by Skye Knizley
Raven gave him a look. “Paco, you’re going to be in trouble if you don’t spill it. What else do you know?”
Paco stubbed out his smoke and put it in an old lozenge tin. “Okay, look. I had a mad crush on Dom, okay? It hurt when she dissed me for some dude in a suit. I came by to see her and was waiting in her room when you showed up. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea, that I was doing some stalker shit, you know? Love Machine don’t stalk.”
Raven smirked and cocked her head. “Except you were doing some stalker shit, Paco. Breaking and entering is still illegal. How did you get into the room?”
Paco pulled a keycard out of his pocket. “I lifted this when the dude in the suit left.”
Raven took the card between two fingers. “The guy in the suit, he was here? What was he doing?”
“I don’t know, I can’t see through walls, yo! I saw him in the lobby and did a little sleight of hand. I didn’t hurt nobody,” Paco said.
“This guy in the suit, what did he look like? Did you take anything else?”
“He was just some dude. White dude, good looking if you like suits. Real Wall Street, you know? Shined loafers and everything.”
Raven nodded. You couldn’t walk through downtown without running into a dozen men who fit that description. “Not helpful. What else did you take?”
Paco looked sheepish. “Nothin’.”
“Paco!”
Raven laced the name with as much menace as she could muster.
“All right! Damn, woman! You ain’t gotta use the vamp on me.”
Paco reached into his jacket and pulled out a brown man’s wallet. “I lifted this too. The ID is fake, but the picture is him.”
Raven opened the wallet and looked at the license. Paco was right, it was a fake and a pretty good one, but the texture was wrong. You could feel the bump where the photo was overlaid instead of printed.
The picture was of a middle-aged man, handsome with a slight hook to his nose. His dark hair looked natural, but the blue eyes didn’t. Raven suspected he’d been wearing contacts when the photo was taken. And the name was a dead giveaway.
“Paine Esposito. Yeah, that’s a real name,” Raven muttered.
Paco shrugged. “Some could say that about Raven Storm−”
Raven shut him up with a glare. He held his hands up in surrender and leaned against the opposite wall. “So what next, vamp-chick? You arresting me?”
Raven took the cash out of the wallet and handed it to Paco with one of her business cards. “I don’t do petty theft anymore, Paco. Consider yourself a CI on retainer. If you think of anything or see this Paine guy, you call me.”
Paco stuffed the cash into his jeans pocket. “Deal. You’re good people, vamp-chick.”
He turned away and started down the stairs, then stopped. “What happened to Domino? She’s dead, isn’t she?”
“I’m sorry, Paco, someone killed her in an ugly way. Her next of kin is probably being notified−”
Paco cut her off. “Dom didn’t have any, she was a Foster, like me. One of the ones nobody wanted.”
He turned and came back up the stairs. “Can you let me know when the…body is ready? I’d like to take responsibility for her, see she’s taken care of.”
Raven softened. “Yeah, I promise, Paco. If you need help with arrangements, ask. My family will help.”
“You’re good people, vamp-chick,” Paco said again. “Seriously.”
He turned away and hurried down the steps. Raven watched him and had dark thoughts. It was easy to forget that the life lost wasn’t the only victim, until you saw another up close. In spite of his strange way of talking, made-up slang and sticky fingers, Paco was one of the good guys and it hurt to see the pain in his eyes.
Raven shook the emotions off and started back up the stairs, not relishing having to explain this to the back-up she’d requested.
She reached the roof and looked over the edge between this building and Elysium. More than a dozen squad cars sat on the street, lights flashing, surrounded by armed police.
Raven sank onto the roof with her back to them. “Marvelous.”
CHAPTER THREE
343 Wolf Point, Chicago, IL
It took over an hour to fill out the paperwork required for all the backup that had arrived on scene. Levac was no help at all, he thought the whole thing was funny, as did most of the cops who responded. The only other person as annoyed as Raven was Lieutenant Mauser, the new head of Chicago Homicide. He called the evening’s activity a ‘frivolous waste of manpower’ and had assured Raven that he would be contacting Agent King.
Raven wasn’t looking forward to King’s sarcasm, either. The whole “call for backup” thing had just slipped out. It was procedure, procedure she’d ignored most of her career. She had no idea why she’d blurted it out this time.
It was almost midnight when she stepped out of the elevator and entered the apartment she called home. To her surprise, the lights were all still on and music was playing on the stereo. As she entered and closed the door behind her, Aspen appeared from the bedroom dressed in form-fitting leather pants with a matching bustier and boots. A bag of Faerie dust hung from a chain belt low on her hips and she was wearing a slim collar around her neck.
“Hurry up, we’re running late! I left clothes for you on the bed,” Aspen said, closing the hoop earring she’d been fighting with.
Raven was puzzled. “Late? For what?”
Aspen looked exasperated. “Didn’t you get my texts?”
Raven pulled out her broken phone and held it up. “It didn’t enjoy a twenty foot fall, what’s going on?”
“We’re needed at Court, Dominique called about an hour ago,” Aspen said.
“Swell.”
Raven dressed as quick as she could, donning an outfit almost identical to Aspen’s save it included a jacket that concealed her Automag beneath her left armpit. She ran a brush through her hair, spritzed some perfume and joined Aspen in the living room.
Aspen grabbed her own jacket, a pink and purple plaid long-coat she’d had since Raven had first met her, and Raven followed her to the door.
In the elevator, Raven turned to Aspen. “I’m sorry, honey.”
Aspen smiled and moved closer. “It’s okay, Raven. I know about the job and I know how much it and I mean to you, we will figure this out. For now, let’s see what your mom wants, Dominique sounded concerned.”
Raven ejected her pistol’s magazine and replaced it with one guaranteed to kill just about anything preternatural. “Dominique almost always sounds worried, I’m sure its fine.”
*
Raven guided the Shelby down the Tempeste Manor driveway less than twenty minutes later. She didn’t have to see inside the house to know that things were very wrong. The lights in the house were out and there were guards outside the front door where usually there was nothing but a welcome mat and a vase of fresh flowers, a touch from Dominique.
“What the hell?” Raven muttered.
Aspen’s eyes were glowing blue. “I feel magik, lover. Powerful and dark.”
“Fabulous.”
Raven left the car in the middle of the driveway and hurried up to the guards. One she didn’t recognize, the other was a vampire named Sophia. Both were dressed in tactical gear and armed with modified AK-74’s loaded with, Raven assumed, Thad’s specials.
“Sit-Rep, Sophia,” Raven barked.
“Fürstin, we suffered a magikal attack one hour and fourteen minutes ago. Electrical power is down and Lady Tempeste has taken ill,” Sophia said.
“Ill? Where is she?”
“She was taken to her room by Thaddeus and Mistress Dominique. Lady Pandora is in command,” the other said.
“Swell. On my orders, get three more of the royal guard out here and send someone to fire up the generators,” Raven
said, brushing past.
“Generators, ma’am?”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Yes, generators. They’re beneath the garage, enough juice for a hospital.”
Raven saw the looks of confusion and snatched a radio off Sasha’s tactical vest. “This is Raven, everyone sound off.”
The radio came alive as vampires, familiars and humans reported in. Most Raven recognized but some, like Olivia, Sasha’s partner, were new. When they were finished, Raven continued.
“Igor, check the generators, I want electrical power or a damn good reason why it isn’t up and running. Michael, Jeremiah and Madison, gear up I want you walking the driveway.”
“Ravenel, what are you doing?”
That was Pandora, she’d been acting as Mother’s protector and second in command while Raven was away. But Raven was back now.
“My job,” she said.
Raven handed the radio back and hurried through the foyer and great hall toward the stairs. Aspen trailed behind, her eyes still glowing.
“Can you tell what kind of magik they used?” Raven asked.
“Dark. Some of the darkest I’ve felt in a while. By the feel, I would guess a dark coven, maybe as many as ten witches,” Aspen replied.
Raven started up the stairs. “What was it?”
“The magikal equivalent of an electromagnetic pulse. Someone wanted the electricity and electric devices shut down.”
There was another guard outside Valentina’s room on the first floor landing. He made to stop Raven, and she grabbed him by the throat without thinking. “I’m Raven, you’re new. Let go of the weapon or we’ll be replacing you by dawn.”
The young vampire lowered his hands and Raven let him go. “You’re dismissed.”
“But Lady Pandora said−”
Raven arched an eyebrow. “I am Fürstin, responding to my mother’s call. Go away.”
She pushed through the door and stepped into Valentina’s room. She hadn’t been here since she was a girl, and it had changed a lot. The king-sized four-poster bed was the same, as were the white satin sheets and most of the tapestries that clung to the manor wall. But the modern side tables, dressers and monstrous television were new and likely bought at Dominique’s request. Valentina’s taste gravitated to somewhere around 1875 and stayed there.
Valentina lay in the bed, her long black hair spread around her. The remains of a black leather and lace dress lay on the floor along with an impossibly small corset and thigh boots. Dominque sat beside her, wearing her usual white gown. She was mopping Valentina’s brow with water while Thaddeus, ‘Thad’ administered something through a hypodermic.
Raven closed the door behind her and joined them.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know yet,” Thad said. “If only we had some damn electricity. Where are those lights?”
He brushed his long black hair away from his face. Under his makeup, he looked tired and old, older than when Raven had last seen him.
Dominique let go of Valentina’s hand and hugged Raven. “Thank the Goddess you’re here, Childe.”
Raven hugged her back and sat on the bed beside Valentina. “What’s going on?”
“Valentina was holding Court, as always. Everything seemed fine, then the lights went out and Valentina collapsed in front of the throne. Pandora ordered security to bring her here and evacuated the building,” Dominique said.
The lights flickered and came on, dim at first, but brightening with every second as the generators found their stride.
“Finally! Why the hell didn’t Pandora send someone to turn those on sooner?” Thad snapped. He picked up a radio and began snapping orders, requesting assistance from his own familiars.
“Good question. Thad, what do you think is going on? Is Mom going to be okay?” Raven asked.
“I don’t know, Ravenel. This appears to be something magikal, though I’ve no idea what. Mother is not responding, not even to injections of your father’s blood,” Thad said.
“Why the hell would you inject her with Dad’s blood?” Raven asked at the same time that Aspen asked, “You have Mason’s blood?”
Thad straightened as his staff entered with the equipment he’d called for. “Yes, I have samples of Mason’s blood. The why is between you and him, Ravenel, I’ll not get between you.”
Raven glared at him. “You’ll explain that to me later. Asp, is there anything you can do?”
Aspen moved beside Thad and raised her hands, muttering a spell that was heard and forgotten. The Fae language was never meant for human ears.
“It’s a curse, something I’ve never seen before. It’s acting like a disease on her system, Thad can probably slow or reverse its progress, but we need to reverse the curse to make her well again,” Aspen said after a moment.
Thad began attaching instruments to Valentina, monitoring her vital signs. They were weak, even by vampire standards.
“I’ve given her blood and a dose of adrenaline, what else do you suggest?” he asked as he worked.
Aspen lowered her hands. “I think you treat it like she’s human. They’ve suppressed her vampire immunity against diseases, try a big dose of antibiotics and see what happens.”
“I’m not a doctor, Aspen. Not a human one, anyway, are you sure?”
Aspen smiled, but Raven could tell she was uncertain, too. “I’m not a doctor either, T, but if we don’t do something we’re going to lose her.”
“Do it, Thad,” Raven said. “I trust Aspen’s judgement. Keep me informed, I have to go talk to Pandora.”
“I’ll come with,” Aspen said.
Raven shook her head. “Stay here and do what you can, honey. This won’t take long.”
The ballroom, which also served as Valentina’s throne and reception hall, took up most of the western wing of the Manor. It was a huge room with stone walls, stained glass windows and décor that changed at Valentina’s whim. This month it was decorated in somber shades of red and black. So extreme was the change that the marble tile had been replaced with slate and the brightly colored rugs had been replaced with ones of black and red depicting the Tempeste family crest. Raven found the stylized death’s head on a stormy background to be in bad taste, but Mother had always loved it.
Pandora, Princess of the House Tempeste, was seated in Valentina’s throne surrounded by vampires Raven didn’t recognize. She was dressed in her typical mode of a form-fitting catsuit with cuts placed to show the pale skin of her shoulders and legs, long gloves and boots, though she’d traded her ridiculous heels for more sensible ones. She looked up from her conversation with her familiar Ash when Raven entered. The look on her face was not a good one.
“How dare you?” she roared.
Raven arched an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”
“I am in command in Mother’s absence,” Pandora said.
Raven kept walking. “I’m home and I know Mother has told you I have resumed my duties as Fürstin. You should have called me and not depended on Dominique to do it for you.”
Pandora stood. “And if I do not choose to relinquish my position? Will you challenge me?”
Raven cocked her head. “You never had a position, ‘Dora. Mother and I gave you temporary responsibilities so I could do something I wanted for a change−”
“And now you swoop in to take it back!” Pandora shouted.
She stepped forward and Raven saw the revolver on her left hip. Pandora was stroking its pearl handle with her nails as she walked. “You left us when we needed you, you abandoned your duty, you have no right to come back now!”
Raven stopped in front of Pandora. “Dora, are you out of your damn mind? If you want to sit on the throne and play Mistress for a few days, knock yourself out. My duty as Fürstin is to Mother and the House. Your lack of experience, training and knowledge put Mother and everyone y
ou swore to protect at risk. If you knew as much as you think you do, you’d have ordered the generators to be started and held everyone who was here. There is a good chance that whoever did this was in the building when it happened, and now they’re in the wind!”
Pandora’s fingers twitched on her revolver. Raven saw the movement in her peripheral vision and stepped closer, her monster rising in her eyes. “Listen to me, Pandora. I love you, but in the name of Fürstin, if you make me, I will put you and your little clique down.”
She was so close she could see the green glow of her eyes reflected in Pandora’s, taste the blood on Pandora’s lips. Pandora held her gaze, and everything happened in a blur. The vampires behind her spread out and raised weapons while Pandora reached for her revolver. Raven caught her hand and broke it in a swift motion that left her screaming in pain. As she fell to her knees, Raven kicked her in the face and drew her own pistol, which she leveled at Pandora’s childer.
“Drop your weapons!” she ordered. “Drop them!”
One by one the small group of Embraced dropped their weapons in a pile before the throne. It was a neat collection of pistols and sub-guns from Thad’s armory, Raven recognized his crest on the grips.
“Using family weapons? Nice,” Raven said.
Pandora cradled her ruined hand to her breasts. “What are you going to do with us?”
Raven glared at her. “By the rules, you should all be executed.”
Pandora hung her head. “I’m sorry, sister, I would never have let them kill you. I was just trying to keep what I have, to keep my place.”
Raven knelt beside her. “I wasn’t trying to take it, Dora. I came here to tell you to stop being stupid and make a plan together, not remove you. Mother has come to rely on your counsel, she trusted you. You should have trusted me as she does.”
Pandora sobbed and looked up with bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry, Raven. Are you going to kill us? If so, we will not struggle.”
Raven shook her head. “I’m not much for rules, and you’re my sister. I don’t think Mom would be happy if I killed you.”
She stood and looked at the others. “But I can’t leave you here, either. Not after this, not with Mother under attack. You’re all banned from the Manor and grounds until Mother summons you.”