Destined for Time Page 19

  Looking over Angela’s head I told Dragon, “I think my vacation is over. We need to step up security and everyone needs to be on standby for whatever Danarius has planned.”

  “It can wait until morning Rook,” he replied and when I started to argue he added, “That’s an order. Go home tonight and clear your head. I need my calm, calculating security chief, not a hothead too worried about his mate to think logically.” His lips twisted with a rueful grin. “Take it from someone who knows, fear for your mate can be your enemy’s most powerful weapon.”

  We all said our goodbyes after that, then Angela and I headed back through the portal. We stopped by The Catacombs to check on Rachel and found her in the mosh pit having the time of her life with Solomon watching her back. After Claire’s predictions regarding his future I’d been worried about him, but for now he seemed to be enjoying himself. Thinking about Claire reminded me of her intervention in my relationship with Angela and made me wonder if she knew anything that might help me keep her safe. I mentioned my hopes to Angela and we decided to make Claire’s studio our next stop.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Nineteen

  “We know she’s here, her car is parked out front, so just go and find her and bring her here now,” Tony was telling Harrison, one of Rook’s security staff members when we stepped into the lobby on our way to Claire’s studio. Harrison was slender, average height and always came off as a pompous ass when I had to deal with him. From the looks of things, Tony was getting the same impression.

  When Rook and I came into view Tony’s lips formed a thin line then he squared his shoulders and strode towards us with purpose. A uniformed cop was following behind him and I knew this couldn’t be good.

  “Angela Ruby, you are under arrest for the murder of James Valentine....”

  Tony continued reading me my rights while the uniform cuffed my hands behind my back. I was completely numb. Jimmy was dead and somehow I was being blamed for his death. This could not be happening.

  Rook was unnaturally still as he watched and listened with fury swirling in his silver eyes. The energy I felt flowing through me burned with his need for violence and I hoped he would be able to hold it together.

  “Angela.” Rook’s voice was rough but calm.

  With a glance around the area I realized everyone was frozen but us.

  “This has Danarius written all over it. We need to take care of this problem at its source so we can erase any evidence from the official records. Go with them now but keep your eyes and ears open. I’ll get Dragon and we’ll be right behind you. Whatever it takes, you’ll be back here with me and Rachel tonight.”

  He sounded so confident that it was impossible to doubt anything he said.

  I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Rook came forward and slipped his hand under my hair to cradle the back of my head while he kissed me gently. He was trying to hide it, but I felt his worry and his fear along with his love for me.

  When he stepped back into place everyone else started moving again as if there had never been a break in activity. Rook handled the transition smoothly but my reaction must have been off because Tony eyed me curiously like something wasn’t quite right. After a second he shook his head then he led me outside and placed me in the back seat of his car.

  Rook stayed close by but the second we pulled away from the curb I saw him take off into the resort. Glancing out the window at the midnight sky I prayed there would be enough time for them to spring me from jail before sunrise. Under normal circumstances I had a few objections to the use of vampire mind tricks, but in this situation I wasn’t going to complain one bit.

  I needed my name cleared and we needed to know what purpose my arrest was supposed to serve. What did Danarius hope to gain from this? Was it simply a way to get me out from behind Solomon’s wards, or was there more to it? As we headed into town I couldn’t stop the sense of dread that crept over me or the feeling that no matter how quickly we took care of this problem it wasn’t going to be fast enough.

  “What made you finally go over to the dark side Angela?” My old partner Quen asked me from where he sat on the other side of the table in the interrogation room.

  My hands were still cuffed but now they were resting on the table in front of me. “I heard they have really good cookies and I wanted to see for myself,” I replied with a smirk.

  He sat back and shook his head. “I never would have thought you could be capable of cold-blooded murder.”

  “What has you so convinced I am now?”

  “We found Jimmy’s body in front of your house. The gun you used to murder him has your prints all over it and we have eyewitnesses.”

  “And that doesn’t strike you as odd Quen, that I would leave all that evidence behind then go to Myths and Legends and act as though nothing out of the ordinary happened?” Now I was shaking my head.

  “People start hanging out with a bad crowd and they start doing things they never would have thought about doing before. Ask your daughter Angela, she’s a perfect example.” The way his eyes rolled back and his body shivered made me see red.

  I leaned forward on my arms and asked through clenched teeth, “Have you ever touched my daughter Quen?”

  “Rachel is a consenting adult now Angela and whatever may or may not have happened between us is none of your business.”

  I could see the truth in his face. Whether it was before or after she turned eighteen I couldn’t say for sure, just like I had no idea if it had been for business or pleasure on her part, but I knew without a doubt that Rachel had slept with him at some point. Going by looks alone I couldn’t blame her really. He was good looking, blonde hair and blue eyes, athletic body, and a sinful grin that would be hard for any woman to resist, let alone a young girl like Rachel. But beneath his good looks Quentin Andrews was the worst kind of slime and my gut told me he was also as crooked as any cop could be.

  Quen smirked and told me, “You shouldn’t have asked for a new partner Angela.”

  “You will be sorry that you ever set eyes on my daughter Quen,” I promised in a low voice.

  He laughed and lifted his arms out to the sides indicating I should take a look around. “What can you do to me Angela? You’re going to jail for murder. No one will listen to a word you have to say.”

  The next instant there was a knock at the door and Quen’s brows drew together as he rose from his chair and crossed the room to answer it. He had a whispered conversation with someone on the other side then he turned and grinned at me.

  “Lieutenant Taggert wants to see you in her office.”

  It was obvious he thought I was in for the ass-chewing of a lifetime, but I was pretty sure there was something else going on. A few minutes later, when we walked into the lieutenant’s office I was proven right.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Quen all but sputtered as he looked around the room.

  Lieutenant Taggert was seated behind her desk while Dragon lounged in one of the chairs across from her. Rook had been pacing by the window but rushed over to me as soon as I stepped into the room.

  He glared at Quen with his swirling silver eyes then snapped, “Get those handcuffs off of her now.”

  “Who the fuck...” Quen started to argue but then he just clamped his mouth shut and did what he was told.

  God I loved nightshifters.

  As soon as the cuffs were off I was in Rook’s arms and he was holding my head against his chest while his other hand rubbed up and down my back. I felt so warm and safe with his arms surrounding me and the power from the River flowing between us.

  “We have a problem Angela,” Dragon said from across the room.

  Reluctantly, I withdrew from Rook’s embrace and went over to sit in the chair near Dragon. Rook remained standing but leaned against the front of the lieutenant’s desk.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked once I was seated.

  “We found out why your lieutenant h
as become so fanatical about us lately,” Rook said.

  “What do you mean?”

  Dragon explained, “It can be dangerous to tamper with human minds. That’s why we don’t just come down here and erase any suspicions the police have every time they get a new complaint about us. Unfortunately, while I was trying to protect your lieutenant’s sanity by leaving her alone, someone else was coming to see her on a regular basis - and let’s just say her mind can’t take much more. I can fix some of the damage, enough that she could live a normal life, but she needs to be removed from her position and kept away from anyone who might want to tamper with her mind.”

  “What was the point? What were they trying to accomplish by playing with her mind?”

  “They’ve been using her to keep an eye on us and to distract us when needed. They’ve also just been having some fun with her. Her mind has been filled with nightmares that can be triggered by words or events. Several of the nightmares have already been triggered and as a result she’s been having difficulty discerning reality from the images in her head. Eventually, without my help, everything would have started bleeding together until she was unable to form rational, coherent thoughts ever again.”

  “What do you mean by nightmares? What kinds of things has she been seeing?” I asked, confused.

  Dragon grimaced. “You know how sometimes you see things out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn your head nothing is there?” I nodded and he continued, “It started with things like that. She’d catch a glimpse of someone’s face and swear she saw fangs in his mouth, but when she blinked his teeth would be normal. The next time she saw fangs in someone’s mouth they were dripping with blood.

  The images grew progressively more disturbing and more frequent until the bombing at The Gateway when they stopped going away after she blinked. Nowadays she has to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths before everything returns to normal. And the images now include scenes of graphic violence that she believes actually occurred. To make matters worse, her mind is superimposing the faces of my staff members onto the villains in these nightmares.”

  Looking at Lieutenant Taggert now I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. No wonder she’d been so dead set on bringing Dragon and everyone else at Myths and Legends down.

  “Do you have any idea who did this to her?”

  Dragon leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs. “If I had to guess, I would say it was Malachi before I killed him. There’s just something about the things I saw in her mind that make me think of him. At any rate, it had to be someone at least as powerful as him and that doesn’t leave a lot of suspects.”

  I leaned back in the chair, suddenly very tired. “So what do we do now?”

  “We’re going to take her with us so Dragon can help her and so we can protect her,” Rook told me. “We’re just waiting on Lucien. He’s making sure the official records show that Jimmy was the victim of a burglary gone bad in his hotel room. When we found out how and where he died I sent someone out to your neighborhood to erase the entire incident from your neighbors’ minds. There won’t be any evidence linking you to this crime when we’re finished.”

  “What do you think Danarius is trying to gain from this? I mean he has to know you’d never let me go to jail. So what will this get him?”

  “It’s most likely a distraction,” Rook said.

  That made sense, but who or what would be vulnerable with all of us distracted? I sat up straight as my heart started pounding. “Rachel...”

  “Don’t worry,” Rook soothed. “She’s already in her room fast asleep and there are security personnel stationed inside and outside your suite.”

  I relaxed a little but thinking about Rachel reminded me about Quen. After a glance at Dragon I decided I may as well ask, “Do you think you could do me a favor? Could you go into Quen’s head and make sure he never goes near my daughter again?”

  “Why do you feel like you need to keep him away from Rachel?” Rook asked.

  Looking up at him I said, “Because a little while ago when we were in the interrogation room Quen told me that he has slept with my daughter at least once.” I didn’t even try to hide the fury I felt when I thought about Quen putting his hands on Rachel.

  Rook growled and glared at Quen like he was imagining all the ways he could kill him.

  Dragon shrugged and when Quen came to stand beside him he reached out his hand to touch Quen’s arm while he closed his eyes and sat very still for several minutes.

  “Why does he need to touch Quen to read his mind?” I whispered the question to Rook.

  He shook his head. “He doesn’t, but physical contact makes it easier and faster for him to invade someone’s mind.”

  “Has he ever tried touching me to see if that would help him get into my head?”

  Rook’s eyebrows rose then he looked thoughtful. “I don’t think he has, but that’s an interesting question.”

  When Dragon opened his eyes I thought I caught a flash of red, but then it was gone so fast I thought I imagined it. “Detective Andrews will never touch your daughter again Angela.”

  Chills went up my spine with the ice cold fury I heard in Dragon’s voice but he didn’t elaborate and I certainly wasn’t going to push him for an explanation. When I glanced at Rook he shook his head indicating he didn’t know what was going on either.

  Dragon took a deep breath then asked me, “Would you mind if we conduct a little experiment while we wait for Lucien?”

  “What kind of experiment?” I asked shifting uncomfortably in my seat. I really didn’t want Dragon’s focus on me until I was sure he had his anger under control.

  “I heard what you asked Rook and it made me curious. In general, supernatural minds are impenetrable by vampires and nightshifters. There are exceptions of course depending on the power levels of the parties involved, and if supernaturals choose to let their guard down then we can get into their heads.

  Take for example what happens when vampires and nightshifters feed. We feel the overwhelming lust and project it into the mind of whoever we’re feeding from. With supernaturals that wouldn’t be possible if they didn’t let us in, contact with bare skin or not. I want to know if you are vulnerable to us at all. Would vampires be able to take over your mind if they were to touch you before they tried?”

  I looked at Rook who shrugged and said, “It might be important to know someday.”

  “Okay,” I said holding out my hand to Dragon. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  He grinned and took my hand in his. After a moment I saw myself reaching over with my free hand to pull my gun out of its holster and hand it to Dragon.

  “See if you can fight it Angela,” Rook said and it sounded like he was very far away.

  At first I didn’t know what he was talking about, but then I realized I was raising my arm towards Dragon’s outstretched hand as if I was handing him my gun - which I didn’t even have on me. What the hell? That’s when I felt the pressure on my mind to obey Dragon’s command, but once I knew what was happening I didn’t have to follow his orders. I could keep him out if I concentrated hard enough.

  “Now open yourself up to me completely,” Dragon instructed. “I want to see if I can get more than visuals into your head.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about his request but I did as he asked.

  A second later I was standing on the beach with cool water washing over my bare feet. As the water rushed back out into the Gulf the sand was pulled along with it tickling my toes and burying my feet in the soupy mix of sand and water. Tilting my head back I took a deep breath drawing in the scent of saltwater as the bright sunlight warmed my upturned face. After a moment I struggled to see if I could bring myself back to the office, but once Dragon had a hold of my mind I wasn’t able to push him back out.

  The beach dissolved and Dragon sat back in his chair while I paced away from him needing some space. After a moment I took a deep breath then turned to face him aga
in. “I guess it’s a good thing you never tried touching me before.”

  Dragon replied. “I was worried that if I tried and failed I might expose our secrets and the only way to keep them would be to silence you.”

  “To kill me you mean.”

  He shrugged. “I do what is necessary to protect my people Angela.”

  Rook came over and pulled me into his arms. “Dragon is not a cold-hearted killer. That’s why he never did anything that might necessitate taking action against you. Do you think you would know if a vampire was trying to take over your mind?”

  “Now that I know what it feels like, yeah, I think I would. And as long as I don’t let them in too far I should be able to push them out.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “That’s good to know.”

  Just then the door opened and in stepped Lucien, only if I hadn’t been warned ahead of time that he was coming I might not have recognized him. Lucien was the tech expert for Myths and Legends. I’d met him many times over the years and sat with him for countless hours reviewing security footage of various incidents. When he was in the tech room at the resort he wore faded jeans and T-shirts with tech related one-liners that I never understood. Tonight, instead of its usual state of disarray, his sandy blonde hair was brushed back away from his face, he wore designer slacks, and his shirt, which he wore with the sleeves rolled slightly up and the collar open, had buttons. He looked like a fashion model straight off the runway.

  Lucien noticed my wide-eyed expression and smiled. “I was on a date when Rook called and asked me to meet him here.”

  “I was expecting to see Clark Kent, but then Superman walked through the door instead,” I replied making Rook and Dragon chuckle as I grinned back at Lucien.

  Lucien laughed then told us, “It’s done. No one will ever know Angela was accused of murder let alone actually arrested for the crime. Once we leave here the security cameras will be reset and there will be no trace of our visit either.”