Chasing Midnight (Dark of Night Book 2) (16 page)

H
e’ll be her
e
, Sue whispered gently inside my head as I pulled a bottle of soda from the fridge.

I felt stupid, standing in the kitchen in my tall, black boots and red skirt.

“All dressed up and nowhere to go,” I mumbled, taking a big gulp.

As if on cue, the phone rang. I walked with deliberate slowness to pick up the cordless. If he was going to cancel on me, I wasn’t going to rush into it.

“Hello,” I answered, waiting for the letdown. “Stone Private Investigations. How can I help you?”

“Isabel? I need to see you right away.”

I exhaled, flopping into my kitchen chair. “Xavier. I haven’t gotten a chance to look into Melanie’s aunt yet. I just need a few days…”

“It’s not that. There has been an… issue with my nephew. I require your assistance.”

I looked at the clock on the microwave. 7:25 pm. “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

“Quickly, please.”

“I’m on my way.”

i

I didn’t have time to change so when I showed up at the door to the Conclave, I was still wearing my date-night outfit. I expected some kind of smart comment from Xavier, but he didn’t even bat an eyelash. Ahnarra met me at the door and half dragged me up the stairs to what I assumed was Devon’s room. There were two guards at the door and only Xavier and Gerard were inside. Xavier was sitting on the bed, his face pale and slack, as if all the emotion had been washed off. Gerard stood blocking the doorway to the bathroom. I went to Xavier. He didn’t look at me, so I laid a hand gently on the side of his face.

“I’m here,” I whispered.

He didn’t move. I glanced up at Ahnarra, who motioned toward the bathroom with a jerk of her head. Gerard huffed and stepped aside just enough for me to see past him. The bathroom was covered in blood. It dripped from the mirror above the sink and ran down the walls in crimson streaks. My stomach rolled, trying to force up the bubbly soda from earlier. I held it down.

Look past the bloo
d
, Sue whispered, and I obeyed.

I blinked. The shower curtain was pulled back, exposing the empty porcelain tub smeared with red handprints. Pushing my way into the room, I looked over the lip of the tub, expecting the worst. It was empty. I glanced around the room quickly. Blood, blood. No body.

“Gerard, did you move the body?” I tried to whisper, which was stupid. It wasn’t like Xavier couldn’t hear me. He shook his head.

“We heard a scream,” Ahnarra interrupted, “broke in the door, and found the room like this. There’s no body. Just blood.”

“You’re sure it’s Devon’s?”

She nodded. Of course. They could smell it.

I looked back at the bathroom. Too much blood. Too much blood to lose and still survive, at least for a human.

“Wait, you had to break the door down? It was locked?” I asked.

Gerard nodded. “From the inside.”

“Can you smell anything else? Perfume, human, vampire? Anything?”

“I smell… cigar. It’s faint. Could be Devon’s,” Ahnarra offered.

Gerard inhaled and agreed with a nod.

“If someone else was in here, if someone or something came in here and hurt him, wouldn’t you smell them?”

Xavier blinks and turns his head to me. “What are you thinking?”

I held up my finger and crossed the room to the only window. Pushing open the glass panes, I leaned over the edge. We were on the third story of the east wing. Outside, there was a large cottonwood tree. Climbing onto the window ledge as carefully as possible, I reached forward. I was only about a foot short of being able to reach the nearest branch.

“What is the human doing?” Ahnarra asked behind me.

I grabbed the sides of the window, leaned back, winked at Xavier, and pushed myself out of the window. Grabbing the branch, I was able to swing onto the roof of the gazebo below and slid down the tile roof onto the soft ground. In a heartbeat, the three vampires had joined me, leaping directly from the window, bypassing the tree and gazebo. They landed without a sound, as if the jump were inches rather than stories.

I looked at Xavier, whose mask of indifference had morphed to irritation as he caught on.

“What about the blood? No human could lose that much and survive,” Gerard pointed out.

“My thought is bagged. He probably had his blood drawn over time and stockpiled it.” I turned to Xavier. “Which means he’s spent a lot of time and energy planning this.”

Xavier shook his head. “I have a hard time believing my nephew is so duplicitous.”

I shrugged. What was there to say? Either I was right and he was trying to play his uncle, or I was wrong and he was dead. I was willing to consider the opportunity. “Is there anything that could have gotten past security, into the room and out of the window, and not left a scent behind?” I looked to Gerard. He just glared.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

There’s one thin
g
, Sue whispered in my head.

“What?” I asked out loud. Xavier tilted his head and stared at me.

A ghost.

“A ghost?” I didn’t realize I was still speaking out loud until I heard Ahnarra snort.

“Is that your best guess, Isabel? The Conclave is haunted?”

If a spirit were powerful, and very angry, it could do that. It could slice him up, then jump into his body once he was unconscious and keep him alive despite the blood loss.

I repeated that information to Xavier, who looked at me as if realizing for the first time that maybe I knew too much.

“I mean, it’s just an option. He’s in trouble with someone, and for some reason, he thinks the answer to all his problems is to become a vampire. It’s not a money thing or a relationship thing. That actually eliminates a lot of possibilities.”

“See, Gerard. This is why Xavier called her. She has very good instincts… for a human,” Ahnarra said, patting the Cleaner on his stocky shoulder. He shook it off. She looked to me. “Isabel, do you think you can find Devon?”

I looked to Xavier. “I think the police would be better equipped for this.”

Gerard shook his head. “If it is a ghost, or some other variant of paranatural, they would be outmatched. And besides, this is Conclave business.”

Now I got it. How would it look if the Conclave had to ask the human authorities for help? How could they publicly admit that someone or something walked right in their front door, kidnapped or killed the living relative of the head honcho, and walked out? That was why they called me. Because finding Devon was still second to saving face.

I shook my head.

They are like animal
s
, Sue said in a calm voice
.
To show weakness is to risk being killed by the others. This petulant child has put them all in danger.

Sue was right. Besides, this was Shane’s family, Xavier’s family. “Alright. I’ll look into it. But I can’t promise anything. Let’s go back up to his room. I need to get a personal item.”

You are going to ask the psychic to look for him as well?

“You got any better ideas?” I mumbled, forgetting that the others could still hear me. I rolled my eyes. “I’m not crazy, okay? I just… have some personal issues right now.”

“Yes, she has a concussion. Right, Isabel?” I turned to see Shane walking across the lawn up to us.

"Oh, sure. Now you show up,” I said, teasing. He didn’t look amused.

He walked right up and kissed me between the eyes, pulling a strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear. I was too stunned to move.

“Sorry I missed our date. I’ll make it up to you.”

Xavier cleared his throat. Shane turned to face him, pulling a notebook from under his jacket and tossing it at him. Xavier caught it and glanced at the cover, not even looking inside.

“We will discuss this in my office,” Xavier said coolly.

Shane inclined his head and took me by the hand. “After I take Isabel to get what she needs and see her to her car.”

As soon as we were back inside, I pulled my hand away. “What the hell, Shane? You got a death wish or something?”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so overdramatic.”

“Me? You just sassed the Chancellor of Conclave, Shane.”

He smirked. “Did I sass him? Was I being sassy?”

I punched him in the arm, bruising my knuckles. “It’s not funny. You were already on thin ice here. What could possibly possess you to risk your position here?”

He shrugged as we climbed the stairs. “I dunno. Maybe I finally know what I want, and what I’m willing to do to get it.”

He lifted me into his arms and ran up the steps. I grabbed him around the neck, if only to keep myself from being sick as the walls blurred past my eyes. In moments, he was standing me on my feet in Devon’s room.

What did I say to him?

Tell him the trut
h
, Sue answered.

“I can’t.”

Yes, you can.

“It’s too dangerous for you,” I said, looking right at Shane.

He looked nervously around the room, over his shoulders. “Who are you talking to, Isabel?”

I blinked.

Tell him.

“Are you sure?”

Yes. Tell him everything.

I sucked in a deep breath. “Fine. Shane, there’s something I need to tell you. You aren’t going to like it.”

The confused smile dropped off his face as he lifted Devon’s watch and held it out to me. “It’s Xavier, isn’t it?”

Taking the watch, I rubbed my thumb over the face. I almost laughed. If only it were that simple. “You remember that séance that Nana Elsie asked me to go to? Well, the spirit who saw the murder go down sort of possessed me that night. She’s been occasionally hijacking my body until we can find the body and put the murderer away.”

He looked at me for a minute, and then laughed. “You know, you could just tell me you aren’t interested.”

I cringed. “I’m not uninterested. I’m sort of… possessed. The other day, the picnic and the beach…”

His smile vanished. “Oh my god. You’re serious. I knew something was off… Wait, so that whole day was—?”

“Sue. Her name is Sue. Yes.”

He raked his hand through his hair. “And that night?”

This was my out. I could lie; I could blame it all on Sue.

Don’t you dare!

When I didn’t answer immediately, he paled, looking sick. He grabbed my arms. “Isabel, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it wasn’t you. I mean, I just… oh God.” His voice was overflowing with guilt.

No, I couldn’t do that to him. “No, Shane, it was me. When you walked me to my room, Sue faded away. She gave me the choice. I could have said no. It was all me.”

The relief flooded over him, relaxing his features.

“So she’s still in there now? How do I know I’m talking to you?” He was looking in my eyes as if searching for her image behind them.

I blew a raspberry.

“Oh, good. It is you.”

Without a second thought, I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him. I could feel his surprise at first, but he quickly relaxed, wrapping his arms around me.

He pulled back, keeping his forehead pressed to mine, his eyes still closed. “I should get you out of here before Xavier blows a gasket.”

I backed away enough so I could look up at him. “Do you think it will be that bad?”

“Well, I can hear him in his office. He’s cussing but not breaking things, so I think I’ll survive.”

He reached up and wiped his thumb across my bottom lip. “Seriously, Isabel. It’s okay. I have a few things I need to talk to Xavier about. I doubt very seriously that a vampire of his age is going to kill me over a human, no offence.”

He was right. Silly of me to think I was anything special, at least to Xavier. “Um, don’t mention Sue, okay? I mean, if he doesn’t already know. She seems to think it would be a bad thing, and I tend to agree.”

“I’ll do what I can, but he is probably listening to us very closely now.”

He’s right. There’s nothing we can do now but go find that poor girl’s body.

“I know,” I said sadly.

Shane stared at me.

“Oh.” I waved my hand. “Sue is saying that we need to go.”

Ahnarra appeared in a blur of vampire speed as soon as we were outside the bedroom. “I’ll walk Isabel to her car. You need to go see Xavier. Now.”

Shane bowed from the neck and kissed me quickly on the cheek before vanishing down the hall.

Ahnarraheld out her arm in a sweeping motion that I took to mean
,
kindly get your ass out of my hous
e
. At least she didn’t seem irritated by my slow, human pace. She just walked beside me, her arms behind her back, looking completely nonplussed.

“So, on a scale of one to ten, just how pissed is Xavier?” I asked when I couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

She pulled the front door open and led me out to my car. “Seven,” she answered finally. “Shane has been explicitly forbidden from… having a physical relationship with any human until his bloodlust is more under control. Honestly, I think the biggest issue is Shane’s general disobedience and lack of respect.”

I nodded. For his sake, I hoped she was right.