Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) (14 page)

              He looked more like an accountant, Tonya thought.

              “Hello. Albert Winkelfield, at your service,” he said.

              “Winkelfield?” Tonya asked skeptically.

              “Yeah, I get that a lot.” He giggled. “Not very wizardy. Also, ‘Funny, you don’t look like a wizard’. Shall we begin?”

              He led them into one of the interview rooms and questioned Heath, Jake and Tonya about everything that had happened so far. Pierre stood in the back of the room, still looking skeptical. He wasn’t happy about the assaults on his men.

              “I’d like you to bring that Tom Hooper person here as well,” Albert said. “I can determine whether he was bewitched, and if he wasn’t, then he might be your assassin.”

              Pierre sent one of his men to fetch Tom.

While they were waiting, he opened his briefcase and pulled out a black leather bag. He opened the bag and poured a pile of different crystals onto the table in front of Tonya and muttered some incantations.

When one of the white crystals began glowing red, then blinking white, then red again, he stared at it with a look of surprise. He picked it up and shook it. He held it up to the light, then put it down on the table again, still staring at it.

“What is it?” Heath demanded.

“Well, I’ll be,” he said. “Sangromancy. I’ve heard of it, but never actually come across it before.”

“Explain it to those of us who don’t speak magic-geek language,” Heath said impatiently. “What’s been done to her, and how do we get rid of it?”

“Careful,” Tonya murmured warningly to him.

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t turn him into a toad or anything.” Albert giggled again. “I mean, I could, but I won’t. So, sangromancy is magic that allows a person to control others after exchanging blood with them.”

“Well, the night before I left on the cruise, I cut my hand,” Tonya mused. “I was at an art auction, and I threw away the pieces of glass that I’d cut myself on. Anyone could have gotten ahold of the glass shards with my blood on them.”

“This is good, though!” Heath said eagerly. “This narrows down our field of suspects considerably.”

“Guests, security guards, caterers, bartenders…” Tonya pondered.

“Still a finite number. And there were security cameras there,” Heath said. Then he turned his attention back to the wizard. “Why weren’t you able to detect this magic when she came on board?”

Albert indicated the blinking crystal. “The fact that it’s blinking means that this magic can basically turn itself on and off.  The magic is only active when the subject is sleeping.”

“What do you mean?” Tonya asked.

“Well, one thing it can do is give you new skills, and imprint some suggestions, like post-hypnotic suggestions that stay in the brain. However, it only controls a person when they fall asleep – and it can’t make them fall asleep, the person has to fall asleep naturally. As soon as they’re asleep, the spell-caster can enter their minds, see their memories and read their thoughts, and the one who is possessed will never know. Then the spell-caster basically acts like a puppet master, directing their victims’ body to do anything they want.”

“Ugh.” Tonya felt as if she might gag. “That’s horrifying.”

“The ability to practice this magic comes from a very rare genetic mutation, and there have only been a few people in the world ever known to practice it,” Albert said, holding up his crystal and staring at it as if it might hatch into a dragon. “The Council of Magic is not aware of any living Sangromancers.  Nobody bothers to scan for it, because it just never comes up.”

“So…how do we get rid of it?” Tonya asked uneasily.

Albert’s expression turned serious. “You need to get hold of the person who cast the spell, and then a wizard can do the blood exchange again for you to reverse it. Otherwise – don’t take that necklace off. Or if you do, don’t fall asleep.”

Tonya clutched at her necklace, stricken. There was an assassin living in her head, who could turn her into a killing machine if she wasn’t careful.  “This is a nightmare.” She looked at Heath, devastated. “I can’t…I can’t ask you to be with me. I’ve been made into a monster.”

“Quit trying to get rid of me, because you never will,” Heath said firmly. “I love you. We will get this spell reversed. Even if we don’t, I will be by your side forever.”

Tonya wiped away tears with the back of her hand. “Can you…can you say that love part again?” she asked shakily.

“This is ridiculous,” the Beast grumbled. “What a stubborn ass.”

Reshef still refused to allow any additional security into his room.  He claimed that as long as he stayed in his room for the rest of the trip, with the protection of his bodyguards, he’d be safe.  The ship was headed back to port anyway.

Tonya, very shaken but trying to hold it together, had been sent off to hang out in Antonia’s room, guarded by one of the operatives from Shifters, Inc., just in case.  Since they now knew that Reshef was the target, Heath didn’t want her anywhere on the same floor.

Most of the shifters had gathered in Heath’s room, since he was right down the hall from Reshef.   Several shifters stood in the hallway, near Reshef’s door.  At least they’d be close by if anything happened.  They sat and watched the video feed on their laptops.  There were multiple video cameras in Reshef’s room, and the operatives were glued to their computers, watching all the separate feeds.

“Too bad that Tom gets off the hook,” Heath grumbled as he stared at the screen.  Albert had verified that Tom had also been bewitched by sangromancy, which was likely why he’d been so insistent about bringing Tonya on the cruise.  He’d really hoped that the bastard had been working with the assassin, so he’d see some serious prison time.

Albert had also explained that while a Sangromancer could do the blood exchange with as many people as they wanted, they could only control one person at a time. Apparently they’d picked Tonya because they thought she’d have the best chance at getting close to Reshef.

“The bodyguard. That one,” the Beast said, pointing. “He’s been acting squirrelly all day. Something off about his behavior. His body language… He doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to Reshef. He’s watching the other bodyguards.”

“I agree,” Heath said. “That’s the guy who tried to get Tonya to go to Reshef’s room.” He felt his gums itch as his fangs nearly descended, but forced his animal back down.

“Look at that.” Jake gestured at the screen, watching Tabori head into the suite’s kitchen.  He reached into the cabinet and pulled out a pitcher, then set it on a tray with several glasses. He got a container of iced tea and poured it into the pitcher and , glancing around furtively, reached into his pocket, pulled something out and dropped it into the pitcher.

“Go!” Jake shouted, sprinting towards the door, but Heath, the Beast and Tanner were already halfway out.

There was a loudspeaker system in Reshef’s room, which the shifters had access to through their laptops, and Heath could hear Jake yelling into it. “The bodyguard Tabori is poisoning the drinks! Apprehend him!”

The shifters outside Reshef’s room already had the door open and were rushing in.  When Heath and his fellow operatives burst into the room, they saw a scene of mass confusion – all the bodyguards were pointing guns at each other.

What the hell was so hard to understand about “Apprehend Tabori”?

Tabori’s eyes were bulging and his lips were peeled back in rage.  He held a gun, pointing it at Reshef’s head.

Heath leaped in front of him and batted the gun out of Tabori’s hand, then wrapped his arms around him and pinned him.  Tabori struggled furiously and shouted, “Get your hands off me, animal! I am Reshef!”

“Release him!”

“He’s telling the truth!” Several of the bodyguards shouted at once, training their guns on the shifters.

“If you shoot us, it’s just going to piss us off,” the Beast growled. “When we’re pissed off, we tend to kill things.”

“Filthy beasts,” one of the bodyguards spat contemptuously, but they reluctantly lowered their weapons.

Heath, still maintaining his tight grip, glanced over at the man whom he’d been told was Reshef. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am Tabori. He tells the truth, he is Reshef. But why would he try to poison me?” The bodyguard looked confused.

Well, that explained why the bodyguard had been having sex with so many companions – because he was really Reshef the whole time, Heath thought.

“I switched places with my bodyguard for this trip, for security reasons,” Reshef said, his tone haughty. “That is done quite frequently in my family when we travel.”

“No, it isn’t,” Tabori cried out, his tone deeply wounded.  There were tears shimmering in his eyes. “It is never done, but you ordered me to do it and I obeyed.  Why would you betray me like this? My family has served yours for generations!”

“Silence, dog! You have no rights! I cannot be prosecuted. I have violated none of my country’s laws.” Reshef’s lip curled in a sneer.

“You can if you just attempted to murder a man.” Pierre had just entered the room with several of the ship’s security officers. “And we have it on videotape.” He glanced at the pitcher, which had been knocked over and spilled on the hardwood floor. “We’ll analyze that drink, and if there’s poison, we’ve got you for attempted murder.”

“I am immune from prosecution!” Reshef howled.

“In your country, perhaps. But you’re not in your country, are you?” Pierre’s smile was quite nasty, and promised that no mercy would be shown.

Under questioning, later that day, Reshef admitted that he had hired an assassin to take him out on the cruise – and then switched places with his bodyguard so that he would be the one who was killed.

The Chameleon hadn’t been in on the ruse.

Once the assassination had taken place, he would blame his brother, the current ruler, and use it to stage a coup.

Instead, he now faced life in prison.

Unfortunately, Reshef did not know the identity of the Chameleon.  He had operated through an intermediary, one of his trusted advisors, a man named Alexander – but even Alexander hadn’t met the Chameleon in person.

Bridgit stood in the doorway of her mansion, eating Ramen noodles, as the taxi pulled up in the massive circular driveway.  She’d Googled “What do poor people eat?” and apparently Ramen noodles were very popular among the financially challenged, so she wanted to get some practice in before her family cut her off.

“This isn’t too awful,” Bridgit mused aloud.  “I mean, I could get used to it.”

Tonya climbed out of the taxi, looking radiantly happy. She wore long, flowing white pants and a new, flattering, low-cut top, and she practically skipped up the steps.

“Somebody got some nookie,” Bridget observed. She held out her bowl. “Look, I’m eating poor people food! I can do this! Also I went to a thrift store yesterday. Found some cool stuff. I took a picture of myself wearing a two-dollar maxi-skirt and emailed it to my stepmother, out of spite.  She tried calling me twenty times, but I ignored her.  So, enough about me. How was the trip?”

“I am so freaking glad to be back on land.”  Tonya threw her arms around Bridgit and hugged her, making her spill some of her noodles.  “If anyone ever offers you the chance to be a companion on a seven-day sex cruise, for the love of God, run in the other direction.”

“Why, thank you, Tonya, that is very useful advice. I’m sure that I will put it into practice often.” Bridgit let out an unladylike snort.  “Did you bring me back anything?”

“I’m afraid the stuff they give out on that cruise isn’t appropriate for gifting. Unless you’d like a few bottles of half-empty flavored lube and some edible underwear? I only took a few bites out of it.”

Bridgit made a horrified face and cringed away from Tonya.  “What the hell kind of floating orgy was this place?”

“You do not want details. You so, so do not want details.”

Something was missing, Bridgit realized. Luggage. Tonya had returned without any. Also, the taxi was still in the driveway.

“Where’s your suitcase? Why aren’t you coming in?”

“I have to run an errand right now. Okay, I’ve got so much news that we’re going to have to sit down over drinks tonight for several hours for me to get it all in, so I’m just going to give you the Cliff Notes right now.  Important news part one – an assassin put a million dollars in my bank account, and I get to keep it.”

Bridgit burst out laughing – and then realized Tonya wasn’t kidding.

“Okay. Assassin. Million dollars. You’re serious. An assassin gave you a million dollars. Are you…are you an assassin now?” She looked at Tonya warily.

To her surprise, instead of denying it, Tonya shuddered. “Basically, no. I’m going to go with no.”

“But you’re not sure?” Bridgit’s voice rose with alarm. “That is a very dangerous profession.  Short life-expectancy. At least from what I’ve seen in movies.”

“Can we focus here, please? I’m a newspaper reporter. I am not a hired killer.”

Bridgit nodded slowly, not fully convinced. “So you’re a millionaire now.  Cool! Can I borrow some money?”