I walked down Tulane Avenue and did okay until I hit the main street. After crossing over Loyola Avenue, the road became Common Street. It was about the time I hit Rampart that I really started to sweat. I was tired, my feet hurt, and I realized…I should have taken the cab. Either I'd really forgotten what it was like in the New Orleans heat or the added weight of this surprise baby was more than I could handle. And that thought just ticked off a world of questions in my head. What was with this baby growing so fast? Was it because it was part Dragon? Was it me? Was it my lack of magic? If I still had magic, would it have grown so fast? What was going on?
And why would anyone in Parliament want me to terminate it? What the hell? I mean, this was a child, right? It might have fangs and talons and scales when it comes out—and that thought just didn't help, let me tell yah—but it was still a child. It was my child. And it was Crwys's child. Who did these assholes think they were, suggesting I abort anything?
And why even have that thought? Were they afraid of it? Was it possible that it wouldn't be any better off than Lethe's offspring? And if so…what kind of child would I be bringing into the world?
It wasn't until all these thoughts sort of faded away that I took a good look at where I was and realized…
I had no idea where I was. I walked back to the end of the street—or limped ‘cause ohmygoddess my feet. I was on Rampart. I'd meant to keep going on Common till I hit Bourbon. Walking down Bourbon would have given me some small amount of safety. But I was…what was that street name? Geez my head was a bit foggy. My lips felt dry and I was thirsty. Very, very thirsty. Like I'd been when I woke up in Arden's office.
A gentleman in a nice suit rounded a corner and I could finally make out the sign above me. Conti Street. I was at Rampart and Conti. Okay, so…if I kept going down Conti I should hit Bourbon and all would be well. That is, after I ducked into a bar and got a bottle of water. I wanted a beer, but…not while pregnant.
Crap.
The man continued walking toward me. He was older and appeared to be walking with purpose, looking at the ground, and talking on a cell phone.
That's when I noticed a buzzing sound. I stopped my hobbling and realized it was my phone. I pulled it out and it was buzzing like it was ringing, but there wasn't an incoming call. It was just vibrating that buzz. Then it made the whistle noise, like I had a text. I moved to the text app and looked. Nothing. The last text I had was from Crwys and it was two days old. Then the phone made the buzzing noise again, just before something hit me against the side of my head.
I went down, both from the force of the blow and because I was completely caught off guard. My ears were ringing and I had my hand up just in case there was another blow. I didn't have my guns with me—they were in a lock box in my room in my apartment. I figured, why carry them if they were spelled with magic and I couldn't use magic, right? When another blow didn't come immediately, I looked up. Luckily, a magnolia tree blocked out the sun and I could see my attacker.
It was the guy with the cell phone, only he was holding it out like a weapon and he was looking at me with the weirdest expression. It was like, he'd hit me and now he was shocked he had. And he was talking…sort of.
"…didn't do that…need to listen…couldn't strike a woman…there is danger…can't be happening…friendly face…am I crazy…don't trust…please don't press charges…"
I stared up at him and waited for him to finish his little talk with himself before I said, "Look…if you want my purse…"
"No!" he screamed.
"Hey! What're you doing?"
The man spun around at the new voice, and I could see someone coming down the road, running with a backpack. The man turned back to me, then took off back the way he came. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and put my hand on my stomach. Everything felt fine, except my head.
"Hey, are you okay—well, I'll be damned."
I smelled something wonderful before I turned at the voice. It was a familiar scent, a cologne I hadn't smelled in a long time. I knew the voice. I recognized it. With a gaping jaw, I stared up into the beautiful face of Robin Tremere.
FIVE
Crwys topped off his coffee with a three-inch-high crown of canned whipped cream. He noticed Bastien's arched brow and set the can on the counter. "What? You got something against cream?"
The Werewolf pursed his lips, tilted the side of his mouth sideways, and left the kitchen.
Damn wolf. Picking up his mug, Crwys joined the group in the living room of what had once been the home of Ina Devonshire. Samantha's mother's best friend, later possessed by a Demon and made into a Leviathan who raised Samantha. Later, Ina revealed herself, or himself, as Dionysus, one of the greater of the Leviathans and the one who sent Elizabeth Hawthorne to the realm of Alfheim, where she lived as a wolf under the command of the Faerie Queen, Medbh. Thinking about all of that intensified Crwys's headache, so he just decided to think of the house as Kyle and Jack's now, since they bought it from him and Sam three months ago.
The couple had gutted a good bit of it and made it their own. The garden in the back had been turned into a combination herb sanctuary and ritual space, not much different than its use before. Only minus the dead bodies. Lots of things had happened in that backyard, including Elizabeth's death and the birth of Crwys and Sam's god puppy, Regine.
Er…wolf.
The back room behind the kitchen was still an herb room, and it sort of creeped him out with all the plants hanging and drying. There were also interesting, if not odd, paintings scattered throughout the house. Crwys could see the magic sparkling around them—he just didn't know what they were for.
After calling Kyle and letting him in on what was discovered at the Tree of Life, Kyle decided to have a meeting at his place to put everyone on the same page. They'd been meaning to have this meeting for some time, just to bring everyone up to speed on Soloman's whereabouts and what Tas found out within the Dragon's Eye.
The group consisted of himself, Levi, Jack, Kyle, Bastien, and Tas. Tas had just returned from her excursion and looked exhausted. Bastien had pretty much catered to everything she needed, including a nice shoulder rub as she sat in a chair and he stood behind her. It was obvious the two of them were infatuated with one another, but Crwys had to wonder if Bastien's feelings for Tas were as real as they'd been for Sam—or had his feelings for Sam been shallow? Given the wolf risked his pack and his Alpha status to keep up with Sam while she tracked Lethe down for killing her mother, Crwys was pretty confident the wolf cared for his wife.
Which…didn't really sit well with him, when he thought about it.
Crwys stood in the corner, close to Bastien and Tas. It gave him a nice view of everyone and he could enjoy his whipped cream coffee in private. He checked his phone and saw he'd missed a call from Sam. Since she didn't leave a message, and he couldn't sense any tension from her, he assumed she was okay.
He wondered why the Witch’s Parliament wanted to see her earlier, and he worried about that since she hadn't told them she was no longer a Witch. Cosgrove and his council didn't strike Crwys as being the forgiving sort, especially when they weren't being kept informed of just about everything. But since he hadn't sensed anything else from her, he assumed it had all worked out. And since Kyle hadn't said anything—and Sam told him everything—all should be well.
But there was someone missing. "Where's Ivan?"
Kyle moved from his chair and stood facing everyone. "I'm not sure. He didn't answer my page. Neither did Dharma."
"And you're not worried?"
Kyle pursed his lips. "Ivan and I haven't really spoken much in the past few months. Not since Sam—"
And there it was. It hung in the air between them all. The hole Sam's condition had put between the three of them. It seemed as long as Sam was powerful and had her magic, they were fine. But now that she was magicless…everyone forgot she was still Sam.
Look at us, came Ashur's voice. We have cut her out as well.
He and Levi took turns telling the others about the bodies and about Quan, Nadeen's son from Atlanta. None of them knew he was in town either. Though Kyle mentioned he had heard there was a new potential Storm Warden in town, but Crwys wasn't sure Quan was it. He hadn't exuded power the way his mother had. Though he did have that aura of power.
Kyle waited until they were finished before he rolled a whiteboard in from a side room. He took up a black marker and pointed at Crwys. "Do you know when you'll have the photos from the scene?"
"No." Crwys wished he would have taken a few shots on his phone, but he was also happy he hadn't. The last thing he wanted to do was have something like that on his phone and Sam see it.
Kyle wrote on the board. "This killer keeps making his victims look like Samedi. Yet, the accoutrements on the altar, according to Quan, aren't pertinent to any ritual that includes Baron Samedi, and this person uses items which are more connected to Wicca and Ceremonial."
"Yes," Levi said. "As if he or she were reading or getting a lot of different types of information and piecing them together on their own."
With a slow nod, Kyle said, "That's pretty much the way most solitary practitioners operate."
"That's great and all," Crwys said. "But what's the hang up with Samedi? What does he do? And why the whole skeleton and the top hat?"
"Baron Samedi is part of the Ghede family of Loa," Kyle said, crossing his arms over his chest. "The look with the top hat and sometimes coat and tails, the dark glasses, is all part of the dressing of the dead, Haitian style. The Baron doesn't exactly have the best of reputations. He's known for debauchery, obscenity, and loves tobacco and rum. He's the Loa of Resurrection."
"What does that mean? He can bring people back from the dead?" Crwys looked and felt skeptical.
"Well…" Kyle made a face. "Samedi can accept anyone into the world of the dead, so he's called on a lot for healing those about to enter that realm. If you can get the Baron to refuse you entrance to the realm of the dead, then it's sort of perceived that you won't die."
"Isn't that a zombie?" Levi piped up. "The not dying part?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much."
"But he can't bring back the dead, no?" Bastien asked.
Kyle glanced at Bastien. Crwys looked at him and then back to Kyle. "It's possible, I guess, if you can make a deal with Baron Samedi. And if you can’t get through to Samedi, you can always take your case to Papa Ghede.” He pursed his lips. “If you can get him to let someone go, then you could bring someone back. But there's always the worry of exactly what it is he'd give you."
"Oui." Bastien nodded. "Is because the soul is not prepared to return?"
"More like…" Kyle wiggled his fingers in the air. "He might not grab the right soul. And if the soul is released—where is it going to go? The body's returned to the Earth."
"Possession?" Tas said.
Crwys put his cup on a nearby table. "So, are we thinking whoever is doing this might be using Baron Samedi's visage to bring someone back?"
"We don't know," Kyle said. "And I won't know till I can see the altars. You said there were bits and pieces of other faiths. I need to see them, then maybe I can give you a better picture of where this sicko's head is."
"Quan's promised to have those to me by the end of the day. Soon as I get them—" Crwys's phone buzzed at that moment and he pulled it from his pocket. He didn't recognize the number. "Holliard."
"Is this Detective Holliard?" the speaker was male and had an unfamiliar accent.
"Yeah. And you are?"
"I am Brave. I have found something I believe you are missing."
"Oh?" Crwys looked at Levi. "What am I missing?"
"A crazy man by the name of Solomon?"
"Where are you?" Crwys instantly said and looked at Tas. Someone found Solomon.
She nodded to him, but didn't answer him.
Brave gave him an address and Crwys knew it was an address off of Chef Menteur Highway. "I'll be right there. Can you keep him with you?"
"Oh, he insists he needs to talk to you. And someone named Artemis."
"Okay. I'll be right there." He hung up and motioned for Tas and Levi. "We have to go. Someone found Solomon."
Kyle motioned for them to get out the door. "Just send me the pictures when you get them."
"I will." The three of them piled into Crwys's Mustang after Tas gave Bastien a rather intense kiss. Once on the road, Tas and Levi started asking questions and Crwys filled them in on what he knew.
"And he wants to talk to you…and me," Tas said.
"Apparently," Crwys said as he checked his phone. He had a few missed calls from Sam, so he returned her call and got her voice mail. He left a brief message, letting her know he was with Levi and Tas and they were on their way to find Solomon. After he was done, he set the phone into the car's console.
"How is Samantha?" Tas asked.
"She's fine."
"You sure?"
He looked at Tas's reflection in the mirror. "Well yeah. Why wouldn't she be?"
"Because she just experienced a remarkable and extraordinary change in her life. It's only been a few months."
"You make it sound like Sam's some kind of fragile little woman, and she's not. She's tough. She can get through this." He kept glancing at Tas in the rearview mirror and didn't like the look on her face. "What?"
"Why wasn't she included in that meeting today?"
"Because she's not a Witch anymore?"
"Maybe not, but she's still full of knowledge, Apollo. She has a lifetime of experiences with these sorts of things. She may not be able to manipulate magic anymore, or have her Elementals, but she still has all her memories."
Crwys didn't like the tone in Tas's voice. He felt he was being scolded for something. But he didn't argue, he just remembered the look on Sam's face that morning and wondered if he hadn't been a little too eager to leave her behind. Why? Because he feared for her life? Tas was right that she had a wealth of knowledge of magic. "Okay. I'll…I'll share this with her when I get home tonight."
Tas didn't say anything else, just looked out the window as Crwys followed his internal GPS to the address the voice of Brave had given him.
SIX
Seeing Robin there…standing over me with his hand outstretched—
That wasn't something I was prepared for. I believed I'd been dreadful to him when I looked back on how things went and that made me feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. I'd ill prepared him for what magic was with me. Or what to expect. Then the trauma he'd endured seeing his niece kill his sister, then thinking he'd killed Kathy, only to have her alive again later…
Yeah. I never believed I'd done right by Robin. Even after he'd brought Kathy to me and she'd given me that warning. Because she was a Seer.
I hadn't even bothered to say hello or contact him or Kathy after everything that happened. At that moment, I couldn't even remember if they were invited to my wedding. And I was usually pretty good at that kind of thing.
"Sam?"
He was still standing above me, holding out his hand to me. And there I was, sitting on the ground. I slipped my hand into his and I was amazed at how warm it was. And soft. He helped me stand, not exactly pulling me up by his own strength, but lending me the leverage to do it myself. But that was always him…kind and thoughtful.
"It's good to see you, Robin." Wow…did my voice just crack?
He was looking at me…or rather…he was looking at my stomach. I felt my face grow warm and put my hand protectively over my child. "Surprise?"
"That is…" He smiled, but it just wasn't reaching his face. "I mean…how far along are you?"
So…what did I tell him? The truth? That as of that morning I was two months, m
aybe? And now I was… I looked down at myself. I really had no idea how far along this was supposed to be. I'd never given birth before. Never even been pregnant. The fact this baby was half Dragon just really pissed in the face of all the rules. "I'm not really sure."
He winced. "You got married, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Uhh…did I invite you?"
"I work at the hospital." He pointed back to Tulane Medical Center, totally ignoring my question. "So I hear things. I mean, Miss Vervain is there a lot."
Oh. Yeah. "I got married six months ago."
He still looked a little confused. "You look like you're about four months along."
I had guessed more than that. It felt like more than that, though I had no real guidelines to compare to. And no one to really ask. A twinge made me grab my back. I wanted to go home. I wanted to lay on my bed and or my couch and watch mindless TV.
I also wanted popcorn. And wine. But I knew with a baby, wine wasn't a possibility.
Grape juice?
Cold grape juice with lots of ice. I actually mapped out in my head what store I could go by on the way there to buy grape juice.
"Where's your Jeep?" Robin asked.
"It's parked at my shop." I held up my hand. "Ivan's at the hospital. I rode over with Arden and then decided I could walk home."
"Uh…in this heat and pregnant?" He chuckled and offered me his hand. "Come on, let's get back to the main road."
I leaned more on Robin than I meant to, but I had rivers of sweat pouring down my face, my back and between my boobs, and I was sure my dress was sticking to me. Once we were back to the highway, he actually flagged down a taxi and rode with me to my street. There he paid the driver and I stepped up to the door and pressed it, nearly slamming my face into it, expecting it to open. Stepping back, I pushed at it again and then tried the knob. It was locked up tight.
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