Darkness Wanes (33 page)

“I’m going to call O’Connell. He’ll be able to get information on them faster than we can,” I said, hurrying out of the living room. I’d left my phone in Lucas’ SUV, along with the clothes I’d worn before the wedding ceremony.

Heading outside, I was relieved to find the vehicle unlocked. I grabbed my phone from my jean’s pocket and dialed O’Connell’s cell phone number.

He answered on the second ring, sounding grumpy. “What’s going on?”

“Other than me just getting married?” I gave him a moment to stutter over that before dropping the next bomb. “Someone set a forest fire near my house, and we caught the guy who did it. Apparently, he’s working with a group who has been setting most of the fires around Fairbanks. We think they’re tied to Grant’s cult. I don’t suppose you’d be up for arresting the rest of them?”

“Do you have names?” he asked.

“We’re getting them now,” I said, going back into the house.

Ralph was leaning over the coffee table writing them down while Micah glared at him. Patrick stood there as well, questioning the guy to make certain he was telling the truth. I was glad he was helping. It was the only way to be sure the names were legit since the anti-compulsion elixir muddied things. Patrick must have joined Micah while I was outside, letting Cori take over watching Emily in the kitchen. It was amazing how good my friends were getting at handling these sorts of things in emergencies.

“Text me the names and bring the suspect to our office,” O’Connell ordered.

“We need to act on this fast before the rest of his group figures out he’s been caught.” No way did I want to miss this opportunity.

“Agreed. See you soon.” He hung up.

Lucas and Bartol appeared in the foyer a moment later, covered in ash and soot. The power levels on them both were much lower than when they’d left.

Bartol swept past me. “It is done. I will take a shower now.”

“Thank you,” I said to his fleeing back, then turned to Lucas. “Micah caught the guy who started the fire.”

His gaze drifted past me, toward his brother and our captive. “Good.”

“We’ve got the names of everyone in the local group. O’Connell wants me to bring this guy in and help arrest the others.” I gave him an apologetic look. This wasn’t even close to the wedding night we’d expected. “I need to leave in a few minutes.”

Lucas closed his eyes. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he was counting to ten. Nothing could make me feel worse than having to tell him I couldn’t stay.

“I will come with you,” he said, looking at me again.

O’Connell could suck on it if he didn’t like my husband coming. “Absolutely.”

“I’m going, too,” Patrick joined in, peering at the list of names on the coffee table. “If this guy—Harvey—is who I think he is, you’ll need my help to confirm it.”

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“I was ahead of Grant by a few years in college. We didn’t have much reason to interact other than being from the same race, but just before I graduated, he became best friends with a transfer student named Harvey—another sensor. That may have been a long time ago, but he could be the same person.”

“Alright, you can go, too.” I turned to Lucas. “You might want to clean up before we leave.”

He glanced at his shirt, grimaced, and flashed up to the bedroom.

Micah gestured to our captive. “If you’re taking him, it might be best if I relocate Emily to a safer place. I’ve got rounds to do tonight.”

I understood what he was avoiding saying in front of Ralph. Micah had to check in at the nerou compound, and that would likely be a safer place to keep Emily for the moment anyway.

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the house,” Cori said. “Bartol probably wouldn’t notice an attack on the place until he had a couple of bullets in his chest.”

Sadly, she had a point. “I’ll get you a gun and some ammo, but try calling us first before you get into a shootout.”

Cori gave me an affirmative nod. “You bet.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Melena

We strode down the corridor toward the DHS office. Lucas held our captive by the arm, who was a little worse for wear after the trip. Ralph may have acquired a sprained wrist and busted lip along the way. Despite using compulsion on him, he’d tried to escape twice when we’d stopped at traffic lights in town. Luckily, I was driving so Lucas could take care of him. Ralph had settled for the moment, but we didn’t want to take any chances. There was no telling how long the latest commands Lucas gave him would last.

We stopped in front of the protection ward. The witch who’d placed the spell packed some serious power. I waved my hand through the field of energy, allowing it to send sharp tingles through my skin. When I’d been here earlier, I’d hardly acknowledged it, but it hadn’t mattered as much when it was only Patrick and me.

“You might not want to cross this,” I said to Lucas.

“I discovered as much when I visited O’Connell a few weeks ago.” He scowled. “Do you know who created it?”

I averted my gaze, knowing it must have caused him a lot of pain. It could have killed him if he’d been a fraction weaker. “I might.”

“Who?”

“Don’t make me answer that, Lucas,” I said, giving him a pleading look. He had a right to be annoyed, but I didn’t want to give away the witch’s name. “She didn’t mean any harm by it.”

I was a little surprised my friend, Kristen from Juneau, had come all the way up here for the job, but the last I’d heard she’d been struggling to find decent work. The weak economy and the dissolution of her coven had made things particularly difficult. Witches tended to do better with the support of their kind. How O’Connell had managed to track her down, I didn’t know.

“It was Kristen, wasn’t it?” He narrowed his eyes. “I should have known. She is the only witch with an open invitation to Fairbanks.”

I’d pushed for that a long time ago, though she rarely used the invite.

“The DHS office needs a ward and you know it,” I said, defending the one and only friend I had who knew me back when my adoptive parents were still alive. We’d come into our abilities around the same time at fourteen years old. She’d loved that she could practice her spells around me without having to worry about me getting hurt. Then I’d had to move away after my adoptive parents died, and I didn’t see Kristen again until a couple of years ago.

“Take him.” Lucas thrust our captive toward me. “I’ll wait out here.”

I grabbed Ralph’s arm. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Lucas ran his gaze up and down my body. “Yes, you will.”

I gulped. There wasn’t much I could say in front of an audience, so I opened the office door and hauled Ralph through it. Patrick followed and took our captive’s other arm. O’Connell stood in the hallway, speaking with a middle-aged man who had short brown hair and wore a gray suit. As soon as they saw us, they stopped talking and met us in the reception area. It was almost midnight, so I wasn’t surprised the secretary wasn’t here.

“Is this the firebug?” the DHS agent asked, gesturing at the man we held.

“Yeah, this is Ralph. You might want to put some handcuffs on him. We had a hard time keeping him from running,” I said, grateful Ralph held still for the moment.

“This is Detective Burks,” O’Connell introduced the man in the suit. “He is acting as the liaison between our office and the Fairbanks Police Department.”

“I’m Melena Sanders. Nice to meet you.” I shook hands with the detective, feeling a slight zing in my palm when we touched. Patrick greeted him as well, then darted a furtive glance at me.

He’d caught the same thing I did about Burks. The detective had a hint of elf in him—about an eighth. When a person only had a little fae in them, our senses wouldn’t register it until we came into close proximity of him or her. Burks probably didn’t have magical abilities, and he didn’t show any outward physical signs such as pointed ears, but I was willing to bet he couldn’t be compelled easily. He was also easy on the eyes, not that Lucas had to worry about any competition. I was happily married now.

The detective pulled out a set of handcuffs and put them on our culprit. “My superiors want me to question him first before we take any action.”

That didn’t surprise me. They were hardly going to conduct a big operation on my word alone. “Be my guest, but don’t take too long. If Ralph’s buddies figure out he’s been compromised, they’ll run.”

“Not to worry.” Burks patted the guy down, checking for weapons. I was glad to see he was thorough. “They always tell me what I want to know.”

That was an interesting way of phrasing it. Maybe he did have a touch of magic in him. I dug into my handbag and took out a Ziploc bag with the cell phone, keys, and other small items we’d found on Ralph before coming here. “Here’s everything he had on him.”

“Thanks.” O’Connell took the bag, then addressed Burks. “Use the interrogation room in the back that I showed you.” He pointed down the hallway. That was a new addition he’d set up while I was away in Purgatory.

“Thank you.” The detective guided Ralph away.

I waited until he’d shut the interrogation room door before speaking again. “So what do you think of Burks?”

“I’ve met with him a few times since he became liaison and found him to be competent and open-minded. He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” O’Connell replied.

The agent wasn’t the type who gave praise often. That piqued my curiosity. “Really?”

“I get the feeling he’s known about supernaturals a lot longer than the rest of the world,” the agent confided, speaking in a low tone.

“It’s probably because…” Patrick began.

“Not everyone was in the dark before this year,” I interrupted, hoping the sensor would take the hint.

More than likely, Burks knew all about his ancestry. He had just enough elf in his DNA that he would notice the subtle differences between humans and supernaturals. Plus, his family would have told him something since mixed-bloods weren’t always well accepted within the fae community. He had to be on guard as a result. As long as he proved useful, I’d never tell on him.

Patrick cleared his throat. “Melena is right. There have always been some humans who figure out the truth and choose not to reveal it for obvious reasons.”

When O’Connell glanced away from us, I shot Patrick a thankful look. He dipped his chin in acknowledgment. If he kept this up, maybe I would learn to trust him.

While we waited, I stepped out of the office and updated Lucas on the situation. He didn’t like standing around, but a hug and kiss seemed to settle him for the moment. By the time I went back inside, Burks had finished his interrogation and left Ralph locked in the room.

I caught the last rays of an enchantment he’d used. Yep, he had a natural talent for dragging the truth out of humans. It wasn’t through compulsion, but rather through magical pheromones he secreted that would loosen the tongues of anyone nearby. Our culprit wouldn’t have been able to fight it since the elixir he’d taken wasn’t designed to block that. I was going to have to get this detective’s business card for future use.

“He was more cooperative than expected and a little roughed up,” the detective said, giving me an inquisitive look. “Did you do that to him?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t, but my husband had to get physical with him when he wouldn’t stay in the vehicle. The guy took an anti-compulsion elixir, so it wasn’t easy to keep him from trying to escape.”

“Wait.” O’Connell held a hand up. “You mentioned on the phone you got married. When did that happen?”

“A few hours ago.”

The agent glared at me. “And you didn’t invite me?”

“Don’t feel bad. I didn’t get to go, either,” Patrick said, sighing.

I couldn’t resist explaining further. “The archangels made us get hitched—in a courthouse just outside Heaven. I didn’t get to choose the guests.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope. There’s no way I’d make that one up,” I replied, then held out my hand for O’Connell to see the ring.

His eyes rounded. “Damn. You definitely weren’t wearing that the other day or I would have noticed.”

Burks had a mystified expression on his face. “Why would the archangels make you get married?”

“That is a long story that would take too much time to explain.” Which was true enough.

“What are you?” the detective asked, cocking his head. His fae blood must have given him some sort of vibe about me. I’d been told that since becoming immortal, I didn’t feel quite human anymore the way others of my kind did—at least not up close.

“I’m a sensor and my husband is a nephilim. Patrick here is also a sensor.” There was no point in hiding it since O’Connell would tell Burks anyway.

The detective opened his mouth and then shut it. Nervousness radiated off of him. He must have realized we could detect the elf in him and worried he might be given away. I gave a subtle shake of my head, letting him know his secret was safe with me. Relief filled his eyes.

O’Connell frowned, no doubt suspicious he’d missed something. “Right, well, we need to get the task force ready to go.”