by T. G. Ayer
“Just don’t make a habit of it,” said Ivy, folding her arms and staring at the wraith. It was her home after all.
Kai sighed.
“Even with thirteen, this isn’t going to be easy.”
How’s that for positive thinking?
“Okay, I think we should break up into at least five smaller groups. One to take out the guards at the front gate, the other four to simultaneously dispense with the four sets of perimeter guards.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” agreed Logan.
I wasn’t sure I agreed. From what I’d seen only the front entrance had been top head with guards. Anyone at the side entrances would get in pretty easy.
“So Lily and Anjelo, you two get as close as possible outside the gate and wait for our signal. You can use the long-range rifle and the bow to finish them off. How many were there?”
Cassandra spoke with me. “Two.”
Kai glanced over at us then returned her attention to the younger couple. “Okay, so you guys pick your poison and your target, finish them off, and get over those gates.” They nodded, their faces both so deadly serious I wanted to smile.
“So the other four teams . . . I suggest a jumper with a non-jumper.” Kai studied the map markings that showed three guards on the rooftop. She tapped the little red circles with her fingertip. “Grams, Larsson can jump you and Cassie to the rooftop. You guys eliminate those Wraiths, then leave Grams there to keep a lookout. Larson and Cassie will take the north corner. Mel and Drake east. Illyria and I will take south, and Saleem and Iain west. Logan and Wren, time your entry to occur after the outside guards are eliminated.”
Logan nodded. “A simultaneous entry would be stronger. All outside guards eliminated. We enter together for maximum effect.” Kai nodded. “The warehouse had three floors and the refrigerators are on the ground floor at the east end of the building. First team heads directly for Celeste. Kai, you head to her. Mel and Drake will meet you there. The rest of us will spread around the building. I think we have enough of a surprise factor with the jumpers to allow us to catch them off guard. But just be careful.”
“Yeah, they’re using human ammunition, so be extra careful. I want everyone out alive, please.” Kai’s voice was confident yet I didn’t miss the flash of fear in her eyes.
Nobody disagreed with her.
Drake & I had the east side, thankfully the gargoyle had gotten into the swing of things. We hunkered low, hunching against the morning chill. Things had happened so fast we hadn’t had much time to sit around waiting.
We spent a few moments hiding behind stacks of rain-soaked pallets near the fence, watching the hulking old brick building. A pair of wraith guards watched over the east entrance, but the solid metal door wouldn't keep us out.
We waited patiently for the signal from Logan.
Drake and I were additional bodies on this mission, more or less superfluous unless something goes badly wrong. Kai had deliberately given us the east entrance because she wanted me for astral traveling purposes. Drake's job was to keep guard while I projected inside and gave Kai much needed advice. Problem was, Logan's brilliant idea of the earwigs. Which meant anything I said could be heard by the entire team, including Illyria.
As I traveled, scanning the building from end to end, I kept watch over Kai. When she gave the confirmation that she was entering, I paid closer attention.
Then I was watching as Kai shot down a guard she feared was Wren, Illyria’s wraith-partner. When Logan confirmed all clear, Kai headed for the bank of fridges.
I'd been careful not to reveal to anyone exactly where Celeste Odel was being kept.
When Kai whispered, “Something is off. Everyone stay alert,” I couldn't have agreed more.
“Any specifics?” asked Logan.
“Just that it’s been way too easy," Kai whispered. "Widd’en’s men aren’t stupid or sloppy.”
“Okay, everyone on alert,” Logan said.
I kept alert, watching as Kai and Illyria moved closer to Celeste's prison. They reached the bank of fridges, the path clear with no guards around.
“Mel, which one?” Kai's urgent voice whispered in my ear.
Without a second's hesitation I answered. “Third from the left.”
I kept an eye out as Kai opened the refrigerator door and rushed inside. But I didn't expect the bare bed. Nor did I expect Illyria to attack her. It happened so fast I was unable to return from my astral travels in time to teleport myself there fast enough. I watched in horror as Illyria betrayed Kai, and stabbed her in her side.
Chapter 27
My heart was still hammering when Drake and I arrived home. As much as I’d never expected the betrayal, I was sure Kai would feel worse once her panther genes kick and and she recovers.
But, there was going to be hell to pay.
I was exhausted from the jumps and the shock too. Thankfully, Drake had insisted on driving us to Kai’s place which meant I hadn't had to jump back home.
My only problem, was by the time Drake had driven me to the house my nose had begun to bleed. It was pointless trying to hide it from him as I scrambled to finds some old paper napkins in the glove box and cleaned up my nose.
Drake didn’t say a word.
Even when the text from the hospital came through telling me my client was out of his coma.
The sky had lightened by then. Humans would think that the streets were safer, with the sun shining down on them. As if paranormals prefered to do their worst within the darkness and the shadows.
What did they know?
Drake drove me to the hospital with instructions to call for a ride or to take a taxi. Jumping was off the table, considering I’d need to do it again very soon if Kai needed me.
I obeyed Drake’s every command without complaint.
All he did was give me that dark-eyed gargoyle glare he’d likely perfected at birth
Entering Santiani’s room I saw that he’d been tucked in. All the lights were off again, except for the soft yellow glow of the bedside light and a lone floor lamp behind the twin armchairs.
Nice ambience.
Very homey.
He glanced over at me and I nodded a little unsure how to ask him the sensitive questions. My indecision had to be set aside when the Indian nurse entered and began to take his blood pressure and temperature.
I walked over to the window to give them some space and privacy. I was tired from the night’s activities. Drake had been grumpier than normal and I wondered how much of that was Kai’s fault. Poor Drake.
My eyelids drooped but I forced the tiredness away. My client had sent word, so I’d come immediately.
That’s why I got paid the big bucks.
Snort.
From my spot, I was able to keep an eye on both patient and nurse, and it didn’t take long to recognize the suspicious glances she was giving him.
After completing her tasks she made a record of the details in his chart then left the room giving him one last dark glance before the door closed on her. I remained where I was and slipped through the veil, following her to the nurse’s station outside. She leaned against the counter, glancing again over her shoulder at the closed door.
“Behave yourself, Puja.” The round-face grey-haired nurse at the station shook her head. “You don’t need the patient or his family making a complaint about your behavior.”
“I can’t help it.” She spoke softly, straightened so she faced the nurse at the desk. “He gives me the creeps.”
The other nurse laughed softly. “Just because of his diagnosis?”
Puja lowered her head. “He could be a serial killer or something.”
So she was one of Steph’s kind of serial killer crazies.
“You spend far too much time with your nose in your novels.”
“Yeah. Whatever. I still think there’s something weird about him.”
“I have to disagree.” The other nurse said solemnly. “It’s the daughter I’m more concerned w
ith.”
Footsteps along the hall silenced the two women and I returned to my consciousness to find Santiani watching me, his expression worried. “What’s the matter?” His surly tone rubbed me the wrong way, but I held my tongue especially since the drama he’d had to put up with for the last hour or so.
I sighed and headed to his side. “How are you feeling?”
Half a shrug. “It’s happened three times already today. I’m getting used to it.” I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.
His lids drooped and his eyes closed. Drugs? Probably. I hesitated. Should I leave now and get on with the rest of my investigation? Or stay until I can find out more about why his daughter scares him so much?
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice harsh.
I blinked, off balance now as his eyes were wide, his expression shifting from sleep to rejection.
I leaned forward to place my palm on his forehead. He seemed to need comfort, especially with the look of strain and almost-disgust on his face. I was sure he was dreaming, or at the very least hallucinating.
He snatched his hand away, using his wrist to cut at my hand, catching his wristband on my forearm. The blow vibrated up my elbow and though I was pretty certain that he’d have felt as much pain as I had, he seemed unaffected.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at his face. Dilated pupils told me he was still a little out of it.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Carlo.” I spoke softly, trying to coax him out of this hallucination.
“Don’t speak to me that way.”
I frowned and leaned closer even as he shrank deeper into the pillow. “Stay the hell away from me. This is a hospital. Someone could come in at any minute.”
“Carlo,” I said, now more than spooked.
“Don’t call me that. Daughter’s don’t call their fathers by their first names.” His tone was harsh, but then he laughed, the sound self-deprecating. “But, of course you don’t care about protocol do you. Otherwise I wouldn’t have found you in my bed.”
“Mr Santiani?” I asked again, more urgent now.
He laughed, seeming to no longer hear me. “No just stay away from me. What you did is blasphemy.”
I stood there transfixed, blood rushing through my ears. What the hell was going on here? What had Gina done to spook her father so badly. What had she done that could have been considered as blasphemy. To be honest I was already beginning to draw a picture but I didn’t particularly like what I was seeing.
Then he laughed softly. Self-disgust filling his voice. “What we did was blasphemy. What would your mother think, Gina? What is wrong with you to make me do such a thing?”
Holy fudge-buckets.
Had Gina seduced her father?
It made so much more sense now. His guilt. Her power. She was very likely blackmailing him but I was more concerned in the why than the what. Not that the what wasn’t important.
I had to move a little faster though. Prions disease in itself wasn’t a pleasant experience. From what I knew, the disease wasn’t curable so my client wasn’t going to be around for too much longer.
A year maybe more, depending on how bad his symptoms were.
Which begged the question as to how he ended up with the disease. What contaminated foods did he eat? Could be any number.
Shit.
What the hell was happening here?
What the hell kind of case did I end up landing?
Not that I always wanted the easy search-find-return-to-client kind of job, but this shit was all kinds of messed up.
What was the word for daughters seducing their fathers? Elektra complex or something.
That led me to my next question.
Was she in love with her father? And if so, what did the seduction have to do with the death of her mother? To me it seemed directly correlated. Everything the two cops had told me was making so much more sense.
The seductive and manipulate behavior with the older cop now made perfect sense. Did the kid prefer older men? She certainly hadn’t come on to the younger cop in the same way.
And the old cop had been terrified too.
I focused on the man’s face, taking a shallow breath as I looked past the Veil to what the astral plane showed me about Carlo Santiani. Usually I didn’t delve this far into my client’s lives. Not only because of the energy it took to access the Divide but because it was a revelation of the essence of the person, a window into their soul and I’d always considered it a very personal and powerful experience. Having only done it a few dozen times in the last couple of years, it still left me feeling both awed and a little tainted.
The Divide is a narrow chasm that sits just beyond the Veil in a space between the Greylands and the ether. It’s where the essence of the spirit lives. Here in the Divide nothing else exists except that one person. All around them, smoky lines of color told a story about the life and times of that person. Along with experience, the aura also revealed their inner motivations, their truest deepest nature, and if they harbored darkness within. The Aura doesn’t tell me anything tangible either. It is left up to interpretation, but a little experience with reading the spirit Aura went a long way.
Right now, I could tell that the man was guilt-ridden. And completely innocent. Despite his cool aloof nature, I could see clear trails of pinks and reds, both colors indicating the heart, and love.
Shadows, grey blues and blacks indicated anger, lies, and worse, evil. The darker it is the worse the person is, or the worse they have been. The problem with the Aura, is even those who have been rehabilitated cannot escape the mark of the darkness on their essence.
Which made it all the more difficult to rifle through the darkness to find the good. But in Santiani’s case, although flecked with darker grey here and there, for the most part the man seemed to be good. He was a little too good to be true, but I had to accept that what the cops from the Glades precinct had said had been true. Despite his shadows, which could be attributed to being a ruthless businessman, I could tell he’d never done anything wrong or anything illegal or criminal or cruel.
The Aura worked in such a way as to reveal both what the person knows is bad and what they don’t recognize as bad. The ever-present universal measure of good and bad was a strong indicator in the Divide. And Carlo Santini’s aura confirmed his essential honesty.
His aura has also confirmed his innocence.
I blinked, sucking in a harsh breath as I relaxed against the back of the chair. Being in the divide was hell on a girl’s lungs. It felt as if I hadn’t taken a breath in hours. I forced my body to relax, to stop the panic from taking over. Mages, as much as we were no longer just human, had to contend with the form of mere humanity. And unlike some mage’s, I didn’t possess special powers which would serve to protect me.
I’d taken a risk going into the Divide without ensuring I was properly protected.
When Drake hears about this he was going to lose his shit.
Chapter 28
And I’d thought Illyria’s betrayal of Kai was bad.
I thought about the craziness as I showered and gave my hair a good shampoo. I felt somewhat unclean after Kai’s injury and Santiani’s revelation. My mind remained on Kai and how she was recovering. I got a breakfast of toast, coffee and soft scrambled eggs, then texted Logan for an update. His response came no more than a minute later.
Still unconscious.
Prognosis is good. It’s a shifter thing.
Relieved, but certain I was too wired for sleep, I pottered around the house, enjoying the silence, and deciding the furniture needed polishing. I sprayed and rubbed wood to a gleaming shine while my mind buzzed.
My mind insisted on returning to Gina. Gina’s alleged seduction of her own father was way worse than Illyria’s betrayal of Kailin. I was still hoping Santiani was hallucinating the whole thing. Still, something didn’t sit right. Could Gina’s surveillance of the family at the mall mean she was scouting out a new older ma
n to seduce? But why a man with a family? Why not a single guy?
Did she have a thing for family men?
And was this something she did often; teenage serial seduction?
At least the wraith’s betrayal would be easier for Kai to stomach - even with the stab wound - than Santiani would Gina’s actions. I couldn't even fathom what the man was going through. The expression of self-loathing on his face had been enough to bring tears to my eyes and magnify my desire to smack some sense into the girl.
Santiani’s implication of Gina’s behaviour had made me wonder if there was a connection between the dead families and Gina, but I shook my head. It was just too far-fetched. I had to admit I’d seen a lot of shit in my lifetime but I was finding it hard to drop this kind of crazy at the feet of a fifteen year old girl. No matter how much of a rich-bitch she was.
Besides, even if I did like Gina for cannibalistic murder - just because she liked cooking and that somehow could be connected to her father’s disease - I needed more information to make the case to myself before I even said such crazy nonsense out loud to anyone else. There was enough insanity in the world right now without me adding to it.
I knew two people who would help with information.
The first on my list was Captain Murdoch, the human in charge of the CPD. His mage wife Chloe and I went way back. To be honest, so did Captain Murdoch and I. He’d had my back ever since Chloe, a sensitive who worked as a therapist and did consultations for the CPD, had taken me under wing.
I’d go to her at the odd time when I was super stressed and couldn't handle the pressure of what I deal with when cases go bad.
Chloe’s gentle touch filled with magical energy was enough to calm even the most hysterical person down. Which is probably why her husband called her in one day, a very long time ago, when a little girl had been brought into the station, the only survivor of a family killing.
If it hadn’t been for Chloe, her kind words, her calming touch, her mothering, I’m sure I would have lost my mind that night.