Irresistible Magic (17 page)

The Arcane. She’d called them. Of course she had. We were obligated to. Fear and relief warred inside me. The Arcane had the best trackers, the best undercover agents, and the most resources. If they decided Tal was worth it, they’d stop at nothing to find him. Unless he did something to piss them off. And giving away his new drug to Allcot would not be well received. Through my haze of disbelief, I stared at the drying blood and kneeled.

Phoebe put her hand on my shoulder, warning me back.

“I won’t touch anything,” I said, taking deep breaths. I had to get it together for Tal. Peering around, I checked for a trail of blood droplets. He could have walked himself out of this place. But there wasn’t any, just the blood smear and the pool. A glimmer of something caught my eye from beneath the lab table, and I bent down to investigate. Broken glass? Maybe there had been a struggle.

“Yes. At the university. I’ll meet you here.…No, I’m alone.” She hit the End button and put her phone back in her pocket. “You need to go.”

“Why?”

“Because if you’re still around when the task team gets here, they’re going to demand you go back to headquarters. And you’ll be interrogated. After everything that happened today, we can’t risk them finding out there’s another daywalking vampire, and they will if they start asking you questions.” She grimaced. “Sorry, Wil. But you aren’t trained in undercover ops.”

She didn’t trust me to keep my mouth shut. I glared at her. It was true I hadn’t gone through the academy and didn’t have the special training she did. But I wasn’t an idiot. I could hold my tongue. With another daywalker on the loose, I’d be forced into study after study until they had miles of data and perhaps a few freshly turned daywalkers working for them.

“Fine.” I turned to leave and then called over my shoulder, “Check under the counter. There’s a broken beaker. It could be from the struggle I heard over the phone.” The adrenaline coursing through me made my limbs and wings shake. With effort, I wrapped the sweater around my shoulders, clutched the knotted sleeves, and stalked to the door. Once the Arcane was on the case, I’d be left out of the loop unless Phoebe managed to get the assignment. That wasn’t likely, though, since she was a vamp hunter. Maybe Maude would know something.

I reached for the deadbolt, but Phoebe called, “Wil?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry we didn’t find him.”

I stared at the floor. When I glanced back, she was clutching the counter, holding herself upright. It had been a bad day for her, too. “Me, too.”

***

“Take me to Tal’s house,” I demanded as I slipped into the back seat of David’s car.

He started the car without saying a word and sped off down the street.

I sat stiff and numb as Link pressed one small paw on my thigh. That one tiny movement made my heart almost burst with emotion. I pulled him into my lap and hugged him close.

David glanced at me in the rearview mirror, but I averted my eyes, not wanting to talk. I wasn’t in on the investigation. I’d been attacked, and my office had been trashed. What if the person who’d been after me had attacked Tal? What if I’d put him on their radar? It was the logical conclusion. This was my fault. Even if they hadn’t caught on to the fact that Tal and I were together, anyone who knew anything about us would know he was my best friend. The plan to have Harrison pose as my boyfriend had been a stupid one.

David slowed and made a tight turn heading the opposite direction of Tal’s apartment.

“You need to go the other way,” I said.

He ignored me.

“David?” I sat up, pressing my body between the seats. “He lives a few blocks the other direction.”

“I know.”

“Then where are you going?”

He glanced over his shoulder, meeting my eyes. “My house.”

“What? Why? I told you to go to Tal’s. I have to find out if he’s okay.”

His jaw tensed and he ground out, “I’m not your goddamned chauffeur, Willow.”

I jerked back as if I’d been slapped. “I never said you were.”

He shrugged, clamping his mouth shut.

What in the name of asshole vampires everywhere was his problem? I was seconds from crawling into the front seat and strangling him. “Jesus, David. Now isn’t the time for this. You can be mad later after we check on him.”

“No, we’re not going to your friend’s house.” His hands tightened on the wheel as he took another turn.

My pulse picked up and anger pushed all my other thoughts aside. When the car came to a stop at the next light, I placed my hand on the door handle. “Turn this car around, or Link and I will jump out right here.” Tal’s place was more than a dozen blocks away now, but I’d be damned if he was going to hold me hostage in his car. Especially considering he was doing his best to convince me he really was a coldhearted bastard.

He reached back with lightning speed and clasped my arm. “You will do no such thing.”

“Hey!” I yanked back but couldn’t break his iron-grip hold.

Link growled and started vibrating.

“Link’s going to lose his shit again if you don’t let go.” A few weeks ago Link had shifted and attacked David while we’d been in my Jeep. I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat performance, but it would mean I’d get to escape the car.

David scowled and let go. “Stay put. I’ll go by your friend’s place. Just promise you won’t go barging in without me.”

If Tal was home, bringing David would likely cause a scene. They hated each other. Well, Tal hated David. I wasn’t so sure how David felt about Tal. I doubted it was warm and fuzzy. Still, if there was trouble, David would come in handy.

“Fine. But hurry.”

Five minutes later, David came to a stop a few houses down from Tal’s apartment. I straightened my sweater and adjusted my wig.

“Leave Link here,” David said.

“Hell no. It’s eighty-five degrees out. He can’t stay in a hot car.” I jumped out and Link followed.

“Fuck,” I heard David mutter.

I almost laughed. Vamps weren’t used to being told no. Especially ones as connected as David. The street was quiet with the exception of a neighbor’s dog complaining about Link’s presence. It should have comforted me. Instead, a shiver crawled down my spine despite the September heat.

It took all my willpower to not break into a run and head straight for Tal’s door. Being casual enough to not draw attention sucked in an emergency situation. I kept a steady pace with Link, pretending we were out on a walk. David was behind me, no doubt scanning for any sign of trouble.

But none came.

I strolled up the driveway of Tal’s house and rounded the back. Once out of view of the street, I sprinted, taking the stairs two at a time. Link bounded ahead of me and, without resistance, barged through the door.

My world slowed down and a soft buzz filled my ears as blood rushed to my head. Tal’s front door had been cracked open. My feet seemed heavy and unresponsive. My wings ached to carry me, but my sweater was still restricting them.

Just move, Willow.

Forcing myself up the last few steps, I gasped when I caught a glimpse into Tal’s apartment. I stood there, unable to move as I took in the scene in front of me.

“Damn,” David whispered behind me.

The place had been trashed. All the cupboards had been emptied. Broken ceramic and glass littered the floor. The furniture had been shredded, paintings ripped apart, and books destroyed. But worst of all, right in the middle of the room, there was one of his white chairs, a message drawn in blood over its once pristine fabric.

It read
Answer it.

Then a phone started to ring.

Chapter 13

The song “Radioactive” from Imagine Dragons filled the room. It was Tal’s current ringtone of choice. I spun, following the sound. There. On the coffee table. The black iPhone lit up with the notification Unknown Caller.

I snatched the phone and hit Accept. “Where’s Talisen?” I demanded.

“Willow Rhoswen?” a pleasant female asked, road noise filling the background.

“Who is this?” Was this some sort of sick joke?

“Is this Ms. Rhoswen?”

“Yes, dammit. Put Talisen on the line.”

“You can find him in the penthouse suite of the 1788 Hotel tomorrow at nine a.m.”

Fear and hope raged a war in my heart. “Is he alive?” I whispered.

“For now. Bring the daywalker.” The line went dead.

Shit. She knew about David. Who the hell was she?

“You can’t go,” David commanded.

I glared at him. Obviously he’d overheard the conversation using his super-hearing vamp skills. “I have to go. And you’re going with me.” Shaking, I stuffed Tal’s phone in my pocket just in case they called again and moved to the chair. I had to make sure that blood was Tal’s.

David started pacing the room. I sank to my knees and brushed my hand over the chair. The fresh blood tingled on my fingertips. I took a deep breath and let the life force flow into my system. Hints of cinnamon and redwood permeated my senses as warmth and familiarity washed over me.

My gut ached and my heart felt like it was breaking in two. I’d known what I’d find, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it. Now I had proof. The blood was definitely Tal’s.

“Let’s go.” David grabbed my hand and tugged.

I didn’t move. I didn’t want to leave Tal’s space. Glaring at David, I ripped my hand from his grip. If I could, I’d crawl into Tal’s bed and stay there until the next day. But that wouldn’t help me find him or his elixir. I needed a plan.

“Willow,” David said more kindly. “We have to move. They’re watching this place. How else do you explain the phone call?”

“Well they can just come for us, can’t they?” My wings tensed under my sweater with irritation and dominance. If they wanted me they could damn well come get me. At least then I’d know who had Tal.

David reached for me, both hands grabbing for my waist as if he was going to physically remove me from the premises.

I held up a hand and strode away. “I’m not leaving until we look for the elixir.”

The wood floor creaked under David’s footsteps as he turned and headed for the door.

“What are you doing?”

Letting out an audible sigh, he glanced back at me. “Keeping an eye out for any threats. Do what you have to do, just be quick about it.”

I spun and ran to the bedroom, coming to an abrupt stop just inside the door. Holy fae. The bed had been shredded to a pile of foam and fabric. But worse than that, the limbs of the lovely cypress tree he’d planted for me had been hacked off and were now lying on the floor and across various pieces of broken furniture.

The gravity of the situation hit me square in the solar plexus. The breath left my lungs as I sank to the floor, landing on my knees. There was something about the ruined tree that brought everything crashing down around me. Visions of Beau lying in the lavender fields filled my head, only this time Tal was with him. Both gone. Lost to this terrible world of power and destruction. I shook my head, dislodging the awful visions. I couldn’t go there. Not now. Not today.

Whoever did this had done it for pure entertainment. They couldn’t have thought Tal hid his creation in the tree. No, they’d done this only because they could. What would it mean for Talisen if we couldn’t make a successful trade?

I stood on wobbly legs and systematically sifted through every ransacked drawer, his closet, the bathroom. Next was the living room and kitchen. I came up empty. I’d known I would. Clearly if the drug had been in the apartment, they would’ve already found it.

Clutching Link, I joined David on the front landing. “Nothing. We need to go back to the lab.”

He shook his head. “I already put Phoebe on it. She didn’t find anything. The experiment cooler has been trashed.”

Shit!
“And his boss?”

“I have someone working on finding his identity. As soon as we do, we’ll have him picked up.” David held out his hand. “It’s time to go home, Wil. We can’t do anything else right now.”

I stared at his hand. I didn’t want to leave Tal’s place. I wanted to clean up the broken dishes, throw out the damaged furniture, and make his new home cozy again. But I knew I had to leave. It wasn’t safe here. I wasn’t safe much of anywhere. Except with the vampires.