Stormrage (11 page)

Before Raven could answer, the doctor asked "
Not why, how are you out of bed? Your wounds…and the handcuffs…"

"Hello, M
other, hi doctor," Raven said. "You do great work, doc, I feel fine, totally all better. Since the cuffs weren't that tight I let myself out, I have work to do."

"Ravenel, you should not be up, your wounds were most severe,"
Valentina said, reaching out to hug her youngest child.

Raven hugged her
mother back. "I'm fine, Mother. I can't stay here. Frost wants to nail me for a prime suspect's murder."

"Ms. Storm, I must insist you get back in that bed!"
the doctor interjected.

Valentina turned and simply said "Silence!"
The doctor's mouth slammed shut and he stood quietly, hypnotized by that one command.

"What do you mean, Ravenel?"
Valentina asked.

Raven
tossed her purse over her shoulder, feeling weird without her badge. "While someone was blowing dad's Shelby into tiny pieces, I was being framed for killing Rayne DeGrey."

"I'm sorry my daughter, both for what has happened and for the car.
I know what your father's Shelby meant to you."

"I will find
who did it and they will pay, Mother," Raven said. "For now I have to go. Somewhere out there someone is getting away with murder."

"Are you certain you are well enough?"
Valentina asked.

Raven laughed and flexed her back.
"Mother, you've had the doctor feeding me blood for the last two days. I'm fine. I am at least well enough to get the hell out of here. You know how I hate hospitals."

Valentina nodded and squeezed her daughter again.
"I know, Raven. Please be careful. Rowan is gone, Ethan is gone. I can't bear losing you. You will find a car waiting for you on the third level of the hospital's garage."

"Thanks
, Mom. I promise I will be safe. Put the estate guards on full alert and have them keep any cops, but Rupert off the property. I will be home as soon as I can."

"Yes, love,"
Valentina said.

Raven kissed her mother's cheek and left the room, the short skirt and
platform heels making her feel like a hooker in a B-grade movie. She was, however, her mother's daughter. She walked nonchalantly down the corridor, smiling at the orderlies she passed and took the elevator to the garage. She stepped out on the third floor and looked around, wondering what car had been left for her. She was expecting maybe her father's 55 Chevy or one of the Aston Martins. What she found was a complete surprise. The black car sat beneath one of the garage lights, the paint glistening like satin in the glow. It had the silhouette of a classic Mustang, the grille of a Hemi 'Cuda and the tail-lights of a '69 Dodge Charger, but the rest was all modern. The nameplate on the back read 'BASS' above a rearing pony and the side said '770'. The crown jewel was the Illinois license plate that read 'RAVEN'.

Raven walked around the car, gently trailing her fingers over the car's skin like a model in a car commercial.
Something told her the Bass had been built just for her.

She opened the door and slid into the red and black bucket seat.
A key ring dangled from the ignition and Raven twisted it, bringing the car's massive 380 engine to life. A few seconds later she was roaring out into the night, the Bass leaving a strip down the street.

She stopped at a red light and drummed her fingers in the steering wheel.
Going to the precinct was out of the question. It had only been her mother's influence and dumb luck that had let her escape custody. Going to the station or the morgue would be pushing her luck just a little too far.

She growled under her breath and stomped on the gas, pressing the pedal to the floor.
What she needed was answers and she needed them now. With that in mind she headed north back toward Old Town in a cloud of smoke and the echo of screeching tires.

It was late enough that
Old Town was at its busiest time of night. Young couples moved from restaurant to club to restaurant, enjoying the light fog that clung to their legs and the mournful sound of bagpipes coming from Isle of Night. It was always like this on nights of the full moon, no matter how cold or snowy.

The Bass rumbled to a stop around the corner from Marie's, a place Raven knew she would be welcome no matter what
. When she'd fractured a law or three as a child, Marie had always hidden her until her dad could come get her and she knew the last thing Marie would do was turn her in to anyone, but Valentina.

Raven
entered to the chime of three bells, new ones Marie had recently installed. Simba, the magpie, woke on his perch and cawed angrily at Raven. She didn't even notice the sadistic bird, but the noise made Marie look up from the gris gris she was sewing from old muslin. The heavy set black woman smiled widely and set her work aside. She moved around the counter and hugged Raven tightly.

"Ravenel, dear I'd heard you were dead!"
the woman said in a thick creole accent.

Raven smiled at her old friend.
"The rumors weren't quite true. I refuse to stop moving."

Marie nodded and pinched Raven
's cheek as if she were still twelve. "And Rowan, is she still with us as well, then?"

Raven shook her head.
"No, Mambo. Rowan was killed, I found her ash shortly before someone tried to kill me. I am still looking for her killer. When I find him, he will pay in blood, this I promise under the Totentanz."

"I am
sorry to hear that, my Ravenel," Marie said, hugging Raven again. "I know you were not close, two hundred years can separate sisters, but it never stops love and she was a good woman with a kind soul."

Raven smiled and escorted the heavy woman back to her stool.
"Mambo, I come to you for help and guidance."

"Of course
, child, what can this old woman do for you?"

"
What can kill like the drug Thirst, but leave no trace of the drug in the body?" Raven asked.

Marie thought, one gnarled finger playing with the contents of the
gris gris she'd been making.

"Thirst is nasty mojo, girl," she said after a time.
"But you say it only looked like Thirst? The person had not partaken of the devil's plaything?"

Raven nodded.
"That's right. Milky white eyes, pale skin, coagulated blood, all the symptoms, but none of the fun."

"Only magik can do this, my girl,"
Marie said. "It is the dark magik in the drug that brings about death in this manner. If you find the witch you will find the source and possibly your killer."

"Shit,"
Raven muttered.

"Ravenel?"

"I killed all the vampires in the lab and someone else set me up for killing their boss. I might have already killed the mage I'm looking for."

The Mambo straightened and pulled two jars of beans, one black and one white, from the shelf behind her.

"Hold out your hands, girl!" she instructed.

Raven complied and watched as the Mambo poured a quantity of beans from each jar into Raven's hands, white in her left and black in her right.

"Now cup your hands and mix the beans and pour them on the counter," Marie said, pulling a pencil from her hair.

Raven rolled the beans between her hands and then poured them into a neat pile on the counter.
Using her pencil the Mambo removed beans three at a time until only one bean was left, a white one.

"Baron Samedi says the witch and the one who holds her leash are both still out there,"
Marie said, putting the beans in the trash. "I am sure you will find them, in time."

"Time isn't something I have a whole lot of,"
Raven replied. "What kind of spell is causing this? Does it require any special trappings or somewhere to cast it from?"

"You know as well as I that trafficking with the dark side of magik is a dangerous game,"
Marie said. "You would need willingly donated vampire blood, pieces of the victim's hair or fingernails and a dark altar upon which to cast the spell."

"Vampire blood seems to be given freely all over this damn city,"
Raven groused. "They can pick up a pint at Club Purgatory if they want. The altar could be a little trickier. Would it be small, something portable or would it have to be something solid and permanent?"

"The magik that turns vampire blood
into Forsaken blood is the darkest of magik, Ravenel my child. It can only be created on a permanent dark altar in a place of great evil."

"I figured.
I don't suppose you know of such a place?" Raven asked hopefully.

Marie shook her head and there was hurt in her eyes.
"Child, you have known me since you were, but a girl," Marie said. "You know I do not traffic in such things and haven't since before you were born."

"I'm sorry, Marie,"
Raven said, squeezing the Mambo's hand. "It's the cop in me. Forgive me?"

"Always,
my girl," Marie said with a smile.

Raven smiled back and leaned across the counter to kiss Marie's cheek.
"I'd better go before someone starts looking for me. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome, love."

Raven exited the store and hurried back to the Bass, which was sitting right where she'd left it. She was reaching to open the door when she spotted a wooden box sitting on the roof. The box was wrapped with a purple bow and a note flapped in the wind. Raven picked up the box and sat in the car, out of the cold wind.

Ray (the card read)

              I know you didn't nail DeGrey. I've got all the evidence, but Frost

             
acts like he is completely blind to what is about to bite his nose.

             
Thought you might need this. And if you're looking for that

             
Dark Altar, try the ruins beneath the abandoned church at Sag Bridge.

I wasn't always your
favorite technician.

             
                            ~ hugs

             
                                          Aspen

Raven opened the box and almost screamed with joy. Inside was her Automag, a new Uncle Mike's shoulder holster and two fully-loaded magazines with a third in the gun.

"Aspen, I am go
ing to kiss you when I see you!" she exclaimed.

She slipped out of her jacket; moments later she was slipping it back on to conceal the Automag that now hung comfortably under
her left armpit. She hadn't realized how naked she felt without the pistol with her. Now she felt complete, and somehow safe. It was a comforting sensation, but also a little disturbing that she was more concerned about her gun than her badge.

She shook
off the sensation and started the Bass' 6.2 liter engine. The steady thrum of the engine was like a mechanical heartbeat. It would never replace Eleanor's angry roar, but it wasn't bad, and she had to admit the interior was far more comfortable than the Shelby had been. The car had in-dash GPS for starters. She punched up the location of Sag Bridge on the car's sat-nav and frowned. Sunrise was only a few hours away, it would be up and people would be about long before she could finish searching the ruins. Besides, a mini skirt, heels and a blouse you could almost see through was hardly the right outfit for the occasion. Her best bet was to head home and get a good day's sleep and start over in the morning.

She sighed and put the car in reverse.
When she looked over her shoulder she saw her sister Pandora running up behind her. Raven put her foot on the brake and reached over to open the door for her sister who fell into the seat gratefully. As usual the platinum blonde was dressed in head to toe leather; leather catsuit, under a leather corset, knee high boots with platform heels, wrist length gloves and a collar. She looked like an S&M enthusiast's wet dream.

Pandora slammed the door behind her and pressed the lock button.
"I thought I recognized the new toy mother bought for you. We have to get out of here!"

Raven rolled her eyes
in annoyance. Pandora had probably seen a mosquito. "Dora, what are you talking about?"

"
Renegade soldiers," she replied. "Club Purgatory is crawling with them. They're lining up anyone who is part of our family or has had dealings with us and shooting them! We're next if we don't get out of here! Do that crazy driving you do!"

Raven stared at her older sister as of she'd grown an extra head.
"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!"
Dora yelled. "They're everywhere, armed to the teeth and looking for me!"

Raven shook her head.
"Not serious about that. Serious we bail on our family and friends. Are you nuts?"