Darkness Divides (Sensor #3) (9 page)

It had been awhile since I’d had to look at the corpse of someone I cared about. It hadn’t gotten any easier. Mrs. Singh’s eyes were closed. I didn’t know if she’d died with them that way or if Aniya had shut them. At least she looked peaceful. I brushed one of the cleaner locks of her hair from her face.

“Rest in peace, Mrs. Singh,” I murmured.

She deserved a better way to go, but at least it was fast. I had to believe she was in a better place now—far away from the pain and violence of this world. It wasn’t the dead who suffered, but the living.

I got up, not wanting to look at her like this anymore. Better to remember the sweet woman who comforted me after my adopted parents died when I was fifteen. A caring woman who insisted on cooking awesome Indian food for me whenever I visited. Her life since moving to America hadn’t been easy, but she’d made the best of it. I’d always have the utmost respect for her.

Aniya and Nik were in the kitchen. He was holding her close as she cried on his shoulder. The master vampire could be a total womanizer, but he also knew how to take care of his people. He’d turned Aniya when she was dying—at my request—and patiently helped her every step of the way as she transitioned into a vampire. I owed him for that.

He nodded at me as I came in and then went back to murmuring reassurances in Aniya’s ear. I sort of envied her. People didn’t comfort me when I was hurting emotionally. Probably because I had a tendency to scream vulgarities at them if they tried. I didn’t like showing weakness if I could help it. Aniya was softer and sweeter. It was natural for people to want to be there for her and do anything they could to make her feel better.

A few more minutes passed before Nik led her over to the kitchen table where I was sitting. He settled her onto a chair and took a step back. There was weariness in his eyes and dark circles under them. From what Kariann had told me, the master vampire had a lot on his plate at the moment. Hundreds of supernaturals depended on him. Since he only had to sleep for a short period after the sun rose, he’d probably been working from home for the rest of the daylight hours. Now he had Aniya to worry about as well.

“We need to call the authorities,” he said gently. “With her being human, it’s best to let them handle her body the proper way, but we’ll help you in any way we can with funeral arrangements. I’m guessing you have your own customs you’d prefer to follow?”

She nodded. “She wanted to be cremated. There are some other things we did for my father when he died, but I think I’ll just keep it simple this time.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Whatever you think is best. I’ll help, too.”

More tears swam in her eyes. “Thanks.”

Nik and I stayed with her as she dealt with the authorities. He compelled them not to worry about the delay in them being called. I doubted it was necessary considering the cops had probably been working almost non-stop since the explosion/earthquake. Aniya still didn’t know what really happened, but it didn’t seem like the best time to tell her.

She was so fragile. It nearly killed me when she dropped to the floor sobbing as her mother’s body was taken away. It was painful to see her like this. Nik eventually got her settled into her bedroom while we cleaned up as much of the mess as we could in the living room.

The master vampire had one of his minions bring a tarp over so we could cover the opening where the fireplace had stood. No need to let any rain get in before it could be repaired. After everything was straightened up as much as possible, I went back to Aniya’s bedroom. She was curled up in a ball on her bed and clothes were scattered everywhere.

“You’ve got to come with us,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can’t stay here right now.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to go anywhere.”

“Aniya, it’s for the best. It’s only going to be harder if you stay here and this house isn’t safe. We’ve got to get it repaired before you can live in it again.”

She lifted her head off her pillow. “I can’t. I feel closer to her here.”

I sighed and caught Nik’s eye where he stood in the doorway. He looked resigned. He’d do whatever he had to do to protect his people—even if it meant taking drastic measures.

“Aniya,” he said, pulling her up and gazing into her dark eyes, “you will pack your things and come with us. No more arguing.”

Nik had pressed compulsion into his words. Only a very old and strong vampire could do that to another vampire. Even then, it had to be a much younger and weaker one. I didn’t like it, but I knew it was the only way to get her out of here without any kicking and screaming.

“Yes, master,” she said. Woodenly, she got up and did exactly as he commanded.

I said my goodbyes and left. Nik had things under control. As much as I wanted to be supportive of my best friend, I had to get back to Emily. I could only deal with so many things at once and there wasn’t much else I could do for Aniya.

How had everything gone from being fairly normal to the utter chaos I saw around me now? What would happen next?

Chapter Eight

The sound of a man’s voice singing along with a guitar filtered to me in my bedroom. Micah was singing “Don’t Cry” by Guns N’ Roses. He must have been playing it for Emily since that was one of her favorite bands. She loved listening to the nephilim’s voice when he sang. I had a hard time listening to this particular song, though, and had to push back the rise of emotions it inspired.

A glance at the clock told me it was noon. I hadn’t gone to bed until after dawn and still didn’t feel fully rested. It didn’t help that I’d had another nightmare. Kerbasi had wasted no time torturing Lucas after he’d returned. I’d never get used to the feeling of him being boiled in hot water as he screamed silently in his head. Never aloud. He’d become frighteningly good at not responding to Kerbasi’s torture methods. I was going to kill that guardian if I ever got hold of him.

I climbed out of my bed and threw on a pair of jeans and a tank top. By the time I’d finished brushing my teeth and hair, Micah had stopped playing his depressing music. At least it had inspired a spark of happiness in Emily. Her ability to recognize and process music had been another potential problem. Apparently, she could at least enjoy the songs she’d heard before. There was a possibility she couldn’t learn to recognize new ones, though.

Micah sat in a chair by Emily’s bed with his guitar resting against her nightstand when I peeked into the doorway of her bedroom. Neither of them noticed me. They were too busy talking in hushed tones to each other. I crossed my arms and leaned my shoulder against the door frame.

“How long until I can start walking?” Emily asked.

“Tomorrow we’ll give it a shot,” he replied. His speech always got more modern whenever he spoke to her. It was sort of cute, though I’d never tell him that.

“I’m tired of everyone having to carry me to the bathroom. It’s embarrassing.” Her cheeks flushed as she stared down at her hands.

“Patience.” He gave her a stern look. “You’re lucky you’re healing as fast as you are. Most people would have to wait considerably longer.”

She huffed. “Easy for you to say. You’ll never have to sit in bed for days waiting to heal from your injuries.”

“Even immortals can suffer, little sensor.” He glanced at me as he said this. Guess he’d noticed my arrival after all.

“Don’t call me a sensor.” Emily glared at him. “I can’t
sense
anything right now.”

So it hadn’t come back to her yet. She’d panicked at the hospital when she’d first realized her abilities were gone. I’d assured her the same thing happened to me and that it would come back in time. Hopefully it was true.

“I think it’s time you had something to eat. You’re getting a little too cranky for my taste,” he said, standing up.

“I’m not cranky!” Emily grabbed one of her pillows and threw it at him. She must have missed the humor lacing his voice.

Micah took the hit and laughed. “My apologies. Clearly you’re as calm as the eye of a hurricane.”

“You’re just lucky Mel keeps her guns locked up or I’d shoot you right now.” She threw another pillow at him. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her keep so much ammunition on her bed. There were still a few more pillows she could toss.

“Would you nurse me back to health afterward?” he asked, backing away slowly as if he really was afraid of her.

She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

Emily finally noticed me standing at the door and crossed her arms.

“Spying on me?” she asked. “It’s easy to do that now that I can’t sense anything. I’m all screwed up and I’m not getting any better.”

Her lips trembled and she looked away.

Patience. I had to have patience with her. We were rushing a healing process with a girl whose body had not fully matured yet. She was going to have a tough time with this and I had to be there for her. Micah had said these first few days would be the hardest. Teenage hormones and brain damage did not mix well.

“How about some of that lasagna we have in the fridge?” I asked. Micah was right. She needed to eat if she wanted to heal properly and vamp blood alone wouldn’t do it.

“Yeah, fine, but let Micah heat it. You’ll just screw it up.”

Her ability to filter her thoughts was definitely not working—another side effect, but at least her memory was doing surprisingly good. She hadn’t forgotten my cooking abilities.

“It’s all yours, Micah,” I said, sweeping my arm in the general direction of the kitchen downstairs.

He gave me a sardonic smile and left the room.

Felisha drove up soon after we started eating. I eyed my lasagna longingly. There must be some nefarious plot to keep me from getting a decent meal anytime soon. Taking my plate with me, I headed down the stairs. Maybe I could eat and talk to her at the same time. As soon as I opened the front door, it was apparent that wouldn’t be happening.

The fairy slowly climbed out of her car, tears streaking down her face. I turned around, set the plate down in the kitchen, and headed outside. It hit my senses as soon as I got closer exactly how upset she was—catastrophically. My range for picking up on emotions was much shorter than the one for detecting sups. Usually that was an asset, but I wished I could have been more mentally prepared for another upset female.

“What happened?” I asked once I got closer to her.

“Oh, Mel.” She flung herself into my arms. “My father is dead.”

Oh, wow. Fairies didn’t exactly die easily.

“How?” I rubbed her back in what I hoped was a consoling gesture.

“The magic blast killed him.” Her tears soaked my shoulder. “It took me this long to reach anyone in the city. All the usual methods we use to contact each other—they were damaged. It was only a couple hours ago that I managed to get through to my mother.”

“So it didn’t kill everyone there?”

We’d suspected the fae city was the origin of the blast, but if it was I didn’t know how anyone survived. Fae were long-lived and healed quickly, but they weren’t impervious.

“Just the ones closest to the blast. My mother said…” Felisha took a deep breath. “That there was a smaller first explosion that warned them of the danger. Most people were able to get underground in time to avoid the second bigger one.”

“Do they know who caused it or how?”

She shook her head and let go of me. “They’re still figuring it out. All the wards failed to stop them.”

Felisha was hiding something. That wasn’t the whole truth.

“A sensor did it,” I stated. Only someone from my race could get past powerful wards and take down a massive shield.

Felisha looked away and said nothing. At least I’d taken her mind off her father’s death. She wasn’t crying anymore.

“It would have been suicide.” I rubbed my face. “If Emily and I could be hurt this far away, then they would have died immediately.”

Felisha sighed and threw up her hands. “It
was
suicide, but they must have had help to even find the city. The elders built it in a place where even in this day and age few humans bother to travel.”

That was a good point. The fae city was supposed to be a sanctuary for all supernaturals. A safe place to go away from humans where they could live normally and without fear of detection. It would be stupid to take it out. A group of renegade sensors like the ones I’d met last year might want to do it, but as Felisha said, they’d need supernatural help to find it.

“So what are they doing about it?” I asked.

“My mother didn’t say.” Felisha spoke the truth. “I just know I have to leave today to go there. They need help rebuilding the shield and preparing for the funeral ceremonies.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

Felisha fidgeted with her blouse. “But there’s the herb shop. I know you’re busy with Emily, but if you could at least open it for tomorrow and spread the word around that we’ll be shut down for a couple of weeks I’d appreciate it.”

She gave me a pleading look. Tears were starting to fill her eyes again. Damn. I couldn’t handle her looking at me like that.

I glanced back at the house. “I’ll see if Micah can watch Emily tomorrow. It shouldn’t be an issue.”

She shifted from foot to foot. “That’s another reason I came. I was hoping he’d be here so I could talk to him.”

“About what?”

“It would be faster if he could take me there. The city is not easy to reach.” She flushed guiltily. “They’re also requesting his help with the investigation and need him to stay there for awhile.”

“Why would they need his help?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just asked to tell him they’re calling in the favor he owes.”

Great. That was just great. Because I didn’t already have enough problems, why not add some more? I turned around and closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths before facing her again. This wasn’t Felisha’s fault, but that didn’t help anything.

“You know Micah is the one making sure Emily heals properly? How am I supposed to deal with this on my own?”