Fire: The Elementals Book One

by Gilbert, L. B.

Diana snorted, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Alfreds have high overhead, and I travel light. Always on the move. I bet Alfred would hate that,” Diana said pointedly.

  “Not if Alfred was used to being on the move. I bet there’s some that could adapt,” he added in a neutral tone.

  But Diana didn’t want to picture life with Alec on the road. It was a tempting image, but it would never work out. She and her sisters lived a solitary existence for a reason.

  “Alec, you’ll get bored—or frustrated. In no time, you’d want to go back to your books and scrolls. This life is hard,” she said, her brows drawn together. “Much harder than you think. You haven’t seen anything yet. You haven’t been sent to catch a killer but not known who he was until he killed again. You haven’t been there literally seconds too late. Sometimes we have to let people die. Wars happen, and we can’t stop them. They are part of our nature and Hers. And to be frank, I’m not Doctor Who and you aren’t, by even the most generous standards, companion material,” she said, throwing down her napkin.

  Alec narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know what I can or can’t handle. I’ve been around for a long time, Diana. I’ve seen a lot of things in some pretty twisted corners of the world. I’m not only about books and scrolls—although a lot of useful information can be gleaned from those. Besides, I prefer to think of myself as an Alfred-Boy Wonder hybrid. I can handle your lifestyle, and I want to help you. I’ve been helpful on this case, haven’t I? And given your caseload, couldn’t you use the help?”

  Diana ran her eyes over him. She had seen this coming but still didn’t know what to do.

  “Getting used to a companion, even in the short-term, is a little too much. Being here with you now is weird enough. Besides, you’re the heir to the most powerful coven in North America. Someday you will have to actually settle down and run it.”

  Alec leaned in quickly. “I don’t have any plans to run the coven. I never have. It’s starting to sink in with my father that it’s not going to happen. The leadership isn’t necessarily a hereditary position. There is precedent for declaring a non-familial heir. And you’re starting to like having me around, aren’t you?” he finished, giving her his most charming smile.

  She angled her head and looked at him sideways. “Look, you’re already on this case even though I never work with anyone. And the fact that you’re not even a little bit singed is enough of a miracle. Let’s just focus on finding those kids, okay?”

  “You’re right,” he said, resigned. “One thing at a time. We can start with the list of jewelry stores that carry antique pins.”

  “All of those places will be closed by now.”

  Alec smiled at her. “For the right price, any store is open.”

  “You can’t throw money at everything, you know. It won’t always work.”

  “I know it won’t. Usually when it matters the most. I learned that a long time ago. But it certainly makes the everyday stuff go far more smoothly.”

  Diana sniffed. “We have money, but we don’t use it like that. We have our own way.”

  “And I’m a fan. All that violence really does it for me,” he teased. “But sometimes money greases the wheel, and given the nature of this case, that can’t hurt. Why don’t we get going? Are you planning on any Denon-related espionage tonight?”

  “No need,” she said, ignoring the innuendo.

  “All right, then, let’s knock off a few of these jewelers and antique dealers. I had the sketch faxed to similar places up and down the coast, and we can expand that if we don’t get any leads.”

  “Okay,” she grumbled. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

  “Thanks. That is so sweet,” he said wryly.

  Hours later, after posing as newlyweds for five different jewelers and antique dealers, Diana was looking for any way to escape. Not only was the search fruitless, but pretending to be part of a happy couple with Alec was disconcerting.

  Diana would have set a building on fire before admitting that playing Alec’s other half felt completely natural. There hadn’t been a trace of awkwardness as they chatted about fictional wedding plans and Art Deco rings and brooches. None of the dealers had heard of the beetle brooch, which Diana said was a family heirloom that had been stolen from her. Her fake groom’s evident wealth ensured helpful answers from the dealers. She hadn’t been able to detect any subterfuge.

  They gave up soon after the last antique shop, where the motherly dealer started naming their future children. Alec dropped Diana off after that. She entered the apartment alone, emotionally drained. After showering, she went to bed without checking her messages and slept like a rock.

  The next morning, Diana woke up with a renewed sense of purpose. She gave herself a pep talk, one that dealt mostly with Alec. And she told herself in no uncertain terms that they would find the missing children.

  She checked for messages, hoping for good news. Unfortunately, there was nothing from Logan and only a worried message from Gia saying the Mother had remained silent.

  The last message filled Diana with anxiety. Was the Mother going to sleep again? If so, it would be the start of a period of strife and turmoil for all of her children.

  Or maybe it’s us? Are we being punished? Have we not served her as well as others in the past?

  Diana silently admitted that she hadn’t, not really. This was her case, but she hadn’t tried to contact the Mother herself because she had been afraid of failing. It was cowardly.

  On impulse, she turned on the television and scanned all the news channels. It didn’t take long to find what she was looking for. A large wildfire was currently burning in Colorado. In the height of summer, it was common enough, though she felt more than a twinge of guilt for being happy about it.

  The buzzer distracted her from making plans. The doorman had a package for her. A few minutes later, she was opening a large box marked with the distinctive Broussard crest. Two smaller boxes were inside. Opening the larger of the two, she was greeted by the smell of fresh warm bagels.

  Taking them out of the box, she found an assortment, including her favorite, poppy seed. While she toasted it, she pulled out a bag that held several types of schmear. Humming a random tune, she picked a salmon one and applied a generous amount on her bagel.

  Nibbling on her treat, she pulled out the smaller box. Inside, she found a phone—a weird industrial looking one. She had just pulled it out to take a closer look when it started ringing in her hand.

  “Err, hello, Morpheus?”

  “I was going for that!” Alec said, laughing. “Did I time it right?”

  “Yeah, you did. But you shouldn’t be giving me a phone unless you are prepared to send it to that big electronics graveyard in the sky. And why is it so bulky? Are you recycling your old phones? Is this from the eighties?”

  “No, it’s not.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I was checking with my contacts in the defense industry. This is the latest prototype they are developing for generals deployed to the Middle East. It’s been adapted for the heat of the desert. It should last you a bit longer than those portables you’ve been burning through. All my contact numbers are pre-programmed for your convenience. There’s also a special app that features a list of top rated restaurants, and it’s global. It even has a search feature for places that do take-out.”

  “According to you, every place does take-out,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “For the right incentive, they do,” he insisted. “You should try it sometime.”

  “Throwing money at something is your thing. I’ll leave it to you,” she said, taking a bite of her bagel.

  He laughed. “Knowing when and where to throw it is a skill I’ve honed over the years,” he said before getting serious. “Besides, the police do it all the time in smaller amounts.”

  “Because they have to. We do things differently,” she reminded him.

  “I’m sure your ways are best, but we shouldn’t leave any stone unturned whi
le we lack leads.”

  “You mean while my tracking ability keeps failing.” Diana said in a self-recriminatory tone.

  “No,” he said forcefully. “You can’t blame yourself. These guys have found some way to evade your ability.” He paused. “It’s time to try something else. Think outside the box. Any ideas, chief?”

  “I have one. It’s time to do something I’ve been avoiding. I shouldn’t have let Gia make the attempt to contact with the Mother without trying myself.”

  “You’re going to contact her? How?”

  “I’m going to start a fire. A big one.”

  “How big a fire?” he asked.

  “Big. And I’ll need enough fuel to keep it going for a while.” She was silent for a moment and then spoke before she could change her mind. “You can help. You can keep it going long enough to complete the ceremony.”

  She decided not to spring the other details on him until it was time.

  “There’s a ceremony?” Alec asked excitedly.

  “I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, I need to find a place with a fire pit or a really big fireplace. Bigger than the one here,” she said.

  “Well. . .there is a rather large one in the coven house. We used to observe the tradition of burning a Yule log, a custom from the old country,” he offered.

  Diana’s insides curdled. “That sounds like a terrible idea. I don’t think I’m a welcome guest there right now. Have you even told your parents you’re working with me?” she asked, trying to hide her horrified reaction.

  “Not exactly,” he admitted. “Being over two centuries old means I don’t have to check in with my parents all the time. I told them I was working on the children’s disappearances and not much more. Going into detail is generally unproductive when dealing with members of my house. It slows things down. And I think we should go in daylight. I keep track of the day servants’ movements pretty closely. I’ve got tracking devices on all of them.”

  “You did what?” she said, genuinely surprised. “How politically incorrect of you.”

  “I’m actually lucky that I thought of it first,” Alec said wryly. “Everyone spies on everyone else in the coven. But most of the coven isn’t well versed in technology, so I’m still managing to stay ahead of the curve. I can ensure the staff stays away by asking for a lot of errands. How long do you need?”

  “That’s not really up to me.” Diana pursed her lips. “It could take hours. Do you still want to try it there?”

  “Is there a better option? Do you know of a nearby hotel with a really big fireplace we can rent for the day?”

  “No. Do you?” she asked.

  “Not offhand. Do you want me to start looking for one?”

  Diana was conflicted. It wasn’t like she was afraid of going back to the coven house. But going back there after she had terrorized his parents made her feel guilty. That feeling was a first for her, and she blamed Alec. If she hadn’t gotten to like him as a friend, then she wouldn’t care if his parents were afraid of her. But they were likely to be asleep the whole time, unless her attempt took too long. In which case a confrontation was inevitable.

  “No,” she said finally. “The coven house is fine, but if it takes a while then your parents are going to wake up to the bogeyman.”

  “They don’t think of you as the bogeyman anymore. These days it’s more like Godzilla terrorizing Tokyo.”

  “Great. Serin’s going to give me a really long lecture about diplomacy again.”

  “Tell her not to bother. My parents haven’t been able to see past their own interests for a long while. I actually think meeting you has been good for them. It’s shaken them out of their complacency. Maybe they’ll pay greater attention to what the coven members are doing from now on.”

  “Well, I’ll tell Serin you said that. She takes diplomacy very seriously.”

  “Do that,” Alec murmured huskily before pausing. In the distance a door closed. “Listen, I’m going to send the servants off and get back to you when it’s all clear. We should start sooner rather than later.”

  “What if you get caught being up during daylight hours?”

  “The oldest among us can stay awake, but they have to stay indoors. If we’re disturbed I’ll lie and say I’ve gained that ability. I’ve always been advanced,” he said without a shred of humility.

  Amused by his arrogance, she told him to go ahead and make his plans.

  24

  Diana arrived at the coven house within the hour, careful to park her bike out of sight. She walked to the side of the building, puzzling over a Yule log tradition that required the construction of a fireplace larger than her. Especially one built by a group that was so flammable.

  It takes all kinds, she thought, knocking on a side door. It swung open to reveal Alec waiting inside.

  “Did you get rid of the servants?” she asked.

  He nodded. “They are currently running around town trying to find some information on the beetle pin or the woman who wore it. I told them you would come back if they didn’t find it,” he added with a grin. “I thought multitasking would be the most efficient way to go about this. Come on in.”

  With a smirk, Diana stepped inside. The irony of being invited inside by a vampire was not lost on her.

  Alec led her through a hallway that opened onto a grand foyer in dark wood tones, with lots of genuine antiques and expensive-looking paintings scattered about. She stopped to peer at a landscape in a vaguely familiar style.

  He stopped, too. “It’s a Monet,” he said, pointing to the signature. “One unknown to the public. He painted it on commission for the coven.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she murmured.

  “The coven makes it their business to find future acclaimed artists when they’re still up and coming. They commission private works that others aren’t allowed to see. There’s actually quite a number of works from artists that did not stand up to the test of time up in the attic.”

  “Seems like a waste,” she said, following him.

  He turned back. “Well, some of the ones of middling value may have been donated to certain charities,” he said in an innocent tone. “Anonymously, of course.”

  Her lips twitched. “How generous of your parents.”

  “Yes, well, sometimes they are so generous they can’t keep track of their donations.”

  This time she did smile as they walked past the grand staircase and took the corridor leading to other ground floor rooms. From the hallway, she could see a bit of each richly appointed chamber. They were furnished with Persian rugs and antiques from all over the world, although there was a strong preference for Europe.

  The Broussards were clearly sentimental about the old country, and they chose to surround themselves with only the best from home.

  Alec led her into a large parlor that adjoined the ballroom where she’d made her grand entrance. It ran down the entire length of the neighboring room, but was only a quarter of its width.

  Silk and velvet covered armchairs and sofas were scattered in regular intervals. Figurines in jade and onyx, as well as several framed pictures, decorated the tops of delicate tables, the kind with spindly legs that didn’t look strong enough to support them. In the central portion of the room, there was a massive fireplace running along the back wall. A huge set of double doors were meant to open onto the ballroom so the guests could see the blaze.

  Diana’s attention was caught by one of the pictures. Picking up the heavy gilt frame, a corner of her mouth turned up as she examined the image.

  It was a Victorian-era daguerreotype with an upside down vamp hanging from a chandelier like it was a trapeze. There were others of the same vamp posing in his finest clothing on top of the Egyptian pyramids. The one on the side table in front of the fireplace pictured an unknown male vampire in full formal dress on one of those eagle gargoyles on the Chrysler building. He was balanced on one hand, tipping his hat.

  “The pictures are part
of a long-running joke,” Alec said, noting her interest. “The old wives’ tale about vampires not having a reflection is partly true. We don’t have a reflection in daylight, as you know, only at night. That’s one of the mysteries of our kind I wanted to solve and never could. But we can be photographed, day or night as long as there is no flash to blind us. When this was discovered, there was an explosion of vampire photography. It was a huge fad for a while.”

  “That is both weird and amusing. Mostly weird,” she said, studying the picture. A thought occurred to her. “Do you have a reflection now? In the daytime?” she asked, studying the other photographs.

  Alec was arranging the kindling in the fireplace. He hadn’t been kidding. It was massive and would suit her needs nicely.

  “Yes, I do. I didn’t know the ritual would have that side effect. It was never mentioned in any of the records I found on past Daywalkers. Maybe because there weren’t as many mirrors in homes back then and it wasn’t as much of an issue. But it is now. If there’s any light outside, any at all, I have to stay far away from mirrors if there is even a small chance another Supe is around. Or anyone who might recognize me,” he finished in a half-hearted grumble.

  He was about to strike a match when she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “No need.”

  “Of course,” he said, backing away. “Why exactly did we need so much fuel? It didn’t occur to me earlier when we talked but can’t you sustain a fire indefinitely?”

  Definitely a very smart man.

  “Yeah, about that. See, I need you to keep the fire going while I’m gone.”

  “Gone? Where are you going? Are you missing something you need for your ceremony?”

  Diana turned away from the fireplace. “No. I meant I am going away. I’m going to use this fire to transport myself to a bigger one. There’s a pretty big wildfire in Colorado right now. I saw it on the news. If the Mother is looking anywhere, then that’s where her attention will be turned.”

  She paused. “It’s kind of a big if,” she admitted. “If the Mother is falling asleep, then there’s not much that will rouse her. I need you to keep the fire burning on this end so I can get back. It won’t sustain itself once I leave. Which is why you need to keep it burning here.”