by J. D. Cavan
“Julian just told me about Kern, the vampire’s alpha. Kern claims that his second-in-command, a vampire named Emrick, had business deals with the goblins for protection money first, before Duke moved in.”
That was what Kern meant by deeper issues. He wasn’t going to tell me. He wanted to get me to agree to keep him protected from Nessa and Liam first.
“No one is supposed engage in criminal activity of any kind, with anyone. Period! That’s the deal, that’s our rules.”
“I understand.” Nick looked at me seriously. “May I suggest something?”
“Of course.”
“Set up a meeting.”
“A Society of Justice meeting?”
“Bigger than that. Call it our first supernatural gangs of New York City meeting, run by the Society of Justice.” Nick pulled a cigar out of his pocket.
“You mean Kern and Julian in one room together?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes, and anyone else that needs to be there. We’ll host it here, and you’ll run it.” He lit his cigar and began puffing away. I felt the weight of all of my responsibilities now. Nick must have noticed. He snatched the cigar out of his mouth. “You can do it, Stone.”
I took a deep breath and found the courage. “I’ll have Dean organize the meeting for tomorrow night. I’ll speak with Nessa beforehand. Can you get to Liam and talk him out of making things worse?”
“I will speak to Mr. O’Brady right away. I’m sure I can convince him to chill. Good luck with Nessa.”
* * *
I MADE A QUICK appearance at Brad and Janice’s rehearsal dinner. It was nice to see Brad so happy, and I made sure that I didn’t bring up work in any of our conversations.
I had decided to give Brad a pass on the escort cases and the gang issues. He was getting married and it was occupying all of his time. I could use him, though, and his expertise. I had to rely on the NYPD forensics for any evidence collected at the escort murder scenes, but Brad was brilliant at medical forensics. I was sure that if he was on the case with me I would have a lot more than what the NYPD had come up with, which was nothing at all.
* * *
ON MY WAY home from the rehearsal dinner, I talked with Nick.
Liam had agreed to wait until the supernatural gangs of New York City committee meeting before doing anything against Kern. I thanked Nick and told him I’d report back to him on how my meeting went with Nessa. I had Dean tracking her down.
I sat at the SOJ bar having a cup of coffee when Nessa arrived. I was pretty sure she didn’t have a clue why I wanted to see her. She did possess the vampire sense, though, so I wasn’t overly confident.
“Ms. Stone,” she said, bowing slightly as she walked in.
“Nessa, thanks for coming. Please sit.” She removed her cloak and sat at the bar.
I decided to take my normal approach to interviewing a suspect or client. Get right to the main issue and assume everything.
“I am aware that you know Kern is in the city.” I studied her face. Her expression didn’t change, and I waited before saying another word. I wanted to give her a chance to decide how she might want to handle this.
“He is not the one you want leading the vampires,” she replied firmly.
“I am sure you’re correct, but that doesn’t matter now. There are rules. The gangs have absolute authority over whom they elect as alphas or leaders.”
“But the Society of Justice has a say over how they behave. Kern has a very bad history of abhorrent criminal behaviors.”
“We cannot go back in time and serve justice for crimes committed centuries ago.” I saw it then; Nessa’s eyes burned with vengeance.
“In respect to you, you’d feel differently if it was your father who’s throat he dug his fangs into, draining him of his spirit and lifeblood.” Nessa’s words were filled with sorrow and rage.
“Maybe I would, Nessa. But I would still have to face the limits of my own suffering, and my desire for revenge. I would have to think it through. The ways I could balance out my grief and anger in the long term.”
“You ask quite a bit, perhaps too much.” She went to put her cloak back on.
I could tell Nessa wasn’t buying any of it, so I played my next hand. “I am convening a meeting tonight. All the gang leaders will be there, including Kern. I would like you to attend as a member of the Society of Justice.”
She paused to consider my request. “That would be an honor.” I realized that I had put her in an impossible situation. If she refused and left, the SOJ would be forced to track her down.
“I need an agreement from you,” I said. “If you commit to joining the SOJ, not just as a consultant but as a full member, then you must follow our rules to the letter. You can do nothing against Kern or his gang.” She was silent. I could tell she was thinking through her rather stuck position. “I wish I could give you more time to consider this, but the meeting is now.”
“I will agree, but for a limited time,” Nessa replied.
“I can’t have that hanging over my head,” I said.
“The time is for me. I will use it to see if I can handle Kern walking the earth around me. If I find I can’t manage it, or that I must seek harsh revenge, I promise you this, I will come to you first.”
That seemed to be fair enough, but I wasn’t sure I could trust Nessa. She could be the escort killer and completely lying to me with some deviant plan for Kern’s demise. But I had a very big, potentially catastrophic, meeting to run in five minutes, so I agreed to her terms.
Chapter 18
WHEN I WALKED INTO the meeting room, it was packed.
They were all seated around the giant meeting table. Kern sat with Ciarda and Emrick. Julian sat next to Duke and a werewolf named Tommy McMullan. Tommy ran the west side CPP, and Duke the east side. Liam sat with Nick, Dean, and Nessa.
There was a seat left for me at the head of the table. I sat down and put my hands together in front of me. It was quiet and tense. I felt my heart rate tick up. They waited for me to start the meeting.
“Thank you all for coming. Welcome to our first supernatural New York City committee meeting. I have asked Dean to take meeting notes.”
Dean sat behind his laptop. He had put out coffee and other beverages. I paused for a moment before continuing. “The purpose of this committee is to ensure balance and harmony in the city. I know you are committed to such an effort—”
“Yeah,” Emrick blurted out sarcastically. Kern glared at him and he fell silent.
“Perhaps you have something to say, Emrick?” I asked. “Let’s get our beefs on the table.” I wasn’t going to mess around with this group.
“There is a question as to the rules,” Kern said. “No criminal activity or supporting such activity, isn’t that correct, Detective Stone?” Kern fixed his gaze on Julian, Duke, and Tommy.
“You should be clear in your accusations, Kern,” Julian replied immediately.
“I am being crystal clear—”
I interrupted. I had to keep a tight grip. “There is a gang leader who is not here tonight and won’t ever be. I’m sure you are all aware that Blackeye is locked up in our containment unit. If the goblins have gone clean, they can pick a new leader and join us at this table. If not, all the goblins can rot in prison with Blackeye. Does that sound like a clear message to everyone?”
“I don’t know, whaddya say there, Duke old boy?” Emrick said, his eyes flashing impishly.
A low growl came from Duke and Julian put an arm out. “We will not be provoked here. Kern, where is the leadership of your kind?” Julian scolded.
“Don’t tell me how to run my organization—”
“We can make accusations against each other or we can work with each other,” I announced, cutting Kern off. I kept attempting to defuse the tension.
“Where are the witches, Detective Stone?” Kern asked, changing the topic. “Why are they not at this table with us? It is understood that you have druid witch in your blood. Yo
u should know of such things.”
Kern put me on the spot. He was clearly trying to discredit me, but I deflected. “I am sure there are other supernatural leaders out there that are not available to join us. But I assure you of this: It will be far better for you to be here and a part of this committee than not.”
“That sounds like a threat to me,” Duke snapped.
“Where is your leadership, Julian?” Kern said with a smirk.
Julian’s eyes spun angrily. Then the tips of Kern’s fangs showed. The conflict heated up. Nick glanced at me nervously. Emrick started arguing with Duke about the goblins and Julian and Kern appeared to be ready for war. I sensed that we could have a blood bath in seconds.
I wasn’t sure what to do when suddenly my Akantha personality took over. I stood up and slammed my hand down on the table, silencing the room.
“I’m not making threats to anyone!” I raised my voice. “As the leader of the Society of Justice, I’m making a promise and enforcing the rules. Those of you who do not abide by them will suffer the consequences. I am giving you a last chance. As of tonight, you will cease all criminal activity.”
I studied Duke and Emrick, assessing their commitment. I could tell that they weren’t taking me seriously, so I did what I absolutely didn’t want to do but felt I had to do.
I reached into my shirt and pulled my necklace off. I held the amulet out in front of everyone. A hush fell over the room. Liam had a combination of shock and betrayal scrawled all over his face. I didn’t want him to find out this way, but I had no choice now. My Akantha personality was in charge.
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. “Does everyone know what this is?” I walked behind and around the table. Heads turned to follow me. “That’s good, then you know what it means.” The amulet glistened. “I am going to put it to you all this way, because I don’t want to waste any more time.”
I stopped walking. I had everyone’s attention. “This was the amulet used to curse the city. It has unimaginable powers.” I wasn’t sure if it did, but I was sure none of them would know that.
“You wouldn’t dare curse the city again,” Kern said, testing me.
“If this city is going to fall because the supernatural leaders can’t get along and follow the rules, then we should bring it about now. Why wait? Who would like me to use the amulet now?” I took a long pause. It reminded silent. No one said a word. Dean was typing away but stopped and looked up at me from his laptop.
“That’s what I thought,” I said. “Here is what we are going to do. Duke and Emrick will cease all activity with the goblins. The SOJ will deal directly with the goblins. Kern, you are going to make some kind of genuine and valuable retribution to Nessa for losses incurred. Nessa, you are required to accept such retribution. Liam, you are required to drop all grudges again Kern or his family.” No one spoke but no one protested.
“You will all work together fairly, legally.” I glanced at Julian and then at Kern. “So we can inhabit his city peacefully. We will meet monthly, right here at the Society of Justice, to deal honestly with problems as they arise and ensure that everyone is following their agreements. We will be an example for the rest of the world. Or we can destroy each other. I’ll gladly help if you like.”
I finally had a moment of insight around what Malcolm and Devlin spoke of when they talked about the order of things. I understood my role more deeply. If I were to jump into the chaos of all of this and be corrupted, then all would be lost. My role was what it had always been. To keep the peace.
I noted that there was something happening with my two sides. They seemed to be working together, the assertiveness of my Akantha personality and the integrity of my Lila personality.
Before we parted ways, I was guardedly hopeful I’d succeeded. It seemed I had gotten a marginal agreement between them. There certainly wasn’t anything friendly, but there was polite conversation as they left.
Nessa was offered a high-ranking position in Kern’s organization. She humbly declined and Kern agreed to go back to the drawing table to find a comparable peace offering. I thanked everyone as they left and slowly returned to more of my Lila personality.
Nick walked out behind Nessa and stopped. “Nice work, Stone. I knew you had it in you.”
“I did, with a little help,” I smiled. Akantha and the amulet, I thought.
Dean sat at the table and finished the meeting notes. Liam went to the bar and poured himself a whisky. He opened the tap and filled a pint glass for me.
“Dean, a martini?” he asked. “You might need one after all that tension. What a meeting!”
We all chuckled. Dean declined; he was busy typing away. I took the seat next to Liam at the bar. I knew what was coming and what I was going to have to do now. The thing I had been avoiding but couldn’t any longer.
“All this time you had the amulet?” Liam asked. “Why not just tell me?”
“Because it’s a lot more complicated than that.” I took a sip of my beer. I was going to need it.
“How so, Stone?”
“Remember when you felt like you were back in Akantha’s presence?”
“Yeah?” his brows furrowed.
“In a sense, you were. I found out that I have her bloodline, Liam,” I felt terrible inside. Dean shut his laptop and hightailed it out of the room.
Liam’s face got red. “Who are you referring to, which bloodline?”
“Akantha,” I stated.
Pain crossed his eyes and a sorrow filled them. “You never told me, but I felt her presence in you. I thought it was me, my issues.”
“I wanted to tell you,” I pleaded, “but I’ve been dealing with so much. And you with Nessa.”
“That was your problem, not mine! You pushed me away.” Liam put his head down. “I don’t want this anymore, the SOJ, all of it!”
“I need you here with me,” I said.
“No you don’t. You don’t need me to run the SOJ, you’re doing a fine job all by yourself.”
“I’m not, Liam. You don’t know the half of it—”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t know, because you don’t tell me.”
“Don’t leave! If not for me, for the city.” Liam became quiet. I could tell his mind was turning.
He finally spoke. “You’ve helped me so much, Lila. You don’t even know. You helped me face the loss of my family, my children, and my wife. The vampire’s life is lonely. And you brought me into this crazy SOJ family, kicking and screaming, and now it’s the only family I have.” He paused. “And all the while I fell in love with you and tried to tell you and—” He stopped. He appeared overcome.
I welled up in tears and tried to say something back. I wanted to tell him that I fell in love with him too, but I couldn’t. There was some part of me, the worst side of me, the side that couldn’t love or risk loving. I kept my mouth shut.
I watched Liam walk away, then at my own hands as my heart shattered.
Chapter 19
I SAT SILENTLY IN Dr. Edwards’ office.
“Lila, if you don’t talk to me, I can’t help you.”
I wasn’t even sure I was Lila anymore. I was so angry at myself. I’d let Akantha hold me back and kick up my fears of love and closeness.
I pushed myself to talk about my dark mood. “Liam told me that he fell in love with me, and do know you what I said in response?”
“What?” Edwards asked.
“Nothing. I said nothing.”
“This is a big step for you. You can still go back and tell Liam how you feel. You just panicked.”
“You’re wrong. I said nothing because I feel nothing.”
Dr. Edwards’ eyes flickered and she sat up straight. “That’s not true.” She studied me. “Am I talking to the Akantha personality, or the Lila side?” she asked firmly.
“Your weak therapy isn’t working,” the nasty part of me said. “You’re not helping me.”
“I see that I’m obviously talking to the Akantha pers
onality.”
“What are you going to say to her, then?” I demanded.
“To get out and bring her better side forward. The side that has the capacity to love!”
“Good luck with that! See you later, Dr. Edwards.”
My Akantha side was driving the ship now. I was clearly in too much pain. I walked out and slammed the door.
* * *
AFTER I COOLED DOWN, my Lila side came back to life.
I wandered into the SOJ. Dean was at the front desk. I decided to tell him everything.
“You can’t control this bad side of yourself?” Dean asked.
“I thought I was, but it seems like it’s getting harder and harder.”
Dean put his arms around me. “We’ve been through worse.”
“Have we?” I asked.
I felt the relief of talking to Dean, but I was still sick about it all. As I was gaining control of supernatural gangs, I felt like I was losing control of myself. It was a terrible split experience. I thought for a moment during the meeting that I had achieved an integration of the sides of myself. But it was really more like I was on some kind of insane rollercoaster ride with my two personalities.
Dean hugged me. “Take a long shower and get some sleep. That usually does the trick for you.”
Chapter 20
THE NEXT MORNING, I was feeling better. Dean was right.
A solid eight hours of sleep had helped. I called Dr. Edwards and apologized for my behavior, or more so for Akantha’s behavior. I told her I was determined to get this side of myself under control.
Terry had been hounding me about the escort cases. She had left a couple of voicemails. She wanted “good news” to share with the city. I called her back and assured her we were working on it. I realized that although I had found a temporary solution to the gang issues, I still had the escort murder cases to solve.
I was wondering which way to turn when I got a call from Rumble on the burner phone. I’d forgotten I wanted an update on all of Nessa’s activities. She’d promised me that she wouldn’t go anywhere near Kern. I had a solid commitment from her after the committee meeting but I was still interested in Rumble’s report.