"Who is that?"
"No one knows. He's not on staff. But he changed the prescription, and Arden's pretty sure she's going to find out it was a placebo. Which means someone wanted you to get pregnant."
I moved a bit, careful of my sensitive skin. "Hey, it wasn't me. I didn't know this would happen. You never told me about an egg!"
Crwys said, "Tas and I should have said something. It's just…we didn't think about it with Lethe and her children. She was a Dragon, so all she had to do was dilute the Dragon's Fury and she'd revert to her Drachen form to have the eggs. You can't do that."
"No. I'm just a human." I looked at myself. "When is Tas going to remove the egg?"
"She's getting the room ready now. Arden's got a whole operating space decked out downstairs. I really didn't know how often she takes care of her own people. It's something to be admired, I guess." He shifted. "So how did you get to the doctor's office this morning?"
"Oh. Robin took me."
Crwys visibly bristled. "Robin Tremere? Your old boyfriend?"
"Yeah." I figured I owed him an explanation as well, so I told him about leaving the hospital and getting attacked, and Robin being the one that found me. But Crwys seemed more concerned about the attacker and what he said.
I tried to remember everything he said. Luckily, I have a really good memory, despite having pregnancy hormones racing through my body.
"…didn't do that…need to listen…couldn't strike a woman…there is danger…can't be happening…friendly face," I paused, closed my eyes, and concentrated. "…am I crazy…don't trust…please don't press charges..."
When I opened my eyes, Crwys was looking at me funny. "That sounds like two separate conversations."
"It does. I thought that too."
"Pick out every other phrase. Like this—" and Crwys the Dragon Detective went on to impress me even more than he already had. "Need to listen. There is danger. Friendly Face. Don't trust." He pursed his lips. "It almost sounds like Solomon and what he was saying while we were in that Brigadoon place."
I made a face and then opened my mouth. Then closed it. Then, "Brigadoon place?"
"Yeah. I got a call about Solomon from a guy named Brave. Gave me an address and Levi, Tas and I went there. Only it vanished when Solomon disappeared. You know, like Brigadoon does every hundred years? I thought you'd get the reference."
"Yeah…I know about that movie. I'm just shocked that you do." I grinned at him. "So who is Brave?"
"A Houngan. I told Kyle and the only one he thought of was Brave Ghede."
Now I wasn't smiling. "Wait, isn't Brave Ghede one of the guardians of the graveyard?"
"That's what Kyle said. But that's who I spoke to. He's kin to Baron Samedi."
"They're in the same family," I said, remembering what little Voodoo lore I knew. "Brave's like some ghost or aspect of the first man who died violently. Papa Ghede was the first man to die period." I didn't understand the connection with what was happening. Why the whole Voodoo thing? "So Solomon talked like my attacker?"
"Yeah, he said he wasn't going to let him kill her. Just like Ivan's message. Pronouns. No names. So when you talked about what Solomon said to me and Tas…"
"You made the connection. Or whatever connection there is. Did you find Solomon?"
"Not yet. Levi is out there. I wanted to stay with you."
I put my hand on his cheek. "He's out there by himself?"
"Kyle's helping, and Jack and Bastien. The Aces are looking, with strict orders not to kill or maim. We'll see how that goes. But for now, I need to find Tas and get this operation going. The longer that egg is left to grow inside of you, the worse—"
I didn't hear the rest of what he said cause another one of those painful cramps started. I grabbed him because it hurt like a mother fucker. This one was worse than the cramps before. I doubled over and I could hear him yelling. I hoped it wasn't at me ‘cause it suddenly felt as if I'd wet the bed. I heard more voices as I drowned behind a wall of pain and felt Crwys slipping away from me.
Crwys
He watched in helplessness as Arden's girls surrounded Sam as she lay writhing on the bed. Tas ran past him and then motioned for someone to lead him out of the room. He refused and his sister turned to him. "As long as she senses your connection, she's not going to let go. I need her asleep before I can work, Apollo. Go."
Crwys eventually let himself be led from the room. He moved through the hall to the stairs and sat on the top stair, listening to the women talk until everything was quiet. That's when he realized Arden was at the bottom of the steps, staring up at him. He looked back at the closed door, then stood and slowly walked down to her. "She's not gonna make it, is she?"
"She should be fine." Arden got a far-off look in her eyes.
"You can talk to them. With your mind. The way you talked to me and Tas."
"Sometimes I can talk to you, and Ashur. It takes a lot of will to get through. My coven officers have a spirit bond with me, so we have a link. It's a lot like Bastien's pack link. Though not as strong emotionally. It works. Right now, she's hemorrhaging. Don't look like that and don't you dare bolt back in there. The egg is in her uterus and it's breaking those walls. That's what's causing the bleeding. But Tas can't operate on her till they stop that bleeding. They're going to take her downstairs in just bit, once she’s stable." She bit her lower lip. "Crwys, you have to know, and you'll have to tell Sam after this is over, that she won't be able to have children anymore. This egg's going to destroy that part of her. We can do wonders with magic and healing…but we can't rebuild a uterus."
He lowered his head. He didn't want her to see his eyes as they burned.
Finally, Arden spoke, "You get anything new from Sam?"
"Just that Solomon took her to the Dragon's Eye. I still don't know how he got in like that. They were in Lethe's rooms."
"Tas told me. But he didn't hurt her?"
"No." He sat down on a stair, making his eyes even with Arden's. "Sam was pretty sure he was convinced he was protecting her. Kept saying he couldn't hurt her there. He couldn't kill her there."
"You think there's truth to that? About the Dragon's Eye being safe for Sam?"
"Arden…" He felt a bit of his fire return as he thought about that damned place. "You saw what it did to Solomon when he discovered, by mistake, that the place existed. He was convinced that was Olympus. And no matter what I said, he wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. He became so obsessed with getting back in that somehow, he did. We still don't know how that happened. And he shouldn't have. Now he's actually taken another human being to the Eye."
Arden stared at him. "But Sam didn't go insane."
"No—" he stopped. "She didn't."
"So what was the difference? What was it that happened to Solomon? He sounds like he has moments of lucidity. That he's trying to communicate, but it's not working right."
"I don't know. Solomon said someone was trapped in the wires, but spiders prevented him from saving him."
"That could mean Ivan."
He snorted. "Why is everyone stretching this to fit facts? Ivan's a Cyber Witch. Solomon's a Conjurer. How in the hell could he even attempt to know where Ivan was in the wires? Or that he's in the wires?"
"That's just it, Crwys. He did know. But we didn't tell him. You didn't. I didn't. We didn't know. Is it so out of the realm of possibility that Ivan contacted Solomon? Told Solomon where to look?"
Crwys stood. "You think Ivan would contact a crazy person to be rescued?"
"Why not? If I were trapped, I’d be yelling at any fool who walked by. But I think we can't look at this situation rationally, shugah. And you have got to calm down. I can feel the heat radiating from you standing this far back."
"I am not going to calm down." Crwys started back up the steps, then stopped. "She said…Solomon said that the Baron was scrambled. That he had to wait for the pieces to be brought together."
"The Baron? Baron Samedi?" Arden ran her fingers through her dark hair.
She then put her hand on her chin. "You'd think I'd know more about this shit, being the Queen of New Orleans."
"Witch Queen," Crwys said. "There is a difference. There's also something else—" And he told her about the community, and about Brave Ghede. "I know he's like, or is, the first man who died violently. But Papa Ghede seems to be the focus of this person's attention. This…drive, or whatever, to resurrect someone. Is it possible to talk to Samedi or Papa Ghede the way I talked to Brave?"
"What exactly did Brave say?"
"Well, he seemed very curious about what happened to Solomon. Claimed him seeing the Dragon's Eye was the same as seeing Bondye."
"God?" Arden shook her head. "Not even close. But I think I see his reasoning. After all, there was a time when you people were worshiped as Gods."
Crwys winced at that comment as he thought back over their conversation. Rolling his memories back to that night—Brave had said something that alarmed Crwys. He'd even asked repeatedly what he meant and Brave never answered. He snapped his fingers. "Brave said something that made it sound like Baron Samedi was missing."
"Missing? How can a Loa be missing?"
"That's just what I got out of it. He said something like…Baron Samedi wouldn't approve of the killings and he wouldn't be tempted if he were still in his world. And when I asked Brave about it, all he said was that I should ask the guy with numbers. "
"Guy with numbers?" Arden said. "An accountant?"
“I have no idea.”
The door to Sam's room opened and Crwys turned. Two of the coven members who'd come inside carried red-stained sheets in their hands as they approached. "Mistress," one of them said. She glanced warily at Crwys.
"This is her husband, Mirriam."
Crwys searched her eyes. "Is Sam all right?"
"I'm not the doctor, but she did tell me to relay to the Mistress that Miss Holliard shouldn't be moved right now. We've stopped the bleeding and she's been given a sedative that shouldn't affect the…"
"Baby," Crwys swallowed. "It's still a child. My child."
Realizing this was actually the Dragon who created the egg seemed to make Mirriam even more nervous. She dropped the sheets and he bent down to pick them up, then stepped back. Crwys looked back at Arden. "If they can't move her, they can't get her into the operating room."
"Crwys, don't you worry about it. Okay? We're going to take good care of Samantha. I promised her mother I'd look after her, and with you, Tas and Levi, Kyle and Ivan…" She made a face. "She's in good hands. Now, why don't you go get a shower and be ready for her—"
His phone rang. He knew from the ring it was Levi. And he knew Levi wouldn't call him right now unless it was important. He moved away from the stairs, the bloody sheets, and the nervous little Witch. "What is it?"
"I take it from your tone Sam's not in good shape?"
"No. The egg's making her hemorrhage. What is it?" When Levi hesitated, Crwys made a rude noise. "Just tell me."
"We…well, the hospital staff found Solomon."
"What?" He looked at Arden and saw she was watching him from the stairs. The two young Witches were gone, as were the sheets. "He showed back up at the hospital?"
"Yeah…in the morgue."
Crwys didn't like the sound of Levi's voice. "What…what is he doing in the morgue?"
"You've got to come see for yourself. He's still in there. We've got the exits surrounded."
"Levi, I can’t leave Sam—"
“Apollo,” the dual-toned voice of Ashur came through the phone, through Levi’s vocal chords. “Sam is in good hands. Arden won’t let anything happen to her. But if there is some link between Solomon and her, between what’s going on with these deaths, then we have to find it.”
Crwys looked at Arden, but he really wasn’t seeing her. He didn’t answer for a few seconds, but he knew Ashur would wait. Then, “I’ll be right there.” He disconnected and shoved the phone in his back pocket. "Solomon's at the morgue. Levi wants me there."
“Sam’ll be all right, Crwys. We’ll take care of her. You have to get Solomon. Find out what’s happening.”
“I just…”
Arden came toward him as she removed something from her neck. She held out a silver chain with a pendant. A pentagram. "Wear this."
"I'm not a Witch."
"No, but it's a symbol of protection. Something you said…something that Solomon said. The pictures of the altar…just keep this around your neck."
There was a look in Arden's eye that bothered him enough that he took the pentagram and actually fastened it around his neck. He put the symbol under his shirt and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Please…keep my wife safe. Don't let her leave me."
"I won't, Crwys. But I have to know…if there comes a choice…"
He stared down at her, his eyes intense. "I would choose my wife." And with that, he headed out the door.
THIRTEEN
There were at least a dozen New Orleans Police Department black-and-whites surrounding the hospital when Crwys arrived. He parked the Mustang on the road, flashed his badge, and ran in the side door. One of the uniformed officers led him down two flights of stairs and into another crowd of men in white coats, men and women in suits, and a bunch of officers. Most of them were lined up against one side of the hallway, facing the other side.
He spotted Levi standing beside Quan. Levi broke away from the onlookers and motioned to him. Apollo, I've never seen anything like this. Not in all the centuries of my existence.
That was a bold statement to make. Ashur was a Demon and had lived countless lives through his human hosts. Crwys was pretty sure the old Demon had seen plenty of surprising things.
"No, not this," Levi said as he stopped and motioned Crwys forward.
The wall they were facing was a large window. He recognized it, having had to use it before. It was a viewing glass where morgue attendants rolled in bodies for family and friends to make identifications. Usually, it remained closed with blinds. The window was even with the ceiling and ended somewhere around the middle of Crwys's thighs.
One look through the open window and he swore. Loudly. No one seemed to notice. Or care. They were too engrossed in the performance on the other side.
The blinds were rolled all the way up, and the glass itself had been sprayed with something white, and red. Crwys assumed the red was blood, but he wasn't prepared for the hand prints all along the edges of the glass. It was as if someone had made a frame of red hands.
Solomon wore hospital scrubs. They were stained, over every inch he could see, in red. Some places were so red it looked purple. His face had smears of it along his cheeks and into his beard. Even his long hair was dipped in it.
The room had four gurneys in it, each of them with a body. But not just any body—the four bodies from the murders. All of them stripped of their sheets, naked, all lined up. The latest one from that very day was where the blood had come from. The body hadn't been processed and was still full of fluid. Namely, blood.
On a table next to the window were organs. Several of them. Some with blood and some bloodless. They'd been arranged in a cross form, and as Crwys watched, Solomon removed the heart from the newest victim, kissed it, and placed at the center of the cross.
Solomon smiled when he beheld his handiwork and gestured to the crowd watching him. "You see? You see? All the parts are here! Now I can put him back together again." His voice was muffled through the glass, but they could hear him.
Then Solomon spotted Quan and he nearly lunged at the glass, splattering his hands against the smooth surface. "You took her! You put her in danger! Two, two, to beam up!"
Everyone blinked and looked at Quan. Crwys looked from Solomon, back to the detective and moved to him. “You okay?”
“No,” Quan said, a bit breathless. “I heard my mother talking about this, all my life. But I never really…believed her.”
Crwys squeezed Quan’s shoulder before he made his way to the window and stood in the cent
er, inches from the glass. "Solomon, can you hear me?"
Solomon’s eyes refocused on Crwys. "You took her!"
"She needed medical attention. Now, you're going to do as I say so you can get medical attention too." This was his fault. All his fault, for not releasing Solomon that night when he'd tried to contact Tas through the Dragon's Eye. It all started from that one moment of weakness. This is all my fault. This man has lost his mind.
Solomon lowered his hands from the glass, kept his eyes locked with Crwys's, and then pushed his hands into the organs on the table. His body started vibrating, shaking as if he were freezing. His eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth came open as he made a terrible moan.
"Someone get in there and get that man in a straitjacket!" one of the guys in a white coat said.
Quan ran up to the glass and put his hand on it. “No…”
"Wait," Crwys said and pointed at the officers. "Don't go in."
"He's got it barricaded," one of them said.
"Just…" He looked back at Solomon. "Wait." He didn't know how, or why, but he felt as he if were starting to understand something, but it was vague and hazy and his mind just couldn't quite wrap around it.
That's when Solomon's head came back down and he focused on Crwys, only Solomon's eyes were white. White like a dead man's. His skin was pale and he was sweating profusely.
And then he spoke, and the voice was no longer muffled, but loud and clear.
"You tink you know what is going on, but you dunt. You have control of de living, but I control de dead. He tink he can put me aside and command Baron Samedi." Solomon's voice wasn't his. It was deep and his words were crisp. "But a Loa is power, Little Dragon."
Crwys blinked and took a step back. That's when he realized everyone was still, frozen. They were staring, but they weren't seeing. Even Levi.
Quan had moved back from the window, his eyes wide. Crwys glanced at him. He looked terrified. He couldn’t even imagine what the man was going through, seeing firsthand what his mother might have had to deal with during her reign as Storm Warden. Maybe it was better he was frozen now.
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