Camille motioned to Trillian and Smoky. “We’re leaving Morio at home. He still gets tired easier than usual. I’m making him stay home to sleep.”
Vanzir, who was eating a toast and peanut butter sandwich, yawned. “I’ll stay here, too. Shamas is still asleep. He has to get up in an hour to go to work and he needs to be on his A-Game while he’s on duty. Man, two hours of sleep isn’t enough for even me.”
“Rozurial’s still crashed out.” Menolly shrugged. “He looked so peaceful when I went down to the studio to wake up him and Vanzir, I decided to let him sleep. That way Roz and Morio will be fresh later today in case we need down time. We might want to sleep in shifts from now until we catch Van and Jaycee, so we always have fresh blood. And speaking of blood…” Menolly glanced at the clock. It was nearly five thirty.
“Maybe you’d better stay home, too. We don’t know how long we’ll be out and it’s almost dawn.”
She nodded. “Right. I’ll stay here and finish going through the last pages of the day planner and phone book. I don’t want to get caught out in daylight and, knowing what’s happened lately, if we get caught up in something big, I could fry.”
Nodding, I picked up my keys and backpack. Shade and I headed out to my car, while Camille, Smoky, and Trillian headed to hers. As the clouds parted to let the luminous dark through, I breathed in the crisp air. February was a grueling month in the Seattle area. Rainy, cold, sometimes a snowstorm, wind and gloom…the city streets never seemed as gritty as they did on a cold February night.
Shade stared out the window as we sped along. After a few minutes, he turned to me. “I love you. You know that, don’t you? I’ve loved you for a long time, far before you met me.”
I smiled, keeping my eyes on the road. “I do. And I love you.”
“How much do you love me?” The tone of his voice suddenly took a solemn turn. I darted a glance his way. He was looking bemused, staring at the windshield wipers as they slashed back and forth.
Unsure what he was up to, I hesitated. “I said I love you. Um…you want me to stretch my arms and say this much?” When he remained silent, I chewed the inside of my lip, then said, “Where’s this going?”
“Where it’s going is to the subject of that ring I gave you when we first met. The one you put on your finger to summon me to your side?” He pointed to the chunky smoky quartz that I hadn’t taken off since I first slid it onto the ring finger of my right hand.
A funny feeling shifted in my stomach. “Yeah?”
“I told you then, you’d be making a choice. And you made it. Do you regret it? Even a little?”
Suddenly feeling short of breath, I shook my head, praying he wasn’t going to break up with me. Sometimes love wasn’t enough to conquer differences. Sometimes…“No, I’ve never regretted it. You help me feel complete. If this is about the room—I promise, I’ll be less of a slob.”
Another pause while I fretted.
Then: “In a way, this is about the room, yes. But not what you think.”
“What is it?”
“Just…this. I figure, since we’re sharing a room and sharing chores, and sharing a bed…and since our master has chosen us for each other and it’s turned out to be a match made in heaven…then why don’t we make it official? Promise me that—when you’re ready—you’ll become my wife?”
Tears blurring my eyes, I pulled over to the side of the road and parked. As I turned to Shade, my heart began to swell. Here was this man who wanted to share my life with me. Who accepted me for all of my faults and flaws. I turned to him. “You and the Autumn Lord are the two loves of my life.”
They were both halves of the same whole. One was eternal, one was on my realm. My lips trembling, I reached for him, struggling against the seat belt, and kissed him long and deep. After a moment, I pulled back and took his hands in mine. “I never want to disappoint you. I want you in my life always. Yes, I’ll marry you. I’ll be your wife.”
“When do you want to get married? Any time you want, be it tomorrow, or in ten years. Just name the date.”
That, I couldn’t answer. I knew that—as much as I was happy to say “yes” to being engaged, I wasn’t prepared to actually get married yet. I shook my head. “I don’t know. Not yet, I know I’m not ready yet. But I am ready to promise you my future. Is that good enough for now?”
“Oh, Delilah, dirty cat box, hairballs on the pillow, Jerry Springer fantasies…it’s all part of you. And you, my love, are better than I deserve.” He pressed my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “I leave it to you to name the date. I can wait—I’ve waited a long time to be with you. I’m a patient dragon.”
And, just like that, we were engaged.
Putting the Jeep in gear again, I turned back to the road, and we silently headed to the FH-CSI.
Chapter 17
As we hit the offices, Chase was waiting. He motioned for us to follow him. “Smoky, will you and the guys wait in conference room A? Camille and Delilah? Follow me, please.” He led us out the door toward the medical unit.
“Has someone been hurt? Has there been another explosion?” Camille and I were actually hard pressed to keep up with him.
He stopped abruptly and turned, his expression strained. “We’ve got a situation and it’s not one we can—or should—cover up. A woman was gang-raped an hour ago by a group of bikers from the Freedom’s Angels. They roughed her up and used a knife to carve the words Faerie Slut on her arm. I’ve got a citywide search going on, but we need to see if she can identify any mug shots.”
“This has gone too far.” Camille slammed her hand against the wall. “Something has to be done about these freaks.”
I put my hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. “What can we do, Chase? You know the climate of the city better than we do. What’s going to help?”
He smiled for the first time, a tight, white smile. “First, you can talk to her, see if she tells you more than she’s telling us. Second…the way she described a couple of the men, they sound like Tregarts. The more I think about it, the more I think that the demons are infiltrating the Freedom’s Angels to divide and conquer. Look at what happened at the Davinaka Mall. Same situation. What if they stir up enough anger between the Supes and the FBHs? It’s going to be easier to come in and take over.”
“But why—if they’re working for Trytian, and were working for Stacia Bonecrusher…hold on.” A thought occurred to me that I really didn’t want to think. “We’ve been assuming that all the Tregarts were working with Stacia, against Shadow Wing, and that all of them are now working for Trytian. But what if Shadow Wing used that assumption to his benefit? What if they’ve been on his side the whole time? And what about Van and Jaycee? Do we know if they were really in Stacia’s pocket? What if they were spying on her and reporting back to Shadow Wing?”
Breathless, I dropped to a bench in the hall and leaned my head between my knees, trying to calm the swirl of thoughts running through my head. I wanted to shift, but this wasn’t the time. I needed to maintain control.
Camille sat down beside me and took my hand, looking as pale as I felt. After a moment, I let out my breath in a slow stream and sat up.
“You think they might be double agents?”
“It makes perfect sense. Suppose Shadow Wing knew about Stacia Bonecrusher’s attempted coup? And suppose he sent her over here, knowing she might betray him, to either prove or disprove her loyalty? And in the meantime, he also sent Van and Jaycee to connect with her and put her to the test. We just accepted that they were totally in sync with Stacia.” I shook my head. “We could have been totally off about everything here.”
Camille rubbed her forehead, wincing. “If that’s so, then there’s the chance that Telazhar trained Stacia at Shadow Wing’s request. That she turned on him, too? If Telazhar is in the Demon Lord’s pocket, then he’s over here looking for ways to either rip open a new portal or gate in more demons.” Camille gestured helplessly. “If we’re right, we’v
e wasted a lot of time assuming Shadow Wing hasn’t been active over here for a few months.”
Chase exhaled loudly. “This mucks up the works, all right. But I need you to talk to this victim, please. Then we can figure out where to go from here.”
We nodded, mutely. If we were right, then the war had taken a darker turn. And, if we were right, then Trytian was playing right into Shadow Wing’s hands and the entire Demon Underground was in danger.
I was about to mention this to Camille when we stopped in front of the ER. Chase led us in, after knocking gently. Sharah was standing beside the exam table. The stirrups were still in position, but the victim was sitting up as Sharah stitched up slash marks on her arm. The woman was Fae, with glimmering blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. Her glamour shone through the cloud of shame and anger. She had a black eye, a busted lip, and bruises on both wrists and ankles.
Sharah nodded us over. Chase hung back. We slowly approached the table and I could see the words carved into the victim’s arm. Faerie Slut. Wincing, I looked at Sharah, waiting for her lead.
She finished stitching up the last of the cuts. “Camille, Delilah, this is Alfina. She’s from Otherworld and came over to visit Talamh Lonrach Oll.”
Alfina let out a shuddering breath and gave us a short nod.
Camille drew up one of Sharah’s swivel stools and sat down, and Sharah pointed me toward the chair at the computer where she input all the wounds and treatments going through the FH-CSI emergency ward. Sitting down was a lot less intimidating than standing up, and regardless of whether she was Fae or human, a rape victim didn’t need any more intimidation than she’d already undergone.
“Hi, Alfina…my sister and I are from Otherworld, too. From Y’Elestrial.”
She glanced up, looking startled. “But you are—”
“Half human? Yes. Our mother was human, our father is Fae. Where are you from, back in OW?”
“Willowyrd Glen.” Her voice was a whisper, but a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes. “I live on the shores of the Dahnsberry Lake, and before I moved to Dahnsburg to start work, my mother gave me a gift—a trip Earthside, to learn about the culture. Have you ever been to Dahnsberry Lake? It’s so beautiful. Peaceful. We have our problems, but everything is…it’s just so different than the bigger cities—both over there, and here Earthside.”
Camille nodded. “I’ve seen the lake, briefly. And I’ve been to Dahnsburg. It’s an incredible city, and King Uppala-Dahns is a fair and just leader.”
That brought a reaction. “You know the King of the Dahns Unicorns?” For the first time, her voice showed a spark of life.
“Yes,” Camille said softly. “I’ve met the king and I know his son, Feddrah-Dahns. Tell me, what will you be doing in Dahnsburg?” She kept her eyes on Alfina, holding her gaze.
Alfina gave a little shrug. “I’m going to be a clerk in the King’s court.” She teared up then and held out her arm. “What am I going to say about this? How am I going to go through the rest of my life with this on my arm? It’s in English, but I’ll always know what it says. What they did. I wish I’d stayed home, that I’d never come here.”
As Alfina burst into tears, Sharah pulled out a salve. “Listen,” she said, her voice gentle. “I’m going to put a special salve on this. I’ve done a really good job on the stitching. There will be minimal scarring. In a year or so, it should fade.”
Alfina shook her head, trying to shade her eyes to keep us from seeing her tears. “You don’t understand…it’s a reminder.”
I gently took her hands and wouldn’t let go. She squeezed, holding tight. “You know that this happens back in Otherworld, too. It’s not just here. Rape is a constant…it’s not confined to one race or world, it’s all about power and those who seek to use their bodies as weapons. You did nothing wrong. Your decision to come here didn’t cause this to happen.”
She let out another sigh and looked at me with those brilliant blue eyes. “What do you need me to do?”
“We need you to look at some pictures and see if you recognize any of the men. And…have you ever encountered a Tregart?” I scanned her face, watching for any clue as to what she was thinking.
She held my gaze. Slowly, deliberately, she said, “I’ll look at your pictures. And yes, I know what Tregarts are. And at least two of the men were demons. They were bigger, harder, a lot rougher. But the man in the suit was the worst. He wanted to kill me, but the demons said, no, leave me alive as an example. I don’t think…I don’t think the man in the suit realized they weren’t human by the way he was acting.”
“Man in a suit?” Camille straightened up, looking confused. “What man in a suit?”
“The weasely man who was with the bikers. He was wearing a suit. He was…one of the rapists.” She turned to Sharah. “Can I get dressed now? I feel too exposed. And I’m scared. I want to go home.”
“After you look through the pictures, we’ll take you back to your hotel.” I motioned to Camille. “We’ll wait outside while you dress.”
As Sharah handed her a pair of trousers and a long tunic, we exited the room. Chase was in the waiting room. He looked up expectantly.
“She able to tell you anything?”
“Yeah, and I have a really bad feeling about it.” We told him what she’d said. “So the demons are infiltrating the Freedom’s Angels, stirring up matters. You were right with that supposition. But there’s something else. Did she tell you about the man in the suit?”
He pulled out his notebook. “I’m not the one who took her statement. Let me see…Thayus took the call. He said…yes, there is the mention of a man in a suit. I didn’t have a chance to read through it all before I called you. What are you thinking?”
I hooked my thumbs through the belt loops on my jeans. “Show her a picture of Andy Gambit. Ten to one…it was him.”
“That fucking perv.” Chase tapped his notebook. “If it is Gambit, then we’ve finally got him. But an arrest will make those who follow him go crazy. We have to be prepared. Is there any way you can pull together a counterprotest in case the frootloops come out of the woodwork? Not to confront them, but to balance out the coverage and make Seattle look less like a backwoods KKK enclave. Once this hits the news…”
“Yeah…I got it.” And I knew exactly what to do. “Let me make a call to Tim and to Neely.”
“First, let’s see if Andy’s our man.”
Ten minutes later, Alfina was staring at an album open to a page with twelve mug shots on it, Andy Gambit’s among them. None of us pointed to him, nobody said a word…we just waited.
Alfina stared at the page for a moment, and then without hesitation, she pointed to Gambit’s picture. “That’s him. That’s the man in the suit.” She also identified one of the more notorious members of the Freedom’s Angels.
Chase nodded, motioning to Yugi. “Get warrants for their arrest and to search their houses. Do nothing until you consult me. If they were OW Supes, we’d extradite them to Otherworld. But they’re ours, and their asses are mine.” He turned to me. “Make your calls and pray we get a big turnout.”
Camille and I headed over to the VA with Alfina. She didn’t feel safe back in her hotel, so we took her there. Hiding her among Wade’s people would be safer than any safe house we could take her to. The men followed in my Jeep.
Wade’s assistant—Mari, an ES Fae—escorted us to a private office. From there, I gave Tim a call and asked him to put the phone tree on alert, should we need them. I then called Neely and asked her if we could count on the United Worlds Church to carry through with their promises to stand beside the Supe Community. She gave me her word.
I was just hanging up when Camille’s phone rang. She answered and sat up straight. After murmuring a few words, she gave an abrupt “Yes” and flipped the cell shut.
“What was that about?”
“That…was Trytian. He wants to meet. He knows about Gulakah and wants to talk to us about him.” She kicked the table leg. “I don’t
want to deal with him, but…”
“But considering what we think we know, we’d better meet with him. Like it or not, Trytian’s on our side against the Demon Lord, and we need all the help we can get. Especially if Van and Jaycee were playing us all this time.”
“Yeah. I told him we’d meet him in thirty minutes at Salsa Ria.”
Salsa Ria was a popular twenty-four-hour Tex-Mex all-you-can-eat buffet. I perked up. We’d been going for a while on empty stomachs and too little sleep. Food would be good, even if we weren’t looking forward to the most congenial breakfast partner.
Shade, Trillian, and Smoky weren’t all that thrilled when we told them we were headed to meet Trytian, but they acquiesced as usual. They knew we weren’t going to budge. I called Chase first. He had his men out looking for Andy Gambit, and he promised to call me the minute they found him.
As we walked in the door of Salsa Ria, the smells hit my stomach like a sledgehammer and I began to salivate. We looked around and there he was, sitting at a round table near the back: Trytian.
We hadn’t seen him since the night at Stacia Bonecrusher’s safe house where she’d escaped and Trytian had nearly blown us all sky-high. He looked a little like Keanu Reeves with an insolent grin, smug and self-satisfied. Only now, his hair was in a spiked shag, a dark mirror to Vanzir’s, and he looked stronger than before.
He watched us as we approached, his eyes lighting. I sucked in a deep breath. He’d better watch it, with both Smoky and Shade on hand. They wouldn’t put up with any crap from him.
We sat down and a waitress came over. Trytian patiently waited as I ordered beef fajitas and a salad. Camille ordered a chicken wrap, and Trillian asked for a bowl of their corn and red pepper soup.
When she left, Trytian leaned forward and, mostly looking at Camille, said, “Thanks for meeting me. I know you didn’t want to, but it’s in both of our best interests.”