Crimson Midnight (A New Adult Dark Urban Fantasy Series) (The Crimson Series Book 1) (27 page)

“Fancy meeting you here.” Faye said
snidely. “Migraine all gone?” she asked with an arched brow.  She took in
Rose’s dishevelled appearance with a frown.

“Um…I…” Rose blushed. She was a
terrible liar.

Roman came to her rescue, placing
an arm proprietarily about her shoulders. “I told you, you should have just
told her the truth. No point hiding it. People are going to find out soon
enough.” He squeezed her, a gesture meant to look, to the casual observer, like
a sign of affection, but its real purpose to shake Rose out of her verbal
fugue. It worked.

Rose attempted a bashful expression.
“I’m sorry, Faye. I just wasn’t ready to go public.” She gently extricated
herself from Roman’s grasp.  The feel of his body so close to hers, even in
pretence, was playing havoc with her pulse. She blushed.

Faye studied her for a moment as if
deciding whether to let her off the hook or not and Rose waited with bated
breath. Her friendship meant a lot to her and she crossed her fingers that Faye
would decide to play the understanding friend.  As it turned out, her luck was
in because Faye’s face broke into an impish smile.

“Well judging by the looks of you
both the date got a little heated.” She giggled and then lifted her boots for
Rose’s inspection– they were caked with mud.  “Not exactly the best night to
make out in the park is it.  I didn’t realise it would be so muddy.” She
grinned as another thought occurred to her. “This is great, it really is. Now
we can double date and stuff.”

Beside them, the two men let out a
collective groan which she chose to ignore.  A second later, Roman and Harold
moved away slightly, on the pretext of giving the girls some space, but really
wanting to trade information.

Rose smiled hoping that the action
looked genuine. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

Faye pouted. “You know, I thought
you didn’t want to spend time with me anymore. But now it all makes sense, you
had this thing with Roman going on. Believe me, I know how time consuming love
can be.” She glanced over her shoulder at Harold who was wreathed in shadow as
he listened to Roman, who was speaking in urgent hushed tones. “What’s that all
about?”

Rose thought quickly. “Oh, he’s
probably telling Harold not to say anything to anyone else.”

“Why?”

“Well, because…because of Thistle.”
She swallowed hard around Thistle’s name, feeling guilty for using it in a lie.

“Oh my God! Of course! He’s with
Thistle.” She stared at Rose appraisingly. “You naughty, naughty girl! I didn’t
think you had it in you.”

Rose shifted uncomfortably from
foot to foot.  Great, now she was a boyfriend thief too. “It’s complicated.”
And that was the truth.

“Well, I’m all ears. I love
complicated.” Faye rubbed her hands together with glee. “And here I was
thinking you and Thistle were friends.” She laughed. “I know you would never do
that to me,” she said with certainty.

“Of course not!” Rose’s temper
flared, she didn’t like this, didn’t like her friend thinking of her this way.
“Roman and Thistle have an open relationship, they see other people.”

Faye frowned. “Oh…so him and you…”

“Yeah, it’s just a…thing.” It
sounded lame even to her own ears and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes–
this was getting messier by the minute
.

 Please hurry up
, she sent a
mental plea to Roman.
I need to get out of here before I dig a deeper hole
.

Behind Faye, Roman’s head snapped
up as if he had actually heard her. Breaking away from Harold, he joined them
once more. “Sorry to interrupt, ladies. But I’m going to steal Rose away from
you.” He addressed Faye. “I’m sure you can catch up on all the gossip soon.” He
smiled charmingly.

“Of course.” Faye smiled, winking
at Rose.

“Come on, baby. It’s getting
chillier. Let’s get a drink.”  Harold put his arm around Faye, drawing her
away. She went willingly.

“See you soon, Rose.” She called
over her shoulder.

Rose waved goodbye. Suddenly
gripped by the magnitude of her deception she turned to Roman.  “We’ll have to
break up.”

“Of course.” He looked drawn, pale
and tired but when his eyes met hers she saw a familiar spark of mischief.
“After the first double date.”

She smacked him on the arm and
walked away.

36.

TEARS FOR HIM

Flo had prepared a huge meal. There
were burgers, sausages, steaks, chips, roasted potatoes, salad and fresh bread
rolls. There was plenty to go around. And bearing in mind the pack’s usual
appetite, she didn’t anticipate leftovers.

Raven, Damon, Kris, Harold and
Maxwell had been invited round for dinner. 

After Roman and Rose’s findings in Richmond Park, Raven had felt that it would be useful to discuss the recent events.  Flo
had in turn offered a venue and to provide the brain food. The council was conducting
their own investigation, but the more heads the merrier, and it wasn’t
inconceivable that they may stumble across a theory or idea that the council
may have overlooked. It was a long shot, but it was better than the inactivity
they were now faced with as the senior officials took over.

With Erin packed off on a sleepover
at a friend’s, they could talk openly about what had happened. 

“Okay, everyone, eat up. We can
discuss things after. I want full stomachs. I know I always think better with
grub in me belly.” Flo instructed as she piled plates of food onto the already
overloaded kitchen table.

Raven nodded, eyeing the steaks.
“We eat first and then we talk.”

“Over coffee?” Maxwell asked. “I
feel like I’ve pulled a double shift.  I’m exhausted.”  He rubbed his eyes as
if to illustrate. Going from work at The Whisper straight to Richmond Park had meant that it had been the early hours before his head had hit the pillow.
Then with four hours sleep he had been back at work for a nine hour shift. He
was definitely feeling it. 

“Of course, luv.”  Flo smiled
warmly at him. “Get some grub in you first, though.”

They all ate, making polite small
talk, each of them eager to get to the real reason for the gathering. 

Roman ate stoically, shovelling
food into his mouth like an automaton, his eyes fixed on some point ahead of
him.

Upon his return from the park the
night before, despite his assertion that he would eat, he had barely swallowed
two or three mouthfuls before making his excuses and retiring for the night.
The tiny flash of humour he had exhibited at the park had been extinguished and
he had retreated back into a shell of his own making. 

Rose had found that she herself had
little appetite and had followed his example by calling it a night.   

This morning had dawned bright and
chilly. Despite the urge to snuggle back under the covers and forget the world,
she had forced herself out of bed and to work.  Putting everything else on hold
had been hard for her. She couldn’t imagine how Roman had got through the day.
Looking at him now she could take a pretty solid guess.  He had his shell and
that was keeping him going…for now.  

After dinner they all retired to
the living room.

“It’ll be more comfortable in here.”
Flo advised. “I’ll bring in the coffee.”

“May I have some tea?”  Damon asked
tentatively.

“Of course you can, luv. I’ve got
some lovely PG Tips.”

Damon wrinkled his nose.

Flo chuckled. “Don’t worry, luv,
I’ve stashed some Earl Grey away just for you.”  Damon looked mortified. “I...I
didn’t mean any offence. PG Tips will be fine,” he said earnestly.

“It’s alright, luv. I prefer
Nescafe to Maxwell House me self. We all have our own tastes.”  She turned and
headed to the kitchen for the drinks. Raven followed to assist her.

Once everyone had arranged
themselves comfortably in the living room, and Flo had handed out the requested
beverages, an uncomfortable silence ensued.  Not so strangely, it was Roman who
broke it first, turning penetrating eyes on Maxwell. “Okay, tell me.  What’s
the verdict?”

Maxwell took a sip of his coffee,
unfazed by Roman’s intense regard, and then carefully placed the mug on the
coffee table before him. “Blood and mucus.” His mouth turned down.  “Thistle’s
blood and…the mucus, not from any creature we have on record.”

“Demon?”  Kris asked.

Maxwell nodded. “It’s the most
probable answer. Although they are still doing tests on the sample I gathered.”

“Resident or not?”  Harold asked.

“Not certain in this case. I didn’t
recognise the signature so I’m thinking probably not.” 

Rose found her head snapping from
one person to the other as the conversation continued around her. What the hell
were they on about? Resident or not? They could at least have the decency to
explain. She looked around the room. Everyone else, including Flo, looked
completely up to speed. Was she the only one floundering? It hardly seemed fair
considering none of them had been attacked in the last few weeks, let alone
twice! She deserved explanations and a little consideration. At that thought
she found, surprisingly, that she was suddenly pretty pissed off.  She revelled
in the feeling for a moment.

 
Baby, I’ve missed you
, she
thought.

It sure beat the hell out of
feeling scared, or miserable– two emotions that had been hogging her psyche
these past few days. “Don’t mind me,” she drawled sarcastically, rudely
interrupting the conversation but not caring an iota. “I’m sure I’ll be
receiving my ‘Guide to the Supernatural World’ in the post shortly.” She smiled
faux-sweetly, levelling her cool gaze on Maxwell.

Maxwell opened and closed his mouth
a couple of times, frowning as if unsure as to the reason of her outburst. Then
his brow cleared. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting you haven’t been filled in on
all the intricate workings of the supernatural world.  With everything going
on…we were going to assign you a mentor…” he trailed off, looking
uncomfortable.

Rose sighed, her annoyance
vanishing almost as soon as quickly as it had arisen.  It wasn’t Maxwell’s
fault she wasn’t up to date on how things worked in this new reality.  She knew
that. And she knew if things were different, she would probably know what she
was by now.  But life, even in the supernatural world, could be a bitch, and
from the sequence of events that had occurred, even more so. “It’s okay, forget
it.  Please continue. I’ll try to keep up.” She waved him to go on. “I’m just
feeling a little bleugh.”

“No, let me explain a little about
demons. I’d like to.” He smiled tentatively as if to ask if they were still
friends.

Rose nodded, returning the smile.

“Demons aren’t ruled by anything
but greed and occasionally power.  They’re very egocentric beings and the
demons that do exist on this plane are relatively harmless.”

Rose didn’t even attempt to
disguise her scepticism.  “I wouldn’t call the one that attacked me harmless by
any stretch of the imagination.”

“No, because the one that attacked
you wasn’t a resident of this plane.”  He leant forward. “From what you and
Thistle described, we were able to identify that particular demon as a higher
level demon. To get here, it would have needed to be summoned.”

“Huh?” 

Raven stepped in to explain.
“Higher level demons can only enter our reality if summoned by a summoner.”

“Supernatural beings like you and me
but with the power to bring forth and command demons,” Maxwell added.

“So there have always been demons
in this reality?” Rose asked incredulously.

Maxwell nodded, shooting her a half
smile. “They mostly like to mess humans around. You know, hide out in old
houses and throw shit around the place, make thumping sounds.  Human perception
is different to ours, they don’t see things the way we do.”

“Poltergeists?”

“Yeah, you could call them that.”

“Wow, someone should tell the
makers of Most Haunted.” 

Flo snorted. “That programme’s a
load of crap if you ask me, all that running around in the dark and heavy
breathing.  They’d shit a brick if they came across the real thing.”

Everyone laughed.

Rose turned back to Maxwell. “So
let me get this straight. Until the attack on me, you didn’t have proof that a
higher level demon was around?”

“That’s correct.  It’s given us a
solid lead and the council is questioning all registered summoners in the city
and around the country. So far, no joy, but they’re also looking at any
summoners that might have travelled into the country in the last two months.
It’s a long process but they’ll find them, and once they do we can put a stop
to this.”

“And get Thistle back.” Roman
added. 

There was an awkward pause, which
Raven finally broke.  “It’ll be the first thing we’ll do,” he said sincerely
and Rose shot him a grateful look. 

Throughout the whole discussion
Harold had sat silent, listening intently. Now he put down his mug and
addressed the group. “So this summoner brought forth a demon to terrorize the
city?  First that warlock guy gets attacked and taken, then some humans are
targeted.” He looked at Maxwell for confirmation.

“Yeah, lucky for them they weren’t
home when the projectile demon hit.” Maxwell added.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,
there’s no pattern.” Harold shook his head. “I mean a warlock then a human
household and then Rose is attacked.  Did the summoner know she wasn’t human?
And how the hell does Thistle fit in?  It makes no sense. What’s the objective
here?  And have you all forgotten the rogue wolf? What the hell was that about?
Could it be connected?” 

“The strongest link we have is
Rose.” Raven pointed out. “Although there have been other supposedly random
attacks, I found out a few hours ago that a clairvoyant woman has also gone
missing, once again the council are certain it’s a demon attack.  Rose is the
strongest link simply because there have been two attacks on her– demon and
wolf.” He paused, thinking through his theory. “Something or someone is quite
specific about wanting Rose. We just need to figure out why and how the attacks
fit in.”

“Thistle was with her both times
too and now she’s gone.  Maybe this thing, whatever it is, wanted Thistle and
Rose just happened to be there.” Roman suggested.

“No.” Rose shook her head. “I’m
pretty sure it was me the wolf was after.  Even Thistle agreed at the time, and
the demon…I can’t explain it but the way it looked at me…” she trailed off,
blinking away the disturbing vision of glowing eyes.

“This is such a mind fuck!” Kris
ran a tired hand across his face.

“Yeah, it looks that way to us,”
Maxwell said. “Maybe because that’s the way it’s supposed to look. But trust me
on this, whoever is doing this, they have a plan.  Summoning and controlling a
demon takes a huge amount of energy and willpower.  It’s not something a
summoner does lightly, especially not a higher level demon.  Finding the
summoner is the first step.  Once we have them the rest will fall into place.”

“And the rogue wolf?” Harold
refused to be put off.

Maxwell shrugged. “Don’t know. But
he’s dead so we ain’t getting any answers there.”

Harold snorted in disgust.

Rose sat back, trying to process
everything she had just heard.  Summoners and demons and rogue wolves, the
words swam around inside her head.  “Is there anything else I should know
about?” she asked half-jokingly. “Like what other supernatural beings might I
have the pleasure to come across? Zombies? Selkies? Fairies at the bottom of
the garden?”

Maxwell grinned. “Zombies? Not
likely unless you happen to trespass upon a necromancer ritual.  Necromancers
tend to keep themselves to themselves, though, mostly self-employed, working on
a contractual basis for other corporations with ties to the council and the
supernatural world.  Selkies? Never seen one. Don’t know if they exist. And
fairies, or the fey as they’re called, quit the council a long time ago, preferring
to retreat to their sidhes underground. I think they may have returned to their
homeland.”

“Oh.” Rose sat dumbfounded. She
hadn’t expected such a full answer.

Raven’s phone vibrated in his
pocket signalling the arrival of a text message. He opened the message and read
it while the conversation progressed around him.

IT’S BRANDON. I NEED TO TALK TO YOU
URGENTLY. MEET ME BY THE UNIVERSITY MAIN ENTRANCE.

Raven hadn’t spoken to Brandon since what happened at the university that day. He’d seen him around campus and
tried to say hello, but Brandon hadn’t even acknowledged him. He felt really
bad about hurting his feelings and didn’t want Brandon to hate him, but there
was little he could do about that.  It was obvious that Brandon didn’t want
anything further to do with him.

Roman turned to Maxwell. “So we
just wait for news then?” His face was a stony mask. 

Maxwell nodded.

“What, and hope that Thistle hangs
on in the mean time?”

Kris looked warily at Maxwell,
shaking his head imperceptibly side to side, a warning to tread carefully.

Maxwell, however, not a fool, and
accustomed to the wolves, read Roman’s body language for what it was– werewolf
on the edge.  When he spoke his tone was calm and sincere, his body language
open and unthreatening. “I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling, Roman. But trust
me– the council is working as fast as they can. The vampire community is not
one to give up on its own, and Thistle is dear to many people. We
will
figure this out.”

Roman swallowed back a lump of
emotion, dropping his gaze so he was staring at his hands clenched into fists
in his lap– the only outward sign of his pent up emotion.  Rose realised how
hard this must be for him.  Just sitting and waiting for someone else to do
something.  Not having the power to make things move faster.  It rankled her too
but, as Maxwell said, there was nothing more they could do for now.

“I’m afraid I have to leave.” Raven
stood fluidly moving toward the door.

“Everything okay?” Harold asked,
his expression alert, a pack member ready for duty.