Chapter 15 #3
Rory was so angry, she was surprised smoke wasn’t coming out of his nostrils. “I can’t believe this is how our date ends.”
I’ve had worse. Sorcha barely bit those words back. “Not the first time a murder has intruded on my personal life.”
Rory calmed down. “It appears the same MO. But it’s more similar to the first body. Killed elsewhere and dumped here.”
“In a cemetery,” she said under her breath.
While they talked, Luke wandered over to the body.
“What are we missing?” Rory asked her.
“Besides sleep? A viable perp.” Sorcha felt sick to her stomach. “I want this bastard before he hurts anyone else.”
“So do I.”
“Corvan!” One of the officers called him away.
As he headed off, Sorcha wandered over to where Luke stood by the body.
He held that adorable smirk as he looked at the name on the grave. “My name is Inigo Jones… You killed my father… Prepare to die.”
She laughed at his perfect imitation. Except for the name. “I knew you’d get it.”
“I have as much of a life as you do. And apparently a subscription bill the size of the GNP of some countries.”
While she really liked Rory, there was something infectious about Luke. Something that made her want to take a bite out of him.
But that would be extremely unprofessional.
“Who are we looking for?”
Luke shrugged. “I have to be honest. I don’t know of a single shapeshifter who swallows souls. We’ve been down the list. And I can’t believe there’s a creature we don’t know.”
No sooner had he spoken than a foreign light sparked in those amber depths. “Ankou.”
“Bless you.”
He scowled at her. “We normally say ‘damn you’ when we sneeze.”
“Seriously?”
“What do you think?”
Made sense, but dang…vicious.
“So what aneurysm did you just have?”
“Ankou,” Luke repeated. “Celtic in nature. They’re nasty little critters. And they shift.”
“Why would one want to frame you?”
Luke didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped away from the gathering crowd, off toward the woods.
Curious, she followed after him. “What are we doing?”
“Looking for a fairy mound.”
“Excuse me?”
“They’re here. Trust me. Little bastards are never far away. And this time of night, they like to frolic. Twilight is their special, happy time.”
Why not? Made as much sense as anything else they dealt with.
But as they went deeper into the woods, her heart began to pound.
“Aren’t there gators in Savannah?” She remembered her father warning her to be careful of them.
And having lived and worked in New Orleans, she knew they could turn up in the most unexpected places.
Like any crime scene around water. They’d even found a gator in a swimming pool during one investigation.
She did not want to repeat that experience.
Luke paused to give her a salacious smile. When he spoke, his voice held a deep Cajun drawl. “You afraid of a little ole gator, cher? I promise you, he’s not the scariest thing out in these woods.”
“Given who you are, I’d agree. But I don’t want a death roll or missing body part.”
He tsked. “I won’t let nothing vicious take you, darlin’. Don’t worry.”
She appreciated that, but it didn’t stop her from worrying. Every shadow seemed to be moving. More than that, the rhythmic chattering of cicadas added to the spookiness. “If I get swallowed by something, I swear I’ll haunt you forever.”
“You won’t be the first.”
Interesting as she’d never seen any spirit near him.
Just as she was about to ask Luke to lead her back, he stopped mid step. Off to the side was a small mound of moss-covered rocks. It was actually quite pretty.
Sorcha took out her phone and turned on the light so that she could get a better look at it.
Luke used his powers to take her phone from her hand and turn off the light. “Don’t scare them away.”
“Who?”
He didn’t answer her as he knelt on the ground and uncovered more of the rock formation. Then he began making a strange chittering noise. Similar to the cicadas, yet very different. She had no idea how to describe the pleasant sound.
Suddenly, a light appeared from the mound. The size of it was similar to a firefly. Only this was an eerie green.
The light danced on an erratic path around the grass until Luke captured it in his fist.
Hissing, Sorcha covered her ears as a horrendous screech sounded.
“Stop it,” Luke growled at his fist. “Or I’ll pull your wings off.”
The sound stopped instantly.
“Better. Now show yourself.” Luke opened his fist.
That light made a circular glowing pattern in the darkness.
It grew bigger until it formed the body of a handsome man in his early twenties.
With short black curly hair, he only came to the middle of Luke’s chest. His wings were so clear, they looked as if they’d been made of gossamer.
They also appeared so soft that she wanted to reach out and touch them.
And it made her curious as to what Luke’s wings would look like. Definitely not so fragile.
No. His would probably be more akin to a bat. Leathery and battle ready.
The much shorter fey sneered at her partner. “What do you want, Prince of Perdition?”
Luke tsked. “That’s a tough one. Thinking of pulling off a pair of wings to add to my collection. Yours are just so pretty…”
The fey started to leave only to cry out in frustration. “What have you done to me?”
“Fey trap. I find them as helpful as a lure. Poor you that your parents didn’t teach you how to avoid them.”
The fey began to laugh. “You’re right. They didn’t. But my brothers taught me something more important.”
No sooner had he spoken than a dozen more lights shot out from the rocks. Like the fey had done, they spiraled and became much larger.
Sorcha reached for her weapon, only to remember that Reyes still hadn’t issued her one. Crap!
While her blood was rushing through her veins, Luke didn’t appear shaken at all.
In fact, he laughed at them. “You might want to rethink what you’re doing, boys.”
“You might want to release our brother.” That one was almost as tall as Luke. Not quite as muscular, but by his tone, she surmised that he thought he was equal to Luke in height, weight and martial abilities.
With a deep sigh, Luke shook his head. “Let’s not get in a pissing contest. I promise mine is bigger and shoots farther.”
Ew! She didn’t even want to think about that.
A blond fey tripled his size so that he towered over Luke.
With a laugh, Luke stepped back from the first fey so that he could punch the huge one. That blow sent the fey flying into the darkness. Luke turned toward the others. “Next victim. Step forward.”
They attacked at once.
Sorcha started to help, then realized why Reyes had told her not to worry about being armed around Luke.
Using his powers, he flipped one fey into the air and as he went for a second one, a harsh light flashed, blinding her. She closed her eyes to shield them, but she could hear fierce growling.
By the time her eyes adjusted, all the fey lay on the ground, scattered around Luke. Each one had a huge black dog on top of his chest. Except for the one who’d first gone for Luke. He had a furious Helly holding him down by his throat.
Sorcha wasn’t sure what to make of the sight. “Hellhounds?” she asked Luke.
“They tend to come out whenever I’m attacked. You can count on it.”
“So does Helly.” The imp flashed a grin at Sorcha.
“And a scary Helly you are.”
Holding her fists up, she made a fierce grimace, then growled like an ogre.
Luke plucked the first fey he’d captured up by his shirt and held the poor thing in front of him. “Let’s try this again. I’m evil and you’re stupid for thinking you could attack me and go along on your merry way. Do you understand the idiocy of what you just did?”
The fey nodded.
“Good. Now give us your name.”
“Oliver.”
Scowling, she mouthed the name to Luke. It was such an odd name for a fey creature. She’d been expecting Oberon or Aeron or some such.
But Oliver? That just didn’t seem right.
Luke took the name in stride. “Thank you, Oliver. Now be a good fairy and tell me about a stray Ankou who may or may not be following orders from your council.”
“All the Ankou are stray. I don’t understand the question.”
That made two of them. Sorcha had no idea what an Ankou was.
Luke let out a long, disappointed breath. “Okay, Ollie. Listen and follow. You know Ankou, yes?”
“Of course.”
“You like this little fairy portal I just plucked you from, yes?”
“Yes.”
Luke grimaced before he continued. “There’s an Ankou who recently went through it. Yes?”
“I don’t know.”
Luke’s eyes turned vibrant red. “Do you know what I used to do for my father?”
Oliver paled. “I do.”
“Have you any idea how much I loved doing what I did and how much I miss it?”
He shook his head. “No.”
Luke let out a laugh so evil that it actually scared her. “Imagine the greatest orgasm you’ve ever had. Put that on steroids and magnify it by one hundred and you might be in the ballpark of how much I loved my former job.”
His eyes widening, Oliver gulped audibly.
Luke patted him on the cheek. “Now you can answer my questions with your skin on or with it laying in a nasty pile at your feet. Your choice.”
Could he really do that? That disturbed her on numerous levels.
Oliver gulped. “I want to keep my skin on my body.”
“Good choice.” Luke glanced around at the other fey that were still pinned down by hounds. “Now… Answer me this or I’ll let one of the hounds have at one of your friends. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“What Ankou recently accessed your little doorway?”
“I really don’t know, I swear. But Matilda does.”
Luke gave him a cold smile. “Get her.”
“Matilda!”
Sorcha blinked as an adorable Tinker Bell showed up. There was really no other way to describe her. She was even dressed in a flimsy, layered green dress and corset. Though to be fair, she had dark hair instead of blonde, and it was long and crowned with a circlet of flowers.
Exquisite was the only way to describe her.
As soon as she saw Luke and the others, she drew up short and tucked her green wings down by her side. “What is going on here?”
“Matilda?” Luke asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m looking for an Ankou who accessed your portal a short while ago. Ollie here said you would know who it is.”
She glanced about at the fey group that was pinned by hellhounds. “May I ask why? I hope you don’t intend to tie him down and beat him. Or feed him to one of your dogs.”
“Can’t make any promises. Since I don’t know what he’ll say, I like to keep my options open.”
“Don’t do it, Tilly!” Oliver said. “You know you can’t trust the devil’s own.”
“Can’t trust an Ankou either.” Tilly finally saw Sorcha. A frown creased her delicate brow. “A human, not human.” She turned back toward Luke. “You keep interesting company.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Tilly screwed her face up. “Elizar was the last Ankou to come through the portal. Maybe two hours ago.”
That was the kind of name Sorcha would expect, and the time would align to the poor kid’s murder.
“Where can I find this Elizar?” Luke asked.
Matilda looked past Luke to the fey he held. It was obvious she didn’t want to say, but she knew better than to lie or remain silent while Oliver was being held. “He sits at the right hand of our queen.”
Sorcha wasn’t sure what that meant. Nor did she have any idea of what an Ankou was. But her self-preservation wasn’t about to stop this conversation.
The look on Luke’s face, however, said it wasn’t a good thing for them. He obviously understood it all.
Luke’s nostrils flared. “Which one of you little parasites has royal blood?”
No one made a sound.
“All right, Helly. Pick one to kill. If it’s the royal one, oops. But if we start taking heads, either the right one will speak up, a friend will out him or we have a collection of heads for your bedroom. Win-win, all the way around.”
Stunned, Sorcha tried to say something. No words would come out.
Surely, he wouldn’t be so cold.
Yet Helly closed her eyes and pointed randomly. “That one!”
Luke handed Oliver over to Helly as he headed for the one she’d chosen. “Lucky you.”
The fey actually wet himself. “He’s the prince!” He pointed to a handsome dark-haired fey not far from Sorcha.
“Thank you. You get to live.” Luke let him go and went to the one on the ground. “You and I are going to chat now.”
“My mother will demand your life for this. No one hurts me!”
Luke nudged the hellhound aside and plucked him up from the ground with a terrifying ease.
“Color me not afraid. Now, how do you want this to go? I beat the shit out of you? You hand over information of your own accord with no damage done? I rip out your throat…dealer’s choice and the clock is ticking. ”
The fey gulped audibly before he spoke. “I can take you to Elizar.”
“Good choice. Wasn’t one of the options, but you know what? I’m feeling a little merciful this evening. You’re in luck.” He glanced toward Tilly. “Open the portal for all of us.”
“Just do it,” the prince said. “Let my mother deal with him.”
Without another word, Tilly did as her prince asked and opened the shimmery portal. It was beautiful. Like rippling waves that hovered in front of them.
Luke snapped his fingers and the hellhounds let their captives up, then escorted them to the portal. One by one, they walked through.
When she started to enter the portal, Luke placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Let me go in first. In case there’s a trap, I want to disarm it before you get there.”
“Given that I’m unarmed and I lack your bodyguards and talents, have at it, big guy.”
He winked at her before he stepped through it.
Sorcha started to go in, but the moment she took a step, it closed completely.
Gasping she turned toward Helly who was equally as stunned.
“Dominus!” Helly cried.
But it was no use. Luke was completely gone and there was nothing they could do.