Stormrage (22 page)

Levac was rubbing under his vest and wincing. "How's that?"

"I took back-up on a 211 and we didn't kill all of them,"
she replied. "Sounds like a win-win to me."

Leva
c laughed and then winced at the pain in his chest.

"Come on, big guy,"
Raven said. "I've got some wild yam at the house that will make that all better."

"Oh it
’s fine," Levac replied. "I don't like wild yam."

"Would you rather a special ointment made from a monk's urine?"
Raven asked.

"What?"

"Forget it. Don't worry about the wild yam. You don't eat it," Raven said.

Levac opened the passenger side door of the Bass.
"What do you do with it?"

Raven grinned.
"I rub it on you."

Levac blushed
, but did not object as Raven put the car in gear and headed out of the city.

* * *

It was an hour later. Raven had lit candles around her room and convinced Levac to remove his shirt. The bruise from the shotgun blast was deep, but it would heal and she knew she could help it along.

Levac lay on her bed, his arms behind his head and an uncomfortable look on his face.
Raven smiled gently and straddled him, a jar of wild yam cream in her hand. She scooped out a generous amount and began massaging it into the bruise on his chest, giggling when he shied away from the cold of the ointment. With gentle hands she rubbed the healing potion into Levac's skin, trying hard not to tease the hair on his chest or comment about what she could feel under her bottom.

She rubbed the last of the cream into her hands when she was done and smiled down at her partner.
"How do you feel?"

Levac blinked in surprise and moved his arms.
"Actually it feels a lot better, what is that stuff?"

"A little something Marie whipped up for me,"
Raven said, sliding off of Levac and onto the bed beside him. "It's mostly wild yam with a few magikal enhancements. That bruise will be gone by morning."

"Thank you,"
Levac said, staring at the ceiling.

"You're welcome, Rupe,"
Raven replied.

She looked at the set of his jaw and how he was trying not to touch her and frowned.
"What's wrong?"

Levac turned onto his side and looked at Raven.
"For the first time in my life I am exactly where I want to be, and somehow it feels wrong."

Raven smiled and took Levac's hand in hers.
She kissed each finger and then held it tight. "That's the cop in you. You're a damn fine detective, as good as my father. And that means you don't fall in love or sleep with your partner."

Levac lowered his eyes
, but then looked back up again, his face flushed. "What do we do?"

"We've been partners a long time,"
Raven replied. "In a car day in, day out chasing down the bad guys. We've grown close and have feelings for each other. There is nothing that says we have to jump into bed with each other."

"Besides which
, the last time you jumped into bed with someone, it didn't go so well," Levac said with a grin.

Raven hit him with a pillow.
"That's beside the point! All I am saying is we aren't going anywhere. Let's just take it slow and see what happens, okay?"

"Okay,"
Levac replied. He then rolled over on top of Raven and kissed her passionately. When he broke the kiss he said, "I know where I want it to go. I've been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you."

"I know,"
Raven replied, tickling Levac's five o'clock shadow. "Just give us time, okay?"

Levac smiled and rolled back off of Raven.
"What's our next move?"

Raven tapped her teeth with one nail as she thought.
"Well, we know who our suspects are and we have a probable motive, but we don't know where they are or if their next victim will really be me or not. We're kind of in the dark. Any ideas?"

Levac pulled his shirt over his head and buttoned it.
As he did so Raven noticed the bruise was noticeably smaller. "What about Aspen? You found a piece of the weapon and she seems to be some sort of witch or Wicca or whatever you call it. Maybe she can identify it and give us some clue as to what the weapon is? Maybe that will lead us to the weapon or at least whoever made it."

"It's worth a shot."

While Levac finished getting dressed Raven put in a call to Aspen. She got the voicemail on the third ring and left a message to see if she or Doctor Zhu had identified the weapon from the piece she'd found.

With nothing else to go on
, the two detectives decided to grab an early dinner while they waited for any news from Aspen. Night had already fallen when they reached Tarsi's. Raven handed the keys to the valet along with ten bucks and followed Levac inside.

Though she and Francois had enjoyed a few meals there, the restaurant held nothing
, but happy memories for her with its rustic Italian décor, fantastic smell, amazing staff and wine selection to die for. She'd been known to come just for bread sticks and a glass of wine.

Luigi Tarsi himself seated the couple.
He kissed Raven on the cheek and whispered, "I like this one better than the last one. Not so much a pretty boy, eh?" He laughed and patted Levac on the shoulder before moving back into his kitchen.

"What was that all about?"
Levac asked.

Raven smiled and tore a bread stick in half.
"Luigi is an old friend. He was just saying that he liked you better than my last date, you're not such a pretty boy. From Luigi that's a huge complement."

Levac smiled and dipped his own bread stick in the waiting oil rather than saying anything.

The pair enjoyed the quiet dinner, making small talk and occasionally touching fingers like teens on a first date. Raven learned that Levac was originally from Los Angeles, having moved to Chicago as a child. His favorite TV show had been Columbo and he'd always wanted to be a police detective. He'd joined the force after getting a degree in theater arts, something his mother had always wanted him to do. She'd wanted him to follow in Peter Falk's shoes and be a detective on television or movies rather than on the streets of Chicago.

Raven laughed when Levac did his Columbo impression
on the waiter while ordering his meal and couldn't help, but squeeze his hand in delight; Levac didn't seem to mind.

The pair enjoyed several courses of delightful Italian food along with a carafe of wine, then lingered over coffee, still chatting and becoming more acquainted with the sides of each other they'd never felt comfortable asking
about as partners.

The evening waned and, against Levac's objections, Raven paid the bill and the pair left the restaurant.
While they waited for the Bass to be brought around, they both checked their messages. Levac had nothing of particular interest, but Raven had a text image from Aspen. She'd drawn a picture of what she thought the murder weapon was and hypothesized that it was made from a high-carbon steel. Very sharp, but also very brittle. Raven couldn't help, but stare at the drawing of the massive double-headed axe. Based on her measurements the axe was well over nine feet long with a four-foot wide blade.

"Jesus!"
Levac said, looking over Raven's shoulder. "Who in the hell could carry that?"

"Our killer,"
Raven replied. "And perhaps a demon named Angul."

* * *

Raven dropped Levac back off at his Nash, and after she made sure his old car would start, headed home herself. She drove sedately, for her, enjoying the night air and some heavy metal on the Bass' amazing stereo. Suddenly there was a call on the radio so loud it made her jump and jerk the steering wheel, almost spinning out.

"261
in progress, Acacia Park Cemetery, nearby units respond," a dispatcher she didn't recognize said.

Raven sighed.
She was almost right on top of Acacia and a 261 was rape. She picked up the microphone and responded, "Seven Baker Eleven responding to 261 in progress, one block away."

"Roger, Detective Storm
, got you down for the 261, I have two units on their way, the caller said there were multiple perps on the east side of the park," the dispatcher replied.

"Thanks
," Raven said. "Seven Baker Eleven out."

She turned on the reds and blues
, but left the siren off so as not to scare away the perps. She parked on the lower east side of the park and climbed out, her vampire eyes scanning the area for any heat signatures or signs of life.

Acacia Park Cemetery was a mid-sized cemetery of gothic design
, surrounded by a thick stone wall with two main gates, one on the north side and one on the south. The park dated back to the 1920s and was the final resting place of several of Chicago's most notable citizens.

Raven's thermographic vision picked up nothing
, but background heat, but she figured the wall might be thick enough to block anything on the other side. With a quick look to confirm she was alone, Raven leapt over the wall and landed silently on the other side. She could see the dim shapes of several headstones shedding residual heat from the day's sun, the faint dull red of dormant trees, the brighter yellow of evergreens and a bright yellow and red blob to the north. By the shape and how hot it was, it had to be the victim, but there was no sign of any rapists.

Raven
frowned and did a slow circle, searching for any other signs of life. She saw none and their absence heightened her senses. Something was very wrong.

She
had just started toward the prone figure when she heard the loud scraping sound from the night before, only this time it was like steel grating on stone. It was a sound that ran up her spine and punched the terror button before running away to hide. She shivered with fear and could feel the blood pounding in her head. She pulled out her pistol and it nearly tumbled from her fingers.

This isn't real
, she told herself.
It's that sound! Just focus!

She tried to shrug off the paralyzing fear
, but it was like trying to shrug off the Sears Tower. She staggered away from the sound, twice falling into the grass as she struggled toward the figure she could see lying between the headstones. When she reached her, she realized it was Aspen, bound, gagged and unconscious.

Raven untied the young woman and tried to wake her up, occasionally glancing behind her to s
ee what the hell was making the noise that was terrifying her so.

"Come on
, kid, wake up!" Raven tried, slapping the girl as gently as she could in her terrified state.

Aspen awoke with a start, one hand going to her face.
"Raven? What happened? Where are we?"

"You were used as bait to get m
e here," Raven replied. "Something is stalking me, it has a fear effect that is terrifying me."

"Angul?"
Aspen asked, suddenly shaking with fear.

Raven nodded, again looking over her shoulder.
"I think so. Can you hear that noise?"

Aspen shook her head.
"No, only its intended victims can hear the drag of its axe. Listen to me, Ray, the fear isn't real!"

"I know,"
Raven replied. "I'm trying to stay in control."

Aspen
got to her knees and looked Raven in the eyes. "You're going to have to fight him with your eyes closed."

Raven looked at Aspen and for the first time saw the
wisdom in the young woman's face. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I figured out why some of the corpses were colder than the others.
I can't explain right now, but whatever you do, don't look at it! Remember that the eyes are the windows to the soul!"

Raven nodded and half turned.
By the moonlight she could see the demon approaching, its axe trailing behind it like a telephone pole. "Get out of here, Aspen. Get clear!"

"I don't know how!"
Aspen replied. "I don't even know where I am!"

Raven turned back, her eyes now glowing blue.
"Can you tumble? Did they teach you tuck and roll at the academy?"

"Of course but what does…"

Aspen's question was cut off by Raven grabbing the smaller woman around the waist and throwing her over the wall. Raven heard the girl land safely if not gracefully and a faint voice say, "Thanks, Ray…good luck!"

"Don't run far
, call Levac and my mom if this goes bad," Raven replied, turning and looking back at the creature's shadow. It was getting closer and the noise was getting louder. Her vampire side was letting her keep the terror under control, but only just. She ejected the magazine from her Automag and reached to replace it with the one loaded with cold iron, but the fresh magazine was gone.