Going Under (8 page)

Lex heaved a sigh. “Why do all the females I know give me lectures?”

“She’s right.” Nina arched a brow at him.

“I’m testy. These are my people, my land, everything I need to protect and I can’t.
I’m not much interested in making nice with people who burn down houses with children
in them. But,” he added before she could speak, “I know you’re not saying that. My
buttons got pushed but you’re right about the importance of understanding motivations.”

She understood it. Everyone had been shocked. Everyone had suffered staggering loss.
It was more important than ever to keep their heads right then.

“For what it’s worth, I’m not interested in making nice with murderers who kill children
either. In fact, I’d love to be sure we hold them accountable so they spend their
lives in prison for it. We can do it. I think. But it’s going to take planning.”

“So what’s your plan then?” Nina spoke at last.

And Molly told them.

Chapter 8

“BEEN
a long day for you. How ’bout you let me buy you dinner?” Gage kept his eyes on the
road as they got off the freeway and headed to her hotel.

“I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“Back when Lex was so angry, you defended me. Thank you.”

Gage was outraged anew at the memory of how she’d flinched, just a little bit. “He
was out of line.”

“He lost his father.”

Beneath the cool, together exterior she had a big heart. “So did you. We all lost
people.” Gage’s mouth hardened. “No call to terrorize someone you invited into your
home and who was trying to help him and his damned wolves. He’s not a bad guy. He’s
good at running his pack. People look to him for leadership. That you won him over
the way you did will mean something to them. And to the Others also thinking of joining
your little road tour.”

She blew out a breath. “That’s the idea anyway. I hope it works the way I envision
it.”

He wanted to soothe away the tension around her eyes. Wanted to take care of her a
little. She was so far away from home. “Do you like burritos? One of the witches in
Owen runs this Mexican joint just ahead. They make the best burritos in the state.”

“All right. Sounds good.”

“Let’s get you back to the hotel first so you can change. Put on something warm. It’s
cold out there tonight.”

“I won’t argue with that.”

He checked her room and the wards out before leaving her to get dressed. He told her
to knock on the connecting door because he needed to check in with Faine anyway.

He didn’t know why she got to him the way she had, but she did. He mother always said
he was a nurturer. Of course his mother was a hippie-type witch who loved to use words
like
nurturer
. But Molly was half a country away from home with no friends and family around. It
had to knock her off balance.

She’d handled herself so well with the wolves that afternoon. Anyone, big or small,
powerful or not, would find it hard not to cow to a powerful Other like Lex Warden.
The male was a freaking nuclear reactor of energy. But Molly had met his gaze without
flinching. And even when he’d pounded the table, she’d hidden her distress. Her response
hadn’t been more anger, it had been reason. She was cool as a cucumber, but Gage wondered
what she was like when she finally lost the reins on her emotions.

Faine had returned from the job Gage had sent him on that morning. “So I watched PURITY
HQ all day. I’ve forwarded you all the film of who came and went. A few took the back
way. Those ones you’ll likely recognize quite easily. Including a federal court judge
and two members of the county council.”

Gage’s lip curled. “Fucking ridiculous.”

“Yes. But now we know. How’d she do? I saw the interview, by the way. Don’t think
they cut too much. She held her own.”

“She said they had to agree to curtail editing for only specific things. Part of her
contract to speak. She’s smart, our Molly.”

“Totally. What’d the wolves think of her?”

“They agreed to her plan to have a council of Others and they’ll send one of their
people with her when she does public speaking events. Hell, she even showed them how
to do video blogs to update the pack members via their website.”

“I noticed she gets people to agree to things they probably had no intention of agreeing
to before she walked in. And the aftermath of the death threat?”

Gage shrugged. “She’s shaken up some. Who wouldn’t be? But she did that interview
right after she was told. We still need to go to the police to report the death threats.
She got Meriel to agree that we’d report them all. Still don’t know how effective
it’ll be. But I get her point.”

Faine shrugged. “We won’t know until we try I guess. I like her. Molly I mean. She’ll
fit in here just fine. Just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Yeah. I’m taking her to grab dinner. You want to come with us?”

“Sounds good.”

* * *

EVERYTHING
had been . . . manageable until they’d finished what had been a pretty delightful
dinner.

Gage on one side, Faine on the other, she was protected by a wall of giant, muscly
and admittedly gorgeous man flesh as they left the restaurant and hit the sidewalk
outside.

“Shit. Hang on, Molly.” Faine touched her shoulder. “We’ve got a whole group of protesters
to get through.”

“Let’s go back inside, we can head out the back door.” Gage’s face had hardened, leaving
her breathless and fascinated.

“No. Unless you think it’s too dangerous. I don’t think we should turn tail and hide.”
Part of her knew how much they both hated the idea.

Maybe it was the fear. Or her exhaustion. Maybe it was the way the death threat had
turned her world upside down but whatever the cause, she didn’t want to back down.

Gage locked his gaze with hers. “Are you sure? This could get ugly.”

“Uglier than a death threat? Uglier than losing my job because my clients, who I thought
were friends, turned on me?” She hadn’t meant for that to come out, but it did and
he took it in, emotion flooding his features for a brief moment until he hardened
again.

That’s when the tussle happened.

A wall of protesters surged forward and Molly nearly lost her balance. She stumbled
back into Faine, who shored her up, allowing her to keep her feet. Gage snarled something,
shoving forward. The magick flowed from him, surrounding her, bringing the hair on
her arms to stand.

The crowd was screaming stuff. She didn’t register most of it, but the tone was enough
to convey their hate and fear. Molly dimly registered that things were being thrown,
but not what. She kept her head down.

They held signs with crude and hateful words. Some used the signs to batter the group
as they tried to make their way through. She should have gone out the back door like
they suggested.

The sidewalk was full. People spilled out into the street. Cars screeched to a halt
to keep from hitting people. Horns sounded.

Chaos ruled, and for what?

Molly’s brain shut down everything but essential functions like keeping her feet and
letting Faine and Gage get her through the crowd and to the car.

Faine shoved her in and followed, shielding her with his body. Gage scooted across
the front to the driver’s side, cursing as he jammed the key into the ignition and
started the car. They were surrounded by protesters banging on the hood and windows
until Gage did some sort of magick stuff and they parted enough for them to get free.

They drove away quickly, Faine on his phone with the woman who owned the restaurant
telling her they were sending some people over to guard the front entrance.

Molly stared out the window and barricaded the walls around her emotions. They trembled
and she whispered in her head to hold it together until she got back to her hotel
room.

The rage radiated from Gage as he drove. Faine made calls and gave orders, punctuated
by short directives from Gage as he went. Neither of them said anything to her, which
was good because she was beyond speaking anyway.

Back at the hotel Faine turned to her. “Hold on, I’m coming around to get your door.”

She nodded, numb, her hands loose in her lap.

Gage turned in the driver’s seat to look at her. “Are you all right?”

If she spoke she might laugh. Or worse, cry. So she nodded again.

“Did you get hit with anything? Harmed in any way?”

In any way? A laugh bubbled up. One of those not-quite-sane laughs and she choked
it back, shaking her head and scrambling out when Faine opened her door.

One foot in front of the other and she got to the elevator and then down the hall.
She managed to blurt a thank you to Faine on his way out of her room to be sure everything
was fine.

He paused, clearly about to speak, but must have seen the panic in her eyes and touched
her shoulder instead, before leaving.

She locked up and methodically took her hair down, throwing the pins across the room
so hard they pinged off various surfaces. Her watch followed, whether it broke or
not when she threw it she didn’t know. Or care.

One shoe knocked over a lamp, then the other better aimed at the closed bathroom door.

Gage knocked on the door. “Are you all right, Molly?”

Fuck no. She wasn’t all right.

“Fine,” she nearly snarled as she headed toward her bathroom, pulling her clothes
off as she went.

The nearly scalding water filled the room with steam. Enough that she didn’t have
to look at herself when she got into the shower. Enough that she wasn’t sure where
the tears began and the water ended.

She didn’t get death threats! She didn’t have people screaming that she was a demon
from hell. Didn’t get things thrown at her. Even when she’d dealt with the worst kinds
of scandals she hadn’t seen this sort of violence aimed at her.

She was far from everything. From Chicago, from the road signs and rooftops she knew
best. Far from the way her mother’s front walk curved ever so slightly before it reached
the front steps. Far from Rosa’s porch swing and roses.

She had no one to talk to. No one who could understand her. Her life in Chicago was
hours ahead. Too late to call. Too late to be listened to.

Molly was not a wallower, but it seemed like it was all she could do to try to scrub
the day from her skin as she wept like an idiot.

* * *

GAGE
heard the thump and then another and then a crash. He pounded on her door. “Are you
all right, Molly?”

There was no sound and then the tiniest intake of breath. Admittedly he used some
magick to boost his hearing. She was on the edge, that much had been clear by the
way she’d held herself on the way to the hotel.

When she answered with a terse “Fine,” it was threaded with anguish. He put a palm
against the door, not knowing what to do.

“Leave her be.” Faine jerked his head toward his door.

“She’s clearly upset. We can’t just leave her be.” He stayed at her door until he
heard the rush of the shower and then headed to Faine’s room.

“We have to let her decide if she wants to share or not.” Faine shrugged as Gage locked
up.

“She needs friends right now.”

“She does. And they’re a thousand miles away. Or maybe two. Whatever, it’s far from
here to Chicago. This is all new to her. She’s essentially lived as a human.
Nothing
is the same for her now.”

Gage’s stomach hurt. “Which is why we need to go to her now.”

“No. It’s why we need to let her decide when to let us in. Dude, I know a control
freak when I see one and the lovely lady next door is the biggest control freak I’ve
ever met. She’s precise in nearly every way.”

Gage remembered the way she’d laid her napkin out, the way she’d cut her burrito up
into equally sized pieces. “And your point?”

“My point is, when people like Molly lose their shit, they may not want to do it in
front of a total stranger. She might see it as a weakness, being affected by all this
crazy. If we push our way in, she’s going to be embarrassed. Or worse, feel like she
has to keep holding it together when I’m going to venture a guess that she needs this
little breakdown more than even she understands.”

“You went into the wrong field. Should have been a psychologist.”

Faine lifted a shoulder. “I have many talents. Anyway, go on home. I’ve got things
covered here. I’ll check in with her tomorrow morning to make sure she’s all right.
I doubt she takes days off. Then again, neither do you.”

“Too much to do.” Gage headed to the door again. “I told her I’d take her to the police
station tomorrow to report the death threat so I’ll be by at ten or so. I can take
tomorrow with her so you can have the day off. Hell, take the weekend. Spend some
time with Simon and Lark.”

“I got it. She’s not that much work and when she’s at the office I have plenty of
time to finish my other work.”

“No arguing. It’ll be good for her too. I’m going to give her some training on Sunday
anyway. Defensive magick. She should know more about how to take care of herself in
this new world she finds herself in. Probably give her some sense of control too.”

“All right then. I’ll talk to you later.”

Gage didn’t go straight home. Instead he headed to Heart of Darkness. He needed something.
Company maybe. A drink definitely. Chances were Meriel and Dom would be there so he
could brief them on the situation.

And maybe to keep from being alone.

Chapter 9

“YOU
sure you want to do this?” Gage looked her up and down when she opened the door to
her room the following morning.

“Where’s Faine?”

“You’re going to give me a complex, Molly. What am I, chopped liver?”

“Liver’s gross.”

“I suppose that may have been a compliment. Anyway, Faine has the weekend off. I’m
on Molly duty. It’s better that I go to the SPD with you anyway. I’ve had some dealings
with them and we’ve got sort of an established relationship there.”

Molly took one last look at herself, grateful for the wonder of modern makeup and
the few awesome glamour spells she knew to get rid of under-eye circles. She’d slept
pretty hard after her shower wallow and that huge bowl of ice cream. Before the makeup
and hair she’d looked every inch the person who’d been up too late.

“Yes, let’s get this over with. I have a conference call in two hours. Do you think
this will take that long?” She grabbed her bag and he helped her into her coat.

“Shouldn’t, no. They may have questions, but it shouldn’t take them that long.”

“So glad it’s a snap to report a death threat,” she muttered.

He guided her to the elevator and then out through the lobby where his car waited.
She didn’t want to talk about the night before but he had that look men got when they
knew they should probably mention something that had upset the woman before. But they
didn’t know how to do it and they were uncomfortable with it anyway. If she’d been
dating him, it might have been more amusing than annoying.

She headed it off. “I’m fine.”

He gave her a sideways look as he snapped the seat belt but thankfully left it alone.

“This cop we’re talking to is pretty all right. He’s someone the wolves have dealt
with in the past I’m told. So he’s not unfamiliar with Others, nor is he a bigot.
At least not any kind that could be turned up after a search of his background.”

“Do you do that? Routinely check on people?”

“Yes. Especially now.”

“Like how?”

“Do you really want to know? Don’t you want plausible deniability? Or whatever.”

She held her eye roll in check. “I’m not your attorney. I need to know. I’m fine not
answering a question if I feel that’s what’s necessary. And I don’t need to know every
little detail. I just need to know what you’re doing. If it comes up I should have
the information. It vexes me when I should know things and I don’t.”

He blew out a breath. “We want to know what all the powerful humans in the area are
up to. What their affiliations are. Lark thought it was best to keep an eye on PURITY
headquarters to see who came and went.”

“Smart.” And it was. These people had a big say in whatever direction all this went.
It was important to know who they were inside. What they supported and believed in.

“So that’s pretty much it. We look into donations for the big anti-Other organizations.
Who goes to dinner with whom. That sort of thing.”

“Have you connected with your counterparts in different, um, Other groups? I don’t
even know what to call it, them, jamborees, packs, nests, whatever.”

He snorted a laugh and pulled into a spot next to a parking meter.

“Lark has made some connections. I’ve worked some with Megan Warden, she’s the Enforcer
for Cascadia. Smart. The vampires aren’t as open to us as the shifters have been.
They’re scared of Lark though.”

Molly could believe it. The woman may have been tiny and blue haired, but Molly knew
a predator when she saw one and Lark was that.

“Well, I’m meeting with someone from the local nest next week so I can bring it up
then.”

He groaned. “You are? Did you clear it with Faine? You can’t go unescorted.”

“Rita made the arrangements. She told me she’d clear it with your office.”

He got out and moved to her side to open her door. His gaze never stopped moving as
she got out.

“By the way, that spell you did last night—outside the restaurant—what was it?”

“Do you want to learn it?”

She nodded.

“I’ll teach you tomorrow.”

* * *

NO
one looked at them twice as they were met by Detective Alder. When he saw Gage he
glowered a little and Molly watched him, learning him as he took them back to his
desk and had them sit.

“Detective Alder, this is Molly Ryan. She’s the one who received the death threat
I told you about.”

“Why didn’t you report this yesterday?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Detective.” Molly held a hand out and, as she suspected, he
was raised well enough to take it. “I appreciate your seeing us today.” She brought
her chair a little closer and changed the pitch of her voice slightly. He’d have to
pay closer attention, which is what she wanted. “Shall I be totally honest about why
we didn’t come in yesterday?”

He looked surprised. She sensed Gage’s surprise as well, but he let her go without
interruption.

“Yes, that’s the point, Ms. Ryan.”

She smiled charmingly. “Oh please, do call me Molly. We did report this yesterday
of course.” She flipped open her notepad. “I’ve got the details here. We called it
in and as no one was available to come to us, we made this appointment for today.
I’m sure you understand what it is to have so many things to do at work you can’t
stop for anything else. I had several prior engagements and then of course after dinner
we were assaulted by PURITY protesters outside the restaurant. Busy day. That’s why
we came in today.”

Detective Alder wanted to dislike her. She could sense it. But she needed to make
that impossible. Needed him to see her as a person. Clearly he saw her as an Other,
and that was fine. She was an Other after all. But she was a person. He’d help a person;
he was a police officer after all.

He cleared his throat. “Assaulted? Did you report this?”

“We called it in once we got Ms. Ryan to the car safely. Dispatch said they’d send
someone over. We had guards posted outside the restaurant and by their reports no
one showed up for an hour. But the officers on the scene did speak with the owner
and make sure the protesters didn’t block fire exits or harm anyone coming or going.”

Molly leaned in just a little. “Seems to me, Detective Alder, that it’s bad for business,
bad for the city and bad for her citizens if they can’t even eat a burrito in peace.
If we can’t express our beliefs without harming other people, what does that say about
our beliefs? We don’t expect their rights of free speech to be violated, of course.
We just don’t want to be physically attacked. The two things are not mutually exclusive.”
She used a little bit schoolteacher, a little bit librarian and a little bit mother.
It was a lecture and a tease all at once.

There was a little upward movement at the edges of his mouth. Just for a brief moment,
but she knew she was winning him over. “Yes, ma’am.”

She pushed the copy of the email they’d received his way. “We sent the original with
the header information to your email address here.”

He read it, his face darkening as he did. Once he finished he looked up at her. “I’m
sorry you had to see that.”

“You and me both, Detective. I’m not used to death threats. Heck, I’m in PR and I’ve
never received one before.”

He looked her over and shook his head. “We’ll look into it. I can’t promise you much.
We’re short staffed and a lot of this email stuff is a dead end.”

“Used an anonymizer. We tried to track it as well.”

Alder looked to Gage. “You keeping an eye on her then? In case?”

Gage nodded. “Yes, she’s being guarded at all times. As are many of our leadership.
This isn’t the first death threat we’ve received since the Magister.”

Alder blew out a long breath. “Did you report any of them?”

“After the first you mean? When one of your compatriots told me I was lucky no one
had killed us yet and to keep my head down and it would blow over?”

Molly sat straighter, shocked. She’d have to speak with Gage about not springing that
stuff on her.

“Who said that to you?” Alder’s eyes went hard, his jaw tightened. He was offended
by that sort of thing. She knew he’d do the right thing, even if he was uncomfortable
with the whole coming out of Others.

Gage gave him a name and Molly made a little note to be sure to follow up as well.
It was not to be tolerated.

“My apologies Ms. Ryan. Molly. I promise you I’m taking this seriously. I’ll do what
I can. But you need to stay vigilant. There are plenty of kooks who don’t bother with
threat notes. They just cut straight to the point. Gage, I’ll get back with you on
the other threats. I’d like to see them all. Just get them into my hands directly
and we’ll be sure they’re taken seriously.”

They stood and Alder walked them out, shaking her hand before turning to Gage. “We
should make some time to talk about all this. Maybe work on liaising better.”

Gage relaxed his spine just a little. “I’d appreciate it.”

* * *

HE
walked her out, not saying much until they’d pulled away from the curb and headed
away.

“You’re fucking amazing. That’s all I’m saying.”

She turned her body toward him. “What makes you say that? I mean, thank you and all.”

“It’s not only your magick. You have a great deal of personal charisma and charm.
That’s one thing and it opens the door for you to make a point. But it’s the way you
use your charm and then your brain and posture and what you say and how you say it
to totally get past people’s defenses. It’s brilliant.”

“Oh. Well.” She ducked her head. “Thank you.”

“What’s your plan for the day? Where to next?” He didn’t want to embarrass her but
he definitely planned to go to Meriel to tell her what an amazing job she’d done that
morning.

“I have some phone calls to make, but those notes are here with me so I can do them
from my hotel room easily enough. I have some press releases to write. I want to update
the website with a little statement about what happened last night.”

“All right. How about you come with me out to my mother’s house today? I want to check
on her. She lost her brother, my uncle. Well, you knew that part.”

He found himself talking more than he’d planned to with her. At first he’d suspected
her magick, but it was more that she was a good listener and maybe just a little bit
that he wanted her to know him. She was new to Seattle after all and needed friends.
He could do that.

“You can make your calls first and then take your laptop to her place. I can guarantee
you she’ll have a fire going and some soup cooking. She’s got a big glassed-in porch
that overlooks her garden and the Cedar River down the hill. You can work on your
press releases there, right?”

“I don’t want to be in the way. I can work from the hotel and you can go see her.
I promise not to leave or do anything silly.”

“No. I think she’d enjoy having you there. She needs a visit and the company and really
it gives me an excuse to drop in. I can tell her
you
need the company. She’s a doctor as well as one of those nurturers. She likes being
useful.”

“But chafes at the idea of being a burden?”

Shocked that she was so spot on, he held his words back for a moment. “Yes. I want
to check on her but I don’t want her to think I’m only checking on her because I’m
worried.”

“All right. It should take me an hour or two to get the calls taken care of. So let’s
go to the office. I’ll do them there and you can get all the information to Detective
Alder.”

“Deal.” He’d be able to watch them both.

“Rosa, my foster mom? She’s a nurturer too.” Molly spoke as they got onto the elevator
at the Owen building.

“She’s a teacher. Or, was a teacher I guess. They’re trying to fire her. Her union
is protecting her, thank goodness, but there’s a lot of pressure for her to retire
early.”

“You said she came into your life later on?”

“Yes. I was thirteen. She was my humanities teacher in seventh grade. She knew I had
magick. She asked me about it one day but I didn’t know what she was talking about.
Lucky for me, she called my mother and they met. It was hard for us to believe at
first. But when someone shows you they can do magick and then helps you do some yourself
it’s sort of impossible to deny.”

The elevator doors slid apart and that openness fell away, replaced by her reserve.
He wanted more, damn it.

“This is us. I’ll text you when I’m finished, all right?”

Reluctant, he nodded. “Yes. See you in a bit.”

He wandered back toward his office but veered off to see if Meriel was around, which
of course she was.

He tapped on her door and she looked up, tiredness all around her eyes. “Hey there,
do you have a few minutes?”

“Yes, of course.” She pointed to the table near the windows. “Sit and I’ll get us
both a cup of coffee.”

He did, staring out over the city below. This high up the rain was still snow and
it fell past his gaze, easing his anxiety a little.

“Loving this thing Dom gave me.” She indicated the single-cup coffeemaker as she put
a mug in front of him. “I’d offer you milk but I know you don’t use it. Sugar is right
there.” She sat. “I tell myself I don’t actually drink more coffee every day since
I got it. I do have tea and hot cocoa and stuff.” Meriel sipped with a happy sigh.
“Oh, the lies we tell ourselves.”

He laughed.

Molly eased back in her chair, watching him carefully. “I saw the interview with Molly.
She’s really good at this stuff. Briggs had zero idea what to do. She cornered him
so well.”

“She did. She was that way just a bit ago at the police station. Alder has been all
right so far. But she charmed him past all right and into downright helpful. Even
outraged on our behalf.”

“So it went well then? The cop thing?”

“Reported the death threat against her. The others too. In fact when I mentioned the
reception we got the first time we tried to report he was
not
pleased. Asked me to send everything we had directly to him. That’s next on my list.
I have to hand it to her, I was really dead set against even bothering with the authorities
and she’s turned me around. Reported that bullshit from last night too.”