Shaded Vision: An Otherworld Novel (25 page)

Camille let out a long breath. “You’re right, of course. That’s our biggest danger here, isn’t it? If they find out Queen Asteria has the spirit seals, Elqaneve will be on the pointy end of the stick. They’ll marshal the goblins from Guilyotin and march on the Elfin city. Even if they can’t gate enough demons through, they’ll use goblins and ogres and whoever else they can pull into their dirty little war. So, where do we go from here?”

“We make sure Martin’s okay, and then visit Carter. And then, we head out for the Supe Community meeting.” I slid into the passenger seat of the car.

Camille slid into the driver’s seat, drawing her feet in and slamming the door before fastening the seat belt. Morio and Shade rode in back; I took shotgun. As soon as we were all situated, she pulled out the parking lot, and we headed over to visit Carter.

Carter, the son of a demon and a Titan, was far more than he appeared to be. He walked with a limp and a brace on one leg, and his shaggy red hair was meticulously kept in a
trendy do. Two horns rose, spiraling, from his head, to belie his demonic heritage. Carter kept tabs on the demonic visitations to Seattle, and he had records going back for several hundred years. He also was a member of the Demonica Vacana society, a secret society that observed and—at times—interfered in the goings-on with demons in human society.

He lived in a modest basement apartment in the Broadway district, a haven to junkies and hookers. But he was in no danger, and a magical “go-away” zone surrounded the sidewalk outside the steps leading down to his apartment, discouraging lowlifes and criminals from hanging around.

I knocked at the door and, after a moment, it opened. Carter peered out, eyeing us, then stood back to allow us in. We hadn’t been around much the past couple of months and weren’t sure just how eager he was to see us.

“What can I do for you?” He was as polite as ever but seemed a little more aloof. Carter had been the foster father to a beautiful mute daughter named Kim, until recently.

“We have something to tell you, and we want your take on the issue.” He motioned for us to sit down in the worn but genteel living room. The velvet sofa was spotless; so were the thick rugs that covered up the concrete floor. Everything looked as it always had, but the apartment felt a little more empty.

Then the curtains to his kitchenette opened, and a man walked out, probably in his early thirties, carrying a tea tray with tea and cookies on it. He looked human, but that was no guarantee he was. But Carter smiled up at him, and motioned for the man to sit with us.

“I want to introduce you to my new assistant. This is Tobias. Toby, meet Delilah and Camille D’Artigo, Morio, and Shade.” He gave the other man a sly smile, and it was returned in kind. Right then, I knew. Carter had a boyfriend. Nothing about our prior interactions had told us anything about Carter’s love life, and we’d never asked.

We murmured hello, and Carter glanced at Toby. “We need some privacy. If you wouldn’t mind?”

“What would you like me to do?” Tobias started to stand. Carter reached out and stroked his hand. Toby ducked his head.

“If you could go organize the new photographs we got in, I’d appreciate it.” Carter watched as the lithe man excused himself and headed into the back room. After Toby was out of the room, he looked back at us and blushed. Seeing a demigod blush delighted me, for some reason. It meant that, as powerful as Carter was, he still had a spark of humanity to him, even though he’d never been anything remotely resembling human.

“When did Toby start working with you?” I was determined to needle him just a little about it. After all, that was what friends did. And Carter was our friend.

He glanced up at me, and a little smirk crossed his face. “About two months ago. He was working for a client of mine. We…the attraction was immediate. So he came to work for me. It won’t last. He’s one of the djinn, and they don’t make good long-term lovers. But it will be fun for the duration. And I needed the company. And the help.”

“Can you trust a djinn?” Camille frowned. I knew that look. It said she didn’t trust Toby any more than she trusted a skunk in heat.

“No, but that is why he is not allowed access to private information, and why he doesn’t have a key to my place. Do not trouble yourself, young witch, I will not compromise the integrity of my operations with a veil of sex haze. But it has been a long time since I’ve found someone to my liking, and I plan to enjoy myself in the meantime. And before you ask, I don’t ask what equipment my lovers have, merely if they want to play.”

That was the only time I’d ever seen Carter look lecherous in the least, but the look on his face told me that his mild manner and genteel ways masked a deeply passionate nature, and I found myself catching my breath, a little afraid. Good thing his tastes didn’t run to our direction. Demons like Vanzir and Rozurial were easier to identify with than someone who was the son of a Titan.

“Whatever the case. We need to tell you what’s been going on and see if you have any suggestions.” We laid out everything that had happened. Carter’s mood turned from flirtatious to somber.

“Does Wilbur have information on me in that book of his?”

I nodded. I’d flipped through it before hiding it at home when we headed out to interview Wilbur. “Yes. He knows who you are, he knows your background, and he knows about the Society. I have no clue how long it took Wilbur to amass this information, or where he got all of it, but he seems to know too many secrets about too many people.”

“Then we will need to take him under our wing. If he resists, we’ll have to take further action. In the meanwhile, I will search for information on the man with the spirit seal. If he’s connected with the Koyanni, it should not be difficult for me to ferret out his background. I’ll call you as soon as I learn anything. In the meantime, walk softly and keep your eyes open.”

As we headed for the door, Carter stopped us. “One last thing. You
must
go to the Elfin Queen and tell her of the danger. She has to be prepared, should the unthinkable happen.”

And on that note, we headed home for a quick nap and dinner before the Supe Community meeting. There was so much on my mind that I felt a million miles away.

Vampires Anonymous was rocking by the time we took a nap, ate dinner, and drove to the hall, in what had once been the home of Sassy Branson, socialite vampire who had been on our side until her predator nature overtook her.

She’d bequeathed her mansion to the group, and now it was used as both halfway house to help vamps new to the life and the headquarters for the Pacific Northwest Regency of the North American Branch of the Vampire Nation. That was the long title for Frederick Corvax’s position. But everybody just called him the Regent, according to Menolly.

The mansion was surrounded by an electric fence and patrolled by hired guards during the day, by vampire guards at night. It had taken on the appearance of a fortress, but considering the fear vampires struck among the general populace, that wasn’t surprising. They were slowly assimilating into the public’s mindset, but while the Weres hadn’t had such a hard time being accepted, or the Fae, the vampires were the last bastion of discrimination.

Tonight, the guards were on full alert. I recognized
several vampires from Wade’s VA group—including Brett, a comic book fiend who had taken on the superhero alter ego of Vamp-Bat once he was turned. But most looked hardened and experienced. Roman must have moved a new group of soldiers into the area when he officially took over for his mother.

Menolly had gone on ahead, as both Roman’s official consort and a founding member of the Supe Community. Even though Roman wouldn’t be there, she was expected to put in an appearance.

Smoky had come, along with Trillian, Vanzir, and Rozurial. Shade and Morio stayed home to watch over Hanna and Maggie. I saw a shimmer in the trees and a group of Fae walked through a portal—reps from the Triple Threat, no doubt. This was shaping up to be one of the biggest meetings we’d ever had.

As we pulled through the gates, I steeled myself. Facing the community wasn’t going to be easy, considering the pull Exo Reed had exuded. The backlash could tear the Supe Community apart, if our enemies had generated enough fear.

We entered the foyer. In the intervening time since Sassy had died the final death and Wade had taken over, the mansion had gone from genteel home to spacious but official offices. The personal touches were gone, while the elegance remained.

“Hello, the Mistress is waiting in the meeting room.” Erin Marshal, Menolly’s sired adult child, bounced over, a spring in her step I hadn’t seen since before she was turned. Erin had been through a lot, but now she was the official secretary for the VA, and she was doing an excellent job. Wade was helping her make all the adjustments she needed to know for her new life and she was learning far faster than she had with Sassy. She lived here, on site.

“Hi, Erin. Good to see you.” Camille raised her hand, shyly smiling. She and Erin had been good friends before Erin was turned. Now, they seldom got a chance to talk. Erin
still needed to learn how to react around the living without supervision, and Camille never knew what to say.

Erin gave her a fangy smile and waved, before clutching her clipboard to her chest and taking off again.

We filed into what had been the parlor. Now a meeting room, it—and the smaller office next to it—had been opened up to form one large hall. Devoid of the heavy furniture Sassy had loved, it had plenty of space for a large group to congregate.

Camille and I moved to the front of the room along with Morio, while the others took seats in the first row. Menolly was waiting for us, talking to a European-looking man who wore a very expensive suit. Frederick Corvax. He gave me the chills, almost more so than Roman. Frederick had that same suave European feel that Roman did, but he hadn’t had time to assimilate to American culture. Roman had some semblance of familiarity, even though he was a vampire. Frederick was cold and aloof.

As we took our seats up front, I glanced over the sea of faces. They were somber, some tearful. Five deaths in the Supe Community had a far-reaching effect. Everybody had been touched in one way or another. From losing family and friends to the fear of being the next random target, the worry was apparent on every face in the room.

After a few minutes, Menolly and I stood up and approached the microphone. We could probably be heard without it, but considering there were well over one hundred people packed into the room, we decided to go for it.

“Welcome to the February meeting of the Supe Community Council.” I took a long breath, then plunged in. We’d do this by the book; that way it would assuage panic. I started with reading the minutes from the past meeting, then moved on to thanking Frederick—and Roman, by default—for the use of the meeting hall.

After a moment, I looked out over the sea of faces. How to dive in? How do you warn a group of people that they may
all
be targets because of the grudge of some madmen?

“We have a problem. By now, I’m sure all of you have heard about the explosion that happened at the Supe Community Hall. Here are the bare bones of the case.” I laid out the facts of what had happened, leaving out the demonic overtones. I also made sure to include Andy Gambit’s poking around the ruins the next morning. “We don’t want you to bother Gambit, but we have to do something to counter him. We have to discuss this as a community. Before we address that, we have a bigger problem. But first, any questions?”

As I looked around, one of the Blue Road Tribe werebears raised his hand. I pointed to him. “Jonas?”

“Was the explosion a hate crime?” He stood, a big bear of a man, burly and looking like a linebacker in a three-piece suit. With curly black hair and a tidy goatee, he looked like he could rip my head off without blinking.

I shook my head. “Your question brings me to the bigger issue I mentioned. This was not a hate crime in the sense you’re thinking. This wasn’t the Church of the Earthborn Brethren or the Freedom’s Angels who did this. Remember when the werewolves were killed a few months ago? We are facing the same problem again. Koyanni have moved into the area.”

Before even the thought of a backlash could occur, I quashed the seeds. “This is not the fault of the upstanding coyote shifters who live here—Marion’s family and the others. She lost her sister to them. No, we
know
the Koyanni moved in and they are aiming for her as much as they are for us. They’ve brought sorcerers with them. The explosion was caused, as far as we can tell, by a fire charm. And before the explosion, they struck at Wilbur Folkes, a friend and neighbor of ours. We found him this morning—still alive, but severely injured. They’ve also terrorized the Davinaka Mall and killed two people there.”

Jonas nodded. “What can we do? Who will they strike next?”

I glanced at Menolly. She nodded for me to answer.

“We don’t know,” I said, turning back to answer him. “The fact is that we have no idea who they’re going to target
next. We’re following up leads to find them as quickly as we can. But until then, we have to band together. Check with your friends and neighbors. Make certain you don’t go out alone—go in a pack.”