Chapter Four #2
He fought hard, but the vines pulled him to the floor and held him kneeling for her.
She walked up to him and held a hand to either side of his temples, and lightning sparked and crackled.
It wasn’t lightning, per se, but it was magic, and the magic found his manifestation and simply turned it off.
Once that was done, it was easy to trigger the confessing.
“You are going to confess every hit, every punch, every grab, every toss into a hard object. You are going to confess it all to every police officer, judge, and lawyer you come across.”
She leaned in while he was thrashing and foaming and took on her normal appearance. “Dahlia was obsessed with her daughter because her sister had died. Her sister died because of that Elite. She felt rage and guilt and wanted to make sure that her daughter was safe because her sister was not.”
Giggles stood up and released the power. He thudded to the ground, groaning.
“Dex, did you make the call?”
“They are on their way. Etienne and Tosh are gonna be pissed.”
Dex came out of the bathroom and looked. “Wow. That was thorough.”
“Never call an alpha to do a druid’s job. Get back in bed.”
She helped Dex get back in bed and settled, which was good because, at that point, Etienne, Tosh, and some security officers came through the door.
“Dex?”
“Yes?”
“Finish your pudding.”
Dex laughed, and it was a bright laugh.
Giggles finished removing traces of her magic that no one had noticed and returned to her laptop. She had work to do.
* * * *
Dex went through sleeping and then being woken by her father’s voice. Wizard offered a video of what happened, and it was just her dad coming in while she was sleeping and then reaching for the pump and having a seizure.
Wizard sat calmly as everyone asked questions, and Dex answered them based on the video. It was pretty easy. She had made it so simple. No need to lie. She just had to describe the video.
When the police officer turned to Wizard, he said, “Where were you?”
“The bathroom. By the time I dried my hands, it was over.”
The officer blinked, dazed.
Wizard looked soft and sweet and very definitely an omega. Her lenses were also out, and her acid-green eyes were hypnotic behind her wide glasses. She was a nerd princess of the highest order.
The officer immediately lowered his tone and continued questioning her. “So, Miss Bander is your twin?”
“My cousin and half-sister. Yes, it’s messy, but once we met as kids, we were just sisters, as long as her family didn’t find out.”
“What?”
“We shared a biological father, and our mothers were twins. Messy.”
He nodded. Mr. Bander was still unconscious.
Medical staff came and placed him on a gurney, going downstairs to do a workup. They needed to find out what caused the seizure, but they wouldn’t be doing it there.
Dex spoke softly, and they strapped him down. She had just mentioned that his fists had put her in the hospital, and straps and cuffs went on.
Then he was out of her room, and she could breathe again.
Dex leaned back and spoke quietly to the officer for a few minutes with her eyes closed and tears seeping down. When she said that she never knew when he would attack, he would just appear, spin her around, and start punching.
The officer said, “Get some rest. He’s under watch.”
Dex opened her eyes and said, “Do you have any alphas with extras on tonight?”
A blond detective who was talking to Tosh paused and raised his hand. “I am.”
“Do you know what a convincer is?”
“Yes.”
“On the off chance that he didn’t burn out that part of his brain, that is how he was able to get up here.”
Wizard’s voice came from the corner. “Yeah, Thor. Keep on your toes.”
Thor looked at Dex and then at Wizard and then laughed. “Giggles, this is your sister?”
“Sister-cousin.”
“Damn. You two are clones.”
“Nearly. And have both had big thugs trying to kill us.” She smirked.
Dex muttered, “So, you two have met?”
Thor smiled. “Yup. She’s a pain in Jax’s backside. Keeps getting him to hunt down weird vocal artists and bands for the cut scenes.”
Wizard smiled. “Jax is the company lawyer. He focuses on copyright and keeping Penny from featuring in more tentacle porn. That they keep to the house.”
Thor grinned. “Giggles and Penny get along.”
She sighed. “Don’t call me Giggles.”
“But it’s your legal name. We looked it up.”
“I know, but... never mind.” She looked up from her computer. “How’s the baby?”
“Growing enormous and trying to ride the dog around the yard.”
“Good. Hope he has given up on racing Dell’s brood.”
“Probably not.” Thor grinned. “My family are all a little hardheaded. Liella can barely keep up with him.”
Wizard laughed.
“So, can you give me a hint as to where Jax can find the singer for the current project?”
“Sure. Get Antonio to speed it up or slow it down, depending on what Devin did to it. He will figure it out really fast. Or Liella can figure it out. She’s got a good ear.” She paused and smiled. “And you can tell Liella that my sister, Dex, was an actual ballerina.”
Thor turned back to Dex. “If I beg, can you show Jax’s precious little maniac how to dance? Jax and I can do the lifts, but that’s about it.”
Dex quickly passed the buck. “Tosh is a genuine and active dancer. Make him dance. He’s really good.”
Tosh blinked. “Wow. I didn’t even hear that bus coming.”
Thor chuckled and walked over to Giggles. “I have one question, Giggles. What actually happened?”
She paused. “Well, remember when that guy stalking Penny had a seizure and stroke? It was like that without the fatality, but that could still happen if you catch my drift.”
He raised his brows, she lifted her hand, and power crackled across her fingertips.
“Whoa. What is your match?”
“Light socket? Garden centre? Not a clue.”
He blinked. “Wait. Are you an elf?”
She gasped and pressed a hand to her chest in a manner indicating ladylike affront. “Why, sir. Such language!” She looked at him and grinned. “Yeah.”
“Does Antonio know?”
“He never makes it to my department, and I am never invited to the pitch meetings, so I don’t know what he knows.”
“Devin takes the meetings.”
“Yup. He’s released three video clips without proper citation in the last six months.” She smirked. “The company is going to be hearing from the right’s owner in a few days. I need holiday money. Devin keeps swiping my bonuses.”
“Is he otherwise fine?”
“Yup. Just wants to look good in front of the bosses.” She smiled. “I am really proud of this last one. Did you want to see it? Penny’s in it. Well, the Kraken Queen is in it. It’s for the anniversary of the Pixie Queen game.”
Thor looked around. “How long is it?”
“Thirty seconds for the clip; three minutes for the video.”
“Can you send them to me?”
“Only if you promise to give me an honest review.”
He grinned and rattled off his email. She sent him the files, and he watched the first one. A haunting voice came out of his phone, and he stared at it. “Oh, wow. Wait. That’s your voice.”
She snickered. “Well spotted. Off you go. And, oh, if you talk to Bander, he will confess to his crimes, all of his crimes if you ask him. He’s under truth compulsion.”
“Good to know.”
Dex watched him stare at his phone, shake his head, then nod, say he would be in touch, and leave.
Tosh frowned. “Are we being lured into a child’s birthday party?”
Wizard nodded. “Yup. Hah. Deal with it.”
Dex snorted. “So, they don’t know you dance?”
“Nope.”
Dex asked, “What are you working on?”
“A video that goes over all of the strong female heroes and villains that can either be experienced or used to play by players. It’s a kind of flashback with the human con characters, game play, and cut scenes show some of the high points of each character.”
She smiled. “The singer walks through the landscape singing the song to each of the characters, and they can post over my face when they have the next release.”
Dex frowned. “Why would they do that?”
“Because Lightning Druid isn’t a character.”
Etienne asked, “You do this for a living?”
“Yeah. There are motion captures and overlays, and then there are digital movie-style creations with animation, like making tiny commercials. Antonio is trying to get more of this in-house so he can control timelines, but Devin keeps forcing other animators out, and I am the only one who has stuck around. I liked the work and wanted to stay close to Dex.”
Dex smiled. “Thank you. It is appreciated and came in very handy tonight.”
Tosh said, “Wizard, do you know of any others who are hidden?”
“Uh, yeah, one. She’s not an elf though. She’s something else.”
Dex smiled. “A beta?”
“Sort of. She helps me with some of the late-night videos. She ended up dancing around the end credits of Patchwork Pixie—the movie. They needed a cute credit sequence with original music, so she and I worked on it at the last minute in the wee hours of the night, and Ford went nuts. We used outtakes from the phones that everyone was given, and the end result was a joy to watch. Everyone leaves grinning and bouncing on their toes.”
Dex sighed. “Aw, I missed it? How long have I been in here?”
“Those were just test audiences. The premiere is coming up on the weekend. You have two days to get back on your feet and to slap on your tutu.” Wizard smiled.
“Will your friend be there?”
“Probably not. She does nights at the company.”
“As what?”
“An employee.” Wizard smiled. “She isn’t an elf.”
“What is she?”
“I don’t know. She’s smoke and silvery with double-pointed ears, gold hair, and gold eyes. Definitely not an elf.”
Tosh froze. “No way.”
Wizard looked his way. “Way. Of course, she normally wears brown hair, tanned skin, and soft hazel eyes.”
He stared. “There isn’t one of her kind on the roster yet.”