on Sophie’s and Anthony’s side, your side, in all this. Don’t let the other knuckleheads get you down.”

  Grace fought back tears at Fuoco’s endorsement. It had been a rough couple of weeks for her, getting acclimated to a new world-view. It was a relief that not everyone was against her, or as believing of the stereotypes of the Aperto Rotto.

  “Thank you, Fuoco, I appreciate it.” She gathered herself to address the reason they were all there.

  Before she could begin, Fuoco jumped in himself.

  “We’re all here today to help deal with what happened in this warehouse. Several girls were kidnapped and brought here to be tortured and killed. Our job is to do a thorough investigation of the premises and a cleanup of the mess left by the person who did this. Grace will tell us what went on here in detail, once we get inside. I’ll coordinate with Grace. Everyone got that?”

  All the Paranorms nodded their understanding. Although with the glares some of them threw Grace’s way, it was obvious they didn’t all like her being part of the operation.

  She was grateful Fuoco did not call the girls “Norms,” which would emphasize to the Paranorms they were dealing with people outside their group. They understood the basic scenario, that a Paranorm did this to the girls, but Fuoco focused them on the atrocities of what happened there, rather than the type of people to whom it was done.

  Grace turned to speak to the group. “I’ll go into the building alone at first. A ghost of one the victims was here the last time we came. I don’t want to scare her by bringing in a group of Paranorms unannounced.” Although she figured Sabra, if she was still around, had figured out there was a whole legion of them outside already. “Are there other clairvoyants here?”

  To Grace’s relief, a round of “nos” was the response. Nicco must have decided it was a waste of man power to send another clairvoyant to the site if she would be there. Thank goodness for ‘corporate’ efficiency.

  She reached out for her brother. “Danny, are you inside, yet?”

  “Yes. Sabra already accosted me. She’s pissed that there’s a pack of Paranorms outside the door. I take it the they showed up as requested?”

  “Yes. I talked with their leader. He’s on our side, thank goodness. I can’t say that for the rest of them.”

  “One convert at a time, Gracie,” Danny reminded her. “They’ll need to come around at some point. We’re not going away. I’m sure if you’re your usual charming and witty self, it won’t take them long to change their attitudes.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, kiddo. Would you let Sabra know the Paranorms are here at our request? I’ll be coming inside by myself first to tell her about what’s going on today.”

  “Sure, see you in a sec.”

  Grace turned to give instructions to Fuoco. “Okay, give me five minutes to get the girls’ ghosts updated on what we’re doing here. Then you can come in, and I’ll walk you through what needs to be done.”

  When Grace got inside, she found Danny had gathered the gh
osts to hear what she had to say about the Paranorms and what they were doing there.

  “Is this all of them?” She wondered at the small number of girls relative to the number of mounds of concrete on the floor.

  “All who are left and willing to listen to you. Several of them moved on once the creature was destroyed, and a few refused to listen to anything I said. This is everyone we’ll be able to reach.”

  Grace turned her head to take in each of the fifteen ghosts, ranging in ages from around fourteen to eighteen. Some of them looked small and frightened. A handful, including Sabra, were not happy with the visitors waiting outside in the parking lot.

  “Danny and I were part of a team who destroyed the creature the kidnapper was making from your bodies. He got away and is still out there, ready to harm other girls. Outside, are people who want to help me stop this guy from doing this to anyone else. I would like your permission to allow them in to help me. Would it be okay for them to come in and do their work?”

  “What they gonna do here?” Sabra was the first to ask.

  “They’re going to do a thorough forensic investigation like the police would. Plus, they’ll be using their abilities to get more information about the man who did this to you. They won’t be interacting with you.

  “I’m the only one here who can see and talk to ghosts. Please let them do their jobs without interference. Once they finish, they’ll destroy the evidence. No one else will know what happened here.”

  “Ya mean get rid of all of us, dontcha?” Sabra pointed to the various figures around the room hidden under the concrete.

  “We need to get rid of anything that could expose what happened here to the world. We need to handle this ourselves. One of our own did this, and we have to take care of him ourselves without putting others in danger. My friend Billy was hurt trying to stop this man. I don’t want anyone else to be in danger.”

  “So what? Ya jus’ gonna come in here and erase us, like we neva live?” Sabra asked.