Chapter Seven
More at Stake
Drawing in a long, slow breath as he headed to the foyer, Felipe tried to beat back the bursts of adrenaline squeezing across the tether like clots.
Ever since they finished packing their bags after work, the trip to Aldorhaven had finally become real to Oliver, and with that came an unending stream of anxiety.
They had discussed the plan to help him calm down: they would drive to Aldorhaven, go to the Allen Inn, get settled, then speak to Lewis Allen about what was going on before probably visiting the cemetery to investigate the corpses.
Talking it out seemed to help Oliver calm down, as did Felipe’s attempts to tire him out, but he still tossed and turned the entire night.
By breakfast, the anxiety was back with a vengeance.
Traveling was already difficult for Oliver due to the change of routine and uncertainty.
Felipe understood that, but he knew it was the weight of the case and potentially meeting his father’s family that spurred his heart to an unhealthy pace.
He was about to pull Oliver aside into the stairwell to calm him down again when Oliver took off into the foyer. “Gwen, what are you doing here, and why do you have a trunk?”
“Because I’m coming with you, and I can’t wear the same outfit all week,” she said primly as she smoothed her traveling coat and skirts.
Arching a challenging brow, she rose from where she perched on her trunk and glared up at Oliver.
“And before you tell me I’m not coming because I’m not on the case, I have been approved to accompany you in order to do field research for my vampire book. ”
“But it could be dangerous. We’re— we’re going to a murder town!”
“I’m well aware, but I seem to recall that I held my own against Jed Monroe far better than you did.”
As Oliver sputtered and tried to argue, Felipe released a resigned sigh and dropped his valise at his feet. They would be at it a while, but at least the anxiety finally let up.
“Aren’t you going to try to stop her, Inspector Galvan?”
Felipe looked over his shoulder to find the head librarian watching him curiously.
He hadn’t heard him or felt him coming, but Mr. Turpin moved like a cat.
Felipe didn’t know how many times he had appeared over his shoulder in the library and caught him unawares.
The old man had never been Felipe’s biggest fan, but the feeling was mutual.
He was a know-it-all who seemed to take pleasure in putting Felipe in his place, yet it was clear he liked Oliver.
Turpin had done his best to help Oliver find more information on necromancy and put some of his fears to rest after he told him about Felipe’s accidental reanimation.
As much as Felipe hated to admit it, he owed Mr. Turpin for not telling anyone their secret.
“I don’t think I could stop Miss Jones even if I wanted to,” Felipe murmured, watching Gwen and Oliver bicker. “Are you here to stop her?”
“No. I’m merely here to throw my weight around in case you or Dr. Barlow try to bar her from her field research expedition.”
“Not to question your judgment—”
“Yet here we are.”
“But are you sure it’s wise for Miss Jones to come with us? I know Oliver isn’t a seasoned investigator either, but the case might be more dangerous than a vampire panic. Aldorhaven is a murder town, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“While I appreciate your genuine concern, Inspector Galvan, I am more than aware of where you are going and what you will face while you’re there,” Turpin said.
When Felipe turned to face him, Mr. Turpin’s form seemed to grow.
Felipe tried not to let his alarm show as his danger senses rang like the all-hands bell.
The head librarian’s blue eyes bore into him, pinning him in place, and for a moment, he seemed unfathomable.
Older than time, no more knowable than the sea or the sky, a being tired of making itself small for his convenience.
Holding Felipe’s gaze in an iron grip, Mr. Turpin continued, “There are greater things at stake than the dead, and Dr. Barlow will need every ally at his disposal to fulfill his role in all of this, as will you. I take no pleasure in putting Miss Jones in harm’s way, but you of all people understand some risks are necessary for the greater good.
I trust you can protect both of them, inspector? ”
“With my life.”
The words rushed from Felipe’s lips unbidden, and the air around them crackled.
With a clap like thunder, Felipe’s ears popped painfully and Mr. Turpin settled back into the balding, unassuming old man Felipe was accustomed to.
“Good, then, I suggest you get going, Inspector Galvan. Aldorhaven is not a place I would recommend venturing to at night.”
Felipe’s heart hammered in his head. He was certain if he touched his ear, he would find blood, but when he did, nothing was amiss.
He had seen and experienced phenomena and carnage the likes of which most people couldn’t imagine, yet his brain felt as if it had been turned inside out as he watched Mr. Turpin leave.
It was as if the man had never been something more.
“Wait,” Felipe called, finally finding his voice. “What do you mean Oliver’s role in all this? What do you know?”
Turpin gave Felipe a far more sympathetic frown than he had ever given him before. “You know I can’t tell you that, Galvan. The future is only so clear, even for the best of us, but there is a reason fate intervened that night. That is becoming clearer. Keep them safe.”
Standing rooted in the foyer, Felipe watched Mr. Turpin melt into the shadows of the hall and disappear.
Felipe tried in vain to slow his pounding pulse.
There are greater things at stake than the dead, Felipe repeated in his head, but what?
His mind reeled. He wanted to step away, to go back to the apartment or lab and pretend they had never agreed to take this case, but he knew that would be impossible.
A hand closing on his shoulder snapped him back to reality.
“Felipe, please tell Gwen I’m not being overprotective,” Oliver pleaded.
“Did you see Turpin—?” Turpin, what? Turpin disappear into the wall like a ghost?
“No, why?”
Felipe scrubbed a hand over his face. There was no way he had hallucinated that. “He— he gave Gwen permission to go with us, so she’s coming to Aldorhaven.”
“I told you!” Gwen crowed triumphantly behind Oliver as she levitated her trunk toward the door.
Oliver grumbled but followed her outside to the waiting steamers.
Trailing a step behind them, Felipe watched a smile break across Oliver’s lips as he loaded their bags in with Gwen’s.
When he reached for Oliver’s heart, Felipe felt only trepidation mixed with relief at having his best friend at his side.
Felipe clung to that feeling. It was far more comforting than the shadows taking shape in his mind.
***
THE DRIVE TO ALDORHAVEN took far longer than Felipe anticipated.
While Felipe knew it was located somewhere in the Southwestern portion of New Jersey, he hadn’t realized just how far that was from Manhattan.
They had gone from small cities to peaceful towns to bucolic landscapes and back again several times before they hit the Pine Barrens.
Farms gave way to a seemingly endless forest bisected by winding carriage paths that led to mill towns or lone houses, then nothing for miles.
Unease knotted Felipe’s gut; it would be so easy to get lost.
On the other side of the bench seat, Oliver and Gwen studied a map with a route traced in pencil. Pushing her glasses up her nose, Gwen squinted at the road ahead. “The next left should take us to Aldorhaven.”
Slowing the steamer, Felipe nearly missed the turn hidden among the thick trees.
The path had once been well-trodden, but the edges had become overgrown with disuse.
Anxiety flickered across the tether from Oliver as his lover stared through the windshield at the narrow space between the trees.
He wasn’t certain what Oliver had expected, but somehow, this probably wasn’t it.
As they drove into a thicker thatch of pitch pines, the sky dimmed, and the steamer lurched beneath Felipe’s hands.
Beside him, Oliver sneezed twice and drew in a wet sniff as he blinked away the tears in his eyes.
“I think we have reached the murder town,” Gwen said as Oliver blew his nose. “The Allen Inn should be half a mile up the road on our right.”
A moment later, the pines and oaks fell away on one side of the road to reveal a house.
What looked to have once been a quaint farmhouse had been converted into a small, two story coaching inn with a stable and an overgrown pasture.
A faded sign painted with a brown horse and The Allen Inn in blocky letters hung dolefully from the long porch.
Parking the steamer in the yard beside the inn, Felipe turned to Gwen and Oliver. “Remember, don’t say anything about Oliver’s family being from Aldorhaven. We don’t know the people or what’s going on yet. Even if you suspect they are your family, don’t let your guard down around them.”
“Felipe, isn’t that a little—”
“No, Oliver, it isn’t. Two investigators already went missing. We don’t need to be next. Be polite, but don’t get too comfortable. Any questions before we go in?”
Gwen raised her hand. “Should I levitate my trunk or should one of you carry it for me?”
“I’ll carry it. Felipe can do the talking.”