Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (13 page)

Dylan waited patiently as Madison held her breath under
water. She walked to Madison’s side and leaned against the mirror. With a smirk
she slipped into her sister’s mind.
“You
do realize that ostriches don’t really do that right?”
she asked mentally.
When she saw her sister’s body jerk, she continued.
“Last year when we took the trip to the Sahara, Lacey begged and
pleaded to see one. So naturally Antonio took her to one of the reserves, got
her really close, and then it proceeded to attack him.”

Madison straightened trying not to choke on either water or
her laughter. “Don’t tell me shit like that,” she coughed. She smirked as Dylan
simply offered her a towel. “You could have killed me.”

Brown eyes rolled. “Oh please,” she mused. “Aren’t you the
one always boasting that ‘you can’t kill death’?”

A chuckle escaped Madison as she walked over to the row of
lockers lining the walls. “Yeah, that would be me,” she said before finding
Leslie’s locker. Her eyes saddened as she broke open the lock. She would make
sure to give the woman that made her career almost impossible a decent funeral.
No matter their differences, Madison wouldn’t wish death by zombie attack on
her worst of enemies.

“I would have thought you would have enough respect for the
dead to not joke about what you’ve done,” Tina Maxwell said from the locker
room door.

Dylan straightened her relaxed stance and took note of
Madison’s mumbled curse. “Mom, what are you doing here?” she asked.

Tina’s eyes stayed on Madison’s bloodied shirt. “Mathias
called your father and me. He said that he may need us for clean up on a
Necromancy case.”

Madison found a teal and black top among Leslie’s clothes
and started to strip off her own ruined shirt. “And since there was Necromancy
involved you wanted to see what kind of Hell I unleashed?” Madison went over to
the sink and placed her shirt under the water.

Dylan took a slow breath and sent up a prayer for patience.
“Can we
not
do this now?” she asked
her mother and sister.

Tina pressed her lips together as she watched her oldest
daughter clean the blood off of her neck and chest. “Did you get any
information before you lost control?”

Madison’s movements slowed as what her mother said processed
in her mind. She then fell into a fit of chuckles. The chuckles then erupted
into full laughter as Tina’s frown deepened and her hands went to her hips.

“I don’t think any of this is funny at all,” Tina said
hotly.

With a wave her hand Madison’s laughter slowly died. “You
wouldn’t.” Her eyes then sought her sister. “But then again, she never did,”
she added.

Dylan turned her attention to their mother. She would deal
with Madison later. “Madison didn’t try to
Raise
anyone Mom,” she explained.

“Leave it be
Dyl
,” Madison sighed
as she pulled on the teal top. “She doesn’t want to hear anything that might
paint me in a positive light.” She walked over to the mirror and rubbed off her
smearing make up. “And frankly, I really don’t feel like fighting.”

Dylan watched Madison. She was trying to keep the peace and
Dylan couldn’t help but be proud of her.
“Alright.
But
did you find out anything?”

Madison looked into Tina’s eyes. “The victims, or original
zombies, were women. Under the need to feed was a thirst for desire. Probably
left over from whatever sucked them dry.”

“An Incubus?”
Tina
asked skeptically. When Madison shrugged and turned away, she frowned. “They’re
extinct.”

Dylan fixed Leslie's broken lock. “Incubi and Succubi
haven’t been heard from in centuries. While that information leads to them
being extinct, that doesn’t have to be true.”

Tina fiddled with a diamond in her earring. What Dylan said
was correct but she wasn’t one that dealt with variables. “I’ll have to discuss
this with your father and brothers. Mathias will also want to know how this all
happened. Madison wasn’t supposed to be involved in Council business.”

Madison pulled her hair back and adjusted her jacket.
“Madison wasn’t involved until Barry showed up unconscious on her doorstep.”
She ignored Tina’s horrified expression as she started for the door. “He used
the wrong spell. Thorne had to put a bullet in one zombie. I just came here to
try and contain the others.” Madison opened the door and saw the current leader
of the Council, Mathias, frowning at her.

“Where is your brother now?” he asked.

Dylan stood just over Madison’s shoulder and barely
suppressed her growl. This man was the same one that wanted to take Lacey away
and have her own magic tortured and tested to its limits. “You’re not getting
Barry.”

Mathias glanced at Dylan and Tina before refocusing on
Madison. “Accidents aside, Barry
has
to answer to his
crime of exposure of magic to a Normal.”

Tina frowned as she looked at her superior.

Madison smiled and stepped closer to him. “He’s at my
house,” she answered. She allowed her eyes to turn crimson as she threw down
her challenge. “If you want him, come get him. But know that I won’t let you or
anyone else fuck with our family.”

Mathias watched her for a moment. While he and Madison had
always had their differences, he never wanted to strangle her more. “Do
not
threaten me little girl,” he
growled.

With a roll of her eyes she reached up and straightened his
tie. “I’m not threatening you. I simply want you to be completely aware that if
you mess with the
Maxwells
, I don’t care if the
entire East Coast becomes a dead zone. I will fuck you up.”

Dylan pulled on Madison’s arm. “Let’s go,” she said looking
between her former boss and their mother. “We have to check on Troy and Belle.”

Madison stepped back but kept the smile on her face. “See
ya!” she chimed before making her way to the elevator.

Tina watched her daughters leave. Out of all of her
children, she never expected Madison to defend her brothers. It boggled Tina’s
mind. Madison practically fed Dylan to Crispin, yet now she was standing firm
between the Council and her brother. Tina looked at Mathias. “Stay away from my
family,” she said lowly.

Mathias looked at her in disgust. “Don’t stand here and try
to act like you care. Madison has already done a beautiful job of it.” As
Tina’s eyes narrowed Mathias turned to leave. “Check on Barry. Then see what
your family can do with this Incubus.”

* * *
* *

Dylan and Madison easily made their way to the parking lot.
“You okay?” Dylan asked.

Madison took a slow breath as she spotted Belle sitting in
the backseat of her car. Casper was in the driver’s seat adjusting the rear
view mirror. “I’ll be alright,” she said absently.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Dylan replied. “Troy was hurt and
now you have to deal with his mother’s introduction into our world. Never mind
that you and mom always have such happy times.”

The sarcasm in Dylan’s voice made Madison chuckle. “I don’t
want to process everything right now,” Madison admitted. “As a matter of fact,
it might be better if I don’t.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Come over
for dinner. Barry should be up and moving by then.”

Dylan turned and started over to Madison’s car. “Please,
you’re going to have us there for the rest of the day.” She tapped Madison’s
nose. “I love you and Barry. But if Mathias shows up I still want to have an
East Coast to live on.”

Madison’s eyes rolled again. “It’s so nice to have my
adoring sister at my side.” She leaned against her car and looked at Belle, who
had Troy’s head pillowed on her lap. “
You hanging
in
there Belle?”

Belle’s hands were shaking as she ran her fingers through
Troy’s hair. “I need to know what happened to my son,” she said in a
surprisingly calm voice.

Dylan gave Madison a quick hug. “I’ll meet you at the
house,” she whispered before walking away from the car.

With a nod Madison climbed into the passenger seat of her
car. “It would be best if we went someplace private to explain it.”

Belle kept her focus on Troy. “I don’t want to go anywhere
with you people,” she whispered.

She decided to ignore the “you people” part of that statement.
Madison kept her eyes trained forward as Casper started to drive away. “There
are days when I know exactly how you feel Belle,” she confessed. Madison then
turned her attention to Casper. “Where’s the other Wolf?”

“Crispin and Eric have him. Evidently he’s here to protect
her for Dennis.” Casper looked in the rear view and frowned at the Lincoln
Continental that pulled into his former space.

* * *
* *

Dark eyes took in the sight of people coming and going from
the Medical Examiner’s building. He could still feel the traces of Necromancy
practically radiating from the area. There had been a major folly here and
someone had been quick to try to clean it.

A soft knock on the driver’s window caught his attention. He
muted his iPod and rolled his window down to speak with his supposed
supervisor. “It looks like everything has been handled here.”

Mathias growled as he thought of the woman that just left.
“Yes it has,” he said grudgingly. “There’s nothing for you to do here.”

Eyes that matched the color of midnight looked up at
Mathias. “I’ll have to be the judge of that.”

“You don’t have the authority to be here. As far as I’m
concerned, you aren’t even a member of the Council. You can’t just come here
after being missing for decades and think you can take over everything. ”

Aston Nicodemus simply smiled at Mathias. “Actually, you
would be surprised with what I can and can’t do. Feel free to contact
your
superiors and see what they say
about me,” he said before rolling up his window. As Mathias stepped away from
his car, Aston adjusted the volume of his iPod back to where he had it. As the
raspy, young voice of Miley Cyrus echoed in his ear, he pulled out of the
parking lot.

He wanted the Maxwell Family gone. That was going to be the
only way his plans will be able to reach fruition. But first he needed to see
how far Madison had come since the last time he checked in on her.

Cool air caressed his face as a gentle hand trailed through
his hair. Troy blinked and found that he was staring up at his mother. He took
her hand into his and gently squeezed her fingers. “Are you okay Mom?”

Belle blinked tear filled eyes as she shook her head. “I’m
trying to process everything,” she said as he sat up in the seat. She combed
her fingers through his hair again. “Are you alright?” she asked gently.

Troy glanced at Madison who was looking over her shoulder at
them both. He then turned back to the concerned look on his mother’s face. “I’m
fine,” he said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt his mother
cuff him on the back of his head. “What the hell was that for?” he asked
outraged.

“You’re the father of her boys aren’t you?” Belle accused.
She turned fully to Troy and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s why you
turned tail and ran away.”

Madison quickly turned around and glanced at Casper. Both
she and the vampire were trying not to laugh.

Troy’s lips thinned as he looked at his Mate and his rival.
When he caught a glimpse of Belle’s hand going up again, he turned to her. “In
all fairness, I didn’t know about the boys until the day before yesterday,” he
said quickly.

Madison turned outraged eyes to him. “Oh sure, throw me
under the bus.”

Belle glared at Madison. “I’ll deal with you later,” she
promised. She then turned back to Troy. “If you didn’t run off like some
deadbeat then why did you leave?”

Casper took a slow breath as he started up the driveway to
Madison’s home. “Looks like we have some company,” he said loudly. He glanced
into the rear view mirror and saw Belle glaring at his interruption. “Sorry.”

Madison slumped low in her seat and blew out a breath.
Dennis tried to make her seem so mentally fragile. It was actually funny to
watch her flip out and freak over something so normal. She then looked at the
SUV in front of her house and rolled her eyes. “I’m guessing that the other
wolf called Dennis,” she said before turning to look at Troy.

Troy frowned and looked at his mother. “Mom, there’s a lot
that we have to tell you. And it won’t be easy for you to hear,” he started.

Belle’s eyes narrowed as she turned back to her son.
“Really?” she asked. “Like finding out zombies exists, one of my favorite
former ME’s can do magic,
and
she’s
also the mother of my
grandchildren
isn’t
easy?” She raised her hand again but barely stopped herself from hitting him.
“Troy Marco Davenport, you better have a good damned reason for hiding from
me.”

Madison tried not to laugh at the ridiculous nature of the
conversation. “Let’s get inside, maybe we can straighten this all out,” Madison
said as she climbed out of the car. She smiled at Belle. “If you want, I can
get you cleaned up and then you can meet the boys.”