by N Gray
A doll that looked identical to those the police had found sewn into all those victim’s chests.
“Pack enough clothes so that you can stay at mine for a while, Blaire. You aren’t coming back here until that priest is dead.” His eyes darkened to a seaweed green color, and the muscles along his jaw tightened. I’d never seen him this angry before.
“Do you have any zip-lock bags I can put this thing in?”
“In the kitchen.” I moved out of his way as he walked past me. “In the middle drawer,” I called after him.
I kept my body pressed against the wall in the hallway, my hands flat against the wall. The coolness of the wall soothed my aching hands. I opened my jacket and aired it out; I was sweating again. At least that was a good sign.
Sebastian came back into the hallway with the doll in a bag. He held it up for me to see. The doll was made of brown material, and it had two buttons for eyes, a smile stitched with red cotton, and a little bell sewn to the middle of its body.
There was no mistaking it. It was exactly the same as the dolls found in the victims.
I kept my hands pressed against the wall. I would not touch it.
“Pack extra clothing, Blaire. Can you hear me?”
My eyes went from the doll in his hand to his eyes, and they were now summer green again. Not trusting my voice, I nodded my head and pushed myself away from the wall. I took a larger bag out of the cupboard and packed enough clothing and underwear for a week. When I was done, I found Sebastian in the lounge.
“Where are your weapons?”
My gun was downstairs in the basement. How could I get to it without letting Sebastian know I had a secret room? Would it be a disaster if he knew?
“Stay here,” I said to him as I went to the kitchen. I pulled the lever, and the fridge moved away from the wall to reveal an opening in the floor. It was dark below. I tentatively took the stairs one at a time until I reached the switch on the wall near the stairs and switched on the light. My gun and shoulder holster were in the armor cage. I entered the combination on the lock, and it clicked open. I grabbed the holster and my gun and took a small bag and filled it with extra ammunition, two knives, and a wrist sheath. I locked the cage, switched off the light, and went back upstairs. The fridge moved back into place.
“Secret basement?” Sebastian asked with a smirk on his face. He was still standing in the lounge with the zip-lock bag in his hand, but he held it away from his body.
“Something like that.” I removed my jacket, slipped on the holster, and fastened it onto my belt to keep it in place—that way, it wouldn’t rub against my side. I slid the Glock 19 into place, added the wrist sheath to my left arm and secured one of the knives. I placed the other knife in the special sheath built onto my holster and pulled the jacket back on.
I picked up my overnight bag and said, “Okay, I’m ready now.”
Sebastian held his left hand out for mine, and I gripped it tightly. The jolt of electricity his touch generated within me was comforting. I locked the front door, and we walked hand-in-hand to the car. Rory, the guard I had met last night, was in the driver’s seat, and he jerked his chin in greeting when he saw me. He was a very quiet bodyguard. I wasn’t quite sure which were-animal he was, but if I had to guess, I would’ve said werewolf. He just had that demeanor that screamed wolf. His olive-skinned frame was large and muscled, and he had brown hair and dark eyes.
Sebastian opened the door for me so I could climb in. He took the overnight bag and placed it in the back section of the Jeep and sat beside me. He dropped the zip-lock bag with the doll onto the front seat.
“We need to take this doll to Seraphine.”
“No,” I said. “Let me take it.”
“I know this is connected to the target you and Ralph are watching, but Seraphine can handle it for you.”
“We have someone who can take it.”
Rory started the engine and pulled away.
“Who?”
“He’s new. Started today.”
“Ah, fine, but it stays in the car. After what it did to you, I don’t want you handling it.”
“I need to find out whether the same thing happened to Ralph.”
I dialed Ralph’s number, and he answered on the sixth ring.
“Hello.” He sounded distant, even more so than what using a cell phone would usually do.
“Ralph, are you okay?”
He didn’t answer.
“RALPH,” I yelled. I glanced at Sebastian. “We need to go to him. He isn’t answering me.”
“I am… h-e-e-e-r-e,” he drawled. He sounded as though someone had drugged him.
“Are you on your bed?”
Silence.
“RALPH! Are you on your bed?”
“Uh-huh,” he mumbled eventually.
“Get off your bed and try lifting your mattress. Ralph! Do it now!”
“Okaaay.”
Something thumped onto the floor, and I heard a faint cry followed by swearing.
“What’s the address?” Rory said, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
As I was about to answer, Ralph spoke. “Fuck, it’s one of those dolls.”
“Ralph, get a bag—any bag—and scoop it in. Do it without touching it.”
There was another thump followed by scuffling sounds, and then footsteps. I could hear drawers opening and plastic ruffling.
A few seconds later, he was back. “Okay, I have it. Now what do I do with it?”
“We’re coming to fetch it from you. I was thinking we could ask Devan to take them from us and break whatever the fuck spell is on it.”
“Okay.”
I gave Rory Ralph’s address, and we arrived within twenty minutes. As we pulled onto his driveway, Ralph was sitting in his porch chair. Sebastian walked with me.
“How did you know?” Ralph asked. He lifted the doll in its plastic bag so we could see it.
“The same thing happened to me, but luckily Sebastian arrived just in time.” I touched his arm when I said his name. His smile warmed me to my bones. It was a small gesture, but it meant more than that. The look in his eyes was also filled with sadness: was he thinking about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t gotten to me in time? The look in his eyes was a combination of being afraid of losing me and being grateful he had found me in time.
Sebastian took the doll from Ralph and said, “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine, thanks.” He ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I thought you had a date?” I said.
“She cancelled on me.”
“Is there someone else you can call? Marcus, maybe?”
“Don’t worry about me, Blaire; I’ll be fine.” He turned his dark blue eyes on me and frowned.
“Why are you angry with me?” I matched his frown with one of my own.
“I’m not angry with you. I’m angry that I got us into this mess.”
“Do you want to come with us?” I said, glancing at Sebastian, who widened his eyes at me. It was our date; he was taking me to his leap and opening up his world to me, and here I was trying to drag my colleague with us.
A ‘gah’ sound escaped Ralph’s lips, and he shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think so. Have you phoned Devan yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay, let me phone him. Give me the dolls and I’ll drop them off at his place and text you when I’m done, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Sebastian went to fetch the other doll from the front seat.
“Promise me you won’t stay here alone, Ralph,” I said. “Otherwise the next body Martin will find will be yours.”
Ralph pulled out his cell and dialed a number. “Hey, Marcus. Can you give me Devan’s number?”
Ralph rose to his feet and went inside his house as Sebastian walked toward me.
“Are you ready?”
“Give me a m
inute. I just want to make sure he goes to Devan.”
Ralph came back outside and slipped his cell back into the pocket of his jeans. “Okay, Devan is at home, and he was fine with me coming over to drop off the dolls. Then I’m gonna go to a hotel. You still staying with him?” Ralph pointed to Sebastian, and I nodded.
“She’ll be staying with me until this case is over,” Sebastian said.
“Good, good.” Ralph nodded quickly and said, “You can go now.”
I shook my head. “Not until you grab your jacket, get in your car, and drive to Devan’s.”
“Still pushy, hey, Blaire?” Ralph went back inside his house and disappeared from view. When he came out again, he had his jacket on and a bag over his shoulder. He locked the front door and picked up the two zip-lock bags containing the voodoo dolls. The three of us walked down the driveway and climbed into our respective vehicles.
“Wait until he starts his car and drives away,” I said to Rory.
“You know he can just drive around the block and come back here again.”
“I know, but ignorance is bliss. At least I can say I saw him leave while I was still here. It’ll make me feel better.”
I waved at Ralph as he drove past us.
Chapter 9
WE DROVE WITH THE RADIO PLAYING softly in the background. The headlights from the car lit up the road in front of us and the tall trees alongside. As we came around a bend, two sets of eyes glowed in the dark, then they disappeared into the woods. My hand was in Sebastian’s, and I squeezed it gently. He turned to look at me.
“Are you all right?” I whispered.
Sebastian told me that Rory was in fact a were-wolf, and even though he could hear from a distance, I whispered anyway. It felt intimate, like it was just the two of us.
He squeezed my hand back. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
I shrugged.
In leopard form, he could see perfectly in the dark, but I still wasn’t sure whether he could see my shrug, so I said, “Your hands feel sweaty.”
“It’s not my hands.”
He let go, and I wiped my hands on my jeans. He was right; it was my hands that were sweating.
I was nervous about meeting his leap; most of the were-leopards and the alpha female—their leader—would all be present.
I turned to face Sebastian. He unbuckled his seat belt and scooted over to me. He put his arm around my shoulders and started bringing me closer to his body. I pushed away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered near my ear.
“Is it too late to turn around?”
“Don’t you want to meet them?”
“I do”—I stared out the window, and the trees blurred past us—“but just not right now.”
“There really isn’t anything to be nervous about.”
I kept thinking about what Ralph had said; about how the old me didn’t like shifters—any of them—but he hadn’t known why.
Galina, one of Sebastian’s exes who had shown a pretty distinct dislike for me when we had met, had asked me a while ago if I would allow her to help me, to help mend what was broken inside my head. If she even could help me, would I let her near me again? The last time we had seen each other, her jealousy over Sebastian had almost killed me.
Perhaps Devan could help, if I asked. I needed to know what the old me knew—but I didn’t want the old me to come back, did I? My head started to ache.
The car slowed down and then stopped. I looked out the window and saw a large house. Rory must have taken one of the side roads when I wasn’t paying attention.
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. Shit. I didn’t want to do this anymore.
I turned to say something to that effect, but I was the only one in the car. When did everyone get out of the car? My door opened, and Sebastian held his hand out for me. Too late to run away; he would be able to catch me. I ran track at school, but I was nowhere near as fast as a leopard.
Sebastian’s hand was still outstretched, waiting for me to take it. He bent down and put his face close to mine.
The lights from the house and the car shone on Sebastian’s summer green eyes so perfectly that I could see, among the slivers of gold, that they were more than one shade of green. The expression in his eyes and on his face meant that he was trying to be gentle with me.
“It’ll be okay, Blaire. This, I can promise you. Anne and the leap are like family. As close to a real family as I’ve ever had.”
If he had the guts to bring me here, then I could do this. It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? I took his hand and climbed out of the car.
As we approached the house, three people—a man and two women—were standing near the doorway. The light was behind them, so I couldn’t see their faces. We walked toward them with Rory close behind us. I wasn’t sure why he was accompanying us, given that he was a were-wolf and this was a leopard-only leap. Sebastian said he was around for my protection, but surely I wouldn’t need protection here.
“Sebastian, my dear! So glad you came.” The woman who spoke was small and petite, and she was much shorter in height than I was. She moved toward Sebastian, and he let go of my hand so the two of them could embrace.
When they let go of each other, she turned to me. “Blaire, I’ve heard so much about you, dear.”
My glance flicked from the woman to Sebastian. What had he been saying about me?
“All good, I can assure you,” she said, coming closer to hug me.
I stood there with my arms at my sides as she embraced me. I put my head on her shoulder and moved my arms around her tiny waist. She smelled familiar, like warm grass on a hot day. Like leaves after a summer rain. Like leopard. Like Sebastian.
She let go, and I stood back from her and felt my forehead crinkle. I glanced at Sebastian and then back at the woman in front of me. Her smile reached her eyes, and her happiness swarmed around her, spreading through the two people beside her and through me, Sebastian, and Rory. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I shivered as it ran down my spine like cold water.
“I’m glad you came.” She touched my arm and started pulling me gently behind her as she walked toward the front door.
I glanced over my shoulder, and Sebastian was right behind me, the smile on his face sincere.
“My name is Anne,” she said as we walked through the entrance and into the vast living room. She let go of my hand, pointed to a chair, and said, “Sit.”
Anne looked like she could be close to sixty years old, with blonde hair that was styled short in a pixie cut—not grey like it usually would be for a woman of that age. Her eyes were a mixture of green and brown and looked like they could change with her mood. She was short, with a naturally athletic build; you didn’t have to see what she looked like naked to know, but you could tell by the muscles in her forearms and calves. She wore shorts and a t-shirt beneath a winter jacket, which she removed when we came inside the house. Her heart-shaped face, straight nose, and soft cheeks completed her pixie look—few women could pull that look off. I couldn’t pinpoint which part of her was beautiful. She just was.
I sat in the loveseat across from her, and Sebastian sat beside me.
“This is Greg and Ivy,” Anne said, pointing to the two other people in the room. They sat beside her on the larger sofa. “They are Sebastian’s brother and sister.”
Both were in their early twenties, with brown eyes and brown hair. But where Greg had copper streaks in his hair, his sister, Ivy, had blonde streaks. With all three sitting alongside one another, you could tell that they were related, courtesy of their similarly straight noses and heart-shaped faces. But the shape of their eyes differed, except for the kid's eyes, which were also a similar shade of brown. My guess was that the father had brown eyes similar to theirs. I knew they weren’t Sebastian’s real brother and sister, but the way in which she had introduced them was odd.
My frown deepened, and the look on my face must have shown. Anne immediately addressed it by blur
ting, “Not in the true sense, you understand, but family all the same.”
“Nice to meet you all,” I said in a pleasant voice.
Sebastian took my hand in his and squeezed gently. He leaned toward me and whispered near my ear, “There is something I need to tell you before the meeting starts, Blaire.”
But before Sebastian could say anything more, a gust of wind blew through the room, and men’s voices grew louder as they entered. Everybody turned to see who had arrived.
“Sebastian, call off your dog,” a man said as he entered the room. He must have been talking about Rory, who was still standing by the entrance. We shared eye contact for a few seconds before he went back to scanning the room.
The man who had spoken stood between the couches so we could see him and glared at Sebastian. “And what is she doing here? This is leap business.”
“That’s quite enough, Phillip,” Anne said, standing up. She was at least a head and shoulders shorter than him, but her power oozed with rightful dominance. “Nobody needs to hear your whiney voice.”
“I’ll ask again, Anne. What the fuck is she doing here? And why is that dog standing at the door? This is leap business.”
Sebastian let go of my hand and stood up. “Phillip.”
I could tell that one word was a warning. Sebastian was taller than Phillip, and his shoulders were broader. I knew he could beat Phillip with one hand tied behind his back.
Phillip’s shoulder-length mousy blond hair was in desperate need of a brush or a trim and a wash. His haunting green eyes were a little too close together, and he had a long nose and a square jaw. Another man came to stand beside him, but I noticed that he didn’t stand close to Sebastian, almost as if he knew not to get in his way. This man had shaved brown hair and a black goatee, a small nose, and only one brown eye. He also had a vertical scar across his closed eyelid which ran from his forehead to his cheek. No amount of shapeshifting could heal a missing eye.
Phillip turned to face Sebastian and put a foot behind him to maintain balance if there was a fight. Which was not a good sign.
“Phillip?” Sebastian made it a question.