Warlock Unbound: Heart's Desire, Book 4 (11 page)

Chapter Seventeen

“Thank you for coming,” Daniel said, folding his arms behind his back. This was the first time he was addressing the council without Gareth there, and he was nervous as hell.

Kerry was there, leaning against the back wall. She winked at him when he glanced over at her, and he found himself relaxing at her small smile of encouragement.

“As some of you know, a body has appeared on the shores in the Hamptons, a body that Zachary has determined to be that of a wizard.” Silence. The council held its peace, their expressions stoic. They were giving nothing away. “We have images of four victims, all killed by Arthur Godwin, who absorbed their powers through his ritual dagger and their blood.”

“Sympathetic magic?”

Daniel had to stop and think of the name of this particular councilor. “We believe so, Councilor Price.” Sean Price had been one of Lillian Fletcher’s suggestions for the council, and so far he’d held his own. “Worse, we were sent video of each murder.”

That got a reaction. The councilors, especially his mother, Marjory, began to whisper to one another. Each had varying degrees of dread on their faces.

“I can show you the video, but I’m afraid there isn’t much other than the victims’ screams. However, I’ve pulled images from them in hopes of identifying the victims.” He grabbed the mouse and clicked open the first image, the large screen displaying a woman with her eyes and mouth open. It was pre-scream, the best he could do for the poor victim.

“Oh my Goddess.” Krystal Wheeler, another of the new councilors, paled. “I know her.”

“Who was she?” Daniel watched as Kerry pulled out a tablet PC, ready to take notes.

“Brooke. Brooke Rodgers.” Councilor Wheeler shook her head. “A sweet girl who was mentoring under one of my daughters. She was trying to become an artist. She used her ability to enhance her magic rituals.”

“She was from one of the so-called lesser families, with no blood ties the court.” Councilor Cho sighed. “Damn it. We need to inform her family.”

Daniel nodded and brought up the next image. Again, considering the circumstances, he’d tried to capture an image that didn’t have the woman showing her agony. “Does anyone recognize this woman?”

“I do.” Councilor Bruce Padilla sighed. “Casey McCoy, another young woman from a so-called lesser family. Her parents work for mine. She just graduated college with a bachelor’s in accounting.”

Daniel clicked to the next image. “This woman?”

The councilors looked to one another, but none of them seemed to recognize her.

“I have one more image to show you. Gareth says that she looks familiar and may have worked in the coffee shop downstairs, but he couldn’t remember her name. We decided not to show this image to the owner as he’s a mundane.” He clicked to the last victim that they knew of. “Anyone recognize her?”

“Debra Mason,” Councilor Jones sighed. “She did work in the coffee shop.”

“He took one so close to us?” Daniel’s mother scowled. “He’s getting bold.”

“Indeed.” Lillian Fletcher stood. “It’s now clear that Arthur Godwin is a threat to the wizarding community. Is it possible there are more victims?”

“I believe so.” Daniel remembered the way Arthur sucked the magic out of the woman’s blood, consuming it. The look on Arthur’s face was pure ecstasy. “I think he’s addicted to the power he’s receiving from the victims.”

Lillian nodded. “Unless the king objects, we will send out a warning to all the families in the tri-state area—”

“Include Rhode Island.” Kerry, who’d been silent up until now, finally spoke. “There’s reason to believe he’s moved there.”

“Very well.” Lillian stared at Kerry, her expression confused, before returning to the topic at hand. “Alerts will be sent out, informing the wizards to keep their daughters close at hand.”

“We’ll inform the victim’s families and see if we can get the last victim identified,” Emily Cho added.

“The victim from the Hamptons was found by the police.” Kerry took a step forward, her gaze on Daniel. “If the family informs the police that their daughter went missing in that area…”

“They should release the body to the family once the coroner is done with it.” Daniel nodded. “It’s tragic, but it’s the only way.”

“What about the other bodies? We know where they are, but getting to them will be difficult.” Kerry was now at his side, her tablet still poised and ready.

“Where are they?” Councilor Padilla asked.

“They were sunk in the ocean.” Daniel brought up an image of the map they’d marked. “Only one was found outside the Hamptons.”

“It will look odd if we go out hunting for bodies.” Councilor Cho tapped her fingers on the table, obviously trying to come up with a way to bring the victims to the surface.

“An anonymous tip, maybe?” Kerry shrugged. “We can’t show how we know the bodies are there, but we can make sure the police don’t find out who called. Our magic should block that.”

“Our magic?” Lillian Fletcher’s brows rose almost to her hairline.

Daniel gently pushed Kerry behind him, protecting her from the stare of the council members. “Yes. Ours. When we removed a sleeper curse from Kerry, the strength needed to do so opened up her magical channels.”

Several of the councilors winced in sympathy.

“Doing so revealed that Kerry had dormant warlock genes.” Daniel smiled. “As she is my mate, we are discussing her options. Obviously she
won’t
be turning toward the demonic.”

“One would hope so.” Lillian didn’t sound convinced, but she shook her head. “If you need any assistance, please, let us know.”

“Thank you, Ms. Fletcher.” Kerry smiled sweetly as she stepped back to Daniel’s side. “I’m talking to Queen Genevieve about what I can do. She’s been very helpful.”

Daniel put his arm around her shoulders. “My mate is strong. She’ll overcome this and bond to an elemental.”

“I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Andrews.” Councilor Padilla smiled. “One of my best friends is a warlock bonded to an air elemental. His scrying powers and mental abilities are quite a bit stronger than most magical beings, and his power over air is a sight to behold. Perhaps he’d be willing to speak with you as well.”

“I’d appreciate that, Councilor.” Kerry rubbed her forehead, frowning slightly. “Unfortunately, the voices Queen Genevieve warned me about have already started whispering. I’ve turned down every offer, but I wanted you to know so you would be aware that I’m not hiding anything from you.”

The councilors looked at one another, but it was Marjory Beckett who spoke. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate that, Kerry.”

“Now, as for the bodies.” Lillian stared at the map, her brows furrowed. “I agree with Ms. Andrews. An anonymous tip will retrieve the bodies, but that places us in the position of having to deal with mundane police. One murder can slowly grow cold, but Arthur would be labeled a serial killer. There’s no way the police would allow it to simply grow cold.”

“So we have to retrieve the bodies ourselves and explain it as a boating accident.” Chris folded his arms on the table. “Who do we know who can do that, and discreetly?”

“I’ll look into that,” Councilor Padilla volunteered. “Councilor Cho, would you inform the victims’ families of their deaths?”

“I will.”

Lillian held up her hand. “If there is nothing else?”

“Keeping the police out of this.” Kerry winced. “It bothers me to hide this from them, but how are we going to do that?”

“Don’t worry, my dear.” Lillian smiled at Kerry. As far as Daniel could tell, it was sincere, but Lillian Fletcher had been ruling the council since long before Gareth became king. “This has happened before, unfortunately. Though usually without so many victims.”

“Zach is going to see if he can find anything else out, like if there are victims we’re unaware of.” Daniel took the pad from Kerry’s hands and saved the data. “If any of you hear of daughters or wives gone missing, please inform us immediately. We’ll discover whether or not they were victims. Pictures of them would help us do that.”

“We’ll get them to you right away, Chancellor.” Lillian Fletcher stood. “Is there anything else the council can do to help?”

“Not right now, thank you.” Daniel bowed his head to the leader of the council.

“Then I declare this meeting adjourned.” Lillian picked up her purse and headed for the door. The other councilors began gathering their belongings, some stopping to speak quietly to Daniel, others walking right out with grim expressions. No one was happy with the turn of events Daniel had presented them, but so far none seemed ready to shoot the messenger.

“That went well,” Kerry murmured as the last councilor left.

Daniel nodded. “So far, so good. With their help we’ll find out who the missing girl is.”

“And if there are more they’ll be willing to help with those girls as well.” Kerry shuddered. “This sucks.”

He put his arms around her, tugging her close. “Thank you.”

“For what?” She buried her head against his chest, her hair tickling his nose. “All I did was stand in the corner.”

“You spoke up and helped me.” Daniel kissed the top of her head.

“I was pretty sure if I didn’t come with you, your wolf would have forced you to track me down.” Kerry shrugged, as if what she’d done meant nothing.

He tilted her chin up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “You acted as my mate.”

Chapter Eighteen

Kerry sat at the kitchen table, looking through the photos Daniel had pulled from the video. This was frightening shit she was looking at. Each one of these women could have been her, had almost been her. Davis Godwin had planned on killing her when he kidnapped her. She would have been tortured, destroyed and her soul sucked into Davis’s dagger, feeding his power and his demon. To look at these four women was to look at the fate she’d sidestepped only because Zach had been looking for Jo.

She owed the Becketts big time for saving her from this.

“You’re kidding me.” Daniel came out of the bedroom, his expression furious. But that was his expression most of the time. What caught her attention was the way he was staring at the photos laid out on the kitchen table. “Fuck. Right.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Have the pictures sent up as soon as possible. We need to get Gen and Zach on finding them.” Daniel hung up the phone and slouched into the seat across from her. “We have more.”

“More?” She looked down and grimaced. “Shit. How many?”

“From what Lillian told me, we have eight total missing.” Daniel’s head fell back wearily. “I can’t believe this. Eight. How did he get them?”

“He’s been quiet, right?” Daniel frowned, looking confused, so Kerry tried to make her meaning clearer. “I mean, first you got Davis, then Hugh made himself known. Now Arthur pops up, and suddenly there are women dead and or missing. What does that tell you?”

Daniel sat up. “He’s been working on whatever this is since Zach threw him in the river.”

She nodded. “It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

His golden eyes turned brighter, his wolf staring at her from Daniel’s face. “You’ll learn from Genevieve how to use your magic.”

Well. That was a step up from
grunt growl you stay safe grunt
. “I am. I mean, I will.” She held her hand out to him. “And I’ll fry his ass if he tries to get to me.”

“Good.” That golden color eased, toned down, back to his normal, human color. “Good.” He took her hand and raised it to his lips, brushing them over her knuckles. “Nothing can happen to you.”

“I’ll try and make sure not to become demon food.” Kerry pulled her hand free. “We need to figure out who the next victim is. If we can do that, then we might be able to stop him.”

“So we start looking for whatever ties them together.” Daniel got up and grabbed two sodas, handing her one when he sat back down. “We can—” His phone pinged and he reached for it. “Lillian sent me the pictures of the missing women.” He stood, taking his soda. “I’ll go print them out. Hopefully she got me more than the images.”

“I’ll start making notes on the women we already know about.” Kerry smiled as Daniel walked past her, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. He couldn’t be near her without touching her in some way, and she was finding she liked that much more than she’d thought possible. She’d thought such affection would be stifling, but with Daniel it made her feel important, loved.

Loved. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Neither of them had said the words, so she wasn’t sure exactly how Daniel felt. She knew the attraction had always been there, fast and brutal, driving them both insane with the need to be near one another, but time and time again he’d driven her away. Now that he’d given in to the desire, she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.

She shook her head. Daniel’s feelings weren’t what she should be concentrating on. She needed to work on the missing women. She drew a chart on the paper, noting which ones had links to council members, which ones were from the same area, and which ones had the same hair and eye color.

While she was writing, Daniel returned. “I’ve got Lillian’s list.” He put the printouts on the table and sat across from her once more. He picked one up and handed it to her. “Gwen Nelson, twenty-eight, worked as an electrician for a company owned by Counselor Adam Mitchell. Blonde, blue eyed.” He picked up a second one. “Donna Page, blonde, blue eyed, twenty-four years old. She worked in the gift shop.” The third page, the third woman who was probably already dead. “Myra Burton, twenty-six, was the only one who was a wife and mother. She worked for the same company Gwen Nelson did, taking appointments for the electricians. Also blonde and blue eyed.” The last photo he picked up shook slightly. “Janet Hoffman, twenty-five, worked three blocks over in a clothing store owned by Counselor Rachel Jones.”

“Also blonde and blue eyed.” She checked each of them off. “All of them except the one we couldn’t identify had connections to the Council.”

“And had the same hair and eye color as you.” His eyes were gold, and his nails had become the black claws of his wolf.

She had to think of some way to distract him or he’d try and wrap her in a giant ball of bubble wrap and duct tape her to one of the walls in his apartment. “What else? There has to be something beyond this. There are a bunch of blonde, blue-eyed women who are in some way connected to the Council. Why these eight?”

He blinked, his claws receding, but his eyes remaining blindingly gold. “Easy prey?”

“Maybe, for the ones who had steady nine-to-fives, but the coffee shop worker, the electrician, the clothing shop worker? Odds are good their work hours varied from day to day.”

“Crimes of opportunity, then?” Daniel shook his head. “No. I think he researched these victims. He must have to know of their connections to the council.”

“If he’s going after another victim, they’ll be blonde and blue eyed, between twenty and thirty, and somehow connected to the council.”

“Wait right here. I’m going to grab the Registry.” Daniel got up from the table and started toward his workroom.

“The what?” Kerry followed. She was fascinated by Daniel’s workroom. Everything was neatly in its place. Small items, like gemstones and runes, were in an apothecary’s cabinet, while larger items were in cabinets or chests. Each drawer or door had a carefully printed label on the front, with a list of items inside.

A hand grazed her hip as Daniel moved around her, pulling a large, leather-bound book off the bookshelf. “This is the Registry of Wizards, Witches and Warlocks, the book of lineage for all of us who use magic. Maybe we can find the next victim in there.”

Kerry leaned close as Daniel placed it on the table. “Am I in there?”

Daniel smiled and flipped to the pages marked
Warlock
. “See here? Andrews, Kerry. Warlock, unbound.” He frowned. “Unbound. Huh. Never seen that before.”

“What does it mean?”

“I think it has to do with the way your magic was unlocked. When we removed the hex, we, well, unbound you.” He shrugged, looking aggravated as she began to laugh. “What the hell do I know? It’s what the book says.”

She giggled. “You guys are my magical enema.”

He glared at her. “Not funny.”

“My probiotic cherry yogurt.” She gasped, still giggling. “You guys popped my cherry.”

He growled and pulled her close. “You scared the fuck out of me that day. I thought you were going to die.” Daniel’s arms tightened so much she could barely breathe. “I almost lost you.”

Kerry put her head on her mate’s chest. “But you didn’t. I’m here, and I want to kick Arthur’s ass for what he’s done to us.”

His grip didn’t change. He was clutching at her like a man in pain, his nose buried in her hair as he breathed deep. Perhaps it was the wolf in him, but scenting her, holding her seemed to calm him.

“I’m okay.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “In fact, I’m better than okay. You’re here. I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”

“Damn straight.” For one brief moment he hugged her so tightly she thought her ribs might crack, but then he eased his hold on her. He pulled back, his hands on her hips, his eyes pure, shining gold. “I can’t…” He took a deep breath as agony overcame his features. His gaze wasn’t on her, but the pictures of the women who had been slaughtered. “I can’t lose you.”

She smiled. Perhaps there was love there, after all.