Gathering Black (Devilborn Book 2)

by Jen Rasmussen

  “I was, actually,” said Dalton. “I was overruled.”

  “I never heard that,” Cooper said. “In fact, I’ve never heard of you being overruled on anything.”

  Dalton chuckled. “It happens on occasion. I accepted it at the time. But now I’m forced to reconsider. We’re facing a number of crises, I’m afraid.”

  “Such as?” Cooper asked.

  “For one, Arabella was telling the truth, about the Wicks trying to develop a way to plant a forest with only two seeds. Compass opposites, as far as I can discover—either North and South, or East and West.”

  “Do you think they’ll succeed?” I asked.

  “Maybe. Eventually,” Dalton said. “Naturally, we can’t take that chance. With the South Seed already in their hands, I need to give the North the best protection possible.” He leaned toward Cooper and knocked his hand against the table. “The question is, are you and this young woman, and your enchanted hotel, that best protection?”

  “We certainly think we are,” Cooper said.

  Dalton nodded. “Of course you do. But I need you to prove it.”

  “How?” Cooper and I both asked the question at the same time.

  Dalton sat back in his chair and smiled. “If you can acquire the East Seed, and put it safely beside the West in that vault of yours, then I will gladly put the North alongside them.”

  Dalton, being the head of clan intelligence and all, knew exactly who had the East Seed: one Alex Blackwood, last known to be residing in Central New York. At least it wasn’t halfway across the country.

  “And why exactly are you asking me to go retrieve a seed from its rightful carrier?” Cooper asked.

  “He’s been ordered to come in, and turn it over to a new carrier,” said Dalton.

  Cooper raised an eyebrow. “That seems to be going around lately.”

  “Yes, well. Like you, he’s refused. It would be nice to think that also like you, he’s refusing from a sense of duty, because he thinks he knows best how to protect the seed.”

  “Nice to think,” I said. “But not realistic?”

  Dalton sighed. “His behavior is… suspicious, to say the least.”

  “Another thing that seems to be going around among Blackwoods,” I muttered, although not so softly that I couldn’t be heard.

  Cooper shot me a look. I wasn’t sure whether it was because he disagreed with me, or because he just wanted me to be more diplomatic. If it was the latter, I had to admit he had a point. Mired in potential traps and betrayals or not, I was a Southern girl, and I knew better than to be rude. I’d been too off-kilter since I’d walked into that house.

  I started to apologize, but Dalton waved it away. “There’s no need. I’ve just acknowledged that I’m not prepared to trust you yet. I expect no different from you. We’re strangers being forced to work together on something that has grave consequences for all of us if we fail. That’s a trying situation for anyone, much less someone who’s road-weary and recovering from a gunshot.”

  “It’s kind of you to make excuses for me,” I said with a smile. “So why don’t you tell us about Alex and his suspicious behavior?”

  “Brace yourselves for a story straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy,” said Dalton. “It seems Alex is having an affair. With a Wick.”

  Cooper laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “So I thought too, at first. But he refused to answer questions about the rumor. He was also reluctant to check in, not reporting on his whereabouts, acting strangely all around. When we finally ordered him to come in, he cut off contact completely.” Dalton spread his hands, as if asking us what he was supposed to think.

  “There’s got to be another explanation,” Cooper said.

  “I’d be delighted to hear it,” said Dalton.

  But it seemed Cooper was unable to produce one. After a few seconds he asked, “And the seed? You think he’s given it to them?”

  “I hope he’s at least loyal enough that it hasn’t come to that yet,” said Dalton. “If it hasn’t, I’d like you two to make sure that it doesn’t. They’re young, not unlike yourselves. It could be that they believe they’re in love, and want only to escape both their clans and be together. Maybe Alex is afraid of repercussions, if he comes in. But he might be willing to turn over the seed to you.”

  “Why us?” asked Cooper. “This is a pretty serious matter to use to test us.”

  “You’re uniquely qualified for the job,” Dalton said. “You and Alex are in a similar situation, rebels against the clan, outside its protection now. You might be able to win his trust. My greatest hope is that you can resolve this without violence. And then there’s the matter of what happens to the seed itself. Would either of you like another drink? Anything else to eat?”

  When we declined, Dalton went to the refrigerator for another bottle of stout—his third—and poured it carefully into his tilted glass. “I’m giving you a chance to override the clan’s decision. When you get the East Seed, you can take it directly back to your sanctuary.” He gave me a pointed look. “You’ll notice I’m not asking you to bring it to me.”

  “And if we get the East, you’ll give us the North, too,” Cooper said.

  “I will,” agreed Dalton. “And then you’ll have all the seeds that are within Blackwood control. Your sanctuary plan will be in effect, whether the rest of the clan agrees with it or not.”

  “Why would you go against all of them like this?” I asked.

  “Consider my position,” said Dalton. “I’m facing danger and instability from every direction, suddenly. The carrier of the East may be a traitor. The carrier of the West has defied the clan, as well. The South is lost to us. And the Wicks are growing in power. There seem to be leaks in our intelligence. They’re finding things out, things they should have no way of knowing. You yourself have noticed that, Cooper?”

  Cooper nodded, and so did I. I knew that very thing had been troubling him ever since Kestrel Wick had found him in Lenox.

  “These are dangerous times, even for people as accustomed to danger as we are,” said Dalton. “Yet despite my support, your plan to defend the seeds was voted down by a surprisingly wide margin.” He sighed and shook his head. “It’s entirely possible that it was just Blackwood stubbornness, and their fondness for keeping to how we’ve always done things. But under the circumstances, I can’t help but wonder if there were other influences at work.”

  “You think someone was sabotaging my proposal, to keep the seeds vulnerable?” Cooper asked. “Alex?”

  I stayed quiet, resisting the temptation to throw Cooper’s words back at him.

  There is nothing whatsoever that would ever drive a Blackwood to join forces with a Wick… Nothing… Not ever.

  But it seemed there was a double agent inside the Blackwood clan, after all. The question was, was it really Alex, or did Dalton merely want us to think it was?

  “I don’t know.” Dalton held up a finger for emphasis. “And that is saying something. It’s my business to know things. But I haven’t been able to unravel all of this. And until I can, keeping the seeds somewhere safe—even from the Blackwoods—becomes a better idea every day.”

  Except, of course, the seeds wouldn’t be safe from the Blackwoods. Not in the hotel.

  None but Verity or a Blackwood could touch them, or enter the vault where they were kept.

  How I wished I could go back and rewrite those words. I’d worked that magic for the Blackwoods as much as for anyone. I never imagined that they would become my enemies, too. Or at least, that some of them would. And I had no idea how I was supposed to figure out which ones.

  Cooper glanced at me, his face inscrutable, then turned back to Dalton. “You’ve given us a lot to think about.”

  “And talk about, I’m sure,” agreed Dalton, standing up to show us out. “Why don’t you come back for dinner tomorrow and give me your answer then? I believe Arabella may be here. I know she’d like to see you, Cooper. She’s missed you.” />
  When Cooper and I were alone in the car, the first thing I asked was, “How could Arabella have missed you, exactly?” No doubt it wasn’t the most pressing topic I could have picked, but I wanted to get it out of the way. “It’s not like you Blackwoods hang out.”

  “We do when we’re kids,” Cooper said. “We have a sort of school. Or I guess it’s more like camp, except it’s not always during summer. It’s at irregular intervals, for irregular lengths of time, and always in a different place. But it’s where they teach us everything. The history, our duties. Fighting, and all the skills we need to fly under the radar.”

  “Where to find people like Dr. Claus?”

  Cooper laughed. “Exactly. How to be Blackwoods.”

  “So you and Arabella saw each other at this camp.”

  “Right. We were close, as teenagers.”

  I glared at him, and he gave me his best smile.

  “I like that you’re jealous. But not that kind of close.”

  “She didn’t mention that you were close, when I asked if she knew you.”

  Cooper shrugged at that. “She’s a Blackwood. We don’t volunteer a lot of information, you know that.”

  “She also emphasized that you couldn’t marry me.”

  Woops. Balls.

  I’d only meant to suggest that she might have a thing for him, but I regretted the words the second they left my mouth. What did it matter? I didn’t want to marry Cooper. I wasn’t even sure yet how I felt about him living in my room. And judging by the panicked look on his face, he didn’t want to marry me, either.

  “I’m just saying,” I hastened to add, “that she seemed a little possessive of you.”

  Cooper made a noncommittal noise, and drove on in silence.

  We planned on going all the way down to Rhode Island to stay the night. I texted Lance from my latest disposable phone, to confirm that things at the hotel were fine. His response came within seconds:

  Call when you can.

  I called right away. (And why not? I’d effectively killed all conversation with Cooper for the moment.)

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Lance said. “The vault hasn’t been accessed.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  This better not be about uniforms or Jamie starting to date that maid…

  “Asher Glass,” said Lance.

  I sighed. Asher was a local police officer, and a high school enemy (and crush) of mine. He was also Marjory Smith’s nephew. Now that the sanctuary spell prevented the Garden Club from doing us any real harm, Asher delighted in harassing the Mount Phearson in petty ways, causing trouble over permits and other imagined violations, many of which were not even his jurisdiction. Sometimes he would come to the hotel in his police cruiser, lights flashing, and stride with pretend solemnity through the lobby, just to give the guests the impression of a possible disturbance or threat.

  “What’s he done now?” I asked.

  “He came in here with his wife and a man I didn’t recognize. They stood in the lobby and they…” Lance cleared his throat, which meant that whatever they’d done had looked magical enough for him to have trouble getting the words out. He was a believer in the supernatural now—he had no choice, with all he’d witnessed at the hotel—but that didn’t mean he liked it.

  “They what?” I prompted.

  “They chanted.”

  “What, like a spell?”

  “I guess,” said Lance. “But it sounded more like a… prayer.”

  “A what?” I couldn’t help but laugh at the image. Asher and Jessica Glass weren’t really the pious type.

  “The man they had with them was shaking water out of a little, what do you call those things? Like you do with holy water.”

  “Like the silver ball on a stick, that thing?”

  Cooper was shooting me questioning looks now, but I just shook my head and shrugged while I listened to Lance’s answer.

  “Right. But the guy wasn’t dressed like a priest or anything.”

  I stared out the window, thoroughly confused, then finally laughed again. “Well, that’s a new one.”

  “It doesn’t worry you?” Lance asked.

  It did worry me, but that didn’t mean I wanted it to worry Lance. “No. He can’t do any real harm there, you know that. I would guess it’s just his latest way of trying to freak out the guests. Make them think they’re blessing the place, like it’s haunted or there’s demon activity or something.”

  “Well, it worked,” said Lance. “I got quite a few questions.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you did. Still, we can’t be too cautious right now. Maybe add a third security guard to each shift.”

  “I don’t love how having so many of them around looks to the guests. One makes them feel safe. Three makes them feel like they’re in a bad neighborhood.”

  “So have them dress like civilians, if you want. And you’re changing the vault combination every day?”

  “First thing every morning,” Lance confirmed. “And I got this thing that will set off an alarm on my phone if anybody opens the door. Had Agatha do it to test it, and it works.”

  “Okay, well, keep me posted.”

  “One other thing,” Lance said. “I take it you never called Phineas back?”

  Balls.

  One thing and then another had driven my cousin from my mind. But it seemed his wife Lydia had been calling for me.

  “I’ll call her as soon as I hang up with you,” I said, and did.

  “Fucksake, Verity, I was worried sick when I heard what you were up to,” Lydia said by way of greeting.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I’m fine. Although I could use your opinion on something.” I told her about Asher’s antics at the hotel.

  “Maybe they think you invoked your father’s spirit to work the sanctuary, and now they’re trying to cleanse it to break the spell?” Lydia guessed.

  My heart sank. “You don’t think they could know about the soul magic, do you? Maybe they were trying to exorcise me from the place.”

  “I doubt it,” said Lydia. “The last sanctuary spell hung around for centuries without anyone figuring that out. But keep your guard up, obviously. Maybe have Wendy and Granny put some protective stuff around. In the meanwhile, there was a reason Phineas wanted to get in touch with you. He had to go home. His mom’s been sick.”

  “I hope it’s not serious?”

  “Nothing life-threatening, but it’s bad enough he wants to be with her. I’m going to join him on Halloween. We wanted to invite you to come along and meet the family, but I suppose that’s out of the question now.”

  I realized I didn’t even know what month we were in, and glanced at the date and time on the rental car’s dashboard. October third.

  “I’m not really in a position to make plans,” I said, with genuine regret. As a half-phantasm, I had no idea whether I’d inherited the ability to move between planes. To be on the safe side, Phineas and I had decided that my first visit to his world—my father’s world—would be on Halloween, when the veil was thin, and it was safe for humans to travel. I’d been looking forward to learning something about that side of my family that didn’t involve twisted murders and personal hells. “I’ll call if things settle down by then, though.”

  “Good enough,” said Lydia. “And listen, we might not be back until Thanksgiving or Christmas—you know how brutal that time difference is—so if you need us while we’re gone, call Martha. She’ll know how to get a message to us.”

  “I will,” I said.

  “Yeah, except I want you to mean that when you say it.”

  “I will,” I repeated, with slightly more conviction. But I knew I would never drag Phineas from his mother’s bedside in another world to help me.

  I said my goodbyes and hung up, then filled Cooper in on both my calls.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “For making you miss the trip.”

  “It’s not your fault. I comm
itted to this cause of yours pretty fully when I worked that sanctuary spell.”

  He squeezed my hand. “Who knows, maybe you can still go. Maybe we’ll have this resolved by then. Maybe we’ll have three seeds in the vault.”

  “That’s a lot of maybes.”

  Cooper sighed. “Story of my life.”

  We stopped at a hotel just outside of Providence. The room was dingy and smelled so strongly of disinfectant that it felt like protesting too much. I missed my own hotel, the smell of wood smoke and lavender, the sounds of the guests, the constant opening and closing of doors. That feeling of being safe in my own suite, yet never alone. Waking up knowing I was only a short walk from the best almond croissants in existence. Even the spiders my friend Max Underwood occasionally sent to check on me.

  Maybe I’m not soulsick.

  Maybe I’m just homesick.

  That’s a lot of maybes.

  Cooper interrupted my reverie, plopping down beside me at the foot of the bed to pull off his shoes. “So, what did you think of Dalton?”

  “He’s keeping things from us,” I said.

  “Of course he is. He’s even more secretive than your average Blackwood.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “It does. But it doesn’t necessarily mean the things he is telling us are lies. It just means he’s only giving us what we need to know to get the job done.”

  “Or what we need to think.”

  “What does it matter, as long as he tells us where the East Seed is? Alex can tell us his own side of the story, if he wants. I’m not just going to attack him. But this is as good a lead on that seed as any. I see no reason not to follow it.”

  “Do you know Alex?” I asked. “From that camp of yours?”

  “A little. I don’t remember him well. He was shy.” Cooper frowned. “And scrawny. Not the type I’d expect to become a carrier.”

  “What about the type to rebel? Or become a double agent for the other side?”

  “Seems unlikely to me, but to tell you the truth, I can’t see any of us doing that. Yet it seems someone has. I guess he’s as good a suspect as anyone. And who knows? Love makes people do crazy things.” He pulled me into his arms. “Shall I show you?”