by Dawn Ibanez
His dazed eyes opened, and he groaned. “Oh Gods, you really are death, aren’t you?” he asked.
Gus grabbed a towel from a near shelf. “You wish I was here to kill you.” She placed the towel under his head and brushed his hair away from his face. “Mel’s calling a med unit. I need to know who was back here with you.”
Shawn touched his head wound and moaned in pain. “The kid was here. The one you were looking after when you died.”
Gus looked at the door behind her and cursed. When the sniper attacked at the hospital, and when she fought in the lobby of Sector Central, she went out of her way to protect only one person.
Gabriel.
Gus grabbed another towel and pressed it against the side of Shawn’s head. “Gabriel was working here? You hired him?”
“Needed something to do. Wanted to know more about you.” Shawn closed his eyes and his body started to go limp.
“Wake up,” she snapped. When his eyes opened, she stayed in his line of site. “Do not go to sleep. I won’t explain to your uncle how you died in my arms.”
Shawn’s eyes continued to look around the room. “Hated he was so weak. Wanted to learn to be more like you,” he said softly.
Gus nodded as Shawn rambled about Gabriel. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone. She hated the idea of making the call to Elijah. But he loved Gabriel like a son. He would need to know.
Chapter 23
Elijah and Edmund looked at their respective phones when they both started to ring. Elijah frowned when he saw the number Augustina had been assigned. He answered it and noticed Edmund stepped away to answer his own device. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
“We should have looked after him better,” she said.
Elijah frowned as he went to his desk. He activated his laptop and started a locator program. “Who are you talking about Augustina?”
“They took Gabriel.”
Elijah sat in his chair and looked at his computer. There was a blinking light that said Augustina was in her friend’s bar, where she’d said she was taking her sister.
“I think they took him because they think he’s special.”
The boy was special. At least to Elijah. He frowned as another alert came to his computer. It was a file on Lindo Cartigo. Elijah clicked on the notification and frowned when a picture of the man appeared on his screen. “Fucking hell,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?”
“His father is a Fae.” Elijah went back to the locator program and punched in the code that would specifically search for Gabriel. “A man named Lindo Cartigo, or that’s what he went by nearly three hundred years ago.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he dated my mother, and the picture I’m looking at could be Gabriel in another ten years.”
Augustina cursed and there was more background noise on her end of the phone. “Shawn was hurt in the commotion. No one in the front of the bar could hear anything. And there’s a handful of trainees here. I want one of them to go with Shawn. Do I have your okay to order your people around?”
Elijah didn’t care what she did. But others in the sector could take issue with her acting as if she were in command. Especially with Dominic around. “Yes. Do whatever you need to make your friends safe. I’m running a trace. I’ll let you know when I have a location on Gabriel.”
She was silent for a moment. “Don’t try to keep me out of this, Eli,” she said quietly.
Her nickname for him struck him in his heart. “I need to avenge my mother. And they took a boy that I consider my son.”
“It’s my job to take Lilliana down. You want your vengeance, and I’ll deliver it. I promise.”
He heard the sharp breath she took as soon as she said the words. Elijah closed his eyes and lowered his head. “I’m coming to the bar. Stay there. We’ll do this together.”
“That’s fine,” she said before disconnecting the call.
Elijah looked up and saw Edmund frowning at him. “They have Gabriel.”
“The man you were looking for is Fae.”
Elijah nodded. “Gabriel has Christina’s coloring, but he could be twins with his father.” He pulled up the picture again. “I won’t be able to look at her if something happens to him.”
Edmund nodded. “I’ll get our weapons. The tracer should have him by then.”
Elijah pushed away from his desk and stood. “I need for you to call Dominic. He’ll need to know what’s going on, especially with dawn approaching. If we’re dealing with a crazed woman with light magic and now access to all corners of the Tower and the estate, he may not be safe here.”
Edmund reached out and touched Elijah’s arm. They sank into the shadows of the desk and reemerged next to a shipping crate in their warehouse. “We’ve already made precautions. It’s only a matter of getting him to his safehouse, which can be done in moments.”
Elijah nodded as he quickly found the case he wanted. “He’ll be furious we didn’t include him.” He opened the case and found a golden hilted rapier.
“He’ll be even angrier when he finds out who wants to guard him while under lockdown.”
Elijah didn’t care who looked after his liege. As long as Dominic survived, that was all that mattered to him. Elijah picked up a belt of throwing knives and clutched them in his hand. “Check the tracer. Call me with Gabriel’s location.”
Edmund frowned but nodded. He sank into the shadows again, and Elijah started to run. He easily gained speed as he left the estate grounds and ran down to the city proper. It took him no time to get to Shawn’s bar. A medical unit was there and administering blood to the man. As they readied him for transport, a young female cadet saluted him.
“Lord Elijah. The Lady Consort went out the back door. She said she was following something there.”
Elijah looked at the bar and saw Mel talking with their other friend, Henry. She patted the large man’s shoulder and gestured to Elijah. When he nodded, Mel left her friend and crossed the floor to the vampire. “How is he?” Elijah asked.
Mel frowned. “Shawn’s pretty banged up. They won’t have a full diagnosis until the doctors look at him. Henry’s blaming himself. I don’t know what to say to get through to him.” She pushed her hair away from her face. “I said that I would help where I can. I’m going to go protect Dominic. He’s vulnerable, and for all we know, he could be a target too.”
Elijah frowned. “Will you two be alright alone?” he asked. “I wouldn’t want you to be tempted to destroy him if he says the wrong thing again.”
Mel shook her head. “I told him I’d send those pictures to Gideon if he said anything else.” She then tucked her hair behind her ears. “We both know what’s important. He’ll stay protected, and I’ll be out of the way so Gus can concentrate on this woman. When everything is said and done, I can switch to green paint balls.”
Elijah nodded as his phone rang. He pulled the device out of his pocket and saw Edmund’s number. “You’ve found him?” he asked.
“There’s a signal coming from Sullivant Corridor. But the core temperature of the tracer is going down.”
Elijah nodded at Mel before walking towards the back of the bar. “That leaves a number of possibilities. None of them good.”
“I’ll get Mel to Dominic then I will find Christine. She will need to know what’s going on.”
“Take her to the estate. She can either have her old rooms, or the spare apartment until this is over.” He disconnected the call as he reached the back door of the bar. He looked out at the slush covered ground and saw Augustina leaning over a puddle of bloody snow. “What have you found?”
She looked at him. “I’m going to have fun training him,” she said with a small grin. She held up her hand and a flame lit inches above her hand.
Elijah saw the gleam of a blood-covered paring knife in the puddle. “He fought back.”
“And he got this one good.” She stood up and rubbed at her nose. “I’m u
nderstanding why we’re called Sanguis,” she said. As the flame went out in her hand, she sniffed the air. “It’s like we’re bloodhounds. I can tell the difference between human and Fae blood with ease. That doesn’t smell like either, so I’m assuming it’s vampire.”
He nodded as she approached him. “I’ve noticed you have a thing for smells. Is it worse now?” he asked.
She tilted her head from side to side. “It’s stronger. But it’s nothing I can’t get through.” She then looked at the sky. “I won’t be able to find them before dawn. I don’t want to depend on whatever traces of my blood you still have in your system.”
He frowned at her. “I will not stay back in Sector Central while you put yourself in danger.”
Her eyes rolled. “I wouldn’t ask you to. You said we’re in this together, remember?” She stood in front of him and lifted her wrist to his mouth. “Take a swig, and we can get this party started.”
Elijah touched the side of her face with one hand and her wrist in the other. “You are definitely going to make my life interesting, Augustina,” he said before biting into her wrist.
She leaned against him and leaned her head on his shoulder. “When we find Gabriel, I want you to take him and run,” she said softly. “I’ll finish this.”
He swallowed his second mouthful of her blood and sealed the puncture wounds with his tongue. He kissed her wrist and held her close. “Let’s find Gabriel first. Then we can decide who can cut off this Lilliana’s head.”
Augustina didn’t say anything as he lifted her into his arms. “Hold me tight. I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said before taking off with her.
He heard the air leave her lungs as he started to run through the streets. It was rare for him to try to carry anyone while he ran at his full speed. The last time he tried to carry anyone this way, they spent three days in the hospital.
“Air magic?” she gasped into his ear.
Elijah held her tighter as he jumped over a coming car. “We all have to have our secrets,” he told her.
She pressed a kiss against his neck. “You’re going to make my life just as interesting, Eli.” Augustina just started to relax in his arms when her body suddenly went rigid. “I smell something.” She growled as he slowed his run. “I feel like a damned dog,” she muttered as they came to a stop.
He set her feet onto the icy pavement. “There are worse fates, Love.”
She looked at him for a moment. “I won’t let you down,” she said softly.
Elijah shook his head. “That is not the foundation of our relationship.” He looked around the area and growled. “We will discuss this later.”
Augustina turned around and took in the environment as well. They stood in the center of a four-way intersection. She drew her swords from her hip. “Lilliana! Come out here.”
The shadows around them seemed to come to life. Whispers grew in volume until they were deafening screams. Augustina looked pained. Elijah frowned as the air around them shifted. He jumped back and gasped when a figure crashed into his consort.
Augustina held both of her swords up against the black haired Fae’s scythe. Elijah took a step, and a bullet struck the pavement at his feet. He looked up and saw the glint of multiple gun barrels aimed at him. Elijah turned and ran to the nearest building. He jumped up the stairs, clearing floors in seconds. He drew his rapier when he reached the 30th floor. As he ripped open the door, a gun barrel turned to him. Elijah ran forward and made easy work of cutting down the gunman. He looked through the window and saw his next targets.
He ran to the roof of the building he was in and jumped from roof to roof. He concentrated on finding those who would do his consort harm as she fought with Lilliana. He didn’t need to listen to their exchange. She promised to bring him justice for his mother, and he would have faith in her word. Elijah cut down another pair of marksmen and held another pinned to the floor.
“Where is the boy?” he growled.
A slow grin crossed the man’s face. “You’ll never find him this way,” he said.
Elijah slit the man’s throat. He stood and looked out of the window again. Augustina was still fighting. But if he were honest, she looked as if she were dancing. Every move was precise and with purpose. His people were going to benefit from the horror of her time in the fighting pits when she was younger.
His phone ringing brought him out of his thoughts. He looked at the device and frowned at the number. “Who is this?”
“Elijah, help me,” Gabriel panted. “They did something to me.”
Elijah moved away from the window. “Where are you?”
Gabriel continued to pant. Elijah went into the hallway and ducked back into the room he just left. A trio of heavily armed guards were walking up the stairs. “I’m in a basement. It stinks like that perfume I got Mom that one time. We wanted to surprise her, and I broke it by accident.”
Elijah sheathed his sword and closed his eyes. “I’ll be there in a moment, Gabriel. I swear it.” He disconnected the call and put his phone in his pocket. The door crashed in and Elijah pushed his hair back from his face. “I am looking for my son,” he said coldly.
The gunmen all raised their weapons and Elijah raised his hand. He called his magic to him and watched as they were all thrown back into the hallway. He didn’t care if bones broke and organs ruptured. Gabriel was an innocent boy. And now that innocence was lost.
He would make sure every last member of this cult suffered his wrath if Gabriel didn’t survive whatever they did to him.
*****
Gus side-stepped another swing of her scythe. “You should have found a more efficient weapon.” She swung at Lilliana’s knees and sliced her across her thigh. Gus spun out of the way and gasped when she saw the blade barely miss her again.
“Cutting you to pieces is going to be fun.” Lilliana limped back and smirked as she pointed to the hair on the ground.
Gus’s eyes focused on her lost hair. A smile then crossed her face. “I’ve been meaning to cut it.” She rushed forward and pressed her attack. Lilliana was skilled with her scythe, but she wasn’t in Gus’s league. Especially now that she was fully Fae and a lot harder to injure. Gus came up behind her and sliced her across the back. When Lilliana stumbled away from her, Gus held up her blade.
“Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
Lilliana screamed and the scythe in her hands vanished. Gus stumbled to the side as she barely dodged a coming swing of the blade. She dove to the floor and rolled out of the way when the scythe reappeared over her spinning midair.
“You think you’re equal to me?” Lilliana screeched. “You think to pay me back? For what? For trying to take you out of a miserable existence?”
Gus rolled again and summersaulted back. She felt the metal of a car at her back and stood. “You tried to kill my sister. I won’t let that pass.”
“Your sister,” Lilliana spat. “I wonder what she’s going to think when she realizes the lies the Court will tell.” Her scythe disappeared again, and a whip formed in her hands.
Gus’s eyes narrowed as she recognized the whip as Mary’s.
Lilliana smiled as she circled the whip over her head. “I wonder what you’re going to do when you realize you’re going to be nothing more than a dog for a false queen.”
Gus moved forward and stopped when she lashed out with the whip. “I’m not going to get into a debate with you,” she said. “I have only one job.”
“Yes. Bring me in for punishment. The nobles will think another two centuries will be enough to forgive my crimes.”
Gus laughed. She shook her head and threw one of her blades to the side. The scythe reappeared and crashed to the ground. She held out her hand and allowed her magic to gather in her palm. “With permission of Queen Titania, witnessed by General Rhiannon Vega and the Royal Court of the Seelie, you have been sentenced to death for crimes against the races.”
The aloof expression Lilliana wore morphed into something ugly. She
rushed forward and attacked with her bare hands. The whip she held dropped to the ground forgotten.
Gus dropped her own swords and grinned as she looked at Lilliana. “Let’s see what you’re made of, Ripper.”
Chapter 24
Elijah reached the basement floor of the perfume shop across from where Augustina and Lilliana were still fighting. He pushed aside his concern for his consort when he saw that the only injury she seemed to sustain was to her hair. He turned a corner and saw a pair of guards in front of a door and frowned. Elijah calmly stepped into the hallway and adjusted his suit jacket.
“I’m only here for the boy,” he said.
One of the guards he recognized. Elijah’s eyes narrowed as he looked at one of the women from his Glaive. “You’re involved in this madness?” he asked.
She raised her chin in defiance. “You can’t say you didn’t expect this,” she said. “Not when you’re playing fetching boy to Warren’s attacker.”
Elijah shook his head. “And because you think Warren is an innocent, you assist in the murders of no less than eight people. Then you kidnap an innocent boy? A boy that wanted nothing more than to be a member of the Glaive? Like you.”
Her lips curled. “The Abomination is getting his wish.”
Elijah wouldn’t lose his temper. If she wanted to betray his trust and throw her life away, so be it.
Her eyes widened as Elijah rushed forward. She looked down and saw his hand in her chest.
Elijah turned at the other vampire and set the magic he held back loose. He watched as the winds wrapped around the vampire and tore him apart. Elijah stepped back and winds blew the doors open. His heart sank when he saw Gabriel curled up on the floor trembling. He went to the boy’s side and pushed his hair away from his face.