He’d finally lifted his eyes to meet mine. A balmy look of annoyance accompanied the assessment.
“Well, since we are being so polite to each other and using such beautiful insinuation. When someone behaves the way you are, I usually call them an ass. But I won’t mention that because that’s rude. What do you call people who ignore your request, leave you stranded without a car, and insinuate that they plan to put you in jail? Donkey? Or do you just go full throttle and call them ass?”
Those were the longest seconds, turning to minutes as I stood outside, the balmy wind bristling against my bare arms, the smell of vampire blood stronger than ever, and my shirt crusted with all the gore of the night. My pants weren’t as bad but the hardened blood made it more difficult to move.
He attempted a smile but had a hard time committing, and it was just a hard lift of one corner of his mouth. “Ms. Michaels, I will see you at twelve.”
And before I could respond he had sped down the street. Saying “No you won’t” really didn’t have the same effect when snarling it at an empty parking space.
Savannah, eyes widened, opened the door before I could take out my key. She was dressed in her cult gear: Lululemon and gym shoes, ready to go pay tribute to the God of Fitness, which she did almost every morning at five. She stepped aside, her jaw moving slightly as though she was chewing on the words. Then her mouth opened and closed several times, lost for words until she finally settled on a frown.
“I’m glad you’re okay. You want to talk about it?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not now. You go pay tribute, and after I shower and get some sleep, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”
It was a promise that I planned to keep. We’d been roommates for three years, and friends for four. She was my best friend, and I needed to unload the information that was weighing me down like bricks, and she needed to know because I had no idea how this was going to end. But I needed sleep. As restless as it might be, at least I could force my mind to rest for a while. It was reeling.
Surprisingly, I fell asleep only to be awakened four hours later by Savannah knocking at the door. I also had five missed calls from Kalen. I didn’t work on Saturdays typically, but sometimes he’d asked me to. I was hoping this wasn’t one of those times. I just wanted to curl up in the bed and rest.
Savannah peeked her head in. “You need to come out. You really need to see this.”
I rolled out of bed feeling every muscle aching, and I didn’t want to check my body for bruising because I was sure a large portion of it was raspberry colored. On the way to the front, I took a detour to the bathroom. I couldn’t see anything if I didn’t get the sleep out of my eyes. I didn’t care how I looked, Savannah had seen worse.
Savannah stood in the living room a few feet from the front door. She jerked her head in the direction of the door. The Suits from Lucas’s club stood there with a large basket with a card. Same style, different colors. This time they were dark brown—morning wear, I supposed. “Apparently, the only person they were given orders to give it to was you,” Savannah said, irritated, standing on the other side of the room.
They handed me the basket; it was too large to hold and read the card at the same time so I placed it on the floor just glancing at the myriad of chocolate, fruit, cheese, and wine. It was a beautifully written script letter, and as I read it I was reminded of him sitting at the antique writing table using an ink well and pen to compose our list. I’m sure he composed the letter the same way.
Apologies for this morning. It was a situation that needed to be handled pragmatically. Albeit cruelly, it was a necessary evil. Please accept my gift and my invitation for dinner tonight as an apology.
How sweet, he kills two vampires whose lives I was trying to spare because they weren’t acting on their own and he sends a basket and a letter. They might have deserved a seat at the douche table, but they didn’t need to die. When I finished reading it the Suits were still standing there.
Are they waiting for a tip? “I don’t have any cash on me,” I explained.
“No. We were given instruction to get a time.”
“Oh. I’m not having dinner with Lucas,” I said. “Tell him thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass.”
“That wasn’t an option, Ms. Michaels.”
“Call me Levy, and please tell your employer that’s the option I have chosen.”
They didn’t budge. They were built like walls so I was sure a gentle nudge wasn’t going to help, either.
“We were instructed not to leave until you agreed to a time.”
Nice, a pushy vampire, who wants to eat with me. I just don’t need this.
“Call Lucas please, I would like to speak to him.”
They looked at each other, apprehensive, and eventually one of them took out his phone, pressed a button, and handed it to me.
“Ms. Michaels,” he said, my name rolling off his tongue as though he were reciting a sonnet. His voice was as light and wispy as it had been the night at the club. Before I could say anything, he added, “I was expecting your call.”
I was curious how he knew it was me, but not enough to ask. “I can’t have dinner with you tonight.”
“What night would be good for you?”
Ain’t-going-to-happen day at 7 never o’clock.
I sighed into the phone. “I don’t want to have dinner with you,” I finally said. “So will you send your Suits away.”
“Suits?” he repeated with a chuckle. “I must admit this is the first time I’ve ever been turned down.” I was pretty sure there wasn’t a bigger truth.
“Well, thank you for allowing me to be your first. I hope it was as for good for you as it was for me,” I said in a light, cloying tone. “Seriously, thank you for the offer, but no thanks. The Suits will be bringing back the basket as well.” And I disconnected. Lucas seemed to require very little to be encouraged. Accepting a gift from him was going to do just that.
I waited but the Suits didn’t move, and I doubted that they would have if it weren’t for a call from Lucas. After it, they grabbed the basket, moving almost in unison, turned and left.
“You must have had a heck of a morning,” Savannah said from her seat on the couch, moving to the end to give me room. I guess she was ready to hold me to my promise.
I grabbed a large cup of coffee and took a seat next to her as she waited patiently for me to speak. One sip of coffee became half of the cup while I wished for something a little stronger. Taking another long sip, I looked for the fortitude to keep from reneging on my promise.
“What do you know about the Cleanse?” I finally asked after a long, uncomfortable silence.
She looked confused by the question and took a moment before she answered. “Pretty much what everyone does. Demigod types with helluva magic who decided they wanted to be the only supernaturals who existed.” She displayed the same abhorrence at the memory as someone would discussing a war that was started by greed and the thirst for power. “They stayed hidden behind a veil that was secured by a ward while the world crumbled at their feet. I assumed when the damage was done and most of the population was decimated they would have gotten off their self-important asses to collect the rest as slaves. Well, that’s what I believe. In school they tell a nicer version. I guess not to warn us off the supernaturals. You know that whole ‘not everyone is bad’ and ‘everyone deserves a gold star’ BS.”
This was going to be harder than I thought, and at that moment, I decided I couldn’t tell her. I took another drink and let her continue, because she looked like she was revving up for another long spiel. “Some good came from it, the supernaturals came out. We formed an alliance with the supernaturals and where would we be without the witches and their wonderful shops and, let’s not forget, the herba terrae.” She grinned, but then her look became dour, sad. A memory that may not have been her own, but spun from generation to generation of the retelling of the same story bloviated and changed for affect. “I lost fam
ily in it. I think a lot of people did. It’s sad that, what was it? Eighty-nine people? Could cause such havoc that the world changed. I was told there was a small resistance that tried to stop it but failed. Where they failed, high mages were able to tear down the ward and an army who blasted the city succeeded.”
The sorrow in her voice was a reminder why I wanted to tell her. Even through the anger of her loss, the travesty of the situation, and the wrongdoing—she had compassion.
“There was a small resistance of thirty-six, who failed and were able to get out before everything happened. My parents were two of them.”
When understanding settled over what I had just said, her mouth dropped. She quickly snapped it shut and managed an “Oh.”
With a wry smile, I managed in a low voice to admit something I had never said out loud. “I’m a Legacy.”
She nodded slowly, her mouth twisted to the side as she thought for a while. “Why were you covered in blood last night? You weren’t doing some weird freaking spell thing because I’m okay with the Legacy thing, but the other stuff is a no-no.”
I laughed, and with all the horrible things going on that was one thing that was lifted. The burden of carrying it around was heavier than I thought because I felt like I was floating. And then I told her everything from the Haven, my meeting with Clive, all the things he said, what I had discovered in the cave, and even the Trackers who had killed my parents and the ones who found me. It was then that she seemed to understand the severity of the consequences behind my secret. I didn’t need her to swear to secrecy, I knew she would never tell anyone.
“Are you sure it was a Legacy who was blocking your spell?” she asked. “It flickered, could it be that they were …” She stopped. “Maybe a Tracker or someone …” She didn’t finish; a despondent look replaced her words. I knew what she was thinking and it was aptly displayed on her face, that flicker could be me.
“Possibly. I am just trying to figure things out. Was it coincidental that I ended up in the park that night? Is someone trying to set me up? Who is it and how are they able to control both shifters and vampires? What is the reason behind it?” Speaking of shifters, I looked at the clock: it was eleven thirty. “I’m supposed to meet Gareth for brunch.”
“I’ll call him and tell him you’re sick or something. You don’t look too good to me, you could use a couple extra hours of sleep. You go to sleep and I’ll handle everything. And when you get up, we’ll figure this out.”
I wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to handle Gareth—I didn’t think he was the type to be handled—but I was cautiously optimistic. But things did look a lot brighter with another set of eyes looking at the problem who wasn’t someone I feared could hurt me or bring an army against me.
I closed my eyes, but a nap wasn’t going to happen anyway because I was thinking about what Savannah had suggested. What if the flicker was just a dying Legacy? Dammit.
When Savannah knocked on my door a little before twelve, I rolled over and said to the closed door, “I guess you weren’t able to handle it. I’m sorry you had to deal with the shifter with an attitude. He’s kind of an ass. You should have just told him to bugger off.”
“Why don’t you come out here and tell him yourself,” said Gareth’s deep coarse voice that held just a tinge of humor. He was a shifter with an attitude and a warped sense of humor.
“Fine.” I hopped off the bed, yanked opened the door, and found Gareth resting against the wall sporting a devilish smirk and holding his Guild badge and a set of handcuffs. “You have a choice, Ms. Michaels. We can talk at the station, at the Haven, or at a nice brunch. I’m fine either way.”
Working with Kalen had taught me the art of compromise because I didn’t think I’d met anyone more stubborn, narcissistic, and arrogant than him—until now.
As I turned around to go get dressed, the things I mumbled under my breath surely should have wiped the smirk off his face. I looked over my shoulder. It was still there. He was definitely a smug one.
There wasn’t any way I was going to eat a cheeseburger and fries, Belgian waffles, wings, a grilled chicken salad, chocolate cake, and cherry tart, but I ordered it anyway. My passive act of aggression toward Gareth didn’t work. The arrogant look of indifference had become a fixture on his face and removing it was going to be an ongoing goal.
Once the food was ordered he sat back and cocked his head. “This morning. Tell me about it.”
I shrugged and kept my voice devoid of any emotion. “I came home, I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a jog on my usual trail. It’s not unusual for me to do it.”
“You jog often in the dark?” Doubt vibrated in his voice and in the twisted corners of his lips.
“Not often. Just when I can’t sleep.”
“So you went for a jog, and what, fell in the cave?”
Oh, that’s good, I wish I’d thought of that one. “No, I saw it open and was curious.” I hated lying. I did. But I didn’t have a lot of choices.
“So in the middle of the night, you decided to explore a cave. It’s just coincidental and advantageous that you had tools to open the cover, a flashlight, and your sai with you,” he offered in a breezy tone.
“I take the twins almost everywhere.”
The food had come, and instead of focusing on his cool glare of disbelief I focused on eating the waffles and asked for the rest to be put in to-go containers. I could felt his stony glare hone in on me like those of a predator ready to pounce. His fingers moved casually over the edge of his glass as he spoke. His tone was low and detached. “The funny thing about lying, the mouth can tell as many of them as you want, but the body will always be honest. Increased heart rates and respiratory sounds. Blinks that either increase or decrease, and changes in cadence of the voice will always change when a person lies. Did you know that, Levy?”
“Yes. I also realize that a person’s heart rate might increase because they are being interrogated by a person who’s threatened more than once to throw them in jail. The cadence in their voice might have changed because each time they speak they’re trying to refrain from asking said Guild Commander why he is such an arrogant, narcissistic, smug”—I stopped short, no need to be vulgar—“donkey. I’m blinking more or less because I’m tired, because I’ve only had a few hours of sleep the whole week after being attacked by controlled shifters and vampires, Commander.”
If that didn’t wipe the smug off, nothing would. It didn’t, but the corners of his lips curled slightly. He was handsome. The relentless wayward smile, smirk, or whatever looked good on him. I realized I was staring at him, and not out of contempt. I jerked my gaze away and focused on the waffles, which were delicious even lukewarm.
“Look, Gareth, I want to find out who’s responsible for this just as much as you do. Interrogating me, calling me a liar, trying to poke holes in any story I tell you isn’t going to help things. Maybe you should start trying to find the person who’s controlling the shapeshifters and the vampires.” I didn’t want to tell him that there might be a chance of a Legacy being involved. Savannah had a point: the flicker could have meant they were dead, but also could mean that they were trying to stay hidden. The problem with pointing out that there was one Legacy was that it could cause him to wonder if there were more. I didn’t want him questioning that.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened with you and Lucas in the cave?”
I nodded and proceeded to tell him what happened, leaving out the parts about me using magic to stop them and trying to find out if there was a Legacy nearby. Whether I was right or wrong, either way it was a bad situation.
“Are you okay with letting Blu try to retrieve the memory, again?”
This again? But I needed to; even if all we had was a face, it would lead us somewhere. I nodded, and moments later he sent out a text and she responded, telling us she’d meet us at the house. I had two bags of food to carry out that Gareth grabbed, but not before he made an unappreciated snarky remark. Just as
I opened the door, I saw the familiar figure across the street. He sat outside on the patio across from the restaurant where we had had brunch. He shifted his attention between Gareth and me. Under his intense scrutiny I recounted his words about HF and change coming and that things were in the works. It was just another thing on my list that could be linked. As much as I dreaded it, I needed my memory back.
Blu met us at the door, and if it were possible, I thought her hair must have expanded. A coarse waterfall emerged from her head, the blue tips a couple of shades lighter than the off-the-shoulder long Bohemian dress that swayed gently as she walked along, a cluster of bangle bracelets around her wrist. The same friendly smile welcomed us into the home. This time she didn’t bother to offer me herba terrae. Without wasting precious time, she had me seated in the same position as the other day. The mark on my forehead tingled, and warmth flitted and slowly enveloped my body.
“I want you to relax,” Blu said in a mellow low, raspy voice, but it was hard to do when she couldn’t. I could feel the tension. Fear. And it was hard to hide it.
Gareth kept his eyes on her and if I could hear it, he could, too. I’m sure he could sense it, hear it in her vitals, and probably even smell it.
I inhaled the aromatic scents of the room, allowing them to relax me even more, accepting the journey I needed to take to get the answers we needed.
The club, I remembered the sounds of music that consumed the room, bodies moving, the strong smell of liquor and the potent fragrance of blood off the vampires that drifted throughout the crowded space. I recalled the people, conversations, and then the attack.
I tried to keep my eyes closed, but I could hear Blu’s labored breathing as she struggled for every one she took. My eyes snapped open to find her wide-eyed, her palms turned up. Magic pulsed off her like a brush fire. Her lips moved fervently, reciting invocations, before her body became rigid. Magic saturated the air, not just hers. Familiar magic, but different from Blu’s, Kalen’s, and even the one I’d felt the last time. Blu howled in pain and was slammed back so hard against the wall, plaster crumbled around her as she slumped to the floor. Her limp body collapsed. Her breaths came in short bursts.
Double-Sided Magic (Legacy Series Book 1) Page 15