Something In The Water (Cast In Shadow Book 2)

by A J Brahms

  Her face…in all of that, had I seen her face?!

  And it was there, reflected in the shiny gold surface of the cup. The face of the woman in my pictures. The one standing by Emmet's body.

  The face of Mia Tavern.

  Seven

  "Stop that car!" I shouted when the realization that we'd just sent two cops off with a well trained Chevalier hit me. There was no doubt in my mind now. I'd seen and felt how she moved, recognized her methods. This Ghoul had been taught by the same teacher I had. And that teacher only forged Chevaliers.

  "Ren…what the hell's wrong?" Luke said as the two of them stood with me.

  I pointed in the direction the squad car went. "That was Mia Tavern."

  Julie frowned. "Who?"

  "The girl in the pictures I took of Emmet's body. Didn't you notice the resemblance?"

  She blinked at me. "Are you sure?"

  There wasn't time to argue with either of them. Occam called out and was already high above the area, scanning for the black and white. She couldn't find it.

  Finally Julie got on her cell and tried to get an answer from one of the officers. When there wasn't one we piled into the car and combed the area ourselves. I kept the bag Julie had taken from Mia clutched close to me, knowing what was inside of it, and getting paranoid that somehow Jedediah and his brood would know the moment I had it.

  I knew I had an imperative to turn this thing over to him. I'd promised I would find it. But I had too many questions that weren't answered. My Maker had commented several times, especially during punishment, that I was too curious. It was a part of my reporter-like nature.

  Finally, Luke spotted the back of the car pulled into a service road on our left. He squealed tires coming to a stop, backed up and parked across the street beside woods. We all had our weapons out as we approached the car. But I already knew…it was too late.

  I stood behind the black and white as Luke and Julie looked inside and realized the odd coloring on the back windshield was blood splatter. Luke put his hand over his mouth and nose as he turned away. I thought for a second he was going to throw up. Julie stood very still after looking inside. Then, to my surprise and Luke's, she pointed her gun at me and slowly, cautiously walked to me until she had the barrel of her weapon pressed against my temple.

  "Julie!" Luke held out his hands as he came around the car. "What're you doing? This isn't Ren's fault."

  "I'm tired of games, Mr. Grainger so I suggest you tell me right now, what the fuck just happened. It looks like they shot each other, Ren. Two fucking cops shot each other and she's gone. The cuffs they used are right there, on the back seat," and as she spoke, tears welled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. My own heart ached for her. This event had triggered something—something she'd never shared with me.

  "Julie, put the gun down. Please," Luke said as he came up next to her.

  "I want the truth!" she shouted at me and I actually jumped, not expecting the response.

  Occam appeared then, between us, screaming and flapping her wings. Julie yelled out as well and I commanded my raven to stop as she tried to claw out Julie's eyes. Luke took the opportunity to take the gun from Julie's hand and breathed a sigh of relief as his partner stared at me, watching as the raven perched on my shoulder.

  During all of it I'd remained where I was. "What truth do you want, Julie? Are you asking about this case, or me? Is it that important for you to know exactly what I am? Or is our friendship meaningless?" I wasn't sure where those words came from, but there they were. Her anger, the emotional reaction she just gave, was coming from something deeper in. Something I'd never seen before.

  But it was Luke that answered. "Do you know what she is, Ren?"

  I nodded to him. "I have a suspicion. But it's not something I can share readily. What I do know is she's dangerous." The two dead cops were proof of that. I figured Mia was telepathic, or at least an empath. That was the only explanation I could come up with for the two cops shooting each other. Telepathy was a Gift for some Night Walkers, and it was possible Mia had it.

  Mia was indeed a Chevalier. And an unregistered one. During my life as my Maker's soldier, I'd had to go through obedience testing, as well as passing tests created by an Elder Council that was set up to approve and register Chevaliers. I'd passed. But there were others who didn't.

  They were slaughtered.

  And where was the council now?

  Long dead, was all my maker would say before she died.

  Julie wasn't looking at me anymore. In fact, she wasn't looking at anyone and I wondered if this was somehow connected to her past? Did something here remind her of something? I sensed pain, and little else. "I can say with certainty that what we saw in the Lake isn't a Mermaid. I don't know what it is, but it was held captive."

  "Captive?" Luke said.

  "It had a shackle on its wrist. I didn't kill it. Merely wounded it." I rubbed at my beard. "I think there's more going on here. More than just something in the water killing people."

  "If the marks on the bodies, the ones on their necks, were made by a collar like you said…"

  "I think there's a third player here. Someone in the middle." I held up a hand. "I'm not sure and I don't have proof. The only thing we have is that the bodies had signs of restraint, and that creature had been restrained. By the looks of it, it's broken free. I'd make sure when you call this in, the local law enforcement knows to keep people away from that area, especially Three Sisters Island."

  Luke put a hand on Julie's shoulder. "You okay?"

  She nodded, still staring at the ground. "I'll call it in," and she walked away, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

  Luke approached me and lowered his voice. "Look, don't hold that against her, okay? I just think seeing this brought back some old memories."

  "Memories of what?" I watched her as she spoke on the phone, keeping a wide distance from the black and white. The smell of blood was overwhelming.

  Luke pursed his lips and moved to block my view of her. I looked up into his face as he spoke. "Julie was engaged to another cop, before she got married to Maurice Wallace. Good guy named Jimmy Valdez. This was back when she was working in North Carolina."

  "I didn't know there was someone before her husband."

  "Yeah well, she doesn't talk about it much. She had a pretty good life, working the beat with her partner."

  "He was her partner?"

  "Yeah. And because they fell in love, their Captain decided it was better for them to be reassigned with new partners. You know, departments usually frown on relationships like that. And the two of them agreed to it, not wanting to break up." He glanced back at Julie before he continued. "About a year into it, a few months after he proposed to her, Jimmy was found in his car with his new partner, dead. They'd shot each other."

  I felt my insides tighten and Occam ruffled her feathers. "She—she found him, just like this?" I nodded to the black and white.

  "Yeah. No explanation. There were rumors that Jimmy had been screwing his new partner—she'd been a female too—and they'd had a fight because he wasn't going to break up with Julie. There was an investigation—Internal Affairs was all over it. They tried nailing Julie for the shootings, not wanting to believe two cops would shoot each other. But in the end, the coroner confirmed it was a simultaneous shooting. Julie had nothing to do with it. Solid alibi."

  "That's when she met Wallace?"

  "Yeah. He'd been the new partner was assigned when she and Jimmy were split up. Wallace was good to her, but she couldn't shake the ghost of Jimmy so she and her new husband transferred here. After Wallace turned out to be a werewolf, she started asking about strange cases. Ones that didn't make sense. They partnered her with me, since I was already putting together cases with rather unconventional explanations."

  I looked past him to Julie. She was off the phone, staring at the car. "Maybe we should get her away from here."

  "Soon as the locals get here and we make statements. You re
ady for that?"

  "Sure."

  During the wait, I pulled the cup from the bag and hid it in the car, just in case the local police wanted what was left inside as evidence against Mia Tavern. I answered questions with prepared statements, meaning I didn't allude to anything weird or strange. Julie and Luke did the same.

  After they took the bag, I leaned against the car and tried puzzling out what that thing in the water was. The pointed ears screamed Faerie of some kind. But I didn't know about anything that looked like that in the Faerie world. And my only real contact, Jazzi, and been murdered. The last person I wanted to talk to was The Mórrígan. I'd dealt with her earlier and was happy never to do that again.

  My only hope was that maybe Aberdeen could come up with something.

  And of course that brought my thoughts back to Mia. As Ghouls we're not as noticeable to each other. Our senses are more tuned to those who made us. I can sense a Night Walker but not an undead human.

  What this meant was that the Countess had had her Ghoul trained under the radar. That was the only way Mia hadn't been listed as Chevalier. Otherwise, I believe Jedediah would have told me what she was.

  But why? Why go through all that training and not have the bragging rights? That's what my Maker had done. Challenged others to Ghoul fights. And every time I'd cringed at the thought of killing another innocent human, victimized by a Night Walker.

  And I always won.

  Leaning against the car, I looked at my hands, remembering their necks snapping, their faces as they realized they would finally know peace. I gave them their freedom and worked to keep myself a prisoner. I wasn't pitying myself at that moment. I was just…remembering.

  The ride on the way back was quiet. Luke read something on his phone. I stared out the window, the cup in my inner jacket pocket. I needed to keep it somewhere safe. I figured I was also going to have to keep the knowledge of where it was hidden, if this Mia was indeed a Telepath.

  Luke's phone rang and he answered it. After a few minutes of conversation, he hung up. "Well, that was the Captain. They're releasing Mitchell Graybeard this evening and she wants us nearby."

  "How come?" Julie asked.

  "They still think he's a suspect so they're putting a few details on him. We take the first shift, watching him leave and following him home." He looked back at me. "Wanna come along? I hear this dude's a real whack job. Gets into Necromancy and shit."

  I smiled. "No thanks. But I would be happy if you'd drop me off at home."

  Julie pulled up to the curb and I jumped out in front of my building. I retrieved my bag before she drove off. That's when I grabbed my own phone and called the house.

  "Grainger residence," Aberdeen answered.

  "Hey, can you come down to street level. Got something I need you to do."

  "I live to serve," He said and hung up.

  I never knew if he was serious or facetious. It was sort of a win/fail thing, but he was a good friend.

  Aberdeen approached, dressed in his Professor attire. I handed him my camera bag with the cup inside of it and gave him a quick recap of what'd just happened. Aberdeen looked as shocked as I felt.

  "What exactly is our Miss Tavern up to?"

  "I don't know. And I don't know what this cup is for."

  "I'll keep investigating. I'm assuming you want me to put it somewhere and not tell you."

  I touched my nose.

  He gave me a dismissive look. "I'll be discreet. Do you remember your mind training?"

  "I can shield my thoughts, Aby."

  "Stop calling me that." He shook his head. "But have you ever gone up against a Vampiric mind reader? They can do terrible things to you, Ren, if you let them in. And if she were to get into your head and see—"

  I held up my hand. "I know. But don't forget, I passed the Talmadge tests, and several of them are mind readers. I should be fine."

  He nodded. "Very good. Oh and, did you want me to look up lake monsters in Faerie folklore?"

  "Yes. I'm going to do a bit of research on this Mitchell Graybeard."

  He smirked. "Ah…the Necromancer they accused of the murders."

  "Is he really a Necromancer?"

  "I have no idea. Mr. Greybeard's name did not come up in certain circles." He put his finger to his chin. "But if he is, it might be a good idea to contact him once all of this is finished. He might be able to put us in touch with a new blood source."

  I made a face. "Seriously?"

  But Aberdeen looked too smug as he hung my bag over his shoulder and waved as he walked away. "Ta!"

  Ugh. Brits. Gargoyle Brits.

  Not ready to head inside yet, I walked a few blocks to a local coffee shop and bought a tea before I sat down and did a little research on Mitchell Graybeard on my own phone. I hadn't even thought about him until Luke and Julie's call from the captain. I wanted to know why he'd been a suspect. And now that my own Gargoyle had confirmed the guy really was a Necromancer—I was intrigued.

  An hour or so later and the facts as they were on the internet were: Mitchell Greybeard owned a house near Bethel Park and Three Sister's Island. The locals thought he was weird because from the shots taken outside his house, the man was a packrat. Never threw away anything. His yard was fenced in but the place was littered with statues, pieces of cars, rusty metals, and the edges of his house were lined with wind chimes of all colors.

  He was an only child, was left the house by his father and no one knew what he did to make a living. His house had a dock on the lake and the neighbors complained of cars coming and going at all hours of the night, but the police didn't find any drugs. They did find all kinds of ritualistic paraphernalia, but as his lawyer fought back, a man's religion is his own business in this country.

  But that didn't change public opinion. The man sounded eccentric.

  What caught my attention though, and the authorities, was that he'd known all four of the victims. Even Emmet.

  With cars coming and going all hours of the day and night…was it possible this guy was supplying Emmet?

  Checking my watch, I decided I might join Luke and Julie tonight after all, and get a good look at this guy. But first I wanted a shower to rinse off the lake water. And I probably looked and smelled funny. Made sense, since no one was sitting near me in the coffee shop.

  I walked home and stood at the door with the key in my hand—and hesitated. Something felt wrong. Occam appeared then, cawing with her claws out as if to scoop something up off the ground. Imagine my shock when a hawk came through the door and barreled into my raven. The two of them commenced fighting in mid air in the middle of the hall.

  That was an animas.

  There was a Ghoul inside. And I had a pretty good idea who.

  I retrieved the gun from the back of my jeans, and pushed my door in with my toe. The place was dark, which was unusual since Aberdeen loved the sun shining in. And mid-afternoon in Atlanta, Georgia was very, very sunny.

  With my weapon up, and my full senses on over drive, I commenced a summoning, something I hadn't done in decades. I took a single step inside and said, "Mia—"

  That's when the mental assault came. The pressure on my mind. The barrage of images that for any normal man, or woman, or even Night Walker, could cripple me.

  But I was ready.

  "Come," I said in a soft voice, releasing my second Gift as the entire apartment filled with large, black ravens.

  Eight

  One of the advantages I had, besides an entire apartment full of Ravens all conveying what they see at once, is that I knew the layout. I knew every hiding place, every small room and turn in the place. I closed the door behind me as Occam and the hawk fought in the hallway. If any of the other tenants were to walk by, all they'd experience would be a sudden sense of agitation. Unless they were sighted and then they'd run off screaming for animal control.

  The caws of the ravens were deafening for anyone else in the room, and I could just see the shadow of my intruder behind the door
of my office, their hands on their ears. I instructed the entire flock of them into that room. And on cue, the scream brought a slight smile to my lips. I positioned myself right outside the door, so as they came running out, they caught sight of the business end of my Desert Eagle.

  "Stop Mia. I'm not here to fight you."

  "That's too bad," came the reply. I noticed her voice ringing in my ears. She was trying to push her mind into mine. I put up a wall and she beat on the outside until I surrounded her with my ravens, all beating their wings at her. She screamed again and threw up her arms to shield her face.

  While she was on the floor I moved to the door and turned on the hall's switch. Immediately the ravens vanished as I dismissed them. I summoned Occam and she came to my side as I pointed my gun at the cowering Ghoul. "They're gone."

  She didn't say anything at first as she gracefully stood. She faced me, and I was impressed at her beauty. She was lithe, with tanned skin and dark hair. She looked just like her picture in Aberdeen's book. And she was staring at me. Hard.

  I strengthened my shields. She was good. I could still hear her. Usually I could mute a telepath.

  "You're a Ghoul," she said. It wasn't a question.

  "Yes. And so are you." I narrowed my eyes. "You're a Chevalier."

  "No."

  "I know the training. And you're a terrible liar."

  She straightened her shoulders. "I know who you are. Now."

  "You didn't before?"

  "I'd heard stories you still lived." And a sly smile brushed her full lips. "Should I call you by your true name?"

  I stiffened. Ghouls, especially Chevaliers, were given names when they passed their training, when they were given the title of Chevalier. Mine…

  "You were known as Herne the Hunter. You belonged to Elizabeth Herne. When she sent you after someone, they had no hope of surviving. Ghoul, human, werewolf or Vampire."

  I remained still, though now I pointed my gun at her again. A bullet between the eyes could kill her.