by Anya Breton
Oh no. Aiden was trying to wiggle his way into our investigation party now too. My head shook far too rapidly. "No more people on this. It's just going to be me and..."
"It isn't negotiable." Aiden used my phrase against me.
I glared at him. "I thought you weren't supposed to..."
Aiden made a gesture for silence with a meaningful look leveled at the Alpha. I let my eyebrows drift upward but clamped my mouth shut.
"Is there any additional information you need out of her?" Aiden asked with a flick of his finger aimed at Michelle.
After a moment of thought I came up with an answer. "If she saw anyone other than the guy in the tracksuit, the Rhinos, Chet or the Fire witch that brought her in."
Aiden gave a small nod before crossing the room to stand in front of the glassy-eyed woman. He took her forearms in his hands, lowered his head to meet her gaze and then spoke in that soft voice. "Michelle, I need to know if you can remember any other people besides the girl from yoga."
The girl rattled off the descriptions of every prisoner that had been taken, each Rhino that had visited, Tracksuit and Chet. She'd described all of the individuals I'd already seen. We needed to get that Fire witch.
"What memory should I give her to explain this?" Aiden was looking at me but the question really should have been given to Michael.
I darted a glance to the mailman but the wolf surprised me by keeping silent. That meant I had to come up with something. "Um, maybe she was camping with her brother?" I glanced at Michael again to make sure that was okay. He frowned but nodded anyway.
"You've been camping with your brother for the past week, Michelle. It was a spur of the moment affair. You both enjoyed yourself but now you need to rest for a few days. You'll awaken in the car in a half hour, remembering nothing of this place, these people, or me. Do you understand, Michelle?"
"Yes," she replied sluggishly.
If I'd needed proof of Aiden's inhumanity, I was just given it in spades. What he could do to people was wrong. No one ought to be able to have the ability to overwrite memories. Worse was how he'd chosen to use it originally.
Did each of those five women believe they'd spent a hot week in Cancun with him? Would he take the opportunity to follow up with them or would he leave them believing their hedonistic getaway partner had blown them off after he'd gotten what he'd wanted? I wasn't sure which would upset me more.
"Don't ever come near my sister again," Michael said in an icy voice as he guided Michelle to the lobby door.
Aiden didn't bother to acknowledge him. His attention was once again focused on me. He inhaled intentionally through his well-formed nose though he didn't need the air to survive. His usually lush lips were thin. I didn't need to see the darkened silver eyes to know he wasn't happy.
I turned away from him to fix the Alpha with my own frown. "Things might get..." my voice stalled as I tried to think of an appropriate way to word this, "weird tomorrow with Morrígan. I need to know that you aren't going to try anything heroic."
Dominick started to say, "I'm not gonna let anyone get hurt..."
My hand waved at him impatiently. "You're not coming unless you give me your word on this."
"Fine," he snapped. "I won't try anythin' heroic. But what about him?" The Alpha jabbed a finger at Aiden. "He gets to play Mr. Hero?"
"No," I shook my head. "No one plays hero tomorrow."
"I won't give my word on that," Aiden informed me imperiously.
"Yes, you will," I argued. "Or I'll have to invite the Alpha over to my place tomorrow afternoon to discuss how we can go about keeping you from doing something stupid."
I saw Aiden's jaw tighten. For once I'd gotten a predictable response out of him. I'd also proved that he didn't like the idea of me being alone with the Alpha. I wasn't sure how to take that.
"Very well then," the vampire responded stiffly. "No one plays hero."
Satisfied for now, I started for the lobby door to see them out. The guys followed me without protest. Neither seemed to want to leave first. Another baring of vampire teeth cowed the Alpha enough that he walked out with a grunt.
Aiden turned back as if he wanted to begin a brand new discussion. My chin lifted to the left, my arms folded in front of my chest and my gaze hardened. It was my closed-off pose and I hoped the meaning carried off without my having to actually tell him to get lost.
He stared at me for a silent moment then spoke with a breathy parting phrase and a slight flourish, "Until tomorrow, Miss Denham."
I hadn't needed more proof that tomorrow was going to suck but there it was.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Absolutely ridiculous was what I felt clad in the silly leather strap cat suit getup. I'd hidden it beneath my black raincoat to avoid undue embarrassment from the neighbors' reactions. Once again my hair was styled up high, my feet were three inches off the ground within my platform boots and I'd even put make-up on in the form of dark kohl eyeliner around my hazel green eyes and a smoky shadow above. The only thing missing was the slutty red lipstick and that was wedged in between my car's passenger seat cushions.
Aiden Bruce and the Alpha werewolf stood beside their respective vehicles in the parking lot behind my brownstone when I pulled in. We'd agreed to meet and drive together. Dominick had arrived in a Jeep. It was the kind with the mud proudly stuck all over the sides. He even had the naked lady mud flaps on the back. I was understandably disgusted.
Like the owner, Aiden's ride was sleek and expensive. The silver Audi R8 almost eclipsed his handsome presence. But the fact that his face was the same two nights in a row caught my attention and kept it. He'd maintained the same strong jaw with the delicious dimple in the center of his chin. That same nose that begged to be touched bisected his handsome face. And those ghostly gray luscious lips just demanded to be kissed. Even the long chestnut hair remained from when I'd seen him last.
I had to physically force my attention to the visor mirror with a hand on my own chin. My thoughts were on what he'd been wearing as I applied the lipstick. It was a business casual outfit again, a soft black sweater that wouldn't and a pair of charcoal pants. Aiden had apparently taken my complaints to heart. I didn't know if I should feel flattered or worried.
After my lipstick was set I got out of the car with the black coat wrapped tightly around me. Aiden's eyebrow lifted at me in question. I ignored it as well as the intrigued expression on the Alpha's face.
Dominick opened his mouth to comment, "That's a different look..."
I interrupted the wolf sharply, "Who's driving?"
"My car can only comfortably fit two," Aiden said with a frown aimed at the wolf.
"I can fit four," Dominick said. But I had no doubt the back would smell like dead animal or stinky gym socks.
The vampire gave the Jeep a once over and apparently pronounced it as lacking because his attention immediately moved to my car and then to me. "Your car can seat us all comfortably. Will you be kind enough to drive us, Miss Denham?"
"I'm not cleaning up the back seat," I said in answer on my way back to my English racing green colored Mini Cooper. I liked my car. It was small and relatively easy to parallel park. Those were musts in downtown Boston.
They both went for the passenger side. I wasn't interested in there being a fight for who got to sit up front with me so I found a coin in my pocket. "Heads the Alpha sits up front first, tails Mr. Bruce does." A quick flip of the quarter onto the back of my hand merited a view of the iconic profile of President Washington. "It's heads."
"So what's with the hair?" The Alpha said upon sliding into the seat next to me. "Not that I don't like it."
I pointedly ignored him long after I'd completed the left turn out of the driveway, a little too aware of Aiden behind him. I could even smell that sweet smell of his over the Alpha's cologne.
"And the red lipstick? You weren't wearing anythin' that hot when you were pickin' Michael up at the bar." He shot a sidelong glance at me that was skeptical, "Unless you went hom
e to change after you saw me."
He thought my go-go hair, red lips and black raincoat were hot? He was in for a surprise when I took off the coat.
Dominick turned abruptly enough in the seat toward me that he threw the car slightly off balance. His pitch lifted a hair. "I'm gettin' the silent treatment now?"
"I don't want to talk about my appearance," I told him stiffly. "In fact, I don't really want to talk at all. So unless its critical that you tell me something prior to our meeting, please just hold all the comments until after." And I knew there would be a ton of those.
"You'll need to get on the interstate here," Aiden said from the back seat. Apparently he thought I needed directions. Well, I'd let him play navigator if it made him feel useful.
It was a good thing that he had because he'd guided me through the worst of the city's slow downs with the ease of a cab driver. We arrived at Morrígan's stronghold, an impressive stone building on the outskirts near Salem, twenty minutes later. I turned the key, pulled it out of the ignition and immediately felt like throwing up.
The vampire's velvety voice spoke up in an instant. "What is wrong?"
I glanced back at Aiden in confusion. "What?"
"Your pulse skyrocketed the moment we pulled in here," he stated while his eyes scanned my face for the answer I wasn't giving.
"It's nothing," I replied as soon as I'd faced forward again. How I wished that were the truth.
I'd reached for the door handle when the Alpha grabbed my arm. "You're lyin'. What's wrong?"
They were really starting to piss me off. "I told you I didn't want to talk until this was over. Now let go."
"Let her go," Aiden parroted from the back seat when the Alpha didn't immediately release my arm.
The wolf twisted in the seat again, this time to snap a defensive question at the vampire. "You wanna go in there with her freaked and lyin' about it?"
"I trust Miss Denham's judgment implicitly," Aiden replied just before he slipped out of the car.
"'Implicitly'," Dominick snapped mockingly while he did as well, "You sound like a fucking stuck up Brit."
"There is a very good reason for that."
Their fighting gave me something benign to concentrate on. And it was enough to get me out of the car. I yanked the coat off before I could come to my senses and just go home.
"Jesus Christ," the wolf exclaimed close on my heels as I stalked toward the stronghold. "What the hell?"
I ignored him because if I stopped now, I would never go through with this. We needed information and Morrígan might have it.
Two men clad in leather trousers flanked the doors. They bowed their heads at me as I neared. I inclined my head in greeting without stopping.
Of the people we passed on our way into the inner sanctum the two up front were the most dressed. I thanked gods the outfit I wore covered everything important. Hell, it covered everything. Every inch of skin from my neck to my feet was coated in leather with the exception of my hands.
I stopped outside the hall that held the sanctum's entrance. Any closer than this and there would be no turning back. What was I thinking coming here?
"Whoa. What?" Dominick exclaimed upon nearly bowling me over thanks to my abrupt gesture. "Why did you stop?"
I shook my head without answering. I couldn't look at either of them. Not now. My heart was pounding too wildly within my chest to be able to speak.
Someone crowded behind me. A half second later Aiden's voice and chilly breath slid into my ear, "We can go. We don't have to do this."
It was surprisingly calming to hear him and to know he was with me. I allowed myself four-seconds to revel in that calm before I recalled that I couldn't, wouldn't, let Aiden get to me like that.
And then I remembered where I was.
"No. She knows I'm here," I said in a shaky whisper.
"Miss Denham, what...?"
"Hold your questions until later," I reminded him with my index finger lifted vertically.
The order helped me get my game face on. I was Laura Denham, a Diakonos and the entity they'd labeled the Black Death. I could do this. I swept around the corner to stop in front of Morrígan's personal guard who awaited us at the sanctum's entrance.
He bowed to me from the waist and remained folded for two full seconds before he stood again. "Her holiness has been expecting you," his relatively ordinary voice informed me.
Oh, I'll just bet she had been.
He opened the door in an achingly slow gesture when all I'd wanted to do was rip the bandage from the wound. "Go on in."
I took one long steadying breath that was painfully ragged. Then I walked forward with as much grace as I could manage and hoped I didn't fall on my face. My own guard of sorts trailed behind me into the chamber.
Morrígan was a fan of drama and her sanctum reflected it. The interior was crafted of dark heavy stone as rough to the touch as it was to look at. In contrast, her soft gray granite floor was polished to a high sheen that begged to be caressed. As the high priestess over the Fire witch covens in the Northeast, she preferred candle and torchlight to modern electricity. Medieval sconces had been fit into each of her twelve stone support columns and a heavy iron torch hung from them. On either side of the wide room stood a grand fireplace with a roaring fire. Yet still it was too chilly for the witches that were littered about in ridiculous black leather hot pants and tiny bikinis.
But I'd already seen all this. My eyes were fixed in trepidation on the high priestess herself. Morrígan stood to the right of her dais, speaking with a lovely blond in a bikini. The priestess's own outfit was a sharp contrast to the rest of those gathered. She wore a gauzy cream gown that pooled at her feet in a delicate drapery of folds. Her pale skin wasn't darkened any by the lightness of the fabric covering her. If anything it sharpened how pearlescent her skin was. The one trait she shared with her brethren was the corset made of cream-colored leather cinching her waist.
Her glorious black hair was a mass of soft waves that fell to her waist. She knew it was one of her best features and almost always accentuated it with the barest of hints. Tonight it was a cream ribbon tied as a headband.
She turned toward us with an almost alien grace that continued as she walked to the center of the dais. The Alpha sucked in a quick breath of air. I glanced at him to find his eyes focused far below the priestess's face. He no doubt noticed the features her corset had lifted. I didn't know how he could focus on those when it was the exotic fusion of features and those eyes that ensnared a person.
When I turned back I felt the full weight of her gaze on me. The priestess had the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen on a person. They practically glowed in the firelight. Perhaps they truly did glow.
My stomach did a flip that I desperately tried to ignore. It helped that she'd stopped on the second stair, feet in front of us.
"Ms. Denham," she purred in a contralto voice that was the perfect mix of roughness and silk. I could easily imagine her taking center stage in a grand old opera house to belt out a heartrending lament.
I nodded my head at her politely. "Priestess."
"I see you've worn my gift."
"You gave me little choice," I reminded her. But I made the mistake of looking up in time to see her gaze run up and down the length of me.
She made a sound of contemplation at that. "It is even better than I had imagined it would be."
Discussion of the leather outfit she'd given me was not why I'd come here. I quickly changed the subject with a gesture behind me. "Allow me to introduce..."
Morrígan interrupted me as if I'd said nothing. "And the choice of shoes, I must say, I approve."
Determined to get us off this path I said, "I believe you already know..."
Again I was interrupted. "Now that you've worn your gift, I can give you the pieces you are missing." She started down the stairs past me, the warm smell of heather and sunlit glades floating to my nose. "Come, Ms. Denham, they are in my study. You may come along as
well, senator and Alpha."
I opened my mouth to argue that we weren't here for gifts but decided against it when I saw the pleased smile that had spread across her lips. She needed to be in a good mood if I was going to get information out of her. But the question was, was the information worth more gifts like this ridiculous costume?
Morrígan held an arm out to me once she'd neared. I let her set my hand atop her forearm and tried to ignore the unnatural heat of her skin. At the sanctum's entrance her personal guard fell into step behind her, cutting me off from my companions. I thought perhaps they'd done it on purpose.
"I trust you've been busy," Morrígan said lightly.
"Yes, very busy." It was a partial lie. This week I'd been busy but before that things had been status quo.
"You will be playing in the Chamber Tea." Most people would have added "won't you?" or worded it like a question. Morrígan didn't do questions. It was a particularly strange quirk of hers.
"Yes," I admitted. This was what I disliked most, small talk that spilled over into my mundane life.
"Good," she smiled and patted my arm.
As we took the first corner I felt a strange sensation low in my body. It was a vibration in the most inconvenient of places that started softly but quickly grew until I damn near toppled over with a sharp gasp. I leaned against the nearest wall. My cheeks had flushed pink and my temperature had risen enough that I no longer noticed the cool stone walls pressing in toward us.
"Miss Denham!" Aiden shoved Morrígan's guard out of the way to get to me. "Are you well?"
"I'm...fine," I said while catching my breath and attempting a weak smile for him now that the sensation had ceased.
The sharp creases on either side of his nose and narrowed eyes seemed to be evidence that he didn't believe me. But we didn't have time to get into an argument now. I let him use his grip on my elbow to help me upright.
"Better," Morrígan said with a flutter of her dusty lashes and her arm held out, an invitation for me to join her.
I stepped forward with a half nod and took her arm again. We resumed our walk to her study exactly as we'd begun it.