Kindling Flames: Smoke Rising (The Ancient Fire Series Book 3) (28 page)

“And cameras,” Rupert piped in. “Everyone has cameras now. One wrong shift, and it’s all over YouTube.”

Darien shrugged. “To be honest, I’m surprised we’re still hiding.”

Elliot raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Maybe you’ve forgotten about the last time someone found out we were vampires.”

“Oh, no,” Darien reassured him. “I still have a pitchfork from one of the villagers.” He grinned.

Elliot rolled his eyes at him.

“What are you going to do about the coffee?” Sue drew the boys out of their rant and back to the subject at hand.

Darien sighed. “I’ll have security check out the tapes and see if they can find who switched them.” He shrugged and looked down at the stained files he had been going through. “There’s not much more I can do until I find out who switched the bags.”

Rupert asked the question everyone wanted an answer to: “Who would want to hurt you?”

“I have no idea.” Darien sighed. “I don’t think I’ve upset anyone in the supernatural community, and I don’t think any of my business associates know what I am.”

“Do you think this has something to do with your car accident the other day?” Rupert tried connecting the two incidents.

“Maybe,” Darien said quietly as he thought. “But, again, I can’t think of anyone who would want me dead.” He looked up at the alpha. “Someone is going to pay for that wreck when I find out who is responsible.”

“Any luck on that?” Elliot asked.

Darien shook his head. “Other than the stolen van, there’ve been no leads.”

“I think you might need some more security,” Rupert added. “I’m sure these attacks can’t be random.”

“Point.” Darien sighed again. “I’ll have management change the code on the elevator here. Victoria,” he turned his attention to Vicky, listening on the couch, “remind me tomorrow to have security tightened at work.”

Vicky nodded.

Darien turned his attention to Elliot. “Have you told the Vampire Council about this?”

Elliot shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Let’s wait until we find out what is going on before sharing this news,” Darien said softly. “I would like to keep this quiet, in case someone is after me.” Elliot and Rupert both agreed it was for the best. Darien turned his attention to the two girls watching him. “Victoria, why don’t you take Sue upstairs and find her something to wear? I’m sure she would rather not shift again so soon.”

“All right,” Vicky agreed and stood up from the couch.

Zak grumbled at being moved from her lap.

“Come on, Sue.”

Sue looked at the three men for a moment before following Vicky out of the room.

Zak wobbled after the girls.

When they topped the steps, Vicky turned to look at the woman wrapped in the blanket. “I’m worried,” she admitted.

Sue just smiled at her. “So am I,” she agreed. “In the forty years I’ve worked for Master Darien, no one has ever made an attempt on his life.”

Vicky stopped and stared in shock at the werewolf.

Sue paused when she notice Vicky’s shock. “Are you okay?”

“Did you just say forty years?” Vicky asked, questioning her own hearing.

Sue nodded.

“You’ve worked for Darien for forty years?”

“Yes.” Sue laughed as she realized the issue. “How old did you think I was?” She grabbed on to Vicky’s arm and led the flabbergasted woman into the bedroom.

Vicky stumbled after her. “Like, nineteen, maybe?”

Sue laughed again. “I’m sixty-eight.”

Vicky’s mouth dropped open as she sat down on her bed.

“Natural-born werewolves age differently than humans. It has something to do with the magic of shifting.”

“You were born a werewolf?” Vicky asked, trying to recover from her shock. “But, I thought someone had to be bitten to become a werewolf.

“That’s only one way of becoming a wolf. Werewolves can be born, but it’s not very common.” Sue looked around Vicky’s room as she talked. “Rupert and I were both born wolves. In fact, we’re from the same… umm… litter?”

“So, you’re twins.” Vicky wrapped her mind around this information as she went to find Sue some clothing.

“Not exactly.” Sue folded her blanket up and laid it on the bed. “We were born at the same time, but we’re no more twins than puppies would be. Werewolves usually have three or four children at a time.”

“Wow.” Vicky looked back at her, shocked. “Isn’t that hard on the mother?”

“It can be, but born wolves are raised by the pack.” Sue shrugged.

“I meant carrying them.” Vicky pulled out some pants and a shirt for Sue. “I don’t know if I could handle being pregnant with three of four babies at once.”

“It’s not so bad.” Sue took the clothing. “Ours is shorter than a normal human pregnancy, and hormones usually force the mother into wolf form for most of the time. Shifting can be really hard on the babies and has been known to cause miscarriages. That’s why werewolf births are rare.” Shaking out the shirt, she pulled it over her head.

Vicky sat back on the bed, trying to wrap her mind around this new information. “I’m still having a hard time getting used to this.” She sighed and raised her hand up to rub her temple.

Sue smiled as she slipped into the borrowed pants.

“There is still so much I don’t know.”

She patted Vicky on the shoulder. “There is way too much out there for you to learn in such a short time.” Sue smiled warmly. “Don’t worry about it. Master Darien will make sure you know what you need to.”

Vicky sighed again and nodded. “You’re right.” She stood up from the bed. “Let’s head back down and see what the boys have decided.”

Sue nodded, and they turned to leave.

“I think that might be too much.” Darien’s voice wafted out of the living room to meet the girls as they came back down the steps. “I don’t need a bodyguard. There is nothing one of your wolves could do that I couldn’t do myself.”

“But you have just been the victim of two attacks,” Rupert pointed out.

“True,” Darien returned, “but I wasn’t expecting trouble. Now that I know someone is gunning for me, they will not get the drop on me a third time.”

“What about Victoria?” Rupert looked up at the two women coming back into the room.

Vicky paused as eyes turned to her.

“She could be in danger, too.”

Darien paused and thought about this as he watched her. “She’s safe enough here,” he stated, “and there is plenty of security at work. Besides, Zak has her marked. He can come to her aid faster than any of your wolves can.”

Rupert shuddered slightly at the thought of what the hellhound could do. “Point.” He looked back at Darien. “But, if you change your mind, let me know. I have a few wolves that would be perfect for security detail.”

Darien nodded in agreement.

“Well,” Elliot pushed up from his chair, “if there’s nothing else…” He paused to look at the two men on the couch. “I need to get back home. I haven’t eaten tonight.”

“Thank you for coming out.” Darien stood up and took Elliot’s hand in the old-fashioned greeting they always used.

Rupert rose to join them.

Darien took his hand for a normal handshake. “I really do appreciate it.” The three men all headed out to the foyer. Sue and Vicky turned to follow them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sue.” Darien smiled at her.

“Of course, Mr. Ritter.” She smiled back, accepting his hand for a shake.

Vicky said her farewells to the group and leaned into Darien’s side as the elevator closed and took them away.

Darien squeezed her to his side and let out a heavy sigh. “Come on.” He patted her shoulder and dropped his hand down to take hers.

“Where are we going?” Vicky asked as he led her to the steps and pulled her up.

“To get that medallion,” Darien said.

Vicky couldn’t see his face, but she could hear the worried note in his voice. Sighing, she hurried so she could press into his side as soon as they were at the top of the steps. She really didn’t want to have to wear that heavy chunk of silver around her neck, but she knew Darien would worry about her if she didn’t. If it would ease his mind, she would gladly accept his protection spell again.

The thick volume of lore still didn’t reveal the secrets Darien needed. He sighed heavily and closed the cover. This was the sixth text he had read, but nothing seemed to hold the answers he wanted. It didn’t seem like life was going to be easy on him. It had been a week since the coffee incident, and he still didn’t know what was going on. A review of the tapes from the café hadn’t revealed the culprit that had stolen the beans. It had, however, cleared Howard. The bag that was delivered was the same bag the security guard had picked up from the front desk. The courier had to have been the one to switch them, but Darien had been unable to locate the man in question.

In addition to the mystery of the coffee, Darien wasn’t feeling quite himself. He’d been having strange food cravings recently—Vicky had gone as far as teasing him about being pregnant. Darien had just growled at her, and she had gone off to get him his pickle and peanut butter sandwich, smiling. Nothing in his books helped. He thought about contacting Dakine again, but how could he explain to the tall elf lord that he had an irresistible urge for spiced peaches? Shaking his head, Darien put the book back on the shelf with the rest of them. He looked down at Zak, curled up on his rug, dozing lightly. Vicky had gone down for a run in the workout center. Zak had gone down with her on one of her first runs, but he had gotten his tentacle caught in the treadmill. It had been all Vicky could do to keep him from tearing the machine apart. He had not accompanied her down there since.

Pulling the next book down, Darien leaned back in his office chair to read through it. He had only covered the first few pages when Zak raised his head up from the rug. Darien raised an eyebrow at the strange gurgle from the small fay.

Zak froze for a moment before letting out a roar that startled Darien into dropping his book. The horror swamped the vampire and dragged him from the chair.

Darien cried out and fought the tentacles as they dragged him from the room and out into the hall. “Zak!” he yelled as the fay pulled him over to the elevator door. “What is it?”

Zak let out a gurgling growl as he punched the call button and waited to the elevator to arrive. The small horror wiggled his feelers into the crack of the door and tried to force them open when the car didn’t arrive fast enough.

Darien caught up the hellhound. “No, Zak!” He stopped the fay and turned him to see into his eyes. “What is it?”

Zak whined and waved his bits around.

“Victoria?” Darien asked, and the fay whined louder. Standing up with the fay in his hands, he punched the button a few more times. Worry had set into his heart as the fay writhed in his arms. If Zak was this upset, something had to be wrong.

The elevator arrived and Darien hit the button for the second floor, where the common rooms were. He paced inside the elevator, watching the floor numbers slowly decrease.

Zak whined loudly in his arms. The fay had slipped into dog form, but the tips of his fur wiggled unnaturally in his anxiety.

Darien tried to pet him reassuringly, but his mind turned on all the things that might have happened to Vicky in the workout room. When the doors opened, Darien bolted from the elevator to the room where Vicky had gone for her run.

Zak dropped to the floor and went over to the treadmill. Vicky’s water bottle and towel were there, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Darien cast his eyes around the room, looking for some sign of the missing woman. Zak dug at something on the treadmill, and Darien came over to see a line of silver in the space between the running platform and the edge of the machine. He carefully fished the round piece of metal out and examined the protection charm Vicky had been wearing.

Zak gurgled as he held the cord from the necklace in his mouth. The end of the leather thong had been sliced.

“Where is she, Zak?” Darien looked at the little fay. His connection with Vicky should be enough for them to follow her and make whoever took her pay.

Zak whined and lay on the floor.

“Come on, Zak,” Darien pushed the fay.

Zak whined louder. Something really had to be wrong for Zak not to be able to follow his mark to her.

Darien stood up and went out to the landing that overlooked the lobby. There was nothing unusual there, so he walked down the sweeping steps to the marble entryway. He found Ethan standing at his normal place, but the young man had a glazed look in his eyes and didn’t respond as Darien approached him.

“Ethan,” Darien spoke softly to the concierge.

Ethan just stared across the polished lobby.

Darien walked closer and studied the man. “Ethan.” He pushed a hint of power into the word, and the uniformed man blinked and looked up at him. Confusion crossed his face, but he quickly covered it.

“Good evening, Mr. Ritter.” Ethan smiled at him. “What can I do for you?”

“Did you see Miss Westernly leave?” Darien knew what the man would say. He looked around the lobby for any signs of Vicky’s passing.

“No.” Ethan shook his head, confused. “I haven’t seen anyone leave in a while.”

Darien nodded his head. “Thank you.” He turned towards the door leading to the street. Whoever had entranced Ethan had to have taken Vicky. “Can you find them, Zak?” Darien looked down at the small dog sniffing along the sidewalk.

The fay whined again as the trail ended at the curb.

Darien’s heart sank more, and he let out a deep sigh before going back into the building.

“Mr. Ritter.” Ethan stepped out from behind his mahogany and stone counter and held out a padded envelope. “This is for you.” He looked at the envelope, confused.

“Thank you.” Taking the item from him, Darien headed towards the steps. “Come on, Zak.” He patted the side of his leg, calling the fay.

Zak whined loudly.

“We’ll find her, now come on.” Darien headed back up the steps to gather Vicky’s things from the workout room. His mind churned on her disappearance. Who could have taken her? It had to have been someone very powerful to block Zak’s mark. There were only a handful of people he could think of that could do it, but he trusted them all and couldn’t think of a reason they would want to hurt Vicky.

The heavy envelope in his hand pulled at Darien’s mind. He wanted to rip it open, to find the answers to the questions swirling in his head, but he decided to wait until he was in a more private place before looking into it. There was no telling what nasty thing was inside, and he didn’t think he would be able to wipe Ethan’s mind without damaging him further. Darien gathered Vicky’s stuff and followed Zak to the elevator.

When the door slid shut, Darien pulled the top off the padded envelope and puffed out the sides to see inside it. In the bottom were a phone and a letter. Pulling the letter out, his blood boiled in anger at the words scrawled on the page.

“We have your toy, and if you don’t want us to pull the stuffing out, you will do what we say. Looking for her will do you no good. We will contact you with instructions soon.”

Darien flipped the paper over, looking for something that would give him an idea of who left it. Finding nothing on the backside of the paper, he stuffed it back in the envelope and pulled out the cell phone. It was a cheap, disposable phone that one might pick up at any convenient store. Darien flipped open the device and looked at it. There were no numbers or contacts listed in the address book. He looked back at the envelope.

“Can you find them with this?” He held the envelope down where Zak could see it.

Zak wrapped several tentacles around the yellow packing and sniffed at it. He pulled the white page out and looked over it before growling angrily. Zak’s teeth ripped into the paper, and the small creature tore the offending package up in his frustration.

“I take that as a no.” Darien smiled at the mess the fay had made as he devoured the envelope. He was going to enjoy watching the fay do that to the person that had stolen Vicky.

Once done eating the pieces of paper, Zak wobbled over to rub against Darien’s leg, whining.

“We’ll find her,” he promised, looking at the phone in his hand. “We’ll find her,” he said again, quietly, “and we will make them pay.”