Warlock Unbound: Heart's Desire, Book 4 (9 page)

“You should demand a kiss more often,” Daniel panted.

“Pfft,” she blew against his chest. “You still haven’t kissed me, damn it.”

Daniel’s soft chuckle rumbled against her ear. “I’ll have to do better next time.”

She cuddled up against him as he drew the blanket over both of them. “I guess you will.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Stay in the building, got it?” Daniel hated this. He was sending his injured mate out alone, even if it was only a few floors down.

“I will.” Kerry grimaced as she opened the door to the stairwell. It would be weeks before the elevator was replaced due to the damage the crash had done not only to the base of the elevator shaft but to the cabling. Repairmen were due to start working on it any day. Since it was Gareth’s private elevator, that left only the stairs or the service elevator. For some reason Kerry had decided she’d take the stairs today. “It’ll be a pain walking down all these, but no way am I taking an elevator after…” She shuddered. “Yeah. I like stairs. Stairs are my friend. A good workout for the butt.”

He chuckled for her sake, but already his wolf was straining to get to her, follow her. The only way she’d be truly safe was if—

“Knock it off.” Kerry took his face between her hands and kissed him. “If anything goes wrong I’ll have Gen, Lana and Jo with me. Nothing will get through those three to me.”

“That’s part of what I’m worried about.” He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. “I can’t let anything happen, not to any of you.”

Her smile shed sunshine on the dark fury that had ridden him since he’d found out she was hexed. “Then I won’t let any of them get hurt.”

“I don’t think you get it.” He closed his eyes, enjoying her warmth, the feel of her breath against his skin. “I’m a text away.”

“I’ll call you when we’re done.” She kissed the corner of his mouth and pulled away. “Promise.”

Daniel opened his eyes, aware they were probably deep gold. His wolf wasn’t happy, but at least she’d calmed it somewhat. He reassured it that they’d peek in on her once Zach, Gareth and Chris were hard at work.

She waved good-bye and stepped into the stairwell, the door closing softly behind her. Daniel grunted, already unhappy with the separation, but she was right. He couldn’t hunt Arthur and help her at the same time.

His wolf disagreed, but Daniel ignored him, heading for Gareth’s apartment. He knocked, muttering hello to Mac when the steward opened the door. “Chancellor Beckett.”

“Daniel, please.”

Mac nodded graciously. “Of course, sir. While you and the king work on our Godwin problem, I’ll be doing our work.”

Daniel entered the apartment. “I swear, I’d rather be doing that. As soon as the Godwin problem is dealt with, you’re getting a vacation, man.” He meant it too. Mac had taken on a hell of a lot since Gareth was made king. He deserved some time off.

Mac shrugged. “If the king says so, but I’m willing to stay. My work is important to me.” He waved his hand toward the living room. “King Gareth, Lord Christopher and Lord Zachary are in the living room. I believe they’ve got something to show you.”

With that cryptic note Mac left, leaving Daniel staring at the door. “I will never understand that guy.” He turned toward the living room, the sound of screams becoming louder as he approached. “What’s up?”

“That.” Zach’s fury startled him. “I’m going to kill his fucking ass.”

Daniel glanced at the laptop sitting on Gareth’s coffee table. On screen, a woman was…

“Fucking hell!” Daniel grabbed the laptop. A blonde woman was strapped to a dangerously familiar altar. Her face was contorted with agony as a dagger stabbed into her stomach. The image changed, and another blonde took the first’s place. The screams continued as image after image flickered one after the other, each woman dying horribly on the altar. “Who are they?”

“We don’t know.” Gareth growled as he paced, clenching his fists. “This was in my email this morning.”

“Arthur sent it.” Zach stared at the images over Daniel’s shoulder as if he could will the horrors to stop.

At least four women were shown in varying stages of torture as the slideshow played, all of them blonde, naked and strapped to the same dark altar. The scream soundtrack Arthur had added couldn’t be fake. Each scream was different, changing with the images of the women as if he’d matched the screams to the owners.

“We need to figure out who those women are.” Daniel watched the last woman’s eyes go blank, her death recorded for all time. “Someone has to be missing their daughter or loved one.”

“And where. If we can find out where this is, we can find Arthur.” Zach shook his head. “But it looks like the only thing in the pictures is the women, the altar and the damn dagger.”

“Wait.” Daniel paused the video. “Take a look at the dagger.”

“What about it?” Zach leaned in, staring at the weapon in confusion.

Gareth stalked over to take a look as well. “That’s not the same dagger Hugh or Davis used, is it?”

Daniel shook his head. “I didn’t get a good look, but the runes look different, don’t they?” He pointed at the hilt. “And the dagger itself also looks different. The other one was a straight dagger with a cross hilt. This one is curved, with no guard at all.”

“And the pommel looks to be made of bone.” Zach leaned back, his tone thoughtful. “What the fuck is he up to?”

“He’s not feeding souls to his demon?” Gareth seemed just as confused as Daniel. “If he’s not, then why is he sacrificing them?”

“We need to research those runes. They could be the clue that leads us to what he’s up to.” Zach glanced around. “I need pen and paper. I want to copy those runes down.”

Gareth headed for the kitchen. “Give me a sec. I think Gen left some paper… Ah.” He picked up a note pad and a pen and brought them back to Zach. “Here. You copy, Daniel and I will start gathering some books.”

“Let’s scry for him.” Daniel glared at Zach when the Own snorted in amusement. “It could work.”

“We could try flying our asses to the moon too, but it will be about as successful.” Zach continued to work, his pen flying across the page. “Remember, we needed your connection to Kerry to scry out Hugh’s location. You think Arthur would be any less cautious than his idiot brother?”

“Hmph.” Zach was right, but Daniel didn’t have to like it. “There’s no clues in the video itself.” He went to Gareth’s desk and grabbed his brother’s tablet PC, bringing up the video on it. “Gareth, c’mere. Maybe you’ll see something I’m missing.”

Gareth and Daniel watched the video a second time, muting the sound when the screams became overwhelming.

Gareth grabbed the tablet toward the end. “Wait. Pause that.” He scowled as he stared at the final victim. “She looks familiar.”

“Are you sure?”

Gareth snarled. “Yeah. I don’t know her name, but I think she worked in one of the shops downstairs. Probably the coffee shop.”

“Fuck.” That meant Gen, also blonde haired, had been near the victim multiple times.

“He keeps the camera focused on the altar and the girls’ bodies.” Gareth grimaced. “We need to bring up the sound again, see if there’s any clues there. Maybe he missed something, like a ferry or a train.”

“Good idea.” They started the slideshow again, this time with the sound on.

When it was finished, Gareth scowled. “Again.”

Daniel listened as closely as possible, using his wolf senses to pick up anything other than the screaming. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Me too, damn it.” Gareth placed the tablet back on his desk. “Think we could use the images to scry for the women?”

“Possibly.” Daniel started rifling through Gareth’s desk looking for a map of the tri-state area. He doubted Arthur had gone farther than that, but if necessary he’d use the Internet for a map of the U.S. “Get your pendulum and let’s see what we come up with.”

Gareth nodded and darted to his workroom.

Daniel found the map folded and tucked into the back of Gareth’s pen drawer. He pulled it out and cleared space on the desk before laying it out.

“Got it.” Gareth nudged Daniel out of the way and placed his hand on the tablet PC, hitting start on the video. The screams filled the air once more as Gareth spoke.

“North to South, East to West,

Guide this pendulum in its quest.

Find the women who are hidden from me.

As I will so mote it be!”

The pendulum began to move erratically as the video continued to play.

“Shit. It’s confusing the pendulum.” Daniel hit
Pause
, praying the pendulum would pick up on whichever woman was now on the screen.

The pendulum’s movements smoothed out. Gareth blew out a breath of relief. “Good catch.”

“Thanks.”

They watched as the pendulum slowly settled over an area in the Hamptons. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Daniel leaned close and found the point of the pendulum was about five blocks from the Godwins’ Hamptons house. “That motherfucker.”

“He’s dumping the bodies in his own backyard?” Gareth grabbed the pendulum and started the video once more. “Mark that location down while I try to locate the others.”

Daniel grabbed a pen and circled the shoreline. It was on the ocean side, not the bay side. “You think he was trying to hide the evidence in the Atlantic?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Gareth paused the video a second time. A different woman’s agonized face stared back at them. “Let’s do this.”

“North to South, East to West,

Guide this pendulum in its quest.

Find the woman who is hidden from me.

As I will so mote it be!”

The pendulum rocked back and forth, rolling across the map before settling over a spot in the ocean. Gareth waited while Daniel marked the spot. “You were right. He’s sinking them.”

“Only not as well as he’d hoped if one of them washed ashore.” Daniel stroked his chin, staring at the map. From the position of the second body, it was possible that Arthur was still hiding in his home and using his boat to drop the victims. “It’s possible he’s weighing them down, but this one somehow broke free.”

“Or he was in a hurry and did a piss-poor job of it.” Gareth flicked through the slide show until the third woman’s face appeared. He recited the chant, grunting when the pendulum once again stopped over the Atlantic Ocean. The third victim wasn’t far from the second.

The fourth victim was also in the Atlantic, but she was much farther north than the others, all the way in Rhode Island. Daniel marked the spot. “You think he’s moved?”

“Possibly, thanks to you and Zach.”

Daniel checked the map. “Look. Here’s the town closest to where the body was dumped. Charlestown.”

“It’s about three and a half hours north of here.” Gareth straightened up. “Right. Let’s check the first body, the one in the Hamptons. Maybe we can find out something.”

“What about the police?” Daniel did not want his ass rotting in some jail cell while Arthur murdered his merry way to demonhood.

“Shit. We need to check and see if the body has been found yet. If it’s in the morgue we’re not going to find a damn thing.”

“Other than a magical signature?” Daniel stared at the first woman’s picture. “Because something about her seems familiar.”

“You think she’s one of ours?” Gareth stared as well. “I don’t recognize her.”

“She could be a witch.” Daniel started up the video again, but slowed it down, hoping to catch an image of one of the women that looked even close to normal. “There. Maybe we can use that to identify this woman.”

“Good idea. You handle that. I’ll check with the Hamptons cops to see if they’ve found bodies yet.” Gareth straightened up, cracking his back. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Daniel huffed out a laugh as Zach joined them. “I’ve got the runes.”

“We’ve found bodies.” Gareth pointed to the marks on the map. “All but one dumped in the Atlantic.”

“Damn.” Zach whistled. “We need to find their families and tell them what’s happened to their loved ones.”

“We were talking about that.” Daniel picked up the tablet PC. This wasn’t how he’d want to find out a loved one had passed, but it was all they could do for now. “I’m going to circulate these and see if anyone recognizes the women.”

“I’ll work on the runes. Maybe we can figure out from them what Arthur is really up to.” Zach wandered off, no doubt to check Gareth’s library for information.

“I’ll send some people out to see if we can recover the other three bodies. I’ll also have someone check with the police about that first body.” Gareth shook his head. “He’s not getting away with this.”

“No.” Daniel stared at the third victim, a woman who looked remarkably like Kerry. “He’s not.”

Chapter Fourteen

Kerry checked her phone one more time, making sure she got the room number correct. Daniel was off with Zach, Gareth and Chris, doing something to try and find Arthur. Kerry was just a couple of floors down from them, looking for a conference room Lana assured her could also be used as a workroom.

There it was. Room 2206. She opened the door to find Lana and Jo already there. They had books strewn all over the table and a computer set up in front of Lana, who was busy typing away. Gen wasn’t there yet, but if Kerry knew her friend it was because the Own was getting her caffeine fix at the coffee shop. She had no doubt Gen would be there soon. “Yo.”

Lana glanced up and grinned. “Yo.”

“What’s with you?” Jo glanced back and forth between the two, looking confused.

Kerry laughed. “It’s a Philly thing. You wouldn’t understand.” She settled at the table across from Jo. “What do we have?”

“We’re looking at how to heal the magical wound. So far, we’ve come up with a few ideas.” Jo sat back, her gaze distant. “We can use tangerine quartz for healing psychic trauma.”

“I’m thinking a knot spell, like when you sew a wound shut so it can heal properly.” Lana clicked on something and grimaced. “Why is it when I look up spells I either get ‘pay me for a love spell’ sites or Harry Potter?”

“Your Google-fu is lacking, young grasshopper.” Kerry giggled when Lana shot her the finger. She picked up a book and began rifling through the pages. “What should I be looking for?”

“Psychic healing spells, mostly.” Jo tapped the book in front of her. “This one is all about crystals.”

Kerry glanced down at one of the pages of her book. “Incense.” She flipped to the back and began reading the glossary, finding what she was looking for. “Here, what about this?”

“We don’t have juniper berries, but we have myrrh, cinnamon and saffron.” Jo closed her book. “I think we have what we need.”

“We do?” Lana blinked. She must have been caught in the Internet again. “Good. Then let’s get this party started.”

“What about Gen?” Kerry began to help Jo gather up the books. There wasn’t a bookshelf in the room, but there was a serving cart. Jo must have borrowed the books from either Gareth or Chris.

“She’s going to be here only to guard us in case something goes wrong.” Lana shut down the computer and began helping them haul books. “She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Did I hear my name?” Gen walked in, carrying four coffees, all with whipped cream on top. “Iced mocha lattes, ladies?”

Who could turn that down? Kerry sipped her drink, her eyes crossing in ecstasy. “I love you, Gen.”

“Are we sure caffeine is a good thing just before we try to heal Kerry?” Jo stared warily at her drink. “She’s supposed to relax, not be hyped up.”

Kerry hissed, hugging her cup to her bosom. “My precioussss.”

Lana shook her head. “Don’t even try and take caffeine from a health worker. You’ll lose a limb.”

“Okay then.” Jo sucked on her straw, her eyes widening in delight. “Oh my god, this is good.”

Kerry laughed. “See? You needs it, my precious.”

Gen giggled softly. “All right, ladies. Are we ready to cast the spell or what?”

“Do it,”
a soft, seductive voice whispered in her ear.

Kerry glanced around, looking for the source of the voice. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” Jo set down her cup and began laying out a makeshift altar.

“Er. Nothing.” Kerry shrugged. It must have been her imagination.

They set up the altar according to Jo and Lana’s instincts. The two witches seemed to be in agreement that Kerry would be lying down, surrounded by candles, the incense above her head and the tangerine quartz settled on her forehead where the third eye resided. The third eye was the seat of psychic power.

“Wait.” Kerry rubbed her chest, under her left breast. “This is where the pain is.”

The two women exchanged a glance. “Are you sure?”

“Uh, I think I know where I hurt.” Kerry picked up the tangerine quartz. “It goes on my chest, not my forehead.”

Lana shrugged. “Then we put it there.” Lana pointed toward the spot where Kerry was supposed to lay down. “Why don’t you settle and we’ll finish putting the altar together?”

“Yes, settle down. Allow the magic to flow through you.”
That voice was whispering in her ear again.
“You’ll be powerful when it’s done. The one who fired you, we can make him pay for what he did to you. And the one who hurt you, we can find him. He will hurt, as you hurt.”

Kerry glanced over at Gen. “The whispers you warned me about? It’s starting.”

Gen nodded. “I thought it might. Don’t listen, and for the Goddess’s sake, don’t accept any offers it makes.”

Kerry rolled her eyes but spoke to the inner voice.
“Fuck off, motherfucker.”

“You need me, young warlock.”
The voice was smug, as if she had no other choices.

That was bullshit. Gen had been very clear that Kerry had more than one option when it came to her powers. None of them involved accepting a demon’s lies.
“Ha. I know what I’m supposed to be, and it’s not some demon’s little fuck toy, asshole.”

The voice became loud, almost painful against the throbbing wound in her side.
“None other will come for you. Your power will diminish, wither away, taking you with it. You know this to be true.”

“I know no such thing.”
Kerry climbed on the table and settled with a sigh.
“Now piss off. I’m not some child. Take your busted-ass candy and shove it where the Goddess doesn’t shine.”

“You ready?” Lana took the quartz and placed it on Kerry’s chest, right where the pain was.

Kerry nodded, folding her arms comfortably over her stomach. “Go for it.”

Lana chuckled. “All right, then.” She took her position at Kerry’s head, near the incense. “We need you to relax, to sink into yourself. Meditation can be a powerful tool for any magic being, and it will help you learn to heal yourself over time.”

Kerry closed her eyes and tried to keep her breathing even. It was difficult. The pain in her side had increased tremendously, making her want to roll over and cradle her side protectively rather than remain on her back.

“Picture a soft, green light glowing all over you, but particularly over the center of your pain.” Lana’s voice was gentle and slow. As she spoke, the scent of cinnamon, saffron and myrrh filled the air. Lana had lit the incense.

Kerry tried to picture what Lana had told her, but it was far more difficult than she’d thought. So instead of picturing it all over her body, she concentrated on imagining the wound as some sort of gaping hole, red around the edges, bleeding and inflamed. That she could deal with. The green light surrounded the wound, trying to ease it.

Jo stood at Kerry’s side. She began to chant.

“Knot of one, my spell begun.”

Ah. Jo was using the knot spell Lana had suggested. Kerry decided to help by envisioning the wound slowly being repaired. She pictured it being flushed out with a sterile saline solution before suturing where needed.

“Knot of two my spell is true.”

She applied mental antibiotics to ward off infection, leaving the rest of the wound to breathe and heal on its own.

“Knot of three it comes to be.

Knot of four, pain no more.”

Some of the pain eased, the red inflamed areas turning pink and healthy. She continued to picture the green, healing light as Jo chanted.

“Knot of five and she will thrive.

Knot of six this balm affix.”

A cool, soothing aura surrounded the wound, and its ragged edges smoothed over.

“Knot of seven, power is given.

Knot of eight remove all hate.

Knot of nine completes my rhyme.”

Kerry no longer felt pain, and the voice that had been trying to speak to her was silent. She lay there, continuing to meditate as a sense of peace flowed over her. The urge to find power was there, like a nagging little sense that she could really go for a snack right about now, but it was an easily silenced sense.

When she opened her eyes the candles were burning low and Jo was napping. Lana had rebooted the computer, while Gen was nowhere to be seen. Kerry sat up, stretching, her time on the table having left her refreshed. “Damn, that was good.” She grinned at Lana. “Was it good for you too?”

Lana squinted at her. “You look much better.”

“Thanks. Naps just do it for me.” Kerry began blowing out the candles blocking her from leaving the table. “How long was I out?”

“About four hours.”

“Huh. It felt longer.” Kerry moved the candles and hopped off the table, startling Jo awake. “Sorry.”

Jo owl blinked, her eyes wide before she focused on Kerry. “Oh. Hey. How do you feel?”

“Better, thanks.” She put her hands on her hips. “But we really need to clean this up before the boys come to find us.”

“Agreed.” Lana shut the computer down once more and began blowing out candles. “I hope the wax comes out of the top or we’re going to have some explaining to do.”

They laughed as they finished up, but one question lingered on Kerry’s mind.

What the hell was she going to do now that she was a warlock? She’d have to bind herself to
something
, but the demons were out of the question, as were the gods. She supposed she could try with an elemental, but that didn’t quite feel right. But that left the last, least-possible option.

No. She’d think about it later. Right now, she had to make sure that Arthur Godwin faced justice.