Witchlock (34 page)

With his mindlock ability and now his position as Maistir, he had control of every North American Belador warrior, who would act upon his word. He would not put them at risk. He would buck up and do the job Tzader and Evalle believed he could do.
 

For now.
 

Chapter 31
 

Evalle rode up to Rowan’s Midtown house in a downpour, glad to be off the roads with it raining so hard, even if the bad weather did shield her from the sun.
 

Of course, the rain eased off as soon as she was out of traffic.
 

She parked her bike behind three cars at the curb in front of the witch’s house.
 

Who else was here?
 

“What your skinny ass doin’ here?”
 

She swung around, hand going to her hip for her dagger … that wasn’t there.
 

Rain still fell in a mild drizzle, but it had no affect on Grady, her favorite Nightstalker
if
he wasn’t in some kind of trouble. He had coffee brown skin, but since he was a Nightstalker, it was translucent like a weak brew. Nightstalkers were ghouls who’d died as homeless people, and who gathered gossip and intelligence which they would trade for a handshake with a powerful being, gaining them ten minutes of solid form.
 

Most of them used that ten minutes to guzzle whatever they’d been addicted to when they were alive.
 

Grady could be ornery as an old goat, but his whisker-riddled face and wrinkled, brown eyes warmed her heart.
 

She’d missed him.
 

But that didn’t explain why he was two miles from Grady Hospital, his namesake in downtown Atlanta. Until recently, she’d
always
found the old ghoul near the hospital she’d named him after because he wouldn’t share his true name.
 

“I’m not the one who shouldn’t be here, you old coot,” she told him in good-natured ribbing.
 

“I thought you’d partnered with that Injun’.”
 

He did that just get to her. “That’s politically incorrect.”
 

“Not when I was alive.” He grinned and lifted his hands.
 

She looked around. Humans normally couldn’t see him, but witches could. Rowan had stepped out on the wide front porch wrapping a frame house that had been built in the early 1900s.
 

Evalle gave a thumbs-up to let Rowan know she was fine and coming soon, then she turned back to Grady. “I have to hurry. What’s going on?”
 

His eyebrows jumped. “You think I’m givin’ you intel without a handshake?”
 

“I didn’t come here looking for you.”
 

“Then you won’t be disappointed when I don’t tell you nothin’.”   He grinned at that logic.
 

She’d threaten to strangle him, but that would do no good since he was already dead, and had
been
dead since the 80’s. “Fine. I’ll shake, but I don’t want to hear a word about Old Forrester, Mickey-D meals or anything else. I have to get inside for a meeting.”
 

“You sure are cranky these days. You got problems in your love life?”
 

She was not discussing Storm with Grady. “Shake or not. Make up your mind.” She could be just as ornery.
 

“Fine. You ain’t no fun today anyhow.”
 

She looked around and found a place where she could step between two tall hedges so no human would see Grady take solid form.
 

Once there, she pulled off her glove, eyes turned up to check the sky.
 

“Don’t worry. That sun ain’t poppin’ out for a while,” Grady said.
 

He was right. She held her hand out and his shimmering hand reached for hers. The minute they touched, power rolled down her arm and passed to him, fueling his corporeal form.
 

Grady’s solid form filled his flannel shirt and loose trousers, looking so alive it hurt to know he could only hold that form for ten minutes. He’d been solid longer, one time when she’d broken the rules, big-time. Evalle and Grady had hidden in the church balcony, and she’d held his hand so he could watch his granddaughter get married.
 

She released him and he left his arm outstretched for a moment, but didn’t berate her for only giving the minimum this time. Grady could be a roaring pain, but he’d been her friend since she came to Atlanta.
 

“Okay, Grady, spill whatever you have.”
 

“A new power has entered the city.”
 

“That’s it? Grady, we have Medb warlocks coming and going. Queen Maeve and Cathbad can visit when they want. Plus something is killing trolls. Does it have anything to do with any of those?”
 

“Maybe.”
 

“So what is it?”
 

“I saw it being used on a Medb warlock.”
 

Evalle felt her pulse pick up. Could Grady be key to finding out who had turned a Medb into a demon? “What did you see?”
 

“Two warlocks wuz stalkin’ a troll, then they caught it and locked it in their van. Must have knocked it out, ‘cause nothing in that van made a sound, then the two warlocks walked off arguin’. All I heard was the big one say they had to get another troll. Little one, he ain’t happy at all but the big one threatened him.”
 

“Did you get names?”
 

“No. Big guy had a scar down the side of his cheek like this.” Grady drew a line from his left eyebrow straight to his jaw. “Some woman showed up and she must be one hell of a witch. She called the little one to her like a damn puppy and made him heel to the side. Then she and the big one had a talk. I tried to get close but she was puttin’ some kind of whammy majik up to prevent anything from comin’ around. She won’t talk to no Nightstalkers either.”
 

A powerful witch? Veronika?
 

But why would she be anywhere around the Medb before she possessed her full power, and wouldn’t Adrianna have heard something?
 

Wait. Evalle considered a more realistic possibility. “Do you know what Queen Maeve looks like?”
 

“Nah. Do you?”
 

“No. That might have been her. The Medb are accusing me of murdering one of their people without provocation.”
 

“That shows those fools don’t know you.”
 

There was her Grady, always in her corner. “The problem is that I killed a demon when it dropped its glamour in Stone Mountain Park. I shoved my dagger into its head and told the dagger to stay. That body disappeared. Then Cathbad showed up at a Tribunal with a corpse and my dagger stuck in it. I was the only one who could release the dagger.”
 

Grady growled and stomped around, then told her, “I’ll try to find that bunch again. Wish I’d had a way to follow their van. I’ll put word out what I’m lookin’ for among the Nightstalkers. They won’t tell me nothing, but they’ll let me know when they have somethin’ to trade with you for a handshake.”
 

“Thanks. That would be a lot of help.”
 

“Go on and git to your hen party.”
 

She hugged him and she could tell it surprised him. He patted her on the back. “Don’t worry. I’ll find somethin’.”
 

When she stepped away, he said, “You never said why you’re not workin’ with that Injun.”
 

She shook her head at him. “His name is Storm and he’s busy following a scent up and down Stone Mountain Park.”
 

“Oh, I just seen him downtown for the last hour before I came here.”
 

She had no answer for that. Storm had been back in the city and hadn’t called or stopped by the apartment? That hurt and she couldn’t put her finger on why, which meant she was making too much of it again.
 

Acting happy to hear that news, she said, “Glad to know he’s back,
then. He has some business he’s taking care of in town.”
 

It dawned on her that Grady hadn’t explained why he left downtown. “What are you doing here, Grady?”
 

“I was followin’ that witch in the robe. Minute she showed up, everything about her blurred into one bright ball of red. I wanted to git a look at her face. Don’t like people in my territory I don’t know. Especially one bringin’ a load of power with her, but she just whooshed away, poofed out of sight, about a mile from here. So I came over to see if she was on her way to see this witch.”
 

“No. Rowan is a white witch.”
 

“That one I followed is keeping a whole lotta power shielded, so don’t you mess with her. She’s not like the others.”
 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  But Evalle would like a look at her, too. “What could you see?”
 

“Nothin’ but her red robe. Had a hood. That’s all.” He laughed. “Little Red Ridin’ Hood witch, ’cept this one’s robe goes to the ground and it’s got big ol’ sleeves, and she wouldn’t have no problem smokin’the Big Bad Wolf.”
 

A flowing red robe? Could the witch get anymore dramatic?
 

If the new Medb queen was anything like Flaevynn, the drama totally fit.
 

“Thanks.”  Evalle nodded and made her way to the porch.
 

Rowan met her at the door. “Thanks for coming, Evalle.”
 

“Nice to see you.” She peeled out of her gear down to her shirt and jeans, then followed Rowan into the living room where Sasha McCree played with her new baby, rocking it in a bassinet. That baby was the reason Trey had been looking worn out all the time lately.
 

She said hello to Sashsa then looked around to find Lucien Solis, the mysterious Castilian contractor for VIPER. He’d been on the hunt with Storm last week when they tracked the troll killer.
 

Taking in the room, she asked, “Is this VIPER business?”
 

Both women looked to Lucien, who said, “No.”
 

Evalle grinned and took a spot on the sofa next to Rowan. “Works for me.”
 

“Do you know anything about Witchlock, Evalle?” Rowan said, diving into a hot topic.
 

“Some.” After that conversation with Adrianna, Evalle had to be careful what she said around Lucien. He’d shared information with Storm that he’d been told not to and Evalle wanted to high-five Lucien for ignoring what Sen had said. But she had no idea where his allegiance lay and until
she did, she’d err on the side of caution.
 

Back to Rowan’s question. Evalle asked, “What do
you
know about it?”
 

Lucien addressed Evalle, “In the interest of time, let’s put our cards on the table. I’m not here in any capacity for VIPER. I couldn’t care less if an asteroid took out Sen tomorrow. I’m also not a fan of witches.”
 

Rowan’s sly smile called him a liar.
 

Lucien narrowed his eyes at her and she merely arched an eyebrow at him, sending enough sexual undertones zipping around to scare the flying monkeys from
The
Wizard of Oz
.
 

Lucien told Rowan, “You know she’s empathic, right?”
 

Rowan’s cheeks pinked, but she still laughed. “I know Evalle.”  After her moment of amusement, she sobered and told Evalle, “We have problems in the witch community with trying to create this council.”
 

“Is there anything I can do to help?”
 

“That’s not why I asked you here. I’ve been trying to take my time to coax the witches into making the right choice. As individual covens, we’re vulnerable to the Medb.”
 

Sasha snorted. “The other covens might be, but the Medb would have a rude awakening if they came after ours.”
 

Rowan said, “Be that as it may, unifying us under a council will solve a lot of issues, such as self-policing any who fail to support our doctrine to harm none—at least for the white witches—and protect those who might be vulnerable to more powerful covens, white
or
dark.”
 

Evalle frowned at that doctrine clarification. “Will your council have anyone who isn’t a white witch?”
 

“Not at first, but I’m looking down the road,” Rowan explained. “Now that the members of the Medb coven are living among us, it’s just a matter of time before there’s a major conflict between one of ours and the Medb. If that happens and we have no ruling body, VIPER will try to force us under the coalition rule. We won’t have it.”
 

“Makes sense to me,” Evalle said. “I’m behind all of you, but I’m not sure why you’re telling me this?”
 

“I need security that I can trust. You top that list for me.”
 

“I’m flattered, but what do you think is going to happen?”
 

“We have to move up our timeline for the vote on the council leadership to have it tomorrow well ahead of the eclipse.”
 

Cold fingers of warning climbed up Evalle’s spine. “Why?”
 

“We have to finalize the decision before Witchlock. That’s why I asked what you know about it.”
 

Evalle avoided eye contact.
What would Adrianna do if she were here?
 

Lucien interjected, “Adrianna’s from the same part of the world as the KievRus. She has to have told you about Witchlock.”
 

Evalle glanced at him and, yes, he was talking to her. Adrianna trusted Evalle’s judgment, but she’d made a promise to tell as few people as possible, and this little group had caught Evalle off guard.