Elemental Earth (Paranormal Public) (23 page)

“Do you have a problem with Jewel
because she likes Trafton?” Sip asked suspiciously.

Lisabelle rolled her eyes. “That
has nothing to do with it.”

Meanwhile, I had completely
forgotten about Dacer’s mother until we reached the entrance to Golden Falls.

There was a distinctly different
feel when we stepped inside the great doors, and waiting for us in the grand
hall were Sectar and a very short woman. She wasn’t hunched over, but I got the
impression that she had difficulty walking. Her hair was short and gray and her
features were sharp. She was dressed in black robes, which meant vampire, and
my guess about her mobility was confirmed when I saw her hands, which rested on
top of a cane. Both the red jewel of the cane and the red jewel of her ring
were large and deep, the color of currants.

When I was finally ablt to take
my eyes off the woman, the next thing I looked at was Sectar’s face.

It was red with rage.

“I don’t even know where to
begin,” he said quietly. “This is the ultimate insult to the sanctity of Golden
Falls.”

“If you don’t have anything
useful to say, perhaps silence is the best choice,” said the woman dryly. There
was something in the cadence of her voice that was familiar to me.

“Mrs. Dacer,” Sip said
uncertainly, stepping forward in greeting.

I was gob smacked. In the excitement
of our field trip, and of having witnessed Lough and Trafton proving their
worth, I had totally forgotten that Dacer had said he would send his mother. To
tell the truth, I had only half believed him in the first place. I couldn't
imagine how she could help, and besides, I had had no idea that she would get
there so quickly.

“No dear, I’m Duchess Leonie. I
didn’t marry Jofer-Luc’s father. Very progressive of us.” She nodded approval
of herself.

“Dacer has a first name?” Sip
asked, shocked. “I never thought about that before.”

“He is usually just called Dacer
or Dace, but yes, I was mother enough to him to make sure that he was given
more than one name at birth.”

Sip blushed. “I’m sorry,” she
stammered. “I didn’t mean to be insulting.”

“I call him Luc,” she said, her
voice rippling with amusement. “As his mother I have the right.”

I was delighted to meet Dacer’s
mother, and I was glad there was a paranormal here who I knew was on our side.
But I did wonder how this fragile vampire could help us in a war.

She turned to Sectar. “I can find
my own way to my chambers. Is there a place where I may speak privately with
these young ladies?” Her tone was light, but I had the feeling she was lashing
Sectar with her words.

The werewolf stared at her. His
jaw was working, but no sound was coming out.

“Good evening, Duchess Leonie,”
said Zervos, coming around the corner looking worse than I had ever seen him.
His face was haggard and his eyes were sunken and bloodshot.

“Ah, Professor Zervos,” said
Duchess Leonie. “I heard tell you were here. It’s nice to see you again.” She
extended her hand for Zervos to shake, which he did, gently. Her hand shook a
little and she quickly put it back on the cane, hiding a sigh. Zervos eyed her
quietly as Sectar looked thoughtful.

“What was Dacer thinking?” Sip
muttered. “She shouldn’t be here among the snakes.”

“Snakes come in all skins,” said
Lisabelle just as quietly. “Even pretty ones.” She was looking at Sectar.

“Well, isn’t that wise,” said
Sip, looking disgruntled.

“I am, rather, yes,” said
Lisabelle. Turning to the guest she said courteously, “Duchess Leonie, we would
be happy to show you to our suite. We can speak privately there.”

Zervos gave Lisabelle a sharp
look, but Dacer’s mother merely seemed amused.

“Very well. After that I expect
I’ll need a good night’s sleep.” She turned to Sectar. “Are you going to allow
me to speak privately with these students, or do we have to discuss the
paranormal privacy laws?”

“No,” Sectar gritted out. “I’m
perfectly happy to let you speak privately with them. We have nothing but trust
here at Golden Falls.”

“Very good,” she said, nodding
once.

“It’s strange, is it not, that
Paranormal Public cares about this band of miscreants so much that all they
send is you?” Sectar asked lightly.

Duchess Leonie straightened from
the fragile figure she had seemed to be. Her hand slid lower down her cane,
revealing the massive, blood red jewel, the inside of which now looked like it
was boiling. Sectar started when he saw it. She stared at him for several
heartbeats, then shrugged and turned away. I’m pretty sure I saw Sectar take a
breath when she looked away.

“Lead on?” she said pleasantly to
Lisabelle when no one moved. She didn’t even look at Zervos as the four of us
left, leaving the two senior paranormal males glaring after her.

I saw where Dacer got his spunk,
although his fashion sense was still unexplained.

Duchess Leonie was the last
through the door. She clucked in appreciation. “Golden Falls does know how to
treat their guests, don’t they?” she asked, respect shining in her black eyes.

“In most respects,” said
Lisabelle dryly. Obviously we were all thinking of Vanni. The only good news to
come out of Marcus’s death, if you could call it that, was that Vanni was being
released from prison and taken to what passed for the Golden Falls hospital.
When Zervos told us, it was the first time I had seen him looking pleased in
weeks.

The Duchess moved slowly, as if
her whole body hurt. I felt bad for her, but when Lisabelle tried extending her
arm, Dacer’s mother slapped it away, muttering something about upstart
children.

“You called us young ladies a
minute ago,” Lisabelle pointed out bravely. Duchess Leonie fixed the darkness
mage with a stare, and Lisabelle quieted.

“That was for the benefit of
Professor Zervos and whatever title Sectar has gifted himself with,” she said
dryly. “I’m perfectly happy to lie in public.”

“I’ll remember that,” Sip
muttered.

“Why didn’t you mention the rings
the Golden Falls students are wearing?” Duchess Leonie demanded sharply once we
were alone.

There was a white ball curled up
on the blue cushion. “Move, you,” said Duchess Leonie, making a shooing motion
at Bartholem. The cat gave her a disgruntled look, but made his way over to
Lisabelle’s bed. We all sat on the ends of our respective beds and Lisabelle
picked up the white cat, who was purring loudly.

The three of us looked at her in
shock, the fire making flickering color over her face. No greeting, no how are
you doing, no gosh it’s nice to meet you, just right down to business.

“We didn’t think about it,” I
stammered, folding my legs under myself and leaning toward the fire. “Wh-why?
What does it mean?”

“It means I have no idea,” she
said. “It shouldn’t be possible, but it isn’t good. All those black rings . . .
there’s a strange power at work here.”

“We just want to find out who
killed our friends,” said Sip.

“Ah, I see,” said Duchess Leonie,
giving Sip an appraising look. “You’re the girl who writes for the Tabble, are
you not? Going to be a journalist when you graduate?”

Sip raised her eyebrows. “I don’t
know what I’m going to be,” she said. “I want to keep running the Sign of Six.”

Duchess Leonie sniffed. “It’s
dangerous,” she said. “Standing up to power is dangerous. Be careful.” Then she
looked around at each of us and said, “Anyway, I asked Sectar about the rings.”

“What did Sectar say?” Lisabelle
asked curiously. I shifted, waiting for the answer. I wanted to know, but I
didn’t see what difference it would make, or how it would help us learn who had
killed Marcus and Kia.

“He said they were an experiment
designed by some students a few years back. They thought it would be nice to
bring them all together under one color.” Duchess Leonie made a disgusted face.
“More harmony nonsense.”

“They just so happened to choose
black?” Lisabelle asked in disbelief.

“It was merely . . . luck. Many
of the other colors are taken, after all, is what he told me.” Duchess Leonie
wasn’t smiling.

“Ah, yes, the old ‘many other
colors are taken’ routine,” Lisabelle said.

“Dacer wouldn’t have sent you
here if he thought you were in danger, would he?” I asked quietly.

Duchess Leonie laughed. “I can
take care of myself, but I must urge caution on all of you. The war is becoming
more dangerous by the day, and I’m worried that if you all keep sticking your
necks out your heads will be chopped off.” She looked at each of us in turn,
making sure we understood.

“Well that’s a charming image,”
said Sip.

“Factual isn’t always pleasant,”
Duchess Leonie said sharply. “Darkness calls to darkness, but trying to force
all of it out of your life usually has the opposite effect.” She glanced at
Lisabelle. “Now, I want to know everything.”

Before we could start explaining,
there was a soft tap at my door and Keller stuck his head in.

“Oh,” he said, his blue eyes
focusing on Duchess Leonie instantly. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had
company.” He looked tired and a little upset. I sprang to my feet.

“Keller, this is Dacer’s mother,
Duchess Leonie,” I said. I turned to her, but she was already standing. Keller
hurried into the room to greet her.

“This must be Batilia and Baron’s
boy,” she said, stretching out her hand in greeting. Keller took it and smiled.

“Correct,” he said. “It’s nice to
meet you, Duchess Leonie. Your son is an excellent teacher.”

“I taught him everything he
knows,” she said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Obviously. Join us.”

She motioned for Keller to sit
and he did, on one of the plush couches. He sank in so low that he was going to
have to leverage himself back out later. I tried not to feel like I had been
punched in the gut by the fact that he hadn’t even glanced my way. Sip,
meanwhile, was none too subtle. She punched him in the arm.

Keller glared at her, rubbing the
offended area. “Good thing I can heal myself,” he said, “if I’m going to keep
hanging out with violent werewolves.”

Sip tossed her hair, which was
now just long enough to toss. “Deserved,” she sniffed.

Keller didn’t move, but he gave
me a searching look. I just raised my eyebrows. I didn’t know what was going
on, but I had the bad feeling he had something to tell me. Otherwise, why would
he search me out?

We didn’t get a chance to talk
alone until Duchess Leonie went off to bed. “Be careful here,” she said. We
must all try to survive until summer.”

“And then there’s summer to
survive,” Lisabelle said. She hated going home to her parents’ place, and she
had told us that she would even drink when she did, a big no-no among
paranormals.

After Duchess Leonie left we
talked long into the night. I felt unsettled, and it wasn’t just from the long
day. I wanted to tell Keller about the dream, but other subjects intervened.

“So, Keller,” said Lisabelle,
raising her eyebrows at the fallen angel after the door had clanged shut behind
Duchess Leonie. She had to hobble out, and it had taken a long time, but
finally it was just the four of us.

“Lough’s in pretty bad shape,”
said Keller. “But he should be fine.”

“What did you do today?” I asked
quietly, although I already knew.

Keller swallowed hard. “I called
Marcus’s mom and dad. I promised I’d send their son home to them so he could be
buried properly, following fallen angel customs.” Keller stared into the fire,
his mind far away and his voice low. “They asked me who did it. Telling them I
had no idea was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. He squeezed his eyes shut.
When he opened them he was looking at me. “Charlotte,” he said. “I’m sorry. My
parents want me to leave here immediately, and I told them no, I’m staying. I
want to find out what happened to Marcus now just as badly as you do.”

“So, what are you going to do?”
Lisabelle prodded.

Keller sighed. “I promised I
would meet them somewhere. They have a house nearby that they rarely use, but
they said we should have dinner there. I’m not supposed to, because I’m
supposed to be chaperoning, but they wouldn’t leave me alone. Also” - he
swallowed, then went on - “Charlotte, they want you to come too.”

Sip and Lisabelle’s mouths
dropped open. His parents had avoided me like the plague since we had started
dating.

“Oh,” I said. “I thought we were
in a fight.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Keller,
shaking his head. “Couples fight. Even forever couples. Marcus’s death changes
everything. I need to see my parents. I want you with me, and for once so do my
parents. Maybe they’re taking a step in the right direction.”

“No offense, darling,” said
Lisabelle, “but fallen angels do not change easily. Not easily at all.”