Blood, Smoke and Mirrors (2010) (26 page)

I hated to admit it, but the vampire had a point. "Will you both cut it out? The wicked witch is dead, she had it comin', I say we call it a night."

"No!" both men replied.

"Oh, for the love of--" I started, but was interrupted by the undead peanut gallery.

"Hmm. Harrison knows, and yet he's still fighting it," Simon commented to his companion. "I think that's very interesting, don't you?"

"Yes, quite," Michael agreed.

"Knows what?" I asked.

"That you and Duquesne are soul mates, of course," Simon answered.

"Well duh, apparently everyone knows that," I muttered, grimacing in annoyance.

"Lord Wroth, Mr. Black. I take it you are enjoying your view," Zach said dryly as he glanced at them.

"Indeed, though this is not terribly original of you, I have witnessed this sort of drama before," Simon replied.

"You have?" I'd hate to think my adventure was just another day at the vampire office.

"My apologies, Miss Morrow. The drama in question is not an unfamiliar story: A newly made vampire so terrified at the thought of eternity alone that he is desperate to keep his stolen damsel with him, even as her knight is pounding down the doors to his lair."

"I object to being accused of something so cliche. I think my reasoning is quite sound. I might add that you are treading perilously close to interfering, St. Jerome."

"I'm merely having a talk with the new Titania." Spreading his hands in a placating gesture, he smiled. "Though I should add that it is a rather despicable specimen who would knowingly keep a lady from her soul mate."

"I need her," Zach growled. A shiver ran down my spine, and I grabbed Mac's hand.

"For what?" I asked. "You already put the necro-whammy on me. You said I could leave, and now none of your guests are here to witness whatever happens. Just let us go."

"I'm afraid I can't let a council member's murderer waltz away from the scene of the crime," Zach argued.

"Well, then you'll just have to stop me," Lex countered, and then lunged at him.

The two men moved with inhuman speed, a blur in the center of the room. With no weapon, Harrison fought with teeth and claws, and for the first time I was able to see him as a true monster. Lex caught him high across the chest, tearing a slash through Zach's suit, and a line of pain seared me in the same place. Gasping, I fell to my knees, still clinging to Mac's hand.

"Cat!" Mac exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

I placed my hand above the plunging neckline of my dress, and slick, warm blood coated my fingers. Kneeling next to me, Simon drew my hand away and examined the wound.

"Of all the foolish, irresponsible--" he sputtered. "Idiot boy." Rising to his feet, he turned to Michael. "Duquesne needs to be stopped, or he'll kill her along with Harrison."

Those were words I certainly didn't want to hear--Lex was mad enough to send Harrison straight to hell, and I didn't want to get dragged down with him. I watched as the two men continued to fight, two black-clad blurs that darted back and forth across the floor. I wasn't sure if it was Harrison's blood in my veins or whatever attunement he said we shared, but I felt every scratch, every bruise, every wound that the vampire endured.

Lex's blade cut a deep slash across Zach's torso, and I doubled over in agony. A blast of arctic air crashed into Harrison, and the vampire tumbled backward. Clutching his stomach as he lay in a crumpled ball, Harrison seemed defeated, and Lex advanced to deliver a killing blow. Seeing an opening, I stumbled between them and threw my arms out wide.

"Stop it!" I shouted. "That's enough!"

Lex tried to move around me, but I grabbed him. "Lord and Lady, will you stand still. You're hitting me too, jackass."

He frowned, noticing my bloodstained dress. "Cat...what happened?"

"You can't kill him, apparently it'll kill me too. He did some weird vampire wooj to me and now we're stuck with each other."

Lex shot a wary look at the fallen vampire, and then sheathed his weapons. I threw my arms around him and he held me close. I felt instantly better, as though Lex's very presence chased away my aches and pains.

"It's a spirit link, in fact," Simon spoke up. "It's really quite rare. I've never heard of it being cast on one who wasn't a necromancer."

"And I'm seriously not a necromancer."

Harrison stirred, groaning as he slowly got to his feet. "You could be. You'd be powerful. It's in your blood."

"No. It's not," I said, shaking my head. "Okay, we're going to leave now."

"I can't allow that," Zach repeated.

"I'm takin' her home," Lex replied. "Just 'cause I can't kill you doesn't mean I won't handcuff you to a sculpture so we can leave."

"Try it," Zach suggested. He grinned, flashing bright white fangs, and I shuddered. We were at a standoff--Lex couldn't attack him, and he wouldn't let us go.

There was a distinct sigh from the direction of our undead audience, and then a streak of motion darted from the shadows behind Harrison. He turned toward it, and a dull pain exploded in my head as Zach fell to the floor, unconscious. Lex held me tight, reacting to the sudden buckling of my knees. When I recovered I saw Mrs. Emily Black standing above Zach's prone form. Emily wiped off the side of a leather handbag, appearing unaffected by her surroundings.

I blinked. "Did you just hit him in the head with your purse?"

"I thought it best. We'd better hurry before he wakes up."

"Sounds like a plan to me. C'mon, sugar, let's get out of here," Lex said.

I hugged him, feeling a little steadier, and he brushed a kiss against my hair.

"Damn, broke another one," Emily muttered. She upended the bag, and several broken pieces of brick tumbled out and fell to the floor. I peered incredulously at Emily--the woman was short and petite and certainly didn't look like the sort to have a weapon in her evening bag, and definitely not a chunk of masonry. I turned toward Michael and Simon.

"Cracking your host in the head with a brick seems kinda like interfering in vamp politics to me. Isn't that against your Order's rules?"

"It is, but while Michael is in the Order, Emily isn't. That is why she can aid in rescuing you while we are merely observing," Simon explained. Dusting himself off, he attempted to put his black suit back into order. "We'll have to use the stairs. The elevators are monitored and can be overridden by security."

We ducked into an emergency stairwell and began making our way down to the parking structure. Thankfully the art gallery wasn't as high up in the building as my suite was, and we didn't have a ridiculously far distance to travel. Lex held my hand tightly as we walked, as though he worried I'd try to bolt and run back to Harrison. Or maybe he was just happy to see me. Either way, I knew we'd have an interesting conversation once we were rid of our vampire audience.

"So, if you're not in the Order, aren't you still going to get into trouble for assaulting Zach?" I asked Emily as we trudged down the stairs.

"
Zach?
" she said, an inquisitive note in her voice. "Hmm, just how familiar are you with young Mr. Harrison?"

"I tried to get familiar with him, but apparently I'm not his type," Mac joked. My cheeks flushed and I whacked Mac in the ribs with my free hand. Lex made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a low growl, and I hoped he was just clearing his throat.

"You're avoiding the question," I said to Emily.

"So are you," she replied, amused.

"You'll have to forgive Emily, she's an insufferable gossip." Michael chuckled behind us. "The answer to your question is no, she won't. Emily's position is unique."

"Unique?"

"Quite," Simon chimed in. "I took Michael on as my student and inducted him into the Order. Since he and Emily are soul mates, we couldn't separate them--it would be extremely cruel, so he turned her. She isn't part of the Order, but she wasn't a necromancer and therefore holds no allegiance to their society."

"That's why I volunteered when Alexander asked Simon for help sneaking him into the building," Emily informed me. "I don't often get to aid in the rescue of a damsel in distress."

"My wife, the mighty heroine." Michael affectionately mussed Emily's hair.

Emily pushed open the door to their parking level, and we emerged from the stairwell. It wasn't as pristine as the spot I'd arrived at in the limo, but I could still catch a faint smell of fresh, damp air through the exhaust and spilled oil--it was raining outside. The sound of shuffling feet and muffled conversation echoed through the concrete structure. We rounded a corner just in time to see a handful of security agents spill out of an elevator, and they didn't look happy.

"Ah hell," I sighed. "So much for avoiding the elevators."

The men spotted us and ran in our direction, a few of them drawing guns. We dove behind the nearest cars for cover as shots exploded in a series of sharp pops.

"There's only a few, we can take care of them," Lex assured us, and I shook my head.

"'We'? Some of us are a bit out of our league here," Mac piped up, and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and that's a lot of bullets to dodge. I don't suppose you had anything else besides a brick in your purse?" I asked Emily.

"Sorry, it was the only thing that got through the metal detectors."

"Great. Ideas?"

"Hey, look up," Mac said, pointing at the ceiling near our attackers. A bright red sprinkler head jutted from the bland concrete. Water. I could work with that.

Staring hard at the sprinkler, I reached out with my magic and yanked on the water in the pipes, which then erupted in a fine spray. I chanted the same spell that'd let me bean Laura with an iceball, and the water froze into sharp spikes, sending a hail of icicles in every direction.

"Nice." Lex grinned, darting out from our cover.

Emily grabbed a hold of my hand and tugged me after her as she dashed back into the aisle. A few of the men were down, injured but alive, and the ones left standing looked bewildered by what attacked their friends. Lex engaged those closest to us, and drawing back her fist, Emily decked one and laid him out flat. Not bad for a little vamp in a cocktail dress.

Lex made quick work of the rest of them, but the last man standing turned toward us and aimed his gun at Emily. I stepped closer to her, and instead of throwing my shields out from within me I pictured a perfect sphere of water around us, drawing on energy from the gush spewing from the sprinkler. The energy pulsed bright blue around us a heartbeat before he pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit the barrier. For a moment it hung there, suspended in midair, and then slid slowly to the ground.

"Good work," she said, impressed.

Before the gunman could fire again, a ball of ice the size of a grapefruit struck him in the side of the head and sent him sprawling. Emily and I turned to our vampire entourage, and Michael held out his hands, attempting to look innocent.

"Freak sprinkler accident," he explained, pointing upwards.

"Of course it was, darling. Let's hurry before it happens again, shall we?" Emily suggested.

Before I could manage to ask where exactly the car was, I felt a wave of white-hot anger thrum through me, and I collapsed in a pile of twitching, flailing limbs.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Emily bent over me as I thrashed and kicked, molten agony racing through my veins. A high-pitched scream tore from my throat, long and agonized. The vampire placed her hands on either side of my face, and she held me steady as she looked deeply into my eyes.

Lex knelt next to me, and then grabbed my hand and held it. Some of the heat subsided, enough to let me concentrate on Emily as she spoke.

"Catherine, how much did you drink?" she asked.

"What?" My breath was still too fast, too shallow--I felt like I was hyperventilating.

"How much did you drink from Harrison?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Did he have you recite any spells? Any oaths?"

"No."

"Good. Alexander, you'll have to carry her."

Lex picked me up and held me close, and my thrashing quieted into mild shakes. Just his mere presence helped fight back the effects of the poison racing through my body. We hurried through the parking garage, and once we reached their car--a bright red SUV--I was dropped into the backseat as everyone climbed into the car.

"I'll take care of her from here, Alexander. You need to drive," Emily informed him, patting his arm. Lex appeared less than thrilled at being banished from my side, but he obeyed her command.

"What's happening to me?" My voice trembled as the heat suddenly turned to an icy chill, and I shivered. The engine revved, and I heard the tires squeal as Lex raced through the parking garage and out into the rainy Chicago night.

"Please have a care with my car. We're going to need a bit of stability back here," Emily warned him, and then she turned to me. "The blood you ingested has saturated your aura with necromancy, and it's allowing Zachary's emotions to overwhelm you."

Taking my hand, she turned it over and peered thoughtfully at my wrist. "How much did you drink? Was it more than one time? Did he force you?"

"No, Laura tried to kill me, but Zach chased her off. He said I had to drink or he couldn't help me."

"You lost a lot of blood?" Simon asked, and I nodded. "A mortal wound would have required a good deal of his blood to heal."

"Will it wear off? Zach said it was dangerous for a magician to drink vamp blood if they weren't a necromancer."

"Yes, it is." Emily sighed, shaking her head in annoyance. "Alexander, you'll need to take her directly to your home once we part ways. The farther away from here she is, the better. Young Mr. Harrison won't leave the safety of the wards on this building. He knows the Silverleafs have marked him."

"I'll be damned," Michael said softly. "That's brilliant."

"What is, darling?"

"He's bought himself immunity from the faeries--they can't touch him without risking the safety of their Titania."

"Well, there's nothing to be done about that now. Now, I'll do what I can to aid you, Catherine. I'm afraid this isn't going to be simple, or pleasant--"

"Em, I don't think you should try this," Michael interrupted.

"I'm afraid I'm the only one who can, darling. No more interruptions," she admonished him. Focusing her attention on me, she patted my hand gently. "Unfortunately, I can't remove the attunement. I can ease some of your discomfort by drawing out the worst of the necromantic magic, but I can't remove all of it. Losing that much blood at once would likely kill you."

Oh, that was comforting. Still shivering uncontrollably, I couldn't really argue with her plan. All I wanted to do was get away, far away as I possibly could, and sleep for a week.

"Emily," her husband intoned again. "This isn't safe." I glanced at him, noticing the deep concern in his expression.

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, he's just being overly cautious." She gave me a reassuring smile.

I wasn't convinced, particularly when Simon spoke up on the subject. "I'm afraid I must agree with Michael. We don't know how Harrison's magic will affect you, Emily."

Squaring her small shoulders, the petite woman drew herself up. "I'm sure I can handle anything from one of Laura's kept men. He's only a child." Waving her hand dismissively, she ignored their fears. "Now, Catherine, it will be easiest on you if you do not watch this."

Like getting a shot--just close your eyes, slight pinch, and it's all over.
Too bad nobody was going to offer me a lollipop afterwards. Nodding my consent, I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away. Intent on ignoring the feel of her fangs piercing my wrist, I concentrated on the sound of the speeding SUV and the splatter of rain against the roof and windows. Emily used just enough of her vampire magic to dull the pain of the bite. It made me wonder if she knew what her buddy Simon had put me through, and what she thought about it.

The chill in my veins began to subside, and the shivering quieted. As the sensations calmed, I could distantly feel even greater anger from Harrison, now mixed with poignant anguish as he realized he was powerless to stop me from being spirited away. Even as I regained control of myself, Harrison continued to remain in the back of my thoughts. I wondered if I would ever be completely free of him.

I also wondered if Emily was going to drain me into unconsciousness as I felt increasingly lightheaded, but she finally withdrew her fangs and moved away. Opening my eyes, I studied the vampire's expression. A frown creased her brow, and her gaze was distant and glassy as though she was in some sort of trance.

"Emily?" I asked.

"Give her a moment," Michael said. "She's having a vision."

I nodded in understanding. Before she became a vampire Emily must've been a seer, the rarest breed of magician, and taking in Harrison's magic triggered some sort of psychic episode. After a minute or so passed, Michael reached over from his seat and tapped her shoulder, murmuring her name. For another long moment Emily continued to stare blankly, then she blinked several times and awareness filled her soft gray eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, concerned.

"Yes, I am now. It was a bit...unexpected. But don't you worry, my dear. I'll see that young Mr. Harrison behaves himself in the future. Rest now, we'll take care of everything." Turning to her husband, I watched them exchange a look heavy with emotion, and I wondered what it was she'd seen.

I turned to Simon. "You know about this spirit-link thing, how it works?"

"I've heard of it. I've never attempted such a thing," he replied.

"Can it be undone?"

"I don't know. I can research the matter."

I frowned. "How much would that cost? After all this, my blood bank's closed until further notice."

The vampire smiled, amused. "That sort of research is expensive, but you have nothing to fear. I'm sure your Oberon will insist on payments that are...less memorable."

I nodded, too tired to press him further. I drifted off to sleep, waking only when we stopped to switch cars. Apparently the vampires were going to keep an eye on Mac for now, which might have made me nervous, but Emily assured me that no one in the Order would ever harm a fellow librarian. On one hand I hoped that Mac got to experience Simon's ridiculously extravagant library, but on the other hand I knew he'd never want to leave if he did. Lex tucked me into the passenger seat of his SUV, and I missed the rest of the ride to his place. When I awoke again I was being shaken gently.

"Cat, honey. C'mon, we need to get you inside and cleaned up. I'll even make pancakes for you."

Still half asleep, I smiled. "I love you, but we both know you can't cook."

He laughed, the first real laugh I'd heard from him in far too long. Sitting up, I stretched in my seat and undid my seat belt. Lex held the door open for me, and my bare feet touched down on the damp grass of the lawn.

"Can you walk?" he asked, and I nodded. "Hmm, better safe than sorry." Scooping me up in his arms, he hoisted me out of the truck and shouldered the door shut.

Too tired to argue, I let him carry me across the lawn. I hadn't spent much time at Lex's place. It's a long drive from my apartment--not that I had a car--and since it's a half-hour from the nearest shopping center it qualifies as country in my book. He's got a pretty good sized chunk of land, lots of trees, and it's along a river I can never remember the name of. Lex even has a speedboat, which I'd been out on all of one time--too loud and too fast for me. The house is really too large for one person, but he's got a lot of junk--sorry, important guardian equipment--so it balances out.

The moon, almost full, lit the surrounding yard with a soft glow. The motion sensors triggered the outside lights as Lex walked up the steps of the front porch, and I heard the sound of dogs barking within. He set me down, and the wooden planks of the porch were cold. "You better get behind me, or they'll knock you down and lick you to death," he warned as he unlocked the door.

"You got another dog?"

"Yeah, that's Ces
a
r. He kinda adopted me while I was out on a call. Got more than enough room, so I brought him home."

Bubba, the German shepherd, bounded out of the door first, followed by a mutt of unknown but vaguely Labradorish descent. Both dogs bypassed Lex and sniffed me, tails wagging. "No, she doesn't want to play with you boys. Go on, get."

The dogs hightailed it out into the yard, and I followed Lex inside. He flicked the lights on, and I looked around the room. I couldn't shake the odd, out-of-place feeling. I'd never felt comfortable here, and I guess I wasn't about to start now. Turning to me, Lex kissed me hard and deep, reminding me in a rush of heat and passion just how amazing he made me feel. "Missed you," he said simply when he pulled away.

"Obviously."

Lex caressed my cheek as he studied the black eye peeking out from behind the makeup that'd been spackled over it. "Did he hit you?"

"Of course not. Laura, on the other hand, beat the ever-lovin' snot out of me."

"I missed a chick fight?" He raised an eyebrow, looking disappointed, and I couldn't help but laugh at his expression.

"It wasn't a fight, it was a beating."

"We're goin' to work on your self-defense skills, sugar. But first, you need to eat so we can do somethin' about those wounds."

"I've eaten enough for a small army today, and it didn't do much."

"And your blood was full of vamp magic before, now it's not," Lex pointed out in reply.

The main room of Lex's place is a giant combination of living room, dining room and kitchen. He flipped on the TV for noise, and a twenty-four hour news channel droned on in the background. I took a seat at the kitchen table and watched as Lex cooked me an omelet and toast, which was the extent of his cooking skills. It was almost a crime that someone who had a kitchen as nice as Lex--granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances--had zero cooking skills. Then again, it might very well become my kitchen, if Lex was serious about becoming Oberon and working out our issues.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked as he set the plate of food down in front of me.

"About what?"

"You know about what. What made you decide to be Oberon?"

"I never said I wasn't goin' to take it, I just wanted some time to get used to the idea."

"Gee, it would've been nice to have some time to get used to the idea of trying out for Titania." Picking up my fork, I poked at the omelet. In the back of my mind, I heard Zach's voice assuring me that if it had been him, he would've accepted the position without hesitation.

"You thought I was walkin' away from you again." It wasn't a question. Taking the seat next to me, he leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah, I did," I admitted.

"You didn't trust me. That why you let Harrison bite you?"

Frowning, I set the fork down. "We've been over this already. I didn't
let
him do anything to me. I didn't even know what this weird spell thing he did to me was, or how he pulled it off, but it wasn't my idea. I didn't agree to it."

"I meant it when I said I'd kill him for layin' a hand on you. Looks like I won't be able to follow through on that one."

"Well, it's even worse than that, because now we're going to have to work on keeping him alive too. If he goes, I go."

"That won't be easy. I'm willin' to bet he'll go after Laura's council seat."

"Great... Did you know about the government going after magicians?" I asked, changing the subject.

Lex looked surprised. "He told you about that?"

"He took me to a place, kinda like a safe house, where I helped heal this shapeshifter who looked like a prisoner of war. Poor kid must've been sixteen years old."

Lex rubbed his eyes wearily. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Harrison wants me to help him overthrow the government and take over the world. Like a Bond villain, without an accent or a white Persian cat." I snorted. Pushing around the food on my plate, I paused and forced myself to continue eating.

"You think that's a good idea?"

"Oh sure, I'm gonna get a leather jumpsuit and change my name to Kitty Galore. What do you think?"

"That you'd look good in that jumpsuit," he replied, and I rolled my eyes at him. "Seriously, though, you know he's goin' about it the wrong way."

"Yeah. What are we going to do about it, though?"

"I'm not allowed to go after straights, Cat."

"Lex the Guardian can't. Oberon, on the other hand... I just feel like if I'm going to do this, I want to make a difference."

Lex eyed me silently, and I went back to pushing food around on my plate, and then he nodded slowly. "I guess you're right. C'mon, you're doin' more playin' than eating, so let's get you cleaned up."

Unwilling to leave me alone in case I had another seizure-like episode, Lex perched on the bathroom counter as I showered, ready to leap to my rescue if I looked wobbly. It took a ridiculously long time to scrape off the makeup and undo my hairstyle. When Lex got a real look at my bruises he cursed about three minutes straight in French, which was quite impressive.

I didn't have any clothes at his place so he gave me a T-shirt to wear as a makeshift nightgown. Despite the fact I was battered, bruised and in borrowed clothes, I felt better than I had in a long time. Lex drew me close to him the moment I slid into bed, and he kissed me.