13. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Dash
I stopped at The Mystical Palm to say hi to Trent and Amelie, who had just returned from their honeymoon in Japan. I was unusually anxious to hear all about their trip. I parked behind the shop and walked around to the front door, heading inside.
Amelie was behind the counter with a large cardboard box on a chair beside her. “Welcome to The Myst—Dash! Hello!”
My friend came around the glass counter and hugged me tight. It was good to have her back. Without any funerals at Dearly & Son, she hadn’t been coming to work, so we hadn’t seen Amelie or Trent since their wedding.
“How was Japan?” I knew that question would get her going. I wouldn’t have to say another word for probably an hour.
Amelie whipped her phone out of her pocket as fast as an old west gunslinger in a dusty street at high noon. Before I could take a breath, the slideshow began.
I was never one to get excited about someone else’s vacation, but this time I was enjoying the play-by-play of their trip. The pictures of Mt. Fuji from the balcony of their hotel room were amazing.
Once I got the lowdown on all their vacation fun, I checked the time on my phone. It was almost noon, and I needed to head home. I still had to stop by the store and pick up some things from the list Keir was supposed to send me but hadn’t. I decided to call after I talked to Trent.
“Where’s your husband?”
Amelie smiled. “In the office. Tell him to get out here and help me log this stuff into inventory and stock it. I swear…”
I walked through the store, stopping at the office door. There behind the desk was Trent, staring into space. He wasn’t moving, and I wasn’t even sure he was breathing. “Dude, did she wear you out?”
His head turned toward me and his eyes were rolled back in his head, only showing the whites. Suddenly, he went face first onto the desk. “Son of a—”
I hurried around the desk and pulled him up to see he wasn’t breathing. “Amelie!”
I dragged him out of the chair, settled him flat on the floor, and opened his jaw to see if he was choking. I swept my finger into his mouth and tried to find anything that might have caused his current predicament. Nothing.
“What’s going… Trent? Fuck! ” Amelie grabbed her phone and handed it to me as she dropped to the floor and sealed her mouth over her new husband’s to force air into his lungs to the point that I could see his chest rise and fall.
I dialed the nine and the one before I felt a breeze. I glanced into the store to see Trent’s spirit standing in front of me before he screamed, “Get home now!”
“Get back in your body now!” We were both yelling, and I was sure Amelie thought I was crazy.
Trent quickly did as I said and began coughing. Amelie stopped her lifesaving attempts and sat back, trying to get her breath as Trent rolled to his side.
He stared up at me. “Get home. Fire! ”
I had no idea what the hell had just happened, but I hauled ass out of there and hopped in my SUV. I wished to fuck I could fly like Jonas, Scotty, and Jay, but that hadn’t been one of the gifts I’d been given.
“Where’s the blood?” The voice was otherworldly.
“What the fuck—” I turned at the sound of the hoarse, growly voice to see a small black creature with wings in my shotgun seat scaring the fuck out of me.
I was so startled that I swerved the vehicle into an oncoming car, though somehow, the other car was able to miss the head-on collision. I quickly skidded into the parking lot of a gas station and slammed on the brakes.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“ Concentrate! The blood , Key. Where’s the blood Mistress gave you?”
I quickly swiveled my head to the rear floorboard after I remembered I’d brought it with me. I jerked the cooler over the seat and dropped it onto the lap of the little demon before I opened it and grabbed a bag of blood.
My fangs distended without my conscious thought, and I sunk them into the disgusting plastic bag. The whole time I gulped the deliciously thick liquid, I remembered when my love had given me the privilege of drinking from him and how sublime it tasted. His whimpers and moans were music to my ears. I’d been mindful of taking too much from Keir, but each drop had been a precious elixir to me.
Once I’d drained the bag, I tossed the empty plastic over the seat and hopped out of the car, running faster than I could have driven to get to Reardon. When I arrived at Dearly & Son, police cars and an ambulance were just pulling out of the driveway.
The smell of burning wood filled my nose, as did the scent of Keir. Jamie was standing nearby, speaking with a police officer, but I was too afraid to get close to her. I had no idea if it was apparent that I’d drank a liter of blood or if being too close to her would trigger my desire for more, so I stayed hidden in the tree line as I made my way around the house.
I jumped onto a window ledge on the second story and busted the glass in our bathroom, glad there were no flames in front of me. I sniffed the air, smelling natural gas. Was the pilot light out on the furnace or the hot water heater, or had there been an explosion somewhere? I rushed to check the rooms, not seeing anyone in the apartment, so I jumped out of the window and went back through the woods behind the memorial garden.
“ Dash! ” It was Lilith.
“Where are you?”
Suddenly, I was grabbed around the neck and flung into a large oak tree, though I was able to latch onto a low branch to keep from smashing my face. Lilith jumped up to join me as I perched on the branch.
“Lake was taken to the hospital. As far as I can figure out, she was trying to make Jamie lunch and her water broke. She slipped in the fluid and hit her head as she went down. Jamie alerted Keir and called 9-1-1, and then, the portal in the mortuary walk-in exploded.”
I stared at her, my sight keener than it had ever been. “Is Lake okay? Where’s Keir?”
“They just left in that ambulance. Jonas showed up and is taking Jamie with him to the hospital as soon as the police finish talking to her about what happened in the apartment, where it seems the stove blazed and caught the kitchen on fire. Keir received some burns as he was bringing Lake out. I’d have gone in to get her, but he ignored any danger he was in to save her and the baby. That man of yours is a keeper. How much of my blood did you drink?”
“One bag. A demon showed up to remind me I had it.” I was trying like fuck to process what she’d just told me about Keir and Lake. I needed to get them.
“Good. I asked my friend Arad to look out for you. I’m glad he interceded on my behalf. I know you want to get to your mate, but we need to go inside the house and see if the portal to Hell is closed. If it is, I need to notify Lucifer.”
I stared at her. “Why? I thought he was staying out of this fight.”
“If this fire was Nyx’s doing, he needs to know she’s struck the first blow on an innocent. Lake and Jamie are innocents in this fight. If Nyx is going to come at you and your family by treacherous means, it could be a violation of the terms of their bet. As I understand it, she is only allowed to provoke you directly, not through innocents. She came at you by putting Lake and Jamie in harm’s way. We may be able to entice the underworld to stand with you to level the playing field. Remember, Dash, sometimes luck will come to you in ways you never expect. You have assets to deploy to protect those you love but use them wisely. Now, let’s go inside.”
She didn’t need to tell me twice. The idea that my Keir could be injured had my heart pounding as Lilith’s blood surged through my veins. I had no idea what or who I’d be when this was over, but I would have my revenge on Nyx if she or her followers had anything to do with the explosion.
Leaving to check on my family filled my thoughts. “I’ll come right back, I swear. I just need to check on them.”
Lilith refused to allow me to leave. “You still have a lot of my blood cycling through your body, Dash. It’s not something you’ve experienced before, though I’m not dumb enough to think you didn’t get a taste of Keir. Imagine yourself in a hospital right now with the scent of blood everywhere? Hell, I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist sampling the goods as old as I am, and I refuse to let you do something you’ll regret. My goddaughter needs her fathers to be guilt-free.”
We watched from the tree branch as the firefighters came out of the mortuary and began putting away their equipment. They left one small engine and four firefighters, “In case there’s a flare-up,” the fire chief explained to his crew. We heard him easily.
The gas company finished capping the gas line from the street to the funeral home as we went around the back of the building, and I attempted to force open the warped metal door.
“How hot was this fucking fire?” It took both of us to shove it open so we could get inside, and neither of us was a slouch when it came to strength.
Once we entered the mortuary, I saw the devastation. I never wanted Keir to see what had happened to his business and childhood home. No doubt there were memories in those walls he wouldn’t want to lose, so as long as he didn’t see the damage, he could carry them in his heart.
“I don’t want to bring Dearly here, Lilith.”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you. Use your nose, Dash. Who was it?”
I sniffed along the walk-in, and the memory of the scent hit me. “It’s Nyx. She blew up the walk-in and closed the portal on purpose.”
Lilith chuckled. “Good job. Now, go run off some of that energy before you check on your husband and surrogate. I’ve got somewhere else to be. Let me know how they are, please.”
I nodded and we went our separate ways. I ran back to the parking lot where I’d left my SUV, not surprised to see the demon still sitting inside with the cooler on its lap. “Thanks for watching my vehicle, Arad.” It was then I noticed I’d left the keys in the ignition.
I moved the cooler from its lap and Arad gave me a concerned look. “Where is your Brokorol, Key?”
That was a good question. I hadn’t seen Brok or Er’on since I’d been to Hades. They hadn’t returned with us when we left for the wedding. “Go look around the underworld for me and see if you can find him, will you? I could have used him today.”
Arad nodded and disappeared. I drove toward the hospital in Sacramento, scared shitless of what I might find out when I arrived.
Twenty-eight minutes later, I parked in the parking lot, having chosen to drive instead of run, but hitting traffic as I got closer to the city. I was still sort of jacked on Lilith’s blood, but I swore to myself I wouldn’t do anything crazy. I had to know the condition of my family.
I stopped at the information desk. “I’m looking for Keir Dearly and Lake Gryner. They were brought in a couple of hours ago.”
The older woman staffing the information desk pecked something on the desktop keyboard before she turned her attention to me. “You are?”
“Dashiell Clegg-Dearly.” I reached into my back pocket to retrieve my wallet, fishing out my driver’s license and nearly flung it at her head.
“Are you the uncle?” Her arched eyebrow pissed me off.
I held up my left hand and stared into her eyes. “I’m the husband and the other father. Do you have a problem with that?”
I growled at the older woman, tamping down the part of me that wanted to twist her head around so she could see while I kicked her ass. The fear in her eyes as she continued to stare at me was oddly satisfying. “Room numbers?”
I hoped my eyes were spinning like pinwheels as I’d seen in all the old-time vampire movies when the Count hypnotized his prey. I was sure her blood wouldn’t be appetizing at all.
Breaking the stare after a long moment, the woman quickly jotted something on the paper, shoving it at me before she put a small tent card on the counter that read: On break. Please proceed to the emergency room desk for patient information. It was amazing to me that she could move that fast.
I opened the paper to see I needed to go to the fifth floor—the maternity floor—so I decided to take the stairs to burn off a little more vampire energy. I felt like I’d done five lines of cocaine, drank a pot of coffee, and driven a Panigale V4 R off the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I couldn’t begin to imagine how I’d feel if I drank both of those bags of blood. It was un-fucking-believable.
I stepped out of the stairwell, not even winded from taking the stairs so quickly. I walked to an intercom on the wall outside the maternity wing and pressed the help button. “Maternity. How may I help you?”
“Hi. I’m here for Lake Gryner. I’m one of the fathers of the baby she’s carrying.” I waited, and finally, someone responded. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Dearly is the father, and he’s with Ms. Gryner. Take a seat in the waiting room. We’ll notify Mr. Dearly he has a visitor.”
My first thought was to rip the fucking wood-and-glass doors from the entrance, storm down the hallway, and tear the heart out of whoever was sitting at the desk to answer that fucking black box.
They didn’t know who they were dealing with, but I’d be happy to show them.