Elemental Moon: The Eldritch Files, Book Three (9 page)

E
verything
hurt
.

It hurt to breathe, to move, to swallow and to think. I was one big bruise.

"
Shugah
, you need to open those eyes up. We got a lot to do today."

And somehow my aunt had become some southern-speaking woman. Wait, that wasn't Ina's voice. I knew that voice. And I groaned out loud when I opened my eyes to see Arden Vervain staring down at me. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a smart ponytail and her usual smirk had been replaced by thin lips. "Finally. You do realize you've been asleep for nine hours?"

Nine hours?!

I sat up fast, and went back down just as fast as the room and bed spun underneath me. I actually moaned my head hurt so badly. After several minutes of deep breathing, I took a longer look at where I was. It was a bed, but it wasn't a hospital bed and it wasn't my bed. This one had a gold canopy hanging over me, with a large gold tassel in the center. I turned my head, slowly, and looked around the room. It looked like a bordello, with burgundy walls, white and gold Victorian furniture and a three-panel mirror on the far side of the bed. The sheets were soft—had to be four-hundred thread count. And I was wearing—

What the hell was I wearing?

It was white and soft and covered most of me. This time when I tried to sit up, Arden leaned forward and put a hand between my shoulder blades to push me forward and prop me up. Once the room stopped spinning I looked at her. "Nine hours?"

"Mmhm. I'm afraid the girls and I arrived about ten minutes too late."

"You arrived too late? How did you know—" And then I remembered Kyle's text message. "He texted you."

"Yes, he did. And it was a good thing. You have no idea what you're up against with Circe."

"She doesn't scare me."

Arden sat back and I was able to support myself sitting up.

I was covered in bandages as well as bruises. "Wait…you were calling me. What did you want?"

Arden's expression shifted a few times, from what I interpreted as surprise, then sadness and then resignation. "It was nothing. Nothing you really could have helped me with. It's all taken care of now."

Her words stuck with me because they were beyond ominous. I figured she'd already made the deal with Brendi to deliver me. I just had to get the hell out of here and be on my guard until I did.

My head really hurt. I put a hand to the back of it and felt something crusty.

"Stop that," Arden said and pulled my hand back. "You used to have six stitches back there, and two over your eye. But they mysteriously healed in the span of several hours. You've also got one hell of a concussion. I bet you don't even remember me coming in here, interrupting my night just to make sure you woke up every hour, do you? You also have this pesky fever that won't break."

I could feel the fever. I could also sense the door I'd shut against the pack's link was battered now and staying shut by sheer will. I didn't have much longer before the transformation would start. "I had stitches and they healed?" How was that possible?

"Yes. I'm willing to bet it's got something to do with that wolf bite on your shoulder."

Crap. She saw that. "Please tell me you weren't the one to stitch me up."

"Two of the best surgeons in New Orleans and a nurse are part of my coven, Samantha. They took care of you. Now, about that bite—"

"No. Not talking about that right now. But thank you for the care. Where's Kyle?" If he was here, we both needed to get out. Now. Before I became Faerie fodder.

Something in Arden's face worried me. It was probably the pinch between her brows. "Sam—"

"Arden," I matched her tone. "Where is Kyle?"

"We're not sure. We think Circe might have taken Kyle and his new beau. I ah…I haven't been able to find him. I can't even scry for him. It keeps coming up blank."

I felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of me. She took Kyle? I pushed myself up further and looked around. "Where are my clothes?"

"I'm afraid they're ruined."

"Then get out of my way. I'll go dressed in this nightgown to find Kyle if I have to."

That's when I discovered just how strong Arden really was. She was a petite woman with slight shoulders and I assumed barely weighed a hundred and ten pounds dripping wet. This tiny woman grabbed my upper arm, squeezed hard, which got my attention and woman-handled me back down onto the bed. When she let go there was a tiny red handprint on my upper arm. Looked like a hobbit tried to take me down.

Then she put a long, blue-lacquered finger in my face. "You need to stop and listen to me for once, Samantha Hawthorne. Kyle is my nephew.
My
kin. And even I'm not dumb enough to go charging out there into the world with no intel or plan. I want him back, and trust me, the last person in the world I would ever want to have any of my family in her possession is Olivia Graham."

Something in Arden's voice frightened me. Not like a quick scare, but a deep, anxious fear. "How do you know her?"

My host sat back down on the bed beside me and clasped her hands together. "Olivia is the poster child for Arcane possession, Sam. She was an Elemental Witch, just like you. Just like your mother. And she was one of the most powerful in the country. She knew your mother, which is how she knew Inamorata."

I swallowed but didn't say anything.

"Olivia fell in love about the same time your mother met George. Her love was also Cowen, but accepting of what she was. He supported her, helped build her business of body oils and she opened several chain stores along the west coast. Quite successful. I won't mention the name because it's not important. But in the middle of that success, her husband strayed from her. I don't think it was because he didn't love her, but because she put so much energy into her stores and making money that she neglected him. So he found someone new and fell in love again. Only this was a Cowen and not a Witch.

"I don't know how Olivia found out about the relationship. What I do know about is the aftermath. About the time your mother disappeared is when I got the news about Olivia. She'd been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a young school teacher in California. There was a trial, but Olivia was acquitted because there just wasn't any real physical evidence linking her to the young woman's disappearance other than cat hairs they found in Olivia's home. The defense argued Olivia's husband was in a known affair with this young teacher and she had been in their house several times so the hairs could have been transferred.

"And then they started looking at the ex-husband after Olivia divorced him. I thought it was weird they waited to charge him with her disappearance a day after the divorce was final. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. And Olivia…" Arden shrugged. "She never recovered from that. She sold the business, moved back to Louisiana and bought the house near Ina's. Olivia had a big dog at the time. It went with her everywhere and obeyed her every word, even when she taught it to kill."

"Did she have something to do with that girl's disappearance?"

Arden focused on me. "Sam, the dog was the girl. She's successfully transmogrified that girl into an obedient dog and she'd used Arcane to do it."

My jaw dropped.

"We, as in the Elders in the southeast, didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. Too late being two years ago. One of her housekeepers reported her activities to a Hive and they investigated. But by that time she'd already lost herself to Arcane. Dryden didn't know this and he warlocked her as punishment for what she'd done to that girl. He was the only Witch strong enough to do it from a distance. Until last night, no one had heard from her since. I assumed the warlocking killed her at the time. Apparently she found Edmund Blackwood and joined his order of Magicians. But even he kicked her to the curb. Hard to believe anyone is bad enough that Blackwood wouldn't keep them."

I played last night's events in my head. The darkness and the thousands of black robes coming out of the neighbors' houses. "Did you see what she did? Last night?"

"Yes. That was Arcane." Arden said this last part with a distant look on her face. "She and Ina were friends for a while. Did you know that? I didn't approve of them together which…well," she shrugged and refocused on me. "Did you see Olivia's face?"

I sensed sadness from Arden. Not something I was accustomed too. I also assumed the three women were close friends at once, and then Arcane was what came between them.

And that Ina wasn't really human anymore.

"Yeah. But I couldn't
see
her, you know what I mean? She was blurred. The edges of her face weren't well defined."

"Ah. Then the darkness has marked her and she's hiding it," Arden pursed her lips.

"Marked her?"

"Yes. Arcane Magic behaves like a…like a parasite. It infests the body, the mind and the soul. And when it's called enough, when it's used in a powerful spell, it manifests into a single place in the body, making a mark. Most marks are on the inside, which makes the Arcane Witches hardest to find. But I'd heard Olivia's mark was on her face."

I almost put my hand to my chest where my own mark had started. Had she not seen it? She'd seen the wolf bite, but not the mark?

Arden continued. "I have a suspicion the bodies the cops found are a direct result from Olivia's experiments. If they don't stop her, she'll evade the cops again."

Cops. Crwys!

I sat forward and slapped my hands on the mattress, palms down. "Crwys! What happened to him? I saw that monster; the one that attacked me and it looked like it really hurt him. He wasn't moving."

I didn't like the expression that passed over her face. "Yes, it hurt him. But my people couldn't get to him. The Vampire he runs with wouldn't let us near him. He took Crwys Holliard away. We're not sure where they are or if Crwys survived. The captain has called your cell phone several times."

Fuck her. I didn't plan on helping that harridan again. I somehow knew Crwys was alive. If Levi took Crwys away, and wouldn't let Arden near him, I assumed he did it to protect Crwys because he couldn't protect himself. I also knew Revenants' blood had healing qualities to it. But…if humans drank Revenants' blood it turned them into Ghouls. If Crwys drank it…what would it do? I was pretty sure Levi knew what Crwys was, he just wasn't telling me. And that made me think it was something
really
bad.

I had to have faith that when Crwys was better, he would come to me. Or Levi would bring me news. They both knew a connection had formed between Crwys and I during our whirlwind romance ten months ago. And that connection had never faded. Which was how I knew he was still alive.

"She has a Codex."

"I know about it. It's an old artifact. And I know Cromwell's very eager to find it," Arden said.

"He told me to find it. If I do, he'll lift the warlock."

Arden's expression shifted. She looked irritated. "What? Why is he holding that warlock over your head? You were cleared. You know you have the right to a Tribunal. I can represent you."

"Before I saw Olivia had it, I might have taken you up on that. But I think getting it away from her is more important. If I succeed and he still doesn't remove it, I'll give you a call." I tried to smile, but I was worried now. Seeing the Codex had been a bit of a relief. There was my salvation. Arden would help get Kyle back and I knew she'd use her resources to do it. But I would still have the mark on my chest and the Arcane would be there.

"Sam?"

"What about Bastien? The Alpha?"

"He was wounded, but I'll let him tell you his story as soon as he returns."

"Returns? Is he out looking for Kyle and Jack?"

"No," Arden's expression changed again. I'd love to play poker with this woman. She'd be an easy mark. "He's out taking care of family business. But he'll be back so we can make plans."

"Plans…you mean to rescue Kyle?"

"Yes," she stood and stepped away. "Rest. It's seven in the morning. When the Alpha returns, we'll meet." And she left, closing the door behind her.

I leaned back into the pillows and stared at the tassel floating above me. My life had become a never-ending maelstrom of dramatic events. And this time I couldn't figure out where I'd stepped in it. I think on this occasion it stepped on me. But either way, I'd made a promise to myself years ago that when I set up my shop and gathered those closest to me, I would use my power to help people, Cowen and Witch alike. And so far we'd been…marginally successful.

I put my hand to my chest and felt the mark, now it felt hard like scar tissue. I looked down, my chin on my chest so I could see it. When that didn't work, I got up, slowly, and found a bathroom just off the bedroom. Clawfoot tub, double vanity with gold fixtures, two medicine cabinets, a robe and a stack of towels. I also found clothing hanging behind the door. They were my size, but they weren't exactly my style. I liked tight fitting jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket and boots.

There were boots all right. Low heeled black boots that looked like they came up to my knees. The clothing consisted of several layers of skirts, a tight small top and jacket, all black. This was Arden's style. The feel of the fabric alone told me they were expensive.

Looking in the mirror, I ignored the pale, dark haired chick with the shadows under her eyes and focused on my chest as I pulled the gown away. The symbol really was a mass of scar tissue now. In fact it didn't really look like the symbol anymore and more like a healing gunshot wound. I pressed on it with my fingers. It didn't hurt but it wasn't pleasant to look at. Crap, was it trying to heal now and whatever was there wasn't letting it?

I experimented with the power to see if the symbol still lit up by holding up my right hand to form what I would normally call on a Salamander to do. A ball of sparkling red glitter flame appeared. The scar didn't light up. It didn't even get hot. And there wasn't that creepy voice in the back of my head.

Was there some weird difference in how I used the power? Creating the
dex
at the morgue, using my guns, and just making a fireball…nothing happened. But when I popped all those fountains and when I engaged with the sphere of protection Kyle had built, I'd felt the power differently. It had been harder to control, like I was a piece of gauze in front of a raging river, tasked with the keeping the river from flooding the town.