Alek stared at the bottle of Achel Brown in front of him. The alcohol flowed through him, easing the tension currently riding him. Its caramel taste lingered on his tongue.
He’d finished giving Devlin his update on the search for Logan and now sat, contemplating his next move. Logan had occupied all of his time today playing a game of cat and mouse. Putting him off his primary target—Unrie Nevsky. Gregor had contacted him earlier looking for an update. He told the man he needed more time. But Alek got the impression that time was something he had precious little of. He just needed another lead. Something to point him in the right direction.
Devlin had pulled Rachel off locating the remaining families involved with Tribe. The team’s case had become complicated, and he needed her help untangling all the avenues they were being sent down.
He took a swig of his beer. Jonah had already checked out the address for Unrie that was in the file Petronela gave him. The house had been abandoned for several years. Alek drove by there after checking out the address Logan had left for them to find at Greenwood Apartments.
Both had been dead ends.
This was not what Alek did. He didn’t work on puzzles or complicated mysteries. He tore down impenetrable walls and broke the minds of those standing in the way. Devlin understood this. Petronela should have too.
Devlin walked into the kitchen, carrying a pizza. “Hungry?” he asked, setting the pie down.
Alek stared at the greasy box, inhaling the cheese and pepperoni scent, and shook his head. “No.”
Devlin clapped him on the back. “We’ll get there.”
Jonah came in the room and sat down heavily in the chair across from them. “They haven’t checked in yet,” he said and grabbed a slice of pizza. “I think they should have been back by now.”
Alek glanced at him. “Did they say how long the gathering lasted?” Jonah shook his head.
The front door opened, and they all turned to the sound.
“Better grab what you want now,” Jonah said, dipping his head toward the pizza box. “Before Nicole comes in here and polishes off the whole pie.” He smiled and took another large bite of his slice.
Alek laughed, picturing his girl doing just that.
Rachel came in the room and sat down, setting a bottle of wine on the table. She leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. “That was horrible,” she mumbled. “Nicole is outside. She needs a minute to herself.”
“What happened?” Devlin asked, picking up the wine.
Rachel turned to him, her hands still caressing her head. “That was no women’s empowerment group. It was a wine and sex club. They served us some really sweet wine made from magick grapes and then everyone got nude and started having sex.”
Devlin narrowed his eyes. “Were any of you hurt?”
Rachel’s face darkened. “Nicole and Kara said they were okay. But I don’t know.” She took a slice of pizza out of the box and set it in front of her. “They had a reaction to the wine and the herbs being pumped in the air.”
Alek took the bottle from Devlin and read the label. Nectar of the Gods. Jonah had told him The Daughters of the Vine made and sold the stuff. “What else happened?” Alek asked, anger rising. If they hurt Nicole, he would go over there and break every last one of their minds. Damn the consequences.
Rachel shrugged. “Nothing. After Gavina talked to Nicole about her magick, they left us alone. Well, except for the girl who gave Nicole wine. She kept making eye contact with her.” She chewed on her pizza. “They didn’t say anything when we left.” She tapped the bottle of wine. “And one of the men there let me have this.”
“There were men there?” Alek gritted out.
Rachel shook her head. “Only for pretty decoration. The whole place was set up like some Greek orgy scene in a painting. Gavina talked about being Maenads and said they all worshiped Dionysus.”
“Did they use blood magick?” Devlin asked.
Rachel shook her head. “No. Just earth.”
“Dionysus, huh? I guess it fits with him being the god of wine and sex,” Jonah said. “Are you sure Nicole is all right?”
Rachel looked down the hall. “I don’t know. I’m worried about her. She seemed distraught. But she kept telling me she was okay.”
Alek knew Nicole was not okay. He pushed up from the chair and walked down the hall to the front room. Pulling the shade on the front window to the side, he peered out.
Nicole stood on the sidewalk, staring at the house. He wanted to go out and check on her. But he also understood that when a woman wanted time alone, he should give it to her. He would wait.
Ten minutes later, Alek paced his bedroom. Impatience chewed at him, making him restless. He had asked Rachel to check on Nicole a few minutes ago, and she told him to let Nicole have the time she needed and just to wait.
He did not enjoy having to wait.
He looked out the window. Her car was gone. Dammit. Why did she leave? He snatched up his phone and stared at it. If he called, she would clam up, maybe even feel as if he was pushing her too hard. So, he sent her a text.
Thinking of you
No reply.
He walked out of his room and stopped in the hallway. His magick snapped out, seeking a place to land; seeking a mind to break. Sweat dotted his forehead as he worked through his rage. His fear of being abandoned. Of not being enough. He was enough. He had to remind himself of that. Letting his gaze go distant, he focused on the orange tendrils of his magick as they slid across the floor and walls.
Rachel came rushing down the hall, her footfalls heavy. She could always feel his magick when it was unleashed. When he first joined the team, she was the one who was able to calm him down enough to think. She was also the one to give him the much-needed energy when he drained himself to the point of exhaustion. They both needed the extra boost in their energy because of the constant use of their magick.
“Alek?” she asked.
He didn’t respond, just stood there, staring down at the look of concern on her face.
She placed a hand on his chest and started humming. Her magick pulsed out in warm, soothing bursts of green. Healing magick. It was an ability, along with immunity to poison, that her grandmother Mei-Lien had passed down to Rachel’s mother, Hai Lin. She’d told them it was rooted in their family’s past. And so few people knew how to use it today.
She stared up at him while she hummed. He pulled air into his lungs, letting it out slowly as his body relaxed and the turmoil inside his head eased.
“Better?” she asked.
He placed his hand over hers. “Thanks, Rach.”
She smiled up at him. “Our girl will be okay.”
Devlin walked around the corner and stopped in the doorway, hands on his hips. Watchful.
Rachel looked over at Devlin. Devlin’s gaze remained fixed on Alek. “Alek,” he said in warning. “You’re on the edge. I need you to take it down a notch,” Devlin said.
“She left,” Alek said. He hated how frantic he sounded.
“She’ll be back,” Devlin countered.
Alek stepped around them. He couldn’t stay inside any longer. The walls were closing in on him, and his emotions were all over the place. He had a feeling in his gut that Nicole would go see Jordin Cisco. It was the next logical step. At least in her mind it would be. He knew she could be reckless, and he tried not to let his worry show too much, but right now, all he could think about was her getting hurt. Emotionally and physically.
He found Jonah outside in the pool. Arms splayed out on the edge, with his head resting on the concrete, seeming deep in thought. Normally, he would have let his demon out to thrash around in the pool, looking for a way out of the water. It never found one. Alek remembered the first time he’d seen the mangled thing. It had stopped its relentless circle around the water to study Alek, jaws with too many teeth gashed, gnawing at the air as if it could suck Alek inside its deformed mouth.
Jonah had to reassure him more than once the demon couldn’t get out of the water. It was pure evil, and as such, couldn’t cross the space between water and land unless it was inside a host. This information didn’t stop any of them from being wary of its presence and those calculating eyes that watched them.
Alek pulled a lawn chair over and sat facing Jonah. “You talk to Kara?” he asked.
Jonah opened his eyes and looked across the water at him. “Yeah. She said she was doing okay. Went into a little more detail about what went on at the gathering.” Jonah ran a hand down his face. “Sounds just like what Rachel said. A sex cult. Only, once they had given the girls enough wine to make them amenable, they left them alone. Didn’t even protest when the three of them walked out.” Jonah looked at the water. “It doesn’t feel right.”
Alek nodded, thinking. If they had no plans to harm them, or god forbid, take advantage of them, then why would they put them in a vulnerable state in the first place? Jonah was right. Something didn’t feel right. “Rachel said Gavina talked about Nicole’s magick. You think that’s why they did it?”
“Yeah. It also explains the reason they invited Nicole to the gathering in the first place. She must have sensed how powerful Nicole was when she tried to infiltrate her mind on Sunday. Maybe she was curious?” Jonah swam across the pool and pushed himself out of the water. Alek handed him the towel from the lawn chair next to him. “Have you heard from her?
Alek leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “No.”
The backdoor opened, spilling a muted light onto the concrete. Rachel stepped outside, carrying a cup of coffee. She handed Alek the cup and pulled a chair over and sat next to him.
He took a large sip of the warm liquid and closed his eyes as the jolt of energy pulsed through him.
“Devlin worried about me?” he asked.
“No. He’s seen you at your worst,” Rachel said.
Jonah stared at Alek. “Don’t worry, man. She’ll be back. Devlin wants her staying here after her encounter with Set Sunday night, anyway.” Jonah rubbed the water off his head and chest, pausing when he caught a glimpse of the look of horror on Alek’s face. “You knew about that, right?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
Alek shot up and ran for his car.
Alek couldn’t get the key Nicole gave him in the lock quick enough, but when he finally managed to get the door open, his heart almost leaped from his chest. Nicole lay in a pool of blood in the middle of the floor. He rushed over, his knees hitting the ground, and pulled her into his arms. Her chest rose and fell slowly. Not dead.
After laying her down, he pulled his phone from his pocket and called Devlin. “Nicole’s been attacked,” he said in way of greeting. “I’ll take care of it,” he said and hung up.
Her shirt, seeped in blood, had one long slash across it. Alcohol wafted off her. He thought she’d given up drinking. He was right to think she had been hurting. He kicked himself for not going outside to comfort her. Careful not to stir her, he lifted her shirt and examined the wound.
Rachel had discovered the last time Nicole had been wounded that she healed quickly. It was another one of those odd things about her magick that they didn’t understand. And until Nicole talked with her parents, they would remain in the dark. The cut along her abdomen was shallow, but the amount of blood surrounding her suggested it had been a deep cut. He was just thankful it hadn’t been too deep. The Old One, Hathor, had to heal her from what should have been a death wound when Set attacked her before. If the laceration had been the same as that one, he doubted she would have been alive now.
His phone rang, and he glanced down at the display. Rachel.
“She’s fine,” he said, answering.
“Devlin said we’re coming over.”
“No!” Alek yelled before he could catch himself. “I got this. The wound is shallow.” Why didn’t he want them here? Rachel could patch her wounds and they could take her back to the safe house. Dammit, he was having a hard time focusing. “Let me do this, Rach, please?”
She didn’t answer right away. “Tell me about the wound,” she said carefully.
Alek laid out his theory about the wound healing on its own. Rachel remained quiet for a short while.
He could hear Devlin arguing in the background. If anyone could get Devlin to change his mind, it was Rachel. “Okay,” she said finally. “I understand. Call me if you need me.” It was softness in her tone that made him understand as well. It wasn’t that he didn’t want them to come, he just wanted to help Nicole on his own. Selfish, yes. But necessary. It would calm the turmoil going on inside of him. Assuage his constant feeling of not being enough.
“Thanks,” he said finally and hung up.
After getting Nicole situated on the bed, Alek went into the bathroom and found the first aid kit, along with a towel. He returned to the bedroom. She hadn’t even stirred. How much had she drunk? He pushed the thought down and focused on cleaning up her wound. He went to his knees on the side of the bed and stared at the washcloth in his hands. Dammit, he’d need water. After a fruitless search for a bucket, he filled a saucepan with warm water and returned to Nicole.
“Nicole,” he said, moving the hair out of her face.
She mumbled but didn’t open her eyes. He set the pan on the side of the bed and submerged the towel. Once the wound was clean, he applied antibiotic ointment and clear-strip band aids. That would hold until Rachel could patch the wound if it needed it. Was he being unreasonable keeping them away? He stared down at his hands, now smeared in blood. He was a mind mage, for fuck’s sake. He didn’t know a damn thing about healing.
Still, stubbornness rode him. He could do this. He was enough. And no one was going to hurt his girl again.
Once Nicole was settled and he’d put on a fresh shirt for her to sleep in, he went out and scrubbed the blood out of the carpet. He would need industrial strength cleaner to get the stain up completely, and there was no way he was leaving her side to go buy some.
So, he did what he could for it, took a quick shower, and went back to lay next to Nicole.
And his heart and mind settled as he hummed her a song.