by Holly Evans
“We’re here to speak with Saeda about the disappearance of her boyfriend, Darijo,” Dante said.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “She said she had broken up with that purist shit.”
I hadn’t been expecting the venom in her tone, although it wasn’t surprising, given what Dante had told me about the Olapireta.
We didn’t say anything as she looked between us and back over her shoulder before she finally nodded and ushered us inside. She followed us closely and kept glancing at the sheaths on my thighs. Corvid shifters were supposed to be remarkably good at seeing through glamours and such. I wondered if she saw the glint of my daggers in the sunlight flooding in from the large window in front of us.
“Saeda, they wish to speak to you about that purist asshole,” she said to a teenage girl with honey-coloured eyes and an hourglass figure many women would kill for.
The girl rolled her eyes at her mother, who walked away to the kitchen, where she watched us.
“Do you know what happened to Darijo?” Saeda asked.
“Offer them a drink! Be a good host!” the mother squarked.
“We’re fine, thank you,” I said, holding up my hand and glaring at the mother.
Dante’s thumb moved in a small circle on my lower back, drawing my attention briefly back to the closeness of him.
“No, we were hoping you could tell us a little more about him and his connections to the Olapireta,” Dante said.
Saeda sighed and dropped down onto the large heather-grey sofa next to her.
“They were assholes. I wouldn’t be surprised if they killed him,” she said bitterly.
“Why would they kill him?” I asked.
“Because he dared sleep with an impure bloodline,” she said with a curl of her lip.
I glanced to Dante. Would they really kill their own child over that?
“Did you know all of the missing people are purists? Maybe they’re just cleaning up their bloodlines,” Saeda said.
She didn’t seem too upset to have lost Darijo. Maybe they weren’t as in love as the father thought.
“He was terrified of his father, and his mom was planning on escaping. They were tired of the bullshit, the awful thoughts and the restrictions. They couldn’t knowingly interact with anyone who wasn’t deemed pure, and they had to redo this blood rite once a year to prove their ongoing commitment to the cause. His mom had a nice cottage she was fleeing to in southern France. They only had one more week left before they were free. She just had to tie up some loose ends; maybe his dad killed him to keep her in line. She’s from a very old, very pure blood line.” Saeda’s eyes glittered with unshed tears. “They’re vile people. The Council should do more to remove them from existence.”
“The Council is in a difficult position. A balance must be struck,” Dante said flatly.
The increased pressure from his hand suggested he was as frustrated with the situation as Saeda was. The Olapireta were a dangerous fringe group who did a lot of harm, and yet the Council was sitting around talking about balance. I despised politics and all the hand waving bullshit that came with it. Sometimes, you just had get your hands dirty and remove a problem the old-fashioned way. Some apples were too rotten to risk keeping with the rest of the bunch, or something.
“Is there anywhere Darijo could be hiding?” Dante asked.
“Yes, but I’ve already checked there. I go there every day, and there’s no sign of him,” the tears streamed down her cheeks.
“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” she said between sobs.
I was at a loss. I didn’t know whether to comfort her, and if so how did I do that? Was that even appropriate?
Dante crouched down by the sofa and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“It is not your fault. We will do what we can to bring him back to you,” he said firmly.
She nodded and swiped angrily at her eyes.
“Thanks.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Dante said with a nod towards the mother, who was peering around the corner from the kitchen watching us.
She smiled broadly at him before she went to her daughter and pulled her into her arms and stroked her hair. I wished my mom was still around to do that, to tell me everything was going to be ok.
Dante led me back out to the car, where I looked out the window and tried to focus on the case rather than on my missing parents. What if it was my fault they were gone?
TWENTY-EIGHT
Rather than drive back into the city, Dante pulled the car to a stop at a little pull-in complete with a couple of benches and some spindly trees for shade. They wouldn’t offer us much protection from the incoming rain, but it was nice to be able to sit and look out over the ocean.
I wandered around the small area feeling the gritty sand beneath my feet as I thought. The fact that all of the missing people were this Olapireta was clearly important… that would suggest that whoever was taking them was an enemy of the purists.
“Who hates these Olapireta?” I asked.
Dante snorted.
“The list is far too long, and I’m sure if anyone else were leading this investigation then my name would be at the top of said list.”
He sat on the small bench and stretched his long muscular legs out in front of him as he leaned back and gazed up at the increasingly dark sky with a smile on his face.
“Surely, there are some leads we can chase down in the local area?”
“I’ve already texted two reliable contacts, I’m waiting to hear back from them. Speaking of which, your phone is ringing, and I expect it’s Kane.”
I dashed back to the car and grabbed my phone.
Kane asked where we were, said he had lunch with him. I tried to describe the little pull in and hoped I hadn’t just led him miles out of his way. He laughed.
“Use your GPS on your phone.”
I wrinkled my nose. I kept that turned off. I didn’t want people tracking me easily; it seemed like a bad idea. I gave him the location from my GPS, and he hung up after saying he was only five minutes away.
“Kane’s on his way with lunch.”
Dante frowned. “He couldn’t say what he’d found over the phone?”
“What’s wrong with lunch?” I countered.
He stood and closed to distance between us, where he put his hands on my hips.
“I just think that he’s very keen on spending as much time with you as possible for someone who’s very strictly just a friend,” he said with a sly smile.
I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a dark smile. “You’re Dante Caspari. You have a reputation.”
He stepped back as though I’d just shot him. Fuck, it was supposed to be a teasing joke.
“I’m sorry, I was only teasing,” I said.
“No, you’re right. I’m half demon; of course it isn’t safe for a beautiful woman to be alone with me.”
I walked up to him and placed my hand over his heart. His blood called to me, and his bloodsong pounded in my ears. My instincts were torn simultaneously screaming at me to run and to close the small gap between us.
He ran his fingers through my hair before they paused to caress the nape of my neck.
“No one has ever had the effect on me you do, Wren Kincaid,” he said huskily.
A thrill ran through me, my heart threatening to break through my ribs, and his bloodsong only encouraged it. It wrapped around me and ran over my skin in sensual ripples.
“And what effect would that be?” I asked in what was supposed to be a calm and clinical way.
He leaned down, his lips dangerously close to mine.
“You calm my inner demon and make me feel invincible. I could take on the world when I’m with you.”
A motorbike pulled onto the dirt, and the moment was broken. I stepped away to see Kane getting off the bike, a thunderous expression on his face.
I held up my hand.
“We were just talking,” I said.
Dante had already backed away a
nd put his hands in the pockets of his pants. He was taunting Kane with a shit-eating grin.
“Just talking, huh? Maybe we should talk like that some time,” Kane said.
I had no response. Did he just say he wanted me? I’d thought for years that my feelings for him were entirely one way. Of course, I was over them, but what if, just what if he had felt the same?
“Any leads with the blood?” I asked.
“No, which means we’re poking into something people would rather we didn’t,” Kane said as he handed me a sandwich, his fingers lingering on mine.
His bloodsong washed over me, leaving me feeling at peace, as though I was where I belonged. I walked away and sat down on the bench furthest from both men to eat my sandwich.
“So, you haven’t got anything new?” Dante asked with a smirk.
“I can tell you that the community has shut down to outsiders, which means something’s going on. I’ll keep digging into it. What did you find out?”
“All of the missing people are Olapireta,” I said before I bit into the chicken sandwich.
It was really good, the chicken lightly seasoned and the bread really fresh. You don’t normally get something that good pre-made.
“As in the purists who want to wipe out people like Dante?” Kane asked.
“Yes,” Dante growled.
New bloodsongs came into my field of hearing. A trio of them with a deep thundering song that came from elemental witches. I looked up at the hillside behind us, trying to see them, but it all looked still and normal. I frowned, wondering if I was imagining it.
The heavens opened, and torrential rain started pounding the parched earth, and me. I was soaked to the bone in under a minute. The guys were too busy stoically eating their sandwiches and ignoring the rain to make any attempt at heading to the car for some relief. The bloodsongs changed pitch just before a trio of people in black clothing and blood-red masks appeared out of nowhere and charged at us.
I sighed. At least we knew we were on the right track. People in silly outfits didn’t attack you for no good reason.
Kane and Dante leapt to their feet. I unsheathed my daggers and glared at the closest person to me. They were making their way down the slope behind my bench. The other two were running at the guys. The bloodsong of the one staring me down sounded like thundering timpani, which meant they had a good bit of magic. I was hoping it wasn’t earth magic, because there were a lot of really big rocks around there.
Kane had a sword in his hands - he kept it in a pocket dimension for just such occasions - and Dante, well, he apparently had his fists. I circled around the witch who had stepped around the bench, spinning my blades while looking for a weakness in their movements. They walked carefully, their face staring straight at mine, though there weren’t any eye holes in the mask that I could see, which seemed like really poor design. Their hands were splayed at about hip level, which I took to mean they were planning on wielding magic. If I could cut off their hands, they’d be screwed. I usually preferred to go for the major arteries, but then, I didn’t usually take on witches.
My focus was on the witch who was about three long strides away from me, not close enough to dive in and attack. A rock exploded just behind me, small shards battering the backs of my legs. I gave silent thanks to Dante for insisting on taking me to Silk and Thread as the jeans kept me entirely uninjured. The ground beneath my feet began to tremble. Why did they have to be an earth witch? Why couldn’t it be a plant witch or something I could handle a little easier?
I glanced to my left where Kane and Dante were fighting their witches. I saw the small dark green bush near Kane wrap around his legs, causing him to hack at it, and thought that maybe a plant witch wouldn’t have been so great, either. A selection of small rocks shot towards my face, which was not protected. I ducked and decided to say fuck it. I ran as though running straight at the witch, knowing they’d twist away at the last second, and if they didn’t then I’d go for the throat. They spun away, a quick dance step turning them to the left, putting them in the perfect position for me to hack off their hand. They screamed in agony, and a large rock hit me in the side of the head. My whole world turned black for a second. I shook my head, trying to ignore the blood trickling down onto my lips and dripping off my jaw.
The witch stood with a bloody stump dripping on the ground. Their blood called to me. It would be so easy to grasp onto it and crush the life essence from it. I could pull the life essence and bring it into myself. I’d be healed in seconds and feel on top of the world. I pushed aside the voice that whispered those things as I saw Dante near the car punch his witch directly in the face. The witch went down like a sack of rocks. Kane was dancing around his behind the bench he and Dante had been sharing while leaping over plants that kept trying to grab onto his ankles. He ducked in and swiped at the witch, always moving, ducking, and spinning. I could have watched him fight for hours.
Rather than watch Kane, I did the sensible thing and danced around my witch, remembering Kane’s lessons to keep moving and stop them from getting a good target on me. The ground kept shifting beneath my feet, but years of ballet and sparring with Kane had given me excellent balance. I was directly face on with the witch when they lifted their hand, no doubt to throw another boulder at me. I dove in and hacked off their other hand. I went to pin them to the ground so we could interrogate them, but they vanished - in a puff of smoke, no less.
“Seriously?” I groaned.
I saw Kane’s bloodied jeans and the deep slice up his forearm. He gave me a charming smile.
“I’ll heal in no time,” he said.
“Men,” I muttered.
TWENTY-NINE
I didn’t get a chance to try and patch Kane up. Dante’s bloodsong vibrated through my bones and called to me, a sweet and dangerous serenade. I turned to see the deep orange of his eyes and the small points of horns protruding from next to his temples. I pushed aside the fear, the voice telling me to run far, far away, and walked up to him, where I placed my hands on either side of his face. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist and nuzzled his face against my neck, where his hot breath curled and formed goosebumps. He pulled me tighter to his strong, hard body.
Slowly, he relaxed, and his teeth grazed over my throat, teasing. He pulled back while holding me close, his beautiful ice blue eyes were back and there was no sign of the horns any more.
“Tell me how you do that,” he said in something between a command and a seductive whisper.
“I don’t know,” I said frowning.
His hand moved up my back and cupped my face.
“Tell me, Wren,” he pushed.
Kane shoved him from the side, forcing Dante to release me.
“She said she doesn’t know, now back off,” Kane snarled.
Dante’s face twisted into a feral smile.
“Are you challenging me, witch?”
“Both of you, back down,” I said.
They continued to stare each other down for a moment before they looked away and the tension snapped.
“I am cold, tired, and my head is starting to kill me. Now, Dante is going to take us back to our apartment, where Kane is going to fix my head, and I am going to patch up both of your injuries,” I said.
“You’re damn sexy when you’re bossy,” Dante said with a smile that sparked in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes and walked over to the car.
The clothes might have been light armour, but they were not waterproof. I began to shiver as I waited for the heater to warm up. It hadn’t felt that cold outside, but we’d been standing out in the torrential rain for a good while. The adrenaline was wearing off, and I was starting to crash hard.
“No one has been able to calm that side of me the way you can with a simple touch,” Dante said.
The rain streamed down the windscreen, a wall of water out there that the wipers could barely keep up with.
“So you’ve said,” I said as I hugged my knees to my chest tr
ying to warm up.
Dante reached across and ran his fingers up my inner wrist, his touch gloriously warm. I felt as though liquid fire spread from his touch through my blood. I closed my eyes, embracing the sensation as the cold left my bones and I began to feel human again.
“My demon side has some benefits, including fire magics,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you.”
“Are you hurt?” I asked as we began to reach the edge of the city again.
“Only a few bruises, I’m rather durable.”
I looked out the window, watching the blur of colours go by while waiting to be back in the apartment so I’d have something to focus on and talk about again.
I rushed through the city and into the apartment with Dante at my side using his bubble thing to keep us dry. That didn’t stop the water from splashing up from the ground and soaking my calves, but I couldn’t have everything. Kane was waiting for us outside of the apartment, looking soaking wet and very pissed off.
“Can you not form an umbrella?” Dante asked in a faux innocent tone.
Kane’s glare only deepened.
“You can shower here once we’ve looked at your injuries,” I said, squeezing his hand.
His face softened, only to harden again when Dante put his hand on my lower back to nudge me inside.
“So, any ideas what those people were? I mean, who wears matching outfits and masks like that?” I said before their testosterone kicked in again.
I’d never seen Kane like that with another guy. Dante laughed.
“There are quite a few different groups and organisations who feel that wearing such uniforms is… appropriate,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow. That sounded ridiculous to me. I could understand the real military, but that was for tactical purposes. Wearing a red mask with no eye-holes was anything but tactical.