Release Me When the Sun Goes Down (12 page)

I climbed the stairs swiftly, giving Gunnar a short nod.  “I’ll take it from here, thanks, Gunnar.”  Rob didn’t say a word as I helped him down the stairs and into his room.  Once there, I sat him on the edge of the bed and knelt between his legs to untie his shoes.  “You’ve been smoking,” I observed aloud.  “What’s wrong?”

“Apart from the obvious?”  He sounded dead tired, hardly bothering to keep his eyes open now that he was in the sanctity of his own room. 

“No luck tonight then, huh?”

Rob let out a long breath.  “Not a sign of either of them.  Course, we could be going about this the wrong way.  If they’ve healed up, there’s no reason why they’d still be tied to the same neighborhood.  They could be halfway to China by now.”

“Is that why you’re so grumpycakes?” I asked, working his t-shirt up and over his head. 

“Look at this.”  He gave an unhappy snuffling sound.  “You’re practically my mum now, undressing me for the night like a bloody infant.”

“I wouldn’t quite say that…”  I smoothed my hands down the front of his bare chest, delighting in the muscled ridges of his abdomen, only stopping to wrestle with his belt buckle and his hands clamped over mine. 

“You shouldn’t start something I can’t finish.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you in your sleep,” I teased, easing his pants off with gentle care.  “I make no promises about tomorrow though.” 

Rob let me tuck him into bed, the tension still furrowed on his brow despite his exhaustion.  “I hate this… this weakness.  I’m no use to you like this,” he grumbled and I laid a hand to his cheek.

“It’s okay, Rob.  What’s a couple of lost hours every night?  We have all the time in the world now.”

His hand pressed mine close, but quickly fell away as he slipped closer to oblivion.  “Don’t deserve you.”

“That’s debatable.”

“Lovely as the sun…” he murmured, his chest going still as he slid completely under. 

I smiled over that
spot of poetry, tucking the quilt around him. “Good night, Rob.  Sleep deep.”  My night wasn’t quite over yet. 

The others came straggling in close to dawn and we closed the drapes, recapping what they’d found – which was mostly a whole lotta nothing.  But things were slowly moving into place. 
Members of The Order were only too pleased to help out, according to Mason, and grateful for the office space I’d offered.  Marcus said he’d contacted some of the local trackers to continue the search during the day too.  As long as we were willing to pay, the local shifter community didn’t mind getting involved in our business, contrary to what Mathis had led me to believe. 

Gunnar reported that Jarrod and Leander had volunteered to put out the discreet word not only in their clubs, but had reached out to some of the other more prominent businesses in town.  Everyone seemed to be at once fascinated and afraid of the prospect of another
Ellri
in our midst and keen to help locate them.  All we could do now was wait for either of them to show up somewhere or make their next move. 

It was late, but I sent a long email to Felix, keeping him abreast of the situation, asking him to call me the next night to discuss what if any ramifications it might have for the West.  Everyone else had gone to bed for the night when I finally trudged downstairs, my own steps clumsy as I checked on Rob and found him unmoved since I’d last seen him.  I laid a brief kiss to his cool lips before shuffling off to my bed alone, doing my best to borrow from
Scarlett O’Hara and worry about the worst of it tomorrow.

You’d think I would either sleep like the dead and not dream at all or be haunted by nightmarish visions of Lodinn killing everyone I held dear.  But as I drifted closer to consciousness, I found myself caught in the throes of a more pleasant reality.  There was no sign of doom or gloom for once, only joy and song.  I sat in an ornate boxed seat at the theater, bathed in golden candlelight.  The music swelled all around me, the soprano’s voice achingly beautiful, seeming to float above the orchestra. 

My gloved hand clenched tightly in my lap as I yearned to become a part of it and I felt his approach even before his hands settled upon my shoulders, his lips brushing light against my ear.  “It’s yours for the taking if you want it,” he said, his touch familiar though I couldn’t place the voice from the whisper. 

“I can’t, not now.”  I wasn’t ready and there was too much to do, too many responsibilities calling my name.

“Some day then.  Some day we’ll have this.” 

There was peace in that moment, in the gentle touch, the beauty of the song lifting my cares away.  This was where I belonged.  I felt his withdrawal and turned my head to catch sight of him, but he was gone.  “Wait, wait for me…” I called out, my voice piercing the silence of my bedroom as I startled myself awake, the song still reverberating through my mind. 

The dream slipped away quickly, no matter how desperately I clung to the elusive tendrils of bliss, leaving me with the cold hard truth of the night.  I wasn’t surrounded by soothing strains of music or golden light, instead reality greeted me with chaos waiting in the wings.  For long minutes I lay in the dark
, wondering what life would’ve been like if I’d never accepted the position of Elder.  If I were free to be with who I wanted, wherever I wanted, with no thought for the future beyond where I’d lay my head the next day. 

It lasted all of ten minutes before I pushed myself up and out of bed.  As tempting as it was, I couldn’t run away from my problems – all that would lead to was ne
w ones at the moment.  But someday maybe.  Someday I could chart my own future and not feel guilt for doing it. 

A quick peek in on Rob showed him still dead to the world, so I rose to check in with the others, pleased to find both Mason and Marcus already out on the prowl.  Maggie had a slew of messages for me
, some reporting in with no good news in particular, and some ordinary Elder business to see to.  It was surprising that I hadn’t heard back from Felix yet, but it was still early.  I excused myself to dive right into the busywork to keep my mind from conjuring the worst case scenarios that kept spinning whenever I let my thoughts go blank. 

Not ten minutes after I got settled at my desk with a cup of cocoa in one hand and the mouse in the other, Maggie poked her head in. 

“Marcus called, he’s had a lead on Jakob.”

“
He did?”  My spirits instantly higher, I reached for the landline handset.  “Is he still on the phone?”

“No, he called my cell and said he couldn’t talk long or his pigeon might fly the coop.  He said for you to meet him at the
Café du Nord
.  Does that make sense to you?”

It made perfect sense.  The club was one of Jakob’s favorite watering holes, and the staff all treated him like a celebrity.  If he needed help
, it stood to reason he might turn there first. 

“Great, send him a text that I’ll be right down there.  He didn’t say anything else about who his source was, did he?”

“No, nothing.  Should I go with you?”

“Ah… no, I think it’s better i
f you stay here until we have more info.  I’ll take Gunnar with me.” 

Rob would probably squawk when he heard about it, but I couldn’t wait around for him to wake and I wanted to see who Marcus had dredged up.  If he didn’t want to spook his witness
, it stood to reason that he couldn’t compel him or her – but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do it if need be.  As much as I hated doing it, we had to find Jakob before Lodinn made his next move.

Unfortunately, we were already way too late. 

As I strolled into the
Café du Nord
with Gunnar by my side, it wasn’t readily apparent that something was off.  But the moment I caught sight of Marcus’ face… I felt my stomach drop.  He sat ramrod straight in the booth, his lips curved into a pleasant enough smile, but there was no hiding the discomfort behind his eyes.  

“Something’s wrong,” I murmured, even as my gaze darted around, trying to see what it might be, but I wasn’t prepared to see Lodinn’s smirk from across the room.  For some reason I hadn’t thought he’d be ready to show himself in public like this, but there he was big as life, holding court at a corner table, commanding the waitstaff with a snap of the fingers.  He beckoned to me with a wave, his other arm draped ca
sually around Hanna’s shoulders.  We both knew he could snap her neck in an instant if he chose to. 

“Ah, there she is,” he beamed, giving Hanna’s shoulder enough of a shake to make her head wobble, though she didn’t do more than smile.  “See, I told you this was the perfect place for a family reunion.”

“
Cào nî zûxian shí bâ dai
,” slipped out.  Of course he heard me, but to my surprise Lodinn understood the Mandarin. 

“That’s gonna be a little hard, princess, they’re either long dead or in another realm,” he smirked.  “But I’m available if you want to give it a whirl.”

I froze in place, as my worst fears jockeyed for space in my mind’s eye.  Would this be the lesson where Lodinn showed me he could take my sister away permanently?  Or was it time for him to step up his game and take me instead?

Lodinn wiggled two fingers in my direction, all smiles, every inch the benevolent host.  “Have a seat.  Can I get you a drink?”

“Aquavit, please,” I said woodenly, sliding into the other side of the semicircular booth.  With a jerk of my head I sent Gunnar to go sit with Marcus at the other table.  The farther away I kept them from his reach, the better.

Lodinn beamed at that.  “A girl after my own heart, I approve.  Aquavit for everyone!” he called out, which was met with an enthusiastic cheer from the patrons in the vicinity.  Did any of them know who he was?  Or had he compelled the entire club to treat him as royalty? 

The staff poured out glasses of the amber liquid for us all and Hanna made a face as she tried a sip.  “Blecch, I’ll stick with champagne, you can have mine.”  She slid it in front of Lodinn.

“Are you kidding me?”  His face fell as if she’d pitched it
at him.  “This stuff is like mother’s milk.  Drink it.”

The compulsion took hold and Hanna upended her glass, coughing like crazy after she swallowed, but
finishing with a proud smile.  “Ta-da…” she croaked. 

“Are you okay?” I asked, resisting the urge to pull her out of his reach and pat her back. 

“Sure, I’m fine,” she smiled easier once the burn began to fade.

“Of course she is,” Lodinn grinned, picking up the bottle to refill her glass and I pulled it from her fingers before he could pour it.

“Please don’t make her do that again.  You want a drinking buddy, fine.”  I picked up my drink and downed it, pushing the empty glass back across the table toward him.  “Pour us another.”

“I do like a girl who can hold her liquor,” he allowed, refilling all three glasses again.  “There’s only so much a guy can do with an unconscious date, you know?”  His eyes traveled over Hanna and I resisted the urge to retch. 

“I heard you got into it with Jakob the other night,” I said, trying to draw him to a different topic.  “How did that play out?”

“I take it he didn’t come running to the succor of your embrace then?”

“No, I haven’t seen or heard from him since.  Of course, I had to get myself out of the morgue that night, so that filled up a chunk of my evening.”

His ever
-present smile twitched wider.  “I heard about that.  Very resourceful of you rescuing your pet like that.  Your blood must be stronger than I thought.  Why didn’t you bring him along tonight?  The more, the merrier.”

“Oddly enough
, he’s not your biggest fan.  Though honestly, I had no idea you’d be here tonight.  You could’ve called me yourself if you wanted to talk.  You didn’t have to involve Marcus.”

“I didn’t,
you
did.  You sent him out to hunt me down, didn’t you?  I was only giving you what you wanted.  So now that you’ve got me, what do
you
want to talk about?” 

I stared at him, at a loss for words.  What the heck did one say to a crazy
Ellri
hell-bent on destroying everything I loved without knowing what might set him off?”

Lodinn let out a long sigh, picking up his drink and tipping it back.  “That’s what I thought.  Just when I thought you might be different.”

“What do you want?” I blurted out.

“Lots of things,” he said with a wink and a leer that was so exaggerated, it had to be an act.

“No, I’m serious.  You obviously have an end game in mind.  How do you see this playing out?”

“I see Jakob on his knees, the tatters of everything he loves in ruins around him as I watch him draw his final breath.”

If he’d said it with even a smidge of passion I would’ve understood it, but the fire had long since burnt out, leaving him nothing more than a hollow husk.  There was nothing but emptiness in his voice, no emotion, no anything.

“It won’t bring her back, you know,” I said gently
.

“Oh, are you going to psychoanalyze me now, princess?  I seriously doubt you know what you’re talking about.”