Never More (19 page)

Inside the room was what appeared to be a half-rotted corpse, black and bloated and oozing fluids. Its head had been severed from its body and was lying next to the toilet. The corpse looked like it had been kneeling, perhaps puking, when the blow was struck. In his hand was a single black feather, covered in blood and gore.

The corpse was wearing the same clothing Joe Cook had been when he’d greeted them that morning.

“Damn it.” Raven’s hands covered Amanda’s eyes. “Fucking hell.”

“It wasn’t you, and we can prove it.” Amanda turned, hugging him tight, burrowing against his chest. “We were in constant contact. I know where you were every moment of today.”

“Not good enough, little bird.” He began walking her backward, taking her away from the scene of the murder. “I could have lied to you.”

“Why Mr. Cook? He had nothing against you.” Amanda shivered, swallowing down the nausea that threatened to overcome her.

“Wrong place, wrong time.” Raven set her down on a bench by the open villa doors. “Breathe, little bird. Get rid of the smell.”

Yeah, right. She felt like it was soaked into her very skin. “I’ll try.” She took a deep breath, trying to smell the breeze, the orchard, anything but the vile thing that had once been a man.

A raven flew through the doors and landed at her feet. In its beak was a white chrysanthemum. It dropped the flower at her feet and tilted its head.

“Thank you.” She picked up the flower and sniffed, the floral scent overpowering some of the stench of the open bathroom. “That was very sweet of you.”

The raven cawed and flew away.

“Did you do that?” She smiled at Raven and kissed his cheek.

“Nope.” He cupped her chin in his hand. “They like you, and they know you’re part of our flock.”

“Really?” That surprised her, but she supposed it had something to do with the whole truebond thing. She hadn’t really interacted with his pets, so the thought that they not only knew who she was but liked her already was kind of sweet.

The raven returned, this time carrying a white rose. It dropped the flower at her feet and tilted its head.

“Thank you.” She smiled at the raven and held out her hand. “May I?”

The raven leaned forward, and for the first time Amanda touched one of the intelligent birds. Its feathers were smooth under her fingers. “You’ll protect Raven for me, right?”

It cawed and leaned against her hand before taking off once more.

“It’s my job to protect you.” Raven handed her the rose. “And I failed in that again today.”

“No, you didn’t.” She inhaled the scent of the rose. “There was no way for you to know that Mr. Cook would trigger one of the traps.”

He scowled. “And I still don’t know why. The traps have all been carefully targeted against specific people.”

“Could he be going for a bloodbath rather than a single target?” That thought, that she was walking on potential landmines, scared her to death.

He nodded. “It’s entirely possible. We won’t know for sure until we inspect the scene though, so try not to worry about it.” He patted her knee and stood. “No more work until we know for certain this area is safe.”

“How can you?” She was trembling. Shock must be setting in. She felt cold and dizzy, and couldn’t stop her mind from racing. “What if you set off a trap while looking for the traps?”

The very thought of Raven, his head beside his body, that playful smirk of his gone forever, chilled her more than the dead body in the bathroom did.

“No.” She stood, her fists clenched, the determination to never,
ever
see him like that sending that dizzying chill straight to hell. “You won’t be checking the room out.”

“Amanda.”

“No.” Her teeth were still chattering, and nothing she did seemed to make it stop. “I won’t lose you.”

His expression became fierce. “Not even death will keep me from you.”

He tugged her close, but she couldn’t sink into him this time. “I won’t lose you.”

“You won’t.” He burrowed his face in her hair, hugging her tight. “I swear to you, you won’t.”

“You can’t promise that.” She couldn’t send it away, the vision of Raven on his knees, his head by the fucking toilet, his eyes half-closed and filmed over with death.

“I just did.” Raven lifted his head and stared at her. “Have I lied to you yet?”

She stared at him, reading the sincerity, the resolve to keep his promise no matter what. “All right.” Amanda finally relaxed in his embrace. “But if you break that promise, I will kick your ass.”

“Duly noted.”

She snuggled closer. “I need superpowers like you guys. This frail human shit just isn’t cutting it.”

He chuckled quietly. “Frail? You?”

Amanda humphed, secretly pleased.

“Raven?” Robin’s soft-spoken question interrupted them. Amanda wasn’t sure when he’d gotten there. No doubt either Snod or Michaela had called for him. “We need to see what we can find out.”

“Of course, Father.” Raven stepped away from her, and instantly Amanda was chilled again. “I’m not far if you need me.” He tugged on the raven feather in her ear. “And you’ll hear everything that’s said.”

She took a deep breath. For some reason the knowledge that he wasn’t going to leave her in the dark calmed her. “If I can help, I will.”

“Good.” He kissed her forehead and settled her back down on the bench. “Stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

She sat, forced to wait while her lover looked over the body of their deceased host.

Chapter Nineteen

“I don’t get it.” Jaden knelt at the feet of the corpse, his expression a scowl. “How the fuck did I miss this at the other sites?”

That was what Raven wanted to know. “I think that maybe he placed an illusion spell, one that held for, like, forty-eight hours.”

“Just long enough for an investigator to miss the chalk lines.” Jaden cursed and stood. “Look there.” He pointed toward the mirror, where a faint sliver of glass was missing. “The murder weapon.”

“Yup.” Liam, who stood outside the bathroom, wasn’t even looking at them. He was watching the Extons surrounding Michaela with an eagle eye. Nothing would happen to them under Li’s watch.

Raven pointed toward the ceiling where the vent fan was. “How much do you want to bet the chalk line is there?”

“Or in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror.” Jaden looked around but, not finding whatever he was looking for, shrugged and turned back toward the room. He reached in and gently opened the medicine cabinet. “There.”

Gray chalk, barely visible, was on the back of the mirror.

“Why did Cook trigger the trap?” Raven glanced at Li. “Do we have a bio on this guy?”

Li’s expression changed, going momentarily blank as his eyes began their scrolling movement. “Joseph Cook, aged seventy-five, of the Cook clan of fairies. Lower-middle class to upper class, they range across the United States. Emigrated from Ireland. Gray Court, no real aristocracy among them.”

“Has he said or done anything to indicate he was against me joining the Gray?” Raven stared at the corpse, wondering if that had been what triggered the attack.

Li nodded slowly. “Posted on his social media only a day ago. Happy to be hosting RG’s wedding, but wish the blackbird was in hell where he belongs.” He scowled. “There’s more, but other than thinking you’re an evil asshat who’s going to bring the Gray Court to its knees he seems like an okay guy.” Li tilted his head. “He has a killer brownie recipe on his Pinterest board.”

Raven rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thanks. I think I’ll pass on the hate-filled brownies.”

“Now with extra arsenic!” Jaden smiled, the look so plastic he could have been a blow-up doll. “Get yours while supplies last.”

See, this was why Raven hated working with Jaden. The man was a pain in the ass. “So we know he was an anti-me guy, which would have made him a target. We know how he died.” Raven brushed his hand through his hair. “What we need to know is if there are any other targets?”

Li shook his head. “I’m not seeing anything from the wedding guests, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t said anything in private.”

“Why is the corpse decayed?” Robin, who’d been watching them work, kept his voice down. He must not have wanted Michaela to hear him. “After all, the murder is fresh.”

“Is it?” Raven bit his lip, his thoughts racing over a new, horrifying thought.

“You think he was first.” Li levered off the wall, his power flowing over the room. “No security cameras in here. Fuck.”

“The murder must have been hidden in one of Sayyid’s shadows, and something one of the girls did triggered the shadow to release him.” Robin glanced toward Michaela and grimaced. “Perhaps to frighten them off?”

“Make them run, make them easy pickings.” Raven tapped his claws on the edge of the door. “But they’re stronger than that, both of them.”

“Indeed, they are.” Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Which is why we cannot allow them any closer to this than they have been.”

“Wait. If he’s been dead for long enough to begin decomposing, who was it that showed us around the villa?” Li sighed. “Someone must be working with Sayyid.”

“A shape shifter, or a Sidhe. Someone who could make us believe they were Joseph Cook yet be unaware that we were being deceived.” Robin scowled, and the building shuddered. “I should have been more careful. I should have said no, and held the wedding at the Gray Palace as my king wished.”

“They still would have figured a way to get to you.” Jaden put his hand on Robin’s shoulder, a daring move when the Hob was that pissed. “It might not have been to this extent, but it still would have happened. This setup is too good, too well organized. He’s probably been planning this since you declared Raven your son.”

“Thus discrediting the Hob along with Raven.” Li shook his head. “I’d say it’s damn brilliant if I wasn’t trying to stop the asshole.”

There wasn’t much Raven could do about Robin’s anger other than direct it back where it belonged, on Sayyid. “More than likely it’s a Sidhe who rolled us. One of the Black.” Raven looked at his father. “The hobgoblins who are with the caterer and the baker, have them checked for signs of Sidhe influence.”

Robin nodded and stepped away, pulling out a cell phone.

Jaden tilted his head, his gaze going blank. “Duncan thinks he found something.”

“Oh?” Raven closed the bathroom door. Someone would be along soon to collect the body. The hobgoblin in charge of autopsies had already been informed of the murder and had made the appropriate arrangements. “Where?”

“Under the oak.”

Shit. So Sayyid had been planning on attacking the wedding party after all. “Tell him we’re on our way.”

Li, Raven and Jaden raced out of the building, ignoring the cries of the ones left behind. No way would Raven allow Amanda anywhere near Sayyid’s trap. If this was the one that Shane had sculpted, the one meant just for Raven, he would deal with it. There would be no golden strands lost to eternity, not if he had anything to say about it.

It took them very little time to reach the oak. Duncan was standing beneath it, staring up into the branches.

“What did you find?” Raven glanced up, wondering what had Duncan staring so intensely.

“Do you see it?” Duncan pointed up.

“See what?” Raven squinted, but all he could see were branches, leaves, and fairy lights.

Suddenly those innocuous fairy lights sparked, shining light right on to—

“Fuck me.” Raven took a step back. Somehow, some way, Sayyid had built the Escher trap right above where Robin and Michaela would say their vows to the High King. And he’d fucking done it with what looked like spider webs, invisible until the right light shone on the strands. “How the fuck did he do that?”

“I have no idea.” Duncan shuddered. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Neither have I.” Jaden was also entranced by the gossamer net of death. “It’s keyed to Raven, isn’t it?”

Raven shrugged. “Shane did a glass sculpture of ravens being sucked into the trap, one of them holding golden strands of hair in its claws.”

“Shit.” Li’s eyes sparked with electricity. “It’s possible you were supposed to be sucked in as you tried to save them.”

“Or maybe we were supposed to find this now, and it’s going to trigger any moment.” Raven shrugged, but he was far from nonchalant. Duncan, Jaden and Li could be killed if the trap was triggered while in his presence. “Go back to the villa and get Robin. He and I need to deal with this.”

“Fuck no, birdbrain.” Jaden rubbed his hands together. “I’ve been itching for a good fight.”

“You aren’t leaving me out of this.” Li slapped him on the back, the electricity running through him making Raven jump. “I’m in.”

Duncan nodded. “I thought something like this might happen, so I came prepared.” He pulled a pair of knives from under his coat and twirled them with expertise. “I’m ready.”

“You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Raven implored. He couldn’t let his friends get hurt, not by Sayyid. Not when he could prevent it. “He’s probably already adjusted to your presence. You won’t be left out of this if it goes off.”

“Then we’ll just figure a way back out.” Li stared at the pattern the web made, and began muttering to himself. Whatever he was doing sounded…odd. HTML code mixed with…was that calculus? And something about astrology?

Raven shook his head and ignored Li. “Duncan, you at least need to go get Robin.”

Duncan raised a brow, and his Seeming dropped. “My Jaden is here. I
will
fight beside him.”

You had to love Sidhe territorialism. Or not, when you were trying to save said Sidhe’s ass. “Jaden should go with you.”

“Too late.” Li stepped back, his arms extended, electricity flowing over his arms. “I think I accidentally set it off.”

“Fuck me sideways,” Jaden muttered. He too took a step back, dropping his Seeming. His eyes turned blood red, claws grew over his fingernails, and his fangs were extended.

Duncan took a fighting stance, his blades raised against whatever might come at them.

Raven sighed. “I hate this shit.” He dropped his Seeming as well, and prayed Robin got to them before there was nothing left of them.

The center of the trap seemed to funnel toward them, then away, repeating this several times until it was obvious it was extending its reach, going beyond the branches that held it. If they hadn’t been aware of its presence it might have gone unnoticed until well into the ceremony. Now they got to try and break it and hope none of them were caught up in it.

“What the fuck is that thing?”

Raven glanced back to see Matthew standing there, his gaze pinned on the webbing. “It’s dangerous. Go back to the house.”

“This is what killed that man back there, isn’t it?” Matt took a deep breath. “Or something very much like it.”

Raven thought about Michaela, and her uncanny ability to know who to trust and who to fear. He thought about Martin, and his ability to “see” fairies. So he asked the only question he could. “What do you see?”

Matt glanced at him for a moment before turning back to the trap. “I see a black funnel to nowhere.”

“Right.” This was it, then. What he’d been warned of. “Get back.”

Matt shook his head. “This is insane.”

“This will get you dead.” Duncan stared hard at Matt. “There’s nothing wrong. You think you hear your sister calling you. You should go see what she wants.”

Matt stared at him, then laughed. “What the hell, man? Was that some Jedi-fae mind trick or something?” He looked back up at the trap and muttered, “These are not the idiots you’re looking for.”

Li gasped, then began to laugh. “Say that again.”

Matt scowled, then shrugged. “These are not the idiots you’re looking for.”

The trap wobbled as Li spun some of his electricity around it through the wiring of the fairy lights. Raven was pretty sure he’d be restringing them later, because these were going to be toast. “Again.”

The pair repeated it, Li somehow weaving the words Matt said into the electrical impulses surrounding the trap. “Duncan. Make with the fae mind trick. Make it think we’re not here.”

Duncan’s eyes went wide before he began concentrating, his silver gaze glued to the strands of thread.

“Jaden. We’ll need to seal it.”

And the best magical seal? Blood, something a vampire would be familiar with. “Got it.” He began cautiously climbing the tree, avoiding the sparking wires as best he could.

“Raven. Feathers.”

Raven nodded. He knew now what Li was doing, why he’d been muttering the way he had. He’d been figuring out, in his own unique way, how to close the portal.

Raven took some of his feathers, said a quick prayer to the gods, and blew.

Amanda turned to Robin. Raven must have forgotten that she could clearly hear him, because he’d been trying to send Duncan and Jaden back fruitlessly. “They need you. They think they set off the trap Shane warned us about.”

Robin’s blue eyes turned green. Without a word he raced out the door, the rest of them following like a pack of lemmings. There wasn’t anything any of them would be able to do out there, except for maybe Michaela, but damn it if Amanda was going to sit in here and wait for Raven’s word that everything was all right.

Not after seeing that statue.

They hit the clearing the old oak stood in. Li stood with his arms extended, electricity flowing over him. Raven was blowing feathers toward what looked like a nightmare spider web as Jaden flicked his hand toward it. Drops of blood flowed toward the spider web, some of them landing on Raven’s feathers. And Duncan stood stock-still, the pair of daggers held tightly in his hands visibly trembling. Whatever he was doing was taking its toll on him.

Matt, too, was there, staring at the webbing with a fierce frown.

“Now, Matt!” Li barked, doing something that looked remarkably like a Muppet flail.

Matt looked startled. “Now Matt what?” he yelled back.

“Shit.” Li snarled. “I forgot you’re not one of us.” He looked around desperately, and settled on Michaela. “You!”

“On it.” She stepped forward, beside Raven, and began chanting in a beautiful, lilting language. She began to glow, her hair turning silver, her eyes golden, her skin paling to almost the color of her hair.

That light flew from Michaela into the web, mingling with the feathers and the blood in a black, red and silver swirl of color. The web began to retreat, pulling in on itself as the combined power of the fae started to overcome the strength of the ward.

Then, something odd happened. The center of the web twisted, turning in on itself in such a way that Amanda was reminded of the Escher patterns Raven had shown her. Her eye tried to trace all the paths that inner part of the web took, but there was no way out, no escape from the maze it became. It doubled in on itself, strands flowing one over the other and back again, confusing not only the eye but the mind.

She shook her head, terrified that if she kept tracing it she’d be drawn into the trap, that the center of the web
was
the trap and what they were fighting was nothing more than one of Sayyid’s illusions. If she was right, she had to say something before it struck. “Raven! The center is the trap!”

In response, Raven closed his eyes. “Got it.”

“Don’t look at the pattern,” Robin shouted. The Hob snapped his fingers, and one of the strands of the webbing fell free of the tree.

There was an unholy, bone-rattling shriek. The freed strand shriveled, disappearing with the scent of burnt feathers.

“It’s tuned to Raven.” Robin snapped again, and another strand broke free, shaking the ground beneath their feet. “Amanda, get him back to the house.”