An angry screech split the still air, and a red-and-white streak catapulted at Ava's face, causing her to cry out and drop the vial. The knife flashed. Droplets of blood sprayed. She flung Jane across the room, where the panda collapsed, blood matting her beautiful fur.
"You horrible vermin!" Ava screamed, her hand going to the bleeding claw marks on her face as she dropped the knife to retrieve her vial.
"Jane," Leander whispered, his throat closing over with tears he couldn't afford. He had to concentrate on Ava's next attack.
She drew her arm back just as the basement door flew back, and a subterranean, commanding voice roared out, "Hold!"
Startled, she still threw the vial, but it went wide, splashing on the wall beside Leander's head. Evil fumes rose from the liquid, seeping into his nostrils before he could think not to breathe. He had a vision of Lord Hades charging down the steps before the room tilted and spun away into the dark.
Wild God, Reticent Bull
Chapter Eleven
Things stalked him in the dark, whispering, always whispering. Just out of sight, forever in the corner of his eye, he turned and turned, unable to pinpoint where they lurked. A claw touched his arm—
Leander surged up out of the darkness, jerked into a sitting position, and struck out blindly.
"Steady, steady," a dry, deep voice said nearby. "You're safe, Leander. I swear by the holy rivers, you're safe."
The world still moved in a dizzy blur. He couldn't seem to focus even as far as his normal, fuzzy sans-glasses sight. "Charon? Did I die after all, then?"
"Did you want to?" Charon sounded concerned as one of the large blurs moved closer. "And you didn't."
"No, I… I just…" His throat was too tight. He shook his head carefully, afraid to ask the important questions.
"You'd think they would have someone more comforting on you get to tell the unconscious person everything when he wakes up duty." Charon sighed and took his hand, turning it palm up to place Leander's glasses there. "You're not dead. You're in Lord Hades's earthly home. He carried you here himself when we raided that little basement party."
"Ah." Leander put his glasses on despite the throbbing, nausea-inducing headache making itself known, and Charon came into sharper focus on a nearby chair.
"I won't torture you and make you ask things. You're still not looking well at all." Charon held up one skeletal, clawed hand and began counting off on his fingers. "Yes, Ava is in custody, pending divine judgment. Yes, my young Lord Dionysus is safe and resting in the guest room here. Yes, we've recovered the scroll and had a talk with Lady Hestia about her less-than-stellar security measures. Yes, Lady Eris has been confronted about her role in this mess, but she denies everything. Rather gleefully. And yes, Hermes and Hephaestus are working on repairing the damage to plumbing and ventilation systems—minor damage, never fear—in the library."
Those were all good things to hear, but Leander's heart lurched when he realized what Charon had omitted. "Jane?" he whispered.
"Shale of Tartarus, I'm so sorry. Of course you want to know about Jane. She's well on her way to recovery. Zack and Hermes did some repair work on her right foreleg and a gash that nicked her lung. Zack will have to give you particulars about care and such."
"Good. That's… good." Leander rubbed both hands over his face, sniffling, trying to hide the fact that he was perilously close to tears.
"There's water on the table," Charon said kindly. "I'll give you a few moments."
In a rustle of fabric and soft footsteps, Charon left the room, and Leander let himself burst into tears. It was all too much, the fear, the pain, the horror of those moments in the basement, nearly losing… so much. Nearly losing everything. His head felt even worse when he stopped sobbing, but he made himself sip the water anyway. If it came back up, it came back up. At least his throat felt a bit better.
Lord Hades came to sit with him soon after to ask gentle questions: How he had come to be in the basement? What had happened, step by step? He patted Leander's shoulder when he was finally satisfied.
"Thank you for saving my nephew. He's rather dear to me."
To me too. But Leander couldn't say that aloud to Lord Hades. He loved Dio in a desperate, yearning way, but he had no illusions. Now that the murder had been solved, Dio would have to go back to his normal life. Well, as normal as life was for the god of wine and orgies. He couldn't spend all his time shut up in a library any longer.
"Would you like to sit with him? I'll assist you if you like."
Leander swung his legs off the sofa, taking deep, careful breaths. "Yes, my lord. Yes, please."
With Lord Hades supporting him, he staggered through rooms he hardly saw until they reached a lovely bedroom appointed in deep reds and mahogany. Lying on the four-poster bed like some wounded fairy-tale prince was Dio, his dark hair spread out over the white pillowcase. The blood had been cleaned from his throat, his face, and hair, though the terrible bruise from the blow to his face had begun to purple his left cheek and temple.
"Is he… is he well, my lord?" Leander felt the tears threatening again as he eased into the wing chair beside the bed.
"Concussed, I'm afraid." Lord Hades tucked Dio's hand under the covers, a strangely paternal gesture from the cold and intimidating lord of the dead. "But he'll recover quickly, never fear. I'll leave you with him, but we're close by if you need us."
I want to hold him. To feel his breath against my skin. I want… so much. So much I can't have.
Dio twitched and shifted restlessly. His eyes flew open, and he flung a bare arm out of the covers to point at the ceiling. "Salad tongs!" he cried out. "It's not red yet! The next one's coming up at the station!"
Alarmed, Leander moved his chair closer so he could close his fingers around that wildly gesticulating hand. "Dio? You're safe now. Shh."
"It isn't a rock. It's a turtle," Dio declared, staring directly at him but obviously seeing something else.
"Dio, it's Leander." He brushed the hair gently from Dio's face and leaned in awkwardly to kiss his cheek without catching his horns on the covers.
"Oh, hey." Dio blinked at him in a confused, unable to focus sort of way. "When did you get here? Did you see my cuff links? I can't find them. Why does my face hurt?"
"I don't think you need cuff links at the moment. You're not wearing a shirt."
"I'm not?" Dio lifted the covers to stare at his chest. "Oh. Ha. Wait." He let go of the blanket, and his forehead crinkled in an endearingly pained way as he stared at Leander. "Leander? Oh, fucking roots and vines! Leander!" Dio surged up, ducking under Leander's horns to fling his arms around Leander's neck. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! You're okay! You're—" Dio hugged tighter. "Are you okay?"
"I'm well enough," Leander whispered, closing his arms around Dio gently, only then realizing they were both naked from the waist up. All sorts of inappropriate thoughts occurred to parts of his body that he pointedly ignored.
Dio pulled back to run his hands over Leander's face and head. "Your poor horns. That freaking asshole psycho."
His horns? Leander reached a hand up. Both horns were still firmly attached. But as he ran his hand down, he encountered crusted blood at the base. The left one still bled. Either the ropes had dug in there, or he had pulled hard enough to break the skin. No wonder his head ached so badly. "It's not so terrible. You came to save me. Thank you."
"Didn't do such a fabulous job, did I?" Dio grumbled as he lay back against the pillows. "Dionysus, god of hysteria and botched rescues."
"If you hadn't distracted her, I would be dead by now. And if you hadn't brought Jane, we might both be dead." Leander took another breath, on the edge of swallowing tears again. "And Jane will be well, I'm told."
"Thank all the holies. Brave Jane. She knew just where to look for you." Dio moved over to make room on the bed. "Guess she's had a lot of practice though, huh? Climb in here with me. I'd rather hold you than, well, not hold you."
Leander eyed the bed dubiously. "It w
ill break."
"Pff, please. All of Uncle Hades's furniture is designed to support small planets. Get in here."
Gingerly, Leander eased onto the bed, which creaked but only in a normal bed sort of way. He lay on his back and opened his arms to let Dio snuggle, much of the pain and horror receding as Dio purred against his side. What do I do when you leave me? How can I pretend my heart isn't breaking?
Though he had spent many years wallowing in heartbreak, he supposed it was merely a return to that state. He had survived before.
"Good, good, you're both awake." Lord Hades strode in, apparently not the least bit fazed that his nephew lay tangled in a minotaur's arms. "Dio, how did you even know that Leander was in danger?"
"I didn't." Dio half turned to look at his uncle. "It was just a bad feeling. Her suddenly being there. Coaxing Leander away. It felt off. So flipping off."
"Your intuition is far more sound than most of my deductions." Lord Hades drew in a slow breath, his frown deepening. "Don't think I've forgotten that you were suspicious of her long before last evening."
"Sometimes crazy turns out right, but you can't prove a hunch, Uncle. I get that."
Lord Hades nodded, apparently satisfied on that point. "I was closing in, but too slowly. Grace had finally admitted her lie to me, that she chose the direction she did the day of Meghan's murder to catch a glimpse of Quetzalcoatl. She has what Hermes describes as a mad crush, apparently."
"Really? Wow. Okay. And why was Anthony lying?"
"Anthony was engaged in private research on the fourth floor and was loath to confess to it. There are collections of charms and unguent recipes in the library that slow aging. This is what he wished to find."
"Huh. Just wants to slow the wrinkles down, and the poor guy gets accused of murder."
"Don't feel too sorry for him. His pride prevented him from admitting the truth, and for that, he nearly was accused."
"My lord." Leander spoke up though he knew his face was crimson from trying to communicate in such an awkward, unseemly position. "I know Ava did, but I can't begin to fathom how she managed it all."
"Yes. I had difficulties as well. But I borrowed Makarios, and we tried some experiments, since he's not much shorter than Ava." Lord Hades tapped his palm on his knee in an agitated fashion. The inability to solve the crime must have frustrated him no end. "First we tried taking the books off the cycling shelf in question and having Makarios ride it as you did, Dio. That worked well. Then I gave him a pair of canes to take with him. This was clumsier but still easily managed. The shelf wasn't tall, but it was long, so I had a thought. We replaced some of the books, just enough so that the canes would still fit on the empty portion. Then Makarios squeezed onto this shortened bit of shelf with his canes and took the remainder of the books under his bent legs and on his lap."
"Uncle Hades," Dio said plaintively. "My head kinda hurts, and I think you lost me."
"Easier to see than to explain." Lord Hades waved a hand as if backhanding a fly. "But in this way, Ava could use the cycling shelf as an alternative to the stairs without actually removing the books from the shelf. She would reach the correct floor, replace the books as she vacated the shelf, and the assistants were never the wiser."
"You imply she has done this for some time, my lord." Leander shifted uneasily. The thought of someone manipulating the Collection in such a manner put his stomach in knots.
"She had. It was something she later verified quite readily and proudly. But once she had committed murder, she panicked, having heard panda claws approaching the broken cases. Believing herself out of time, she shoved the books from the shelf and rode it down rather than taking the time to complete her usual, more elaborate ritual. I came to the conclusion, once we had reconstructed how it was done, that Ava was the murderer who had tried to cast doubt on anyone else who happened to be convenient, including Set."
"Fuck. I owe old Camel Nose an apology."
"That would be the proper thing to do, certainly," Lord Hades said on a snort. "We all assumed since Ava's legs are infirm that she could not possibly have used the spear effectively. But as you both experienced in the basement, her arms are quite strong."
"Yeah. I guess using just your arms to get around all the time… I mean, for fuck's sake, it'd be like walking on your hands all day."
"Indeed. So long as she has a place of support, such as the cases in the Alexandrian Collection or the fan housing in the basement, she's more than capable of using her arms to devastating effect."
"Truth. My head agrees. How many times did she hit me? And with what, like the blunt end of a chainsaw?"
Leander swallowed hard, trying to blot out the memory. "Three. It was a length of… of extra pipe."
"You will be pleased to hear that your head managed to dent the pipe. Hephaestus is still rather amazed over it and is strengthening their manufacture."
"Ha! If she had more sense, she would've aimed for the soft parts and not my hard head, I guess. Not sure if I'm glad she did or glad she didn't. Though yeah, guess I'd rather get clocked in the head than in the nuts. Ow."
"Quite. By the time I reached the correct conclusions though, it was too late to prevent the damage. Charon and I tracked Ava to the club, but she had already left with Leander. We chased her trail to the Domestica building, where we encountered Hermes and his entourage of would-be rescuers. When we found the unconscious security guard behind his desk beside Hestia's library door, we knew we had to hurry. I sent searchers to every floor while Charon came with me to check the basement door, which we assumed would be locked, as always. When we found it open, no further search was necessary."
Dio snuggled closer with a disgruntled sound. "So she was just gonna slit our throats and leave us down there to rot?"
"Essentially, yes. Once she ascended the stairs, retrieved her shoe, and allowed the door to swing shut, it would become a locked-door mystery. Her planning was nearly immaculate, and I believe mostly her own, even if Eris was the provocateur here. As you saw, the one shelf that does cycle down into the basement does not descend much below the ceiling. No one could use that as an escape route. The assistants would eventually lead us there, I'm certain, following Leander's and Jane's scents, but Ava would have been long gone."
"Was she booking to Argentina or something?"
"Thailand, apparently, to start." Lord Hades rose with a slap of his palms on his thighs. "Good endings despite all the slow deductions. I'm glad you boys are safe and that Jane will recover. You both need to rest. Should we bring you anything? Aspirin? Something stronger?"
"No, Uncle." Dio nuzzled against Leander's throat. "Got everything I need right here. But you might wanna bring Leander something. He's too damn polite to ask."
Lord Hades left and returned with aspirin and water for Leander, who took them reluctantly. His vision must still have been impaired though, since he thought he saw Lord Hades smile as he switched off the light and left the room.
It was good to be safe again, better to know that all he loved was safe—his pandas, his library, his garden, and the god nestled in his arms. Yes, his heart would break tomorrow or the next day, but for now, he could pretend to be happy and content.
The next afternoon, Leander returned to his home, and Dio insisted on accompanying him, even though his eyes were still pinched in pain and he flinched from bright light. Jane came with them as well, carried on a cushion with a list of instructions from Lord Zagreus. In obvious good spirits, she chirruped and twittered all the way through the hallways.
"Somebody's happy to be going home," Dio said on a soft chuckle.
"It's good to be able to bring her home. I thought I'd lost her." Leander's voice cracked and he had to pull in a deep breath. Someday he would lose her, but not in a dark basement, in a moment of violence and fear.
Dio gave him an odd sideways glance but managed a smile as they reached his door. "Here. Hand me our brave Jane so you can unlock your castle."
Once inside, Dio placed J
ane beside the sofa with tender care before he plunked down on the floor beside her. "Oof. Stupid headache. Stupid little men in hobnail boots doing Schuhplattler on my brain."
Leander kept to himself that his own head was still miserable as he settled on the crooked sofa. "You should still be in bed, perhaps."
"Says the librarian who can barely keep his head up." Dio moved over to rest his head on Leander's knee, and the tender, trusting gesture seared into his heart. "I can't stay in bed. Gotta go look in on the kids. Check on things I've kinda been neglecting."
"Of course." Panic had begun to zip through Leander's stomach. "When will you… will you…"
Dio lifted his head, forehead creased. "Leander, chill. When am I coming back? Probably not tonight? I kinda want to crash in my own bed. And it's such a pain having to borrow someone else's door to get back here."
"Understandable." Leander stroked his head, concerned that his eyes looked so clouded. "You should rest."
"And tomorrow, we've got a gig in Brooklyn." Dio laid his head back down. "You could come. Would you want to come? I mean, after last time, well. Yeah."
"I'm not… not certain I'll feel well enough for that." Leander swallowed hard. "Would there be dancing?"
"Of course there will, hon. There's always dancing after."
Leander stilled, his hand trembling on Dio's hair. He sat back slowly, trying to control the itch of irritation between his shoulder blades. "I wish you wouldn't."
"Wouldn't what?" Dio turned to look up at him. "Leander? You've gone all stiff again."
"That perhaps you could refrain from dancing. With… people."
Dio rose slowly, his lips pressed together in a thin line. "Leander, you need to say what you're not saying. I do a lot of things, but I don't read minds."
"I… When you were," Leander began in a shaky voice, his gaze on his hooves, "dancing. With people. After the concert. It was… difficult."
Brandywine Investigations Page 18