“I guess that’s a no.” Riley shrugged before tossing the black leather backpack he had slung over his shoulder onto the table. “So, what happened? You turned it on and forgot?” Riley asked.
“No.” Eli put the gun on the table and rubbed his tired eyes. “I was in my office thinking that I needed a cup of coffee and a hot shower-” They both froze at the sound of running water coming from upstairs.
“Son of a bitch.” Eli grabbed the gun and sprinted up the stairs, Riley hot on his heels. They burst into the master bathroom, guns drawn to find this room, also empty. The shower was running, steam already fogging the mirror as they scanned the room. Silently, Eli signaled Riley who nodded before moving into the bedroom to search. They searched each room, every closet, and every nook and cranny someone could hide and found... nothing.
Riley holstered his gun and stared at Eli, who slumped on the foot of his bed, the Glock in his hands as they dangled between his legs.
“What the hell is happening?” Eli mumbled. “Riley could you turn off the shower-” Before the words were out, the water in the bathroom immediately stopped. Riley physically jumped about a foot in the air, and then looked at Eli, his large blue eyes wide with sudden acknowledgment.
“E, I think that you’re doing this.” Riley said.
Eli shook his head. “No-”
“You said you were in your office thinking you needed coffee and a shower, the coffee maker started, right?”
He nodded. “But that doesn’t-” Riley shook his head in protest.
“Think about it, Eli. No one is in this house. You would know if someone else was in here. You already know that you have some weird shit with you, so why would it be such a stretch? ”
“There is no way I’m doing this. I’ll prove it.” He stood and faced Riley. “I need a nice hot shower.” He annunciated every word, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. The smirk fell and Riley lifted an eyebrow when the shower started, steam billowing from the open bathroom door.
“You were saying?” Riley folded his arms across his chest. Eli shook his head before heading into the bathroom.
“Don’t make me shoot you, Riley.”
***
Celeste sat alone before the dais in the center of the room. Behind her, the gallery where proceedings could be witnessed remained silent and still, cloaked in darkness and very empty. She looked down at her hands, which were sitting in her lap as she patiently waited for the inquisition. The room was dimly lit and draped in deep burgundy curtains. Behind the dais hung a large circular mosaic in bronze, silver and gold and ancient symbols reminiscent of the zodiac that represented each species of the Collective. She sighed heavily as her eyes drifted over the dimly lit members of the Collective as they spoke to each other in hushed tones. Here her powers were muted and she couldn’t hear a word
The one thing she hated about the chamber was that it was protected; no magic could be used here. Even the Collective’s powers were limited to flashing in and out. There had been a serious protection spell cast on this place centuries ago, so strong in fact that the only way in was to be teleported in by a standing Collective member or one of their Sentries, like Briar, who was basically the Collective’s Security. She yawned and exhaled loudly, folding her arms across her chest and tapping her foot. Jonas shot a warning glance at her, which she ignored. He was always warning her about something she either did or said here, but those warnings never really fazed her. They wouldn’t do anything to her. There had only been one person ever expelled from the Collective that had been Remy, former Commander of the Grey, and enforcer of their laws. That had been Lilith’s doing; Lilith the High Regent of the Collective, the highest ranked and oldest member. She was also a vindictive bitch who had some sort of vendetta against the Kent’s.
“We cannot find this creature in any of our histories, Celeste.” Lilith spoke to her and Celeste found herself sitting up a little straighter in her seat, the large center chair. As she spoke, Celeste couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her. Lilith was tall, willowy with long fiery auburn hair that hung to her waist in a thick loose braid. Her skin was so pale; it was translucent from living all of these centuries without the kiss of sunlight, even though she could venture into the sun unlike some of the others. Her eyes were bright, glowing green that compelled complete honesty from most that looked into them. Celeste was not affected by that at all. She was immune to most, if not all magic. She paid attention because nothing Lilith said was ever what she actually meant.
“I have never seen anything like it myself,” Celeste answered in as few words as possible.
“And how did you happen to see this-creature?” The deep gruff voice of Julian seemed to fill the room. Celeste turned her eyes toward him and her calm quickly evaporated. Julian was tall, with olive skin, dark wavy hair and the face of a silent movie idol. He was devilishly handsome with a thin scar that ran across his right cheek that gave him a slightly dangerous look. Unlike the smooth serenity that was all Lilith, Julian was pure raw sexual energy. He always looked at Celeste as if he would just as soon kill her as he would fuck her. He was also a sneaky underhanded bastard who seemed to be obsessed with her every move.
When she turned to him, he smirked, showing off silvery white fangs, his amber eyes danced in the dim light. He had always been more wolf than man, she thought, always predator. At one time, there had been talk of her possibly becoming his mate. She thanked God every day that he had mated with another Lycan, a wickedly vicious bitch with the ever appropriate moniker of Deva, or D-Evil as Lisette often referred to her.
She could tell by his smirk that he already knew the answer to that question. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him, but did not answer. If she said anything about Eli, the Collective would want to bring him, and Julian knew that. How he knew was the question. He had spies everywhere; she just couldn’t always tell if they were his, Lilith’s or the Dark Fae.
“Celeste.” The sound of Lilith brought her back. “Answer the question.”
She scanned the Collective from end to end. On the far left sat Silver Wolf, A Navajo skin walker, whose youthful appearance belied her age, which, Celeste estimated had to be near four hundred years old. Her symbol on the crest was the Owl. She was seated on the opposite end of the dais from Julian, as Lycans and skin walkers often clashed. She had heard rumblings that once upon a time, Julian and Silver had been lovers and that she was responsible for Julian’s scar.
Next to her was Karim. Beautiful and silent with thick dark hair, deep tawny skin and eyes that were such a cool pale green that they reminded her of ice. She had spent hours running her fingers through his thick dark hair and kissing his pillow soft lips. Though his expression never changed, she could see the shadow cross his face. He knew what it meant if Elijah was what she thought he was. It would devastate him and that would crush her heart. But if it was true, if Eli was what she thought, she had no choice. She gave him a nearly imperceptible nod and he lowered his gaze briefly. When he lifted his icy green eyes to her, he gave her a reassuring wink and Celeste made a face. She was granted a smile from him, something he did not do very often but when he did, it was as if the heavens had opened up. No matter what, Karim would always be special to her. His symbol on the crest was that of a crescent moon, an obvious choice.
Next was Jonas, a Dhampir, a human vampire hybrid, a day walker. Their symbol was the chimera, the beast of two natures. The one pure human on the dais was Sophia Redwine, the White Witch. Sophia sat in silence, her eyes on the knitting needles in her lap, the constant click-click-click of the needles the only sound in the room. Though she seemed preoccupied and feeble, Sophia was sharp and aware of everything going on around her. Her symbol was a simply a star-burst.
The demon contingent was represented by Asmodeus or Adrian as he now preferred, one of the seven princes of Hell. Known in some parts of the world as The Prince of Lechery, he was a lust demon and all that implied. In his human form he was a quite beautiful Asian with
perfectly chiseled features, dark brown eyes and thick dark hair. He was one of the oldest members of the Collective, being more than twelve thousand years old, he was by far the most laid back with a surfer style and frat boy demeanor. His symbol, for obvious reasons, was that of a crown.
The Fae were represented by Javier, who was so beautiful in his natural state that he had to fend off women constantly, which explained why he rarely ventured out among humans. Though the preternatural were drawn to him, humans nearly riot when he is nearby. Of all the Collective members, he made her the most uncomfortable. Javier, or the Bastard, was petty and vain, and in many ways conniving, as were most of the Fae. They were tricksters by nature, which was why their symbol had always been a man with two faces. He sat with his cheek resting on one hand, while the other juggled two spheres of bright green and gold light. He yawned dramatically but said nothing, as his hooded eyes settled on her.
Lilith lifted one delicate brow and Celeste noted that her symbol, the wreath of laurel, hung just above her head on the crest, almost like a crown. Celeste sighed but refused to answer.
“Is there a reason you aren’t speaking?” Silver asked, her tone more concerned than curious. Julian leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, chin resting gingerly on his fists.
“Yes, Celeste, is there a reason?” He lifted his eyebrows in quick succession and she cursed his very being. “Is there something you’re hiding from us? Something you don’t wish to tell the Collective?” At the tone of his voice, Javier sat up a little straighter in his gilded chair, his bright eyes dancing with delight.
“Is there something, CeCe?” He pried, his voice deep and rich, dripped with his heavy aristocratic accent.
Helplessly, she looked at Jonas who closed his eyes and gave her a quick nod. She had to talk, it was obvious that if she didn’t, Julian would tell all and the Collective would drag Eli in here. That was what she was trying to avoid. Damn it, she hated him. Mentally, she cursed the bloody cur and plastered a smile on her face.
“I’m not hiding anything,” she growled through clenched teeth.
Julian sat back with a satisfied smile and crossed his legs at the ankle.
“Well then, love, tell us all about, your Detective.”
NINE
Riley was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop open, volume upon volume of mythology and occult books on the kitchen table before him as Eli entered refreshed from his shower. He sauntered in wearing khaki cargo pants and a white button down shirt, his feet bare.
“Find anything?” He sighed, peering over Riley’s shoulder to stare at the computer screen. “I have found out that there is some weird shit in the world. But I think I’ve found something worth a gander.” He reached past the laptop to an old ratty leather bound tome with pages so worn that the words were barely visible.
“You remember the other night, when we went to Nicky’s apartment and Celeste did that –thing to the door man?” Eli nodded as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Vaguely,” he mumbled. Riley rolled his eyes and plowed on.
“It’s called glamour. It’s used by witches, mostly to change their appearances or disguise them for whatever reason. It’s a form of hypnosis.” Eli shrugged.
“Well, she didn’t use it to disguise herself. I doubt if she’s a witch.” He snorted.
“Anyway, it’s also used by, get this –Vampires and-” He just about squealed and Eli shook his head.
“Celeste is not a vampire.” Eli grumbled and Riley threw up a hand of protest.
“Dhampir.” Riley finished excitedly.
“What?”
“Dhampir. They are some sort of vampire human hybrid. I haven’t found much on them, but what I have found is pretty interesting. It seems that they have a lot of the same abilities as vampires but they can walk in the daylight and they can reproduce-sexually. It says here that vampires and Dhampir use glamour to influence victims to allow them to feed, to do their bidding and to illicit sexual favor in some.”
“I don’t think she uses it to illicit sexual favor,” he mumbled to himself as he took the book from Riley and scanned the page.
“She’s not a Dhampir. Or a vampire or a witch or a succubus or any other fairy tale monster you can think of, Riley. She’s probably like me, a little odd, somewhat psychic. And very, very smart. That’s all.”
“A little odd?” Riley snorted. Ignoring him, Eli pressed on.
“You were supposed to be looking for that- thing I saw.” Riley took the book and shoved it into his bag and sighed heavily.
“I bookmarked some things on the computer,” Eli stood and watched as Riley clicked through renderings of demons and mythical creatures. A few images reminded Eli of the creature, but none were a true match. Once they had exhausted all of those, he poured through the stacks of books that lined the counter. It was late afternoon before they had finally given up the ghost.
“It’s like a combination of things, but I don’t see anything even close.” Eli grumbled in exasperation. “Now what?” Riley rubbed his tired eyes, yawned and was closing the last book when Eli’s telephone sprang to life. With his own tired eyes burning, he reached blindly for the cordless. Before he could say anything, Grace had already begun to talk.
“Where are you? Everyone’s here and we’re starting dinner service in exactly forty-five minutes. You better hustle your ass if you want crabs in your gumbo or a stuffed bell pepper.” The line went dead.
“Now, we go eat,” he said, stretching his tired back. “Before we miss the gumbo.”
***
Celeste leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, her legs stretched out casually before her. “What do you already know?” She asked Julian.
“We know that Briar found you at the Detective’s home in the wee hours of the morn.” Julian mimicked Briar’s Irish brogue. She rolled her eyes, fucking Briar, she should have known. Before he’d become an investigator for the Collective, Briar had been part of Julian’s pack and blood brother. The bond between them was eternal.
“The Detective is Elijah Cain. He and his partner were assigned to investigate Nicky’s disappearance from the funeral home. I was questioned because I was Nicky’s physician of record. He has some pre and post cognitive abilities as well as being an empath and a telepath.”
“That doesn’t explain you being at his house, now does it?” Javier teased, and she shot him a warning glance. She could throttle the two of them. She’d always questioned seating the two biggest troublemakers together on that dais, but who was she to question the mighty High Regent.
“As you know, Jonas asked that I identify who or what had embraced Nicky without the Collective’s knowledge. From the photos that were provided by my contact in the forensics office, I could tell that this was something – unusual. It’s not a vampire like we first suspected, but it’s not anything I can place either. Knowing that Det. Cain has post-cognitive ability I asked him to help me by going to the scene of the crime and walking through. I didn’t understand just how powerful he was at the time. I didn’t understand that he doesn’t just sense or see what happened before, he has the unique ability to actually go back to another time in a given location, and it’s some sort of astral projection. We had some encounters before where we shared an electric attraction, I guess is the term. What we failed to realize is that when someone like me has any contact with someone like him, when his emotions are so close to the surface, we can share memories. The sheer force of his emotions, the pain and terror, it was so intense that it caused an electrical surge, knocking out transformers and nearly setting a parking garage on fire. It was too much for me and I blacked out. Det. Cain and his partner took me to his home to recover.”
They shared looks of confusion and wariness, all except Adrian, Julian and a titillated Javier. They were watching her waiting. Only Adrian had a knowing look in his eye. He stared at her then smiled. “Something else happened, didn’t it?” Adrian asked. She cursed under her breath; leave it
to a lust demon to pick up on what she was trying to hide.
“No.” She hadn’t even finished the word before Adrian stood before her. He’d flashed out of his seat to come stand before her, his arms folded across his chest as he studied her. Slowly, he circled her chair, then reached out and grasped her chin, turning her head from left to right, inspecting her profile, before staring long and hard into her bright turquoise eyes. She tried to pull away but his grasp tightened. He leaned closer, his nose nearly touching hers as he stared into her unblinking eyes. When her bright blue eyes flashed silver briefly, he smiled triumphantly and released her.
“My, my, my.” He tisked and waved a finger at her before going back to seat. “Technically, she hasn’t had sex with him,” he announced, and CeCe felt her face grow hot from embarrassment. “But if she’s sees him again that technicality will become nonexistent. Our little princess has finally found a mate.”
Julian leaned back with a self-satisfied smirk on his contemptuous lips, his arms folded across his chest.
“So you chose a human.” Sophia cleared her throat at Julian’s sardonic tone. “Pardon Sophia, a mortal, to be your mate. You have had your choice of anyone in the Collective. You could have had kings, gods, me and you choose a mere man. What a disappointment you are, Celeste. What do you have to say for yourself, Tanrıça?” Julian used his native Turkish tongue to taunt her with the title she abhorred, Goddess.
She met his stare, her eyes faded from vibrant turquoise to gun metal as she leveled him with a gaze.
“He is not what you think he is,” she said in a low steady tone. “He’s not merely a man.”
Adrian clapped his hands together in excitement. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
He laughed and Celeste looked at him out of the corner of her eye, her lips curling into a knowing smile. Adrian knew. He was a demon after all; he knew things the others didn’t.
The click- click-click of Sophia’s knitting needles stopped abruptly as she focused on Celeste over her glasses.
The First to Fall: A Fallen Novel (The Fallen Series) Page 16