Undercover Magic (10 page)

"That's it? That's the message?" I said.

"No." Bald Twit's face morphed and he grabbed me by the hair. Pulling my head back
until my scalp felt like it had lit on fire, he exposed my throat.

"After I bite you, I'm gonna have you, and then my friend's gonna have you. And you're
gonna like that, too." His fangs extend.

"Fair enough," I said, holding his gaze. "Now I have a message for you."

I kicked him with both feet in the crotch and when he let go in surprise, slammed
my forehead into his nose. I felt the bone snap under the impact. Before he could
recover from the shock of a broken nose, I pulled back and then rocked forward, ramming
my head into his stomach. As he stumbled back, I lifted the chair off the floor, spun
around and stabbed one of the legs into his crotch again as hard as I could.

He went down.

As I teetered, pulling forward to maintain my balance, Nasty leapt at me. I got my
balance and sprang straight up about six feet and came down on him with the chair.
He hit the floor and the chair shattered. A hoped for added bonus.

Rolling out of the debris, I shimmied my bound hands around my butt and over my feet
and pulled my hunting knife out of my right boot. I sliced the duct tape on the way
by.

I pinched the handle of my knife between my boots and I sliced through the tape on
my wrists. Grabbing the knife in both hands, I pivoted and jumped onto Nasty before
he could get up.

I rammed my knife into the back of his neck all the way to the hilt. As the flesh
smoked and bubbled from the poison I'd coated on the blade, I started sawing through
the muscle and bone with both hands as fast and hard as I could.

I kept my knives sharp and the poison softened the flesh. In less than a minute, I'd
decapitated him. Messy, but effective.

Bald Twit stumbled to his feet and burst into full on vamp. He lunged for me and I
scrambled away from the body, my bloody hands slipping on the cement in my mad hustle
to get back on my feet. He tackled me.

We wrestled across the floor, rolling and tussling, as the vamp tried to bite me.
I plunged my knife into him again and again, hoping to hit something vital. We crashed
into Laswell's chair and to my shock, the practitioner landed a focused and precise
kick at Bald Twit's face. A split second of disorientation was all I needed.

I shoved the knife into the vampire's chest, straight into his heart. Around the wound,
the flesh bubbled and hissed and the skin turned black.

I pushed him away and jumped to my feet as he screamed and clawed at the knife. With
a final spasm, he exploded.

"That was unexpected," I said, wiping decomposed body sludge off my face. "That usually
only happens if they're over two hundred years old. But if he were that seasoned,
I should be dead."

"My blood weakened them. The older they are...the better it works," Laswell said.

I cut him loose from the chair. Despite sounding closer to sober, he would have hit
the floor if I hadn't caught him. "How much did they take?"

"Enough to feel. Practitioner blood is like catnip to them. But at a price."

A commotion at the back of the factory had me dropping him back in his chair and sprinting
for my gun, which had been kicked under a table. Before I could get to it, Cooper
charged in, Glock drawn, fury in his eyes. He took in the scene and skidded to a halt.
Falcon, wielding his Browning, ran into him from behind.

"Associates of yours?" Laswell asked, his tone weak but amused.

Between one blink and the next, Cooper was in front of me. "Are you hurt?"

"Why are you here?" I asked, scowling at Falcon as he hurried up to us.

The kid gave me a ballsy look that surprised me. "You keep telling me to listen to
my instincts. I called Agent Daine."

"You both suck at taking orders. You know that?"

"But are you hurt?" Cooper started inspecting me for injuries despite the disgusting
goo covering me. I slapped his hands away.

"Stop that. I'm fine. Mr. Laswell needs the medical care."

"No, no. Just some rest," the practitioner said. "And a med pack for these bites.
Filthy things, vampire mouths."

"Marc and Stillman have secured Laswell's estate," Cooper said. "We can take him there."

"The same Agent Stillman who busted into my place of business?"

"She's been working for me from the start. It's a long story."

"Which will include the cost of a new office door. But for now, you need to know that
Bellmonte's involved."

He frowned with annoyance. "There's a shocker."

"Not necessarily with the drugs. I think that's higher up the vamp food chain that
even we realized. Ever heard of someone named Navarro?"

Falcon paused in the process of helping Laswell to his feet. He and Cooper exchanged
a quick look of surprise.

"High Lord Santos Navarro?" Cooper asked me.

"Why do you guys look like you just ate Mexican food that sat in the sun for two days?"

Cooper turned his attention to Laswell. "Navarro is behind this?"

Laswell nodded as Falcon helped him to his feet.

"Damn it!" I growled. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"The North East Archon," Cooper said, sounding like that was something everyone and
his two year old knew.

"Which means?" I asked.

"The commander of every vampire on the East Coast. Including Bellmonte," Cooper said.

"Rumored to have been turned as a teenager during the Spanish Inquisition. Before
the enforcement of vampire law against transforming children," Laswell added. "As
far as supernatural power goes, nearly unstoppable."

"So of course he's the one we have to take down," I said.

Tired and beaten, Laswell nodded.

I was beginning to feel his pain. "We are so screwed."

CHAPTER TEN

I covertly watched Cooper pacing in front of the cold fireplace in Laswell's two-story
library full of books, luxurious furnishings and a truly impressive antique flute
collection in glass cases. He abruptly left the fireplace and prowled like a caged
animal around the cozy, inviting groupings of chairs and couches that were scattered
throughout, including a pair of stately his and hers antique desks that dominated
one side.

For my part, I was glad to stay curled up in a fat armchair cleaning my gun. It had
been a long day. My muscles were sore, I was tired and my feet hurt.

Falcon slept on the sofa to my right. From the plain, well-worn armchair to my left,
the also exhausted Laswell watched Cooper, tugging every now and then at the PRC still
clamped around his neck.

Cooper marched back and redirected his energy to stalking back and forth in front
of us.

"Keep that up and my patience will be as thin as that carpet's getting. This is Bellmonte's
problem now. There's nothing more we can do," I said.

"It's Clan business," Cooper snarled. 

"They were rogues and therefore dead to the Clans. Let it go."

He paused to scowl at me. Not a heart-warming sight. "Outside the Clans, not banished."

Laswell studied him, a spark of curiosity in his light brown eyes. "Mercenaries are
tolerated as long as they conduct themselves inside basic Clan law. Twice a year they
must return to their designated alphas for the ancient—

Cooper spun toward him and gave him a fierce, "shut the hell up" look.

"—celebration," the practitioner finished as if that was what he was going to say
all along. Maybe it was. "Rather like swearing fealty in the old days," he concluded.

"How medieval," I said.

"You have no idea." He studied Cooper. "She deserves to know."

And I would. After we'd rescued the kids, shut down the drug cartel, and stopped the
unstoppable ancient vampire. If I remembered to after all of that.

"The point is, they were under Alpha protection," Cooper said.

"The point is, a vampire high lord is behind it and it's not our business anymore,"
I countered.

Laswell motioned with his hand to indicate his ravished home, including the blood
drying on the outside of one of the library windows. "All this was only a small sample
of what Santos Navarro is capable of. Revenge against the Archon is nothing short
of a death wish."

"What's Navarro got on you, Laswell?" Cooper snarled.

"Me," a woman said behind us.

I flinched and turned in surprise. A stunning blonde dressed in a flowing silver and
white evening gown sauntered gracefully toward us from the doorway. I caught no scent
off her except a hint of jasmine. No life vibration, no inner intentions, nothing.
She was as golden and ethereal as a goddess—the stuff of men's dreams. And somehow
she'd managed to sneak up on all of us.

Cooper went completely still at the sight of her and his eyes glowed with an ardent
silver light that I'd never seen before. A sharp unexpected pain stabbed the middle
of my chest and I swallowed a gasp. Turning back to cleaning my gun, I diligently
pretended not to notice. I could hardly blame him. The woman was beyond gorgeous.

The subtle change in the room's energy woke Falcon. He sat up and his eyes went wide
when he spotted the woman. At least it wasn't just Cooper.

"How are you holding up?" the woman asked Laswell as she strolled over to his chair.

The practitioner tugged at the PRC. "Feeling my age, I'm afraid."

She gave a sparkling chuckle of amusement and planted a light kiss on his cheek before
draping herself across the arm of his chair. She smiled at Cooper who finally had
the decency to stop staring and look away.

"My sister, Holly," Laswell said.

"Navarro's leverage?" I asked.

"Love makes the best of us vulnerable," Holly said in her disgustingly melodious voice.
"The Archon has promised to kill me very slowly if Jacob doesn't play nice."

"They were hoping to grab you."

"Thank you for filling in for me when I was called in to play hostess at the benefit
party."

Yup. Didn't like her.

Cooper looked at Laswell and I was glad to see that his eyes had returned to their
normal, hard focused glint. "You've been giving him what he wants for months now.
Why suddenly the extra pressure?"

"Navarro believes that I'm one of two players plotting against him. He blamed me for
several inconveniences these last months. Things like snooping FBI agents and recent
school break-ins."

"Why not kill you and move on to one of the other schools in his territory?" I asked,
pretending I had no idea what he was talking about.

"I'm known for my knack at finding powerful talent." His gaze flickered to me, but
it was so quick I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it. "Especially hidden talent."

"He's very good." Holly smiled at me full on. No subtlety there.

She shifted her fathomless blue gaze to Cooper. "Me? I have a gift for spotting liars."

A dark flush spread over Cooper's lean cheeks. He turned away and continued his pacing.
"None of this gets us any closer to stopping Navarro. We need a plan."

Agent Stillman appeared to the side of the doorway. "Sir. We've detained a messenger
from Lord Bellmonte."

"Of course you have," Cooper said, growling under his breath. "Like a thorn in my
ass, that guy."

He nodded acquiescence and Stillman stepped back. Cooper's mountain of a bodyguard
strode in with an uncollared Danny held at gunpoint.

At the sight of him, Holly bristled. Finally, I could feel something from her—hatred
coming off in waves. Laswell patted her hand to calm her and I wondered where she'd
met Danny before.

The vamp looked directly at me. "I have what you asked for."

Cooper's eyes narrowed on me. "Damn it, Addison. What did you do?"

"I made a call." I finished with my gun and armed it for vamp. "Help him," I said
to Danny. I gestured toward Laswell with the Browning, my gaze meeting his. I saw
his acknowledgment of my promise to kill him if he tried anything.

He gave me a small nod and reached in his pocket. Marc put his gun to Danny's head.

With slow, deliberate movements, the vamp retrieved a small gadget that looked like
a calibrator of some kind. "May I?" he asked Laswell, his tone polite.

"By all means," the practitioner said.

With a poorly suppressed sneer, Holly moved away. Laswell sat up and lifted his chin
to make his PRC more accessible. Danny knelt down and attached the calibration device
to the key pad on the PRC. Numbers flew by on the small screen of the device.

"It takes a few minutes," the vampire said.

"I have time."

Despite her obvious revulsion, Holly chuckled. I'd say this for her, she had a well
developed sense of humor, however imaginary or enigmatic the jokes.

Laswell threw her a cautionary glance and a moment later the PRC popped open with
a soft
click
. Laswell sighed with relief and pulled it off.

"With my compliments to your associate," he said, handing the PRC to Danny.

Danny stood, gave him a half bow and turned to me. "My 'associate' wishes you to know
that his hands are tied in this matter. Without stronger evidence of guilt, to cross
the Archon means sun death without trial. Often even with evidence."

Cooper scowled at Marc. "Get him out of here."

Marc obliged without troubling himself over good manners. If Danny had been wearing
his collar, the Were would have probably broken something, he shoved him toward to
the door so hard.

I couldn't honestly say I was sorry. True, Danny, or rather Bellmonte, had done me
a favor by coming over to help Laswell, but I'd never like the younger vampire. He
was an arrogant, cruel piece of crap and if the Regent wasn't stronger and smarter
than Danny was, he'd be running wild and ruining lives.

As soon as Marc had Danny out of the room, Cooper headed toward the door as well.
"I'm getting some sleep," he muttered, stalking out of the library.

Falcon yawned and gave me an apologetic look before heading out, too.

I was sorry Cooper was so pissed at me, but I didn't regret taking action to get rid
of the PRC. I knew Bellmonte would have an easy way to decode them. Despite their
revulsion of the devices, vampires were very familiar with the technology. Cooper
would just have to swallow his pride and deal with it.

Holly smiled at Laswell and then me. Even though I didn't trust her, I had to admit
she was near to dazzling when she did that. "Three's a crowd they say. Though in my
opinion that depends on what you're doing and who you're doing it with."

She sauntered after Cooper and Falcon, shaking her head when Agent Stillman moved
toward the library to stand guard inside. The female Were backed down without a fuss,
seemingly as stunned as Cooper by the glory that was Holly. Whoever had said beauty
wasn't everything hadn't met Laswell's sister.

"Is she always so obvious?" I asked Laswell.

"Only when time is limited."

I contemplated my weapon for a moment and then holstered it. "You must lead busy lives."

He laughed softly. "True." His amusement died and he stared thoughtfully at the cold
fireplace. "I want to thank you for rescuing me. I was impressed."

"I do what needs doing. Nothing special about it."

"Don't you mean nothing special about
you
?"

I gave him a sharp look, but he was still gazing at the fireplace like it held all
the answers to the universe. 

"You can't put it off forever, you know. You have to face what you are." He looked
at me, his gaze impenetrable and strangely familiar. "Before it destroys you."

What a bunch of cow poop. I'd had enough. "Face what I am in who's opinion? Your's?
Cooper's? Maybe Bellmonte's? The only thing I have to face is a bunch of sanctimonious
males trying to tell me what I should be."

"No pure human could jump from that catwalk as if they were stepping off a curb. Or
leap straight up while tied to a chair. Or destroy two old and very angry vampires."

"They were weak from your blood, remember?"

"A human would have died. Probably in the first two seconds."

"Maybe I'm in really good shape."

"You were abandoned as an infant and have no idea who your parents were. Isn't it
possible they might not have been human?"

Normally someone getting that personal would tick me off, but I'd had this argument
so many times with Cooper, I didn't even care. "If I'm Were, I would know. I would've
been driven to identify with an animal and shifted at fifteen. If I were a practitioner,
I'd know. My talents would have started manifesting at twelve. Neither of those ever
happened. I'm just strong, quick and pig headed enough not to die when the bad guys
say I should."

His gaze wandered over and around me as if he saw something clinging to me that was
invisible to normal sight. "Perhaps. Or you're not ready to deal with the truth. That
would explain why the spell that hides your nature hasn't fully dissipated."

"A spell. On me. By whom and why? And what truth? Your version? How could you know
anything about who I am?"

"I know that your mother was a powerful practitioner from a bloodline stretching back
to ancient Egypt."

That did it. Now I was pissed. "Easy to say. Harder to prove," I snarled.

"As Charlotte's High Priest, it's my business to know of every practitioner in the
city and keep a record of every practitioner's bloodline in the state."

Doubt and anger oozed through me like sludge off a pig farm. "If you're trying to
throw me some kind of bone for rescuing you, don't bother. I spent years looking for
my parents or any family they might have had. There are no records. No trail to follow.
They don't exist."

"In the case of your father, you're correct."

"Don't tell me you know who he is, too?" I asked, sarcasm lacing my tone.

None of my snippiness seemed to phase Laswell. He smiled patiently like a benign grandfather.
"He was originally from the mountains, but that was a long time ago."

"And this mother you claim to have records of?"

"Dead."

A taste like vinegar rose up in my throat. I pushed out of the chair. "That's something,
anyway."

"There are reasons she left you at St. Paul's, Addison. Reasons she had to protect
you with that spell."

I released a bitter laugh. "And I'm sure they were good ones. Meanwhile, I learned
all I needed to know about taking care of myself from roaming para gangs, fights,
gun battles, and the threat of starvation." I headed for the door. I'd had all I could
take of this and of him.

"You're half Were, Addison," he said quietly, and the words hit me like a gunshot.
I stopped and turned to face him.

"And half practitioner," he added. "Your very existence is a threat to all four races."

"Which is how I know you're lying. If any of this imaginary history were true, I'd
already be dead. You would have killed me."

"Superstitious ignorance doesn't interest me. It's balance that must be maintained.
If you're to defeat Navarro and protect innocent lives, you must embrace the truth
of who you are."

"Your version of the truth. Not necessarily anyone else's."

"Truth doesn't change. Only the perception of it."

"Here are some hard truths for you," I snapped. "You claim to be the leader of the
Charlotte covens, yet you let their children suffer and be used for a terrible purpose.
You buckled under Navarro's threats."

I let the anger, sorrow and frustration that constantly tormented my soul bubble closer
to the surface. "You're not someone who can be trusted, admired, or relied on. I'm
not even sure how powerful a practitioner you are, otherwise you would have fought
a little harder before you caved. Keep your lame attempts to manipulate my emotions
to yourself. I have work to do."

I stalked from the library. Nodding to Stillman as I passed, I continued down the
hall, my emotions seething.

I was getting tired of people thinking they could own me and tell me what was best
for my life.

I was done with that.

*  *  *

Margaret Stillman gave Laswell a curious look as she quietly shut the door. She'd
heard everything, of course, that was her job. And she was grudgingly impressed with
Addison for not falling for the practitioner's obvious attempt to manipulate her.

Resisting couldn't have been easy on the girl. Laswell had offered her everything
she'd never had—answers about her past, superior and admirable parents, a heritage
that made her special and powerful. That he would play on an orphaned human's emotions
like that disgusted her.

She moved as close to the door as she could, her expression and body language conveying
complete boredom. In reality, she focused all of her acute senses on what was happening
on the other side of the door.

She heard the faint scrape of a panel in one of the bookshelves as it slid open, followed
by the light step of a woman.

"She has her mother's temper and her father's stubbornness," she heard Laswell's disturbingly
hypnotizing sister say. "I wonder if she has their gifts?"

"And if she does, will she use them as we need her to?" Laswell responded.

"Why else have you put yourself in this ridiculous situation but to find out?"

"You know the law. Free will can't be tampered with. Nor can we directly raise a hand
against him or his children."

Margaret tensed. What were they talking about? Who and what children? The child practitioners
who were being exploited by Navarro?

"Pity," Holly responded with that touch of a sensual pout in her voice such women
were so skilled at conveying. "How you stood to have one of them so close to you tonight...my
hackles fairly bristled."

"Grey areas, my dear. Life in this dimension is never black and white."

"Except at formal dinner parties."

"We'll have to raise the stakes," Laswell said

Margaret's vigilance sharpened, but their conversation shifted to domestic nonsense
like how to replace the chef who had been killed and whether they would ever find
another who could make their favorite chocolate desserts.

She backed away from the door and headed silently down the hall. Her distrust of Laswell
and his sister had been confirmed, though what they had planned she had no idea.

For now she would keep her eyes and ears open. The moment she had any kind of solid
information, she would report to Marc and Cooper, and they would crush them.  

*  *  *

I followed the directions one of the new Were security guards gave me and after only
a few wrong turns, found the bedroom Laswell had provided for Cooper and me. That
everyone assumed we would be sharing a room added to the agitation the practitioner
had already stirred up, but it was nearly two in the morning and I was too tired to
demand another be provided.

Besides, Laswell's bad behavior wasn't Cooper's fault and I needed to remember that.
In fact, part of me was looking forward to venting to him about the ridiculous story
Laswell had told me. Maybe hearing such exaggerated speculation would help Cooper
realize how crazy his own theories were and he'd finally let them go.