Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Knock. Knock.
A peek through her apartment’s peephole showed a cop. She hadn’t been home more than five minutes. Cold sweat broke out on her back.
Knock. Knock.
Nausea rolled around inside her.
She unlocked and cracked the door.
“Gemma Leight?” asked the forty-something brunette officer with dark eyes. A slithery sensation slipped across Gemma’s shoulders.
She nodded in reply.
The lady flashed her SFPD badge. “I have a few questions about Dylan Holder’s disappearance. Did you know he was missing?”
She nodded and widened the opening of the door “He’s been missing at work for a while. What’s this have to do with me?”
The cop’s odor reminded her of the damp basement in her foster family’s house back when she’d been in elementary school. “Where were you on the night of April twenty-fourth?”
“I don’t remember. That’s two months ago. Hold on. I’ll grab my phone—it has my calendar. I work late at the hospital sometimes.”
“We’re pretty sure he was coming to your place that night.”
“That’s weird. Why would he come to my place?
We had one lousy date and no relationship beyond that.
I for sure didn’t invite him here. He sent threatening texts to me all the time for a while.
I’d block him, but he kept buying new phones so I wouldn’t recognize the number.
I was going to report him for stalking, but then his messages stopped. ”
“When did the texts stop?”
“I thought he finally got the message. I can’t remember when they stopped. Here, I’ll check my phone.”
“Did you kill him?”
Yes. But not directly. That thought probably showed on her face. “What? No. Why would you ask something like that? Was he found dead or something?”
“He disappeared. He lived with his mom, and she’s been on a mission to find out what happened. She swears the only thing that would keep him away this long is if he’s dead.”
Whoa. She didn’t know Dylan still lived at home. He’d been a doctor. Maybe things had been complicated, and his mother needed help.
Gemma grabbed her phone off the kitchen counter.
The officer scanned her place as if searching for something. Good luck finding anything of Dylan’s.
“What was that date again?”
The cop provided it.
Gemma scrolled through her calendar. “Looks like I was off that night. He didn’t text me.” She rotated the phone to show her calendar.
The woman didn’t seem interested. While still visually inspecting her apartment she asked, “Can anyone corroborate you were here?”
She shook her head. Her mind jumped to Skarde. “I was alone.”
The officer removed a small yellow crystal from her pocket and held it in front of her. It was a triangular stone on the top and jagged at the other end where it’d been broken from its seating inside a larger rock. She waved it in Gemma’s direction.
These weren’t humans. Their visit had nothing to do with Dylan and everything to do with what dangled around her neck.
Nothing happened when the officer did a second pass of the crystal around Gemma.
Do not touch your neck. Thank goodness her boobs hid things well.
While walking around the room, the cop held it over various objects. The officer’s crystal glowed a bit when it got close to the side table where she’d removed the necklace earlier when she went on a walk.
“I’m going to need you to come down to the station with me.” A small smile creased the woman’s lips. Excitement danced in her eyes.
Gemma squinted at the nametag on the officer’s chest. “Officer Milano, are you arresting me? On what charges?”
“We have a warrant to search your apartment. While that is underway, come with me to answer more questions.” The cop waved a pink slip of paper. Two more officers appeared and entered her space. The newcomers had dark irises that seemed almost entirely black.
How had they found her?
Had to be the guy at the ER. Everyone there had seen how crazy he’d been to find her in particular.
“Let me grab my backpack, basically my purse. I’m allowed to take it with me.” Not necessarily true if they were arresting her, but she had a feeling these three weren’t familiar with police protocol, not if they were from Skarde’s world.
She ran back to the bedroom and grabbed her just-in-case bag. She shouldn’t go with these dark-eyed people, especially not after that guy in the hospital died while warning her about some mysterious “assassins”.
What choice did she have? She didn’t have any magical powers to fight cops with guns.
With a smile, she pulled down the sleeves on the long sleeve T-shirt she wore under her scrubs to combat the freezing temperature of the hospital, effectively hiding the bracelet Skarde had given her.
She announced, “All ready.”
“Let me look in your bag.” Officer Milano grabbed the bag, rifled through it, and waved the crystal over it. It didn’t light up. She handed it back.
“What’s the deal with the crystal you keep waving around?”
How did she avoid going with these people?
A part of her naturally cowed to authority—like cops.
She’d been arrested a few times as a teenager and almost landed in juvenile detention.
Cops, lawyers, and judges repeatedly proved to her they could mess up her life and make her far more miserable than before.
“The crystal is none of your business.”
“What are you charging me with?” I’m going to die. She backed up. “I’m not going with you until you give me a logical reason why. I’m going to phone the police station and ask to verify the warrant.”
She took her phone out and started to dial 911.
The officer slammed her against the wall and cuffed her. “Shut up, if you know what’s good for you.”
* * *
As she rode in the back of the police car, she tried to make herself believe that if she cooperated, they’d have to let her go. They didn’t have anything on her, and the normal officers would step in eventually.
Since they couldn’t be real cops, they might not even be taking her to a police station. Maybe it’d been stupid not to have fought harder.
They did take her to the station—one she recognized. They swiftly shoved her in a room with one of those freaky one-way mirrors and a metal table.
An hour alone in the small room that reeked of fried food confirmed her lack of faith in the justice system.
Officer Milano strode in. She smacked both hands on the metal table, making Gemma jump. “Where’s the crystal? The one Skarde gave you?”
At the mere mention of his name, her lower abdomen tightened. “Who? And what crystal are you talking about?”
The officer picked up a remote, turned on the TV, and fast forwarded through an old episode of The Legacy of Magic, the one with the mage she’d killed. The screen paused on a shot of her back, her face half turned to the camera.
“That’s you.” The officer pointed at the screen.
Gemma forced out a laugh. “That’s an old DVD a friend gave me. It’s impossible for that to be me. Do you see my name in the credits? I don’t think so.”
“That’s you.” Milano waved at the screen.
“Me? On the show? That would be crazy. That’s not me.”
“You saw a psychologist yesterday with whom you discussed having an infatuation with that vampire.”
So much for doctor-patient confidentiality.
Fake calm. She folded her hands on the table.
“First of all, that was a private conversation with my doctor. Second, I’m contacting the board about her.
She’s not supposed to release that kind of information without my permission.
Third, we discussed fantasies, of course.
What girl in her right mind wouldn’t have a crush on the vampire from that TV show?
I’m not nuts. He’s a fictional character on TV who I dreamed about.
I needed help to work through my dreams about a man who isn’t real. ”
“How’d you get through to the other side?”
“I don’t understand what you’re asking about or implying. I don’t have an acting job. I’m a nurse at the hospital.”
Officer Milano leaned over the table. Her face got so close, Gemma could see the eerie blackness of her eyes. There were no whites around the irises and her gaze lacked emotion. It was a lack of life. What were these people? The woman intoned something in a foreign language. A spell?
Please, let the bracelet be real and work. Gemma’s voice wavered as she asked, “Are you okay? What language are you speaking?”
“Tell me the location of the crystal Skarde gave you.”
No compulsion took over. The bracelet worked! “You’re speaking as if the vampire is a real person. The only Skarde I’ve ever heard of is a fictional character on an old TV show, a show that’s been canceled. He couldn’t give me anything.”
In an instant the cop was around the table, yanking Gemma to her feet, locking her in a headlock.
Air. Cutting. Off.
Gemma tried to claw at the arm around her neck, but the cuffs, which hadn’t been undone, restricted her motion.
“When I return,” the cop said, “if you don’t give me answers, I’m going to shoot you.” She released Gemma.
She dropped to the floor, coughing as Milano exited the room, slamming the door.
Gemma tugged at her cuffs with no clue how to get out of them or how to get out of this room.
A new woman entered, also in a police uniform.
Her eyes weren’t soulless black, but instead a light brown.
She picked up the remote to change the input to something that looked like a reality show of rain in a forest…
No. Impossible. That was The Legacy of Magic.
But where was it airing? There was no DVD player in sight.
An unfamiliar scene—a new scene—showed on the screen.
No Skarde, but Cade was on screen, sitting down. Someone was talking to him.
“Gemma, you have to go through,” the woman said, her voice low.
“You don’t belong here. You need to be over there.
This is your last chance. We can’t open the portal again.
It takes way too much magic. If you don’t go, Petra’s going to kill Skarde and Cade.
She’ll win. You have to tell those two vampires to wake up.
You’re their best hope.” With haste, she unlocked the handcuffs and dropped them on the table.
Gemma massaged her wrists. “Who are you? Pardon me if I’m low on trust right now.”
The woman lowered her voice even more. “I’m Val’s aunt. Serina.”
What? Talk about serious mistakes. This person obviously hadn’t done her research.
She said, “You can’t be. Val said her aunt was in her sixties. You’re maybe thirty.”
“Hon, I’m a witch. I can make myself look seventy or seventeen.” She took Gemma’s hand in hers. “There’s so much I wish I could explain to you, but I can’t right now. There’s no time. You’re so special. I’ve been watching over you a long time.”
“You’ve been watching me?”
“Don’t freak out. Now listen closely. I only have time to say this all once.
” After a furtive, wide-eyed glance at the door, Serina rushed out, “She’s on her way back.
If things go south…if Skarde dies or the two of you don’t work out or you end up alone, go to the Vorche.
That’s the dwarves’ region. Fontaine will help you find me. ”
“Skarde doesn’t want me to go back. He wants me over here.”
“You’re right. He doesn’t. And yet he does. The dolt screwed up by sending you back. He knew it the second you crossed. The assassins were hired to get that crystal from you dead or alive.”
“Why should I trust you? You’re a witch.”
“I’m not a bad one. I’m closer to a mage than witch. Sort of like Val, but Val’s special too.”
“I don’t understand the difference.”
She huffed out a breath. “A mage is like a wizard. A mage needs no outlet for her magic. No staff or wand. She uses her hand and the magic comes from within. Witches and warlocks use an outlet or potion. Among witches, there’s good and bad magic…
gray magic. It’s complicated.” She waved a hand to silence Gemma’s next question.
“We don’t have time for questions. Ask me later. ”
“Me going back there seems like something that benefits you, not me.”
“You’re the one who saw a psychologist to try to get Skarde out of your head.” Serina smiled, although it came off stressed.
“Why did you do this? Open a doorway into his fictional world?”
She emitted a frustrated snort. “It’s not fictional. You’ve been there three times. Did Skarde seem fake?”
Gemma shook her head.
Serina lowered her voice. “It’s real. You can die over there or you can live.
You can become a vampire or you can stay human.
Sure, they don’t have flush toilets or decent shampoo, but the food is a hundred times better.
I highly recommend the wine and the bread.
Anyway, you can’t stay here. The female returning will kill you.
All they care about is the demon crystal, which we can’t allow Petra to get. ”
Gemma glanced at the screen, seeing Cade. Her stomach squeezed to the point it hurt. Falling into a one-on-one with Skarde’s cranky brother scared her. What if he hadn’t given up his mission to take her to the Directorate?
“You’re going over there with me, right?” she asked the witch.
Sadness clouded Serina’s features. “The doorway is only for one. It has to be one-way so no one follows you and no one comes back.” She glanced up at the screen. “It’s going to be intense when you get there.”
Gemma stared at the screen, not getting any sort of “intensity” from Cade sitting cross-legged on a floor.
“You’ll have to trust your gut,” Serina said. “Stand on the chair and touch the screen.”
Gemma scooted the chair close to the TV high on the wall and went on tiptoe.
“Go.” Serina waved at her. “Mira can help you when you get over there…in that room. She’s a prisoner in—”
The doorknob turned.
“Can I come back?” Gemma asked.
Serina shook her head. “Go.”
“Tell Val thank you.” Gemma pressed her fingers to the TV.
She landed hard on her side with her head on a cushion. No, not a cushion. A firm set of thighs.
Her gut twisted with dread. She rolled to the side and glanced up. Yep, Skarde’s super cranky brother was rapidly blinking at her as if he couldn’t process what had happened. His expression dropped into a squinty eye glare.
Gemma’s anxiety bled right into a giant, “Oh, shit.”