Bound by Blood (The Garner Witch Series) (22 page)

He guffawed loudly, his laugh dripping with disdain. “Need I remind you, that man is still a suspect? He was in contact with at least two of the four victims before they were killed, and even if he has an alibi he knows more than he’s told us. But maybe you don’t care as much as the rest of us about catching this killer. Maybe you only care about protecting your boyfriend.”

“Finding the killer means more to me than you’ll ever know.” I yelled back, my rage and intensity caused him to pause, but his anger rebounded quickly.

“Aside from not wanting to see your boyfriend go to jail, why would you care about catching this killer? I was obviously wrong about your loyalty.” He shot back, snidely.

“You have no idea. This means more to me than anything. My very life depends on catching this killer!” I yelled back before thinking.

His breath caught and he cocked his head to the side. After a thoughtful pause, he asked in a much more subdued tone. “What do you mean your
life
depends on it?”

Resigned, I lowered my head and sighed heavily. I was going to have to tell him something. I decided to tell him about my family, but omit the fact that Nathan is a vampire. It really wasn’t my secret to tell, and I didn’t think he was ready to accept that little tidbit. “Morrison, sit down I need to get something out of the bedroom.”

Reluctantly, he took a seat on the couch while I went into the bedroom to get the results of my DNA analysis. On my way back I grabbed him a beer.

“Here, you’ll probably need this.” I handed him the beer and the paper. “Please understand I couldn’t tell you about this, no one would believe me. I’m placing my trust in you with a secret that could ruin me professionally.” Silently, I pleaded with him. Begging him with my eyes to keep my secret, hoping I wasn’t making a huge mistake.

He looked at me and nodded his head. “You
will
tell me everything. If it’s not something that will impede this investigation, we’ll see about keeping your secret.”  It was all he would promise, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

As he read the paper, I began to explain. “The paper you’re holding is the result of a DNA test I ordered, comparing my DNA to that of our victims.”

He read the paper, closely, until his head jerked up in surprise. “It says they match.”

“That’s right... they’re my cousins. I had an inkling about the connection, but wasn’t sure until you requisitioned the tests and the lab compared the results.”

“Did you know you were related from the beginning?”

Massaging my temples, my fingers worked in circles easing some of the tension. “No. I found out some things in Chicago at my father’s funeral. . Nathan Donovan was there. I needed to verify that information, which is why I had my blood tested”

“Nathan Donovan was at your father’s funeral?”

“Yes. I was shocked too, but the strange thing was he was just as surprised to find me there. He was looking for James Burke’s daughter. He had absolutely no idea that
I
was his daughter.”

“Why was he looking for you…or her?”

“He told me I was in danger. Apparently, he was trying to find me to protect me, because he knew all of the other victims were relatives. His family and mine were close, they went into hiding years ago and he was trying to track them down to protect them from this killer. And before you ask, I did not just take his word for it, which is why I asked for the DNA test done. But as you can see, the tests confirmed what he told me.”

“Do you know why the killer is after your family? What’s his motive?”

“This is the part you are not going to believe.”

“Try me.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you...” I took in a deep, fortifying breath before I continued. “He’s after my entire family for our blood. According to Nathan, I come from an ancient line of powerful witches. Over generations our power has increased, evidently making it a commodity. The killer is stealing that power through our blood.”

“You’re sitting there telling me you’re a witch?” he looked at me with chagrin.

“Yes that’s what I’m telling you. There’s something else you should know about me. I have the ability to sense people’s emotions, which has helped me tremendously in my career. For instance, I can tell that you don’t believe a word I’m saying.” I smiled over at him.

“No shit Sherlock, of course I don’t believe you. You don’t have to read my mind to know that.” He retorted.

“No. I can’t read minds just feel emotions that other people are feeling.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes.

“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you, but I can prove it to you if you want.”

“You’re gonna have to if you want me to buy any of this.”

Projecting a glamour was the easiest thing I could think to do to prove it to him. Closing my eyes, I concentrated, focusing all of my power the way Nathan taught me. A tingling sensation spread over the area I was focusing until I heard a gasp from Morrison. Opening my eyes, I saw him staring at me with a look of wonder on his face. I knew what he was seeing. I’d changed my long, brunette hair to a short, blonde pixie cut. “Holy fuck. How’d you do that?”

“I told you... I’m a witch

“Okay, I’ll admit that’s a cool trick. But that doesn’t prove anything you’re saying is the truth. Someone wants to steal your cool hair dressing parlor tricks, and they’re killing for it? I don’t buy it.” He stood to leave. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell SAIC Hunter about you and Nathan Donovan.”

“No wait!” Frantic to get through to him, I quickly blasted him with a mild jolt of pain.

His knees gave out and he fell to the floor with a strangled yelp.

I ran to his side to help him up. “Morrison, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

Panting, he asked, “What the hell was that?”

“I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just needed to demonstrate my power for you so you’d believe me?”

“You did that?” he asked in awe.  I could feel the acceptance settling in… and then the fear.

“Please don’t be afraid, I wouldn’t ever hurt you. That was just a mild dose. I—”

“Mild? Are you kidding?”

“No, I was trying not to hurt you. You needed to understand this isn’t a parlor trick. I have real power that can be used as a weapon, and someone out there is willing to kill for it.”

“I’m not afraid,” he scoffed.

“Morrison, I told you I can sense emotions, and that includes fear.” His emotions shifted, “and now I can sense your annoyance.” I glanced at him knowingly. “It comes in handy when I question witnesses and I can tell if they are lying or telling the truth.” I helped him back onto his feet and followed him as he went back to the couch to sit down. I was pretty sure I had his attention now.

“You’re a witch...really?”

I nodded.

“Holy Shit Reece.” The silence in the room stretched for a long time, he just looked at me for a few minutes. I respected the stillness and refused to say anything, allowing him the time necessary to process his thoughts. Sometimes after a shock, you just needed some space to think. After a span of time passed he spoke.

“All right, I understand why you needed to keep the fact that you’re a witch a secret. I need to know how you know Nathan Donovan is innocent. Can you sense it?” His curiosity piqued.

“Nathan was a friend of my mother’s family, and he also comes from a long line of witches. His family was wiped out the same way mine is being killed now, and he wants to help us. He’s the one who told me I was a witch. He did an unbinding spell to return my powers, and he’s been teaching me how to use those powers. He also let me know about the victims being related to me. But yes, I
can
sense that he’s not evil, and he’s telling the truth. He didn’t kill anyone.” I said it with conviction.

He asked me a string of questions about witches, and my powers. I explained the unbinding spell, getting my powers back, how Nathan was training me to remain undetected by the killer, and what it was like growing up Empathic. I also threw him a bone and admitted that my psychic abilities have always helped me in a fight.

“I knew it,” he said excitedly. “There is just something unnatural about a woman kicking ass like that.”

Narrowing my eyes, I gave a soft laugh. “Don’t get too excited.”

Overall, he was taking things better than I thought he would, but we hadn’t gotten around to the fact that the killer was a vampire yet.

He drank down his second beer while we were talking and then opened the third and took a gulp before asking, “So how exactly does the killer steal power through your blood, is he a witch too?”

“Are you absolutely sure you want to know more?” Proceeding cautiously, I gave him a chance to think about how much information he wanted me to divulge.

“I need to know, and if I am going to help you stop him, you’re going to need for me to know.” “First you have to promise to keep an open mind. I want you to think about the things we know.” I held out my hand as I ticked of the facts of the case on my fingers, “The killer is draining the victims without leaving any distinguishing marks, there are no defensive wounds, and in two of the murder scenes we’ve found human remains

“Yes, I know all of that, what does it mean?” he replied impatiently.

“The killer can drain their blood without leaving a mark because he’s a…vampire.”

“Oh, Jesus. I knew it was going to get worse.” I watched as he fought to keep his face expressionless.

“He feeds off witch’s blood and absorbs their power into his body. There’s no mark on the victims because he can heal the puncture wounds with his blood. Somehow, he puts them into a trance when he feeds off them, which is why there are no defensive wounds on the victims, and why the only emotion I can feel from the victims as they died is a peaceful serenity.”

“Reece, I don’t even know what to say right now. You can absorb emotions off a dead victim?”

I blew out a breath and grabbed my drink. Taking a big swig, I answered. “Yeah, I can, and it often helps me to solve the murder. Although, at Morganna’s apartment I was confused, the only emotion I sensed from her last moments was euphoria. That’s why I asked you if they were drugged. The dust that we found at the scene, it was the bodyguards Nathan assigned to the girls. The reason I tried to steer you away from investigating Colin Lafferty, because I knew he was dead.  He was a vampire too, and so was the other bodyguard Nathan assigned to Morganna, they were killed protecting the girls. When you kill a vampire he turns to dust.” I rambled out everything that pertained to our investigation, and then watched him as he assimilated all of the things I’d just explained.

Shaking his head in disbelief, I felt him waging an internal battle with his emotions. “This is so crazy, I want to doubt you, but somehow I feel like you’re telling the truth.”

“I have a way of proving to you that I’m telling the truth, if you want me to.” I knew it was like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit, his curiosity would not let him pass this opportunity by.

“How?” he asked, hesitantly.

“I told you I can sense people’s emotions and gauge whether or not they’re telling me the truth.” He nodded, “Well I can also open my emotions and let you feel them, if you want me too.”

“Really? Okay...Do it.”

I stood and walked over to him. “I’m going to touch you. It’s easier that way.” Stretching my hands forward, I rested them against the sides of his temples. Then I closed my eyes and shifted all of the emotions I was feeling to him. I heard his breath catch in astonishment. After a few minutes of allowing him to read me, I pulled it back inside and moved back to sit down across from him.

“That was amazing. I felt everything you felt and yet I still knew that what I was experiencing was your emotions. Is that what it’s like for you?” With guileless curiosity, he waited for my answer.

“Sometimes it’s like that, however sometimes it’s really overwhelming especially if someone is in pain physically. Last week agent Fleming had a tooth ache and I couldn’t turn the pain off—I was popping aspirin all day. That’s also the reason why I appreciate working with mostly men. Try experiencing PMS for ten.”

He laughed aloud. “Agent Fleming told me about his tooth ache, said he had to have a root canal. You felt that?”

“Yes, but I can also feel good things as well, it’s not always bad.”

His face turned suddenly serious. “Reece this is hard for me to accept, but I believe you. I give you my word that I’ll keep your secret, and we’ll find this killer!”

A lump of emotion fought its way up my throat, but I managed to push it back down before I did something silly like cry. “Thanks Morrison, you’re a good friend.”

“So, Nathan Donovan?” All of a sudden, his lips hitched at the corner in a devilish grin, “is it serious?”

“Yeah...I think so.”

“Where is he now?” he asked.

“He’s at a late meeting with a client. Why?”

“I want to meet him again now that I know everything, so we can go over the case and see if there is anything more we can come up with.” He insisted in a tone that let me know there was no point in arguing.

“Okay, why don’t you come back for dinner tomorrow? We’ll sit down and talk, all of us together.” I said resigned to the fact that he was right, we might need his help.

He stood up to leave but hesitated at the door for a minute, “I’m glad you told me the truth Reece.” He leaned over, pressing a friendly kiss on my cheek before he left.

Nathan arrived home a few hours later. I was nervous about telling him of Morrison’s impromptu visit, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to.

“So, agent Morrison stopped by for a visit?” he asked, restraining his curiosity while hugging me.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“His scent is in the apartment. What happened? Is everything all right?” he asked, concern lining his face. He knew I was frightened that the FBI would find out about us.

“What do you mean—you can smell him?” I blinked at him in astonishment.

“I told you our senses are immeasurably heightened compared to a mortal, and I can differentiate people’s scents. It is a useful tool.”

“I’ll bet” I wondered if I was going to discover something new about vampires every day. I relayed our entire conversation, including details about
how
I proved to Morrison I was a witch. “I don’t want you to worry, though. I would never betray your trust. I didn’t mention anything to him about you being a vampire.” I assured him.