Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (21 page)

She opened the door. He wasted no time scurrying out. Maybe I’d have to use that tampon threat more often.

“You’re in a bad mood today,” she observed.

“It started with the coffee and just got worse from there,” I groused.

Ireth had apparently grown impatient with my progress. When we went to the kitchen this morning the coffee pot was gone. Worst possible day for it to happen. I was cramping and no painkillers seemed to help. Coffee would have at least made me feel a little better.

Nienna nodded in understanding. “Did you use such interrogation methods when you were in the human military? They appear rather…effective.”

I laughed. “No, we even had limits on how long we could make them stand—which wasn’t long. There were so many rules pretty much all you could do is ask questions.”

“So you like being able to use force and threats better?”

“Believe it or not—no. It would be easier if I didn’t have to prove myself to every fae who walks through that door. Most humans don’t play these kinds of power games.” It wasn’t to say they didn’t have games, but not like the fae did.

I rubbed my face, feeling tired of it all. I really wished I had the luxury of going back to Fairbanks and Emily right now. This was taking far too long. And while I was making wishes, I really wanted Lucas back too. The nightmares hadn’t eased up and all I could think about was finding a way to release him. Not to mention find his brother.

“Well, we’re done for today so you can relax.” Nienna gave me a sympathetic look.

“Done?” The sun couldn’t have even set yet.

“The memorial for the fallen is today. The elders want to do it before we raise the shield tomorrow night and the visitors head back to their homes beyond the city.”

“How do the fae do a memorial?” I hadn’t considered they’d do anything at all.

She smiled. “You’ll see.”

***

The circular street surrounding the palace was packed with fae and other races. They spilled out into the neighborhoods beyond too, but everyone pressed in as tight as they could to make room. Nienna, Elros and I had gotten something to eat in the kitchen before coming out a side door.

As we walked down the steps to join the throng, I caught sight of Nik and Theirn walking together across the street. Their alpha werewolves weren’t far behind them. Fae moved out of their path quickly when the group came near them. They didn’t have to fight through the crowd like most others did.

“Let’s go this way,” I said, directing the druids away from the four men. I wasn’t in the mood to deal them.

We squeezed our way through the masses to reach the front of the palace and found tables stacked with paper maché birds spelled with a special kind of magic I’d never sensed before. A line of people worked their way toward them, taking a bird or two when they reached the front. Several stoic fae stood by to keep order, though they hardly needed to do anything.

Despite so many people crowded close together, there was no chaos. The overall mood in the crowd was somber, floating over my senses like a sad melody. Today people came to honor their loved ones and friends.

I’d always wanted to consider fae—and all other supernaturals—as abominations. Killers of humans and corrupters of the world. Seeing them today, I was reminded that they too had feelings, hopes, and dreams. They also felt loss just as deeply. Some might be bad. Some might be good. They should still have the right to live in peace, the same as humans.

How I’d never come to this conclusion before, I didn’t know. Maybe I’d been so caught up in the prejudices directed against me that I hadn’t seen I was doing the same thing to others. The world would be a much better place if people stopped looking at anyone different from them as bad.

We passed by a pixie who was crying. The little girl, Jezebel, who I’d questioned days ago was holding her hand. The woman must have been the mother who lost all her children except the one. I’d heard there were five others who didn’t survive the blast. My heart ached for her, but I had no words that could take away that kind of pain.

Nienna and Elros led me toward the back of the line.

“Did you know anyone who died?” I asked them.

“Two of our fellow druids were on guard duty that day. We believe they tried to stop the attack, but they couldn’t reach it before it was too late,” Elros answered. He and Nienna kept their faces expressionless, but I caught a sense of their pain at remembering their comrades.

“What about you?” Nienna prompted. “I heard there were losses in Fairbanks.”

“My best friend’s mother died. She was…” I cleared my throat. “I was close to her.”

“Human?” Elros asked.

I nodded. “Yes, but her daughter—my friend—is a vampire.”

“You should take an
éan
for your friend’s mother,” he suggested.

“A what?”

He nodded at the paper maché birds. “There is a longer and more complicated term for them, but we find it simpler to call them an éan. It is Gaelic for bird.”

“Oh.” I studied them as we moved closer to the front of the line. “Do you think anyone would mind?”

So long as I didn’t bleed, I could hold one without damaging the magic infused into them.

“Tonight we put aside our differences for the sake of the dead. No one would question it. In fact, they will most likely approve of you showing respect for our customs.”

I wasn’t sure about that. It didn’t take much for supernaturals to get angry with me, but I wanted to do this for Aniya. I wanted her to know that I’d honored her mother’s death in some special way since I’d missed the small ceremony she’d held. When we reached the birds, I gingerly took one into my hands. It hardly weighed a thing. The feel of the magic in it told me we’d be sending them up to fly. I was interested to see how it would work.

After moving away from the tables, we found a small space at the corner of the palace. I looked up to see the heavy clouds were still overhead, but they appeared higher than usual. Whichever fae was controlling the weather today must have lifted the ceiling for the ceremony. Lightning struck off nearby, but never directly over the city.

The magic of all the fae and other supernaturals surrounded me. My head ached, but this time I didn’t mind. There was solidarity amongst us as we readied ourselves for the flight of the birds. An elder elf spoke far away, saying something about honoring the dead, but I mostly filtered him out.

When he finished, Nienna leaned close to me. “Speak the name of your friend’s mother when the time comes and follow our lead. The magic will do the rest.”

A sort of chanting began and power built across the city center. I kept my mouth shut for this part, letting the druids speak for me. When it stopped, everyone raised their hands high, lifting their birds. I followed suit and raised mine.

In one breath we whispered our loved ones’ names. “Rani Singh.”

A burst of magic followed, originating from somewhere at the front of the palace. Our colorful birds left our hands, taking on a life of their own, and flying into the sky. I watched them get higher and higher, wondering if they’d show up on a flight radar somewhere. They didn’t get that high, though, before bursting into tiny little sparks that came back down in an impressive shower. It didn’t stop. As more birds reached their pinnacle, they lit up the dark sky as well. It was beautiful and it was humbling. I allowed one tear to slip, saying goodbye to my friend’s mother, before brushing it away.

A few minutes later the silence broke. Murmurs spread through the crowd and people began moving toward other parts of the city.

“That’s it?” I asked. Not that I hadn’t thought it enough, but a part of me wasn’t ready to go back to my room. Not after something as moving as that had been.

“No,” Nienna said, taking my arm. “Now we go drink until we can’t remember our names.”

I could get behind a plan like that.

Chapter Twenty-three

Whoever said immortals couldn’t get hangovers lied. My head had been pounding all day, but thanks to my new metabolism aspirin no longer helped. Since I hadn’t had to hide my new nature any longer, I’d imbibed from the stronger stuff the night before and was paying for it now. The fae put some strong stuff in their alcohol that packed a big punch. Nienna and Elros found it funny every time I moaned and rubbed my head. At least I could amuse them.

We were waiting for the last guy on today’s list to arrive. He was late and I was ready to get out of there. I rested my head on the table and breathed through the pain in my head. Sleep would come easy tonight.

The slamming of a door down the hall had me sitting up. I stiffened as soon as I realized who was coming toward us. Of all the fae in the city, he was the last one I wanted to be dealing with at that moment. I stood up and put on my game face, pushing aside the aggravation of my headache.

What came through the door was the most pathetic sight I’d ever seen. Yarrow appeared worse than I felt. The fairy looked as green as an elf and his white-blond hair was an oily mess. Elros had to help him to his seat. I looked at Nienna and she shrugged.

“Must I be here?” Yarrow asked, gripping his stomach.

I wrinkled my nose. He smelled as awful as he looked, though he’d covered the worst of it with glamour. Even that could only help so much with him this sick.

“I just need you to answer a few questions and then you can go.” Hey, just because I didn’t like the guy didn’t mean I wanted to make him any more miserable. Plus I didn’t want to be around him any longer than necessary.

“Just hurry and get it over with.” He waved a hand at me.

For once, we were in complete agreement.

I chose to go straight to the most important questions. “Do you have access to the primary vault here in the palace?”

“Yes, it is necessary for my job,” he said, slumping farther in his chair.

“What is your job?”

His cheeks billowed out and he covered his mouth with his hand. I took a step back, worried he might explode. Several long moments passed before he controlled himself enough to answer.

“I assist…in the process of…putting immortals into
the sleep
,” he managed to whisper out.

My senses could pick up on his misery. I felt cruel keeping him here when he was like this.

“So what does the vault have to do with the process?” I asked.

“It is…where we keep…the mixture that puts immortals into a long-lasting unconsciousness. There are those…who would use it for ill purposes…if they could reach it. So it must be guarded.”

I knitted my brows. “Is it magic?”

“The mixture itself? No.” He shook his head. That didn’t go well for him and I could see him swallowing back his bile. “It takes…fairy dust…to activate it.”

Huh. I’d wondered how they’d managed the process.

“Did you visit the vault on the day of the explosion?”

“Yes, to get the mixture…” Yarrow didn’t get a chance to say any more before he hurled all over the table and floor. I leapt back, but some of it still splattered on me. Ew. It was green and lumpy and disgusting. I began dry heaving at the horrid smell.

“Get him out of here.” I waved my hand at Nienna. “We’ll finish questioning him tomorrow when he’s feeling better.”

She hesitated before moving toward the fairy, but managed to get around the worst of the mess and help him out of the room. I escaped from it right after them and called our pixie cleaner to take care of things. This had been a bad day all around. Most everyone I’d seen had been fighting a hangover on some level. We probably should have taken the day off, considering the fae I’d questioned before Yarrow hadn’t been at their best either—though not nearly as bad as him.

I walked with Elros as we headed down the hall. “Do you want to eat now or catch a nap first?”

My appetite normally didn’t get fazed by anything, but I was hoping he didn’t want to eat until later. Yarrow had done a number on my stomach and it hadn’t been doing well before he arrived.

“Rest first,” Elros said, looking worn himself. “In about four hours we have to be at the perimeter to raise the shield. They’re going to need us at our full strength for it.”

“You know I’m staying far away from that one, right?”

He gave me an ironic look. “Glad you’ve already come to that conclusion because they want you confined to the palace during the process.”

“Well, you’ll get no argument from me there.”

He opened the door leading down the stairs. “Any particular reason?”

“I’d just rather not be around it is all.”

I wasn’t about to give away how bad it was probably going to affect me. It’d be admitting another weakness. Not that any individual sup could throw around the kind of power the fae shield had, but it was best to keep my brain bleeding problem to myself.

It had hit me hard enough during the blast I suspected even if I’d been fully immortal it would have temporarily incapacitated me. I might have bounced back faster, but it still wouldn’t have been easy to bear. Who knew what raising the shield would do to me when I was up this close to it. I preferred to stay out of the way—and underground.

“Not to worry.” Elros gave me a wry look. “The elders are in complete agreement with you staying away.”

We rounded the final bend in the stairs and entered the hallway. Nik and Derrick were waiting in front of our chamber door. I’d been too tired to pay attention to which sups were nearby so it surprised me to see them.

“What’s going on?” I asked when I got closer. Their moods were dark and tense.

“It would be better if we spoke in private.” Nik nodded at the door.

“Sure,” I said, waving them through after Elros opened it.

Nik waited until the druid closed himself in his room and we were all seated before speaking again.

“Something has happened in Fairbanks. All my attempts to reach our people there have failed. My contacts in other parts of Alaska are unable to discover anything through more modern means, either. Perhaps it is nothing, but my instincts say otherwise.”