Vilna-Daluca wasn’t fazed by the anger brewing around him. “Not if Ms. Alcmedi was planted there for purposes of espionage.”
Damian Brent’s face blanked in surprise.
“You’re not the only special agent in the room, young man. And I can assure you that my client did not murder the Eldrenne. If we doubted that, I wouldn’t be here. And,” she added ominously, “neither would she.” She tossed a business card into the air and it flipped and floated down onto the table where it skittered directly in front of him—guided by sorcery. “Please have your people send me the full disclosure paperwork as soon as possible. I have found it is always illuminating.” She may have been old, but she showed him an evil-granny smile that nearly made me shiver. The wicked-witch expression trumped human anger every time. “Good-bye, Agent Brent.”
I followed her down the hallway. Agent Brent called out, “Do you represent Mr. Newman as well?”
Vilna spun, incensed by the idea. “A wærewolf?” She gave him a single-noted derisive laugh. “Did you catch the part about me being from WEC, Agent Brent? We don’t represent wærewolves.” She stomped out.
I waited long enough for Johnny to give me a nod, then followed her.
“What really happened?” she demanded as we proceeded along the sidewalk.
“The fairies poisoned one of their own, a mermaid fairy named Aquula, and killed her,” I said. “Xerxadrea and Menessos were burying her at the Botanical Gardens. After she was laid to rest, the fairies attacked.”
Vilna-Daluca stopped dead. “That’s a very neat explanation, now that you’ve sealed the doorway and the fairies cannot be questioned.”
“Menessos and Goliath can corroborate my story!”
“Vampire words are worthless in a witches’ court.”
“Vilna, I swear to you. The fire fairy was the one throwing the fireballs. Xerxadrea dove in and …” I swallowed hard. “She took a fireball to save me. Then she crashed. She died inside. Menessos had been accompanied by Goliath and we gave him my red cape and my broom, thinking he’d draw off the fairies while we made an escape. Goliath waited until the last moment to buy us time to get out. We took a cab to The Dirty Dog, then returned to the haven.” I left out the part about Menessos mesmerizing a police officer. That was definitely illegal.
Vilna-Daluca shook her head. “A vampire piloting a witch broom alone?” She thrust her finger at me threateningly. “I know better than that.”
“I awakened it to life and commanded it to carry him as he bid that night. It did.”
“Impossible.”
“It did ! Goliath was taught the ways of magic before he was turned.”
She walked away from me, grumbling. I hurried after her. “Vilna! Wait!” I caught up to her just as she was joined by Celeste and Ludovica, who had stepped out of an antique shop. In street clothes the lucusi members could have been average older citizens out for a stroll, but their malign mugs made me keep my distance as I added, “I can’t believe you showed up here. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” she snapped. “I came to ensure I get the disclosure files, not to hear your lies.”
“But—”
“WEC takes care of our own, Ms. Alcmedi, and in this case, that’s the Eldrenne. WEC’s punishment won’t be doled out by human courts. I will see you Bindspoken yet.”
No you won’t. “Vilna,” I said softly, almost pitifully. She said nothing; the gleam in her eyes was pure hate. “Will there be a Crossing Ceremony for Xerxadrea?”
For a split second, her gaze softened. In one blink, though, all the severity resurfaced. “We’ve had it already. You weren’t invited.”
As the three of them marched away, leaving me standing on the sidewalk alone, my heart sank. Tears spilled.
To make matters worse, Johnny was still inside the police station.
Adjacent to the station was the Town Hall, a quaint and tiny brick building with a more formal flavor to its façade. I settled on the steps there and dried my cheeks with my sleeve. I’ll perform my own remembrance ceremony.
Head in hands, I waited for Johnny to come out.
Though Vilna had gotten me out of the station, this wasn’t over. She made me out to be an undercover witch in Menessos’s court. That didn’t seem like the kind of information that would make someone like Agent Brent back off, now that I thought about it. It seemed more like the kind of challenge that would add fuel to his fire.
The chorus of Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law” erupted from the flannel’s left breast pocket.
I didn’t recall bringing the protrepticus, but I grabbed it with such haste I nearly ripped the pocket. Even as I opened it I blurted, “Sam? How are you doing this?”
“Ha ha ha, little girl. Wouldn’t you like to know? Zhan’s bringing a car. Almost there.”
The light on the protrepticus faded out again.
I pushed buttons. I opened and shut it. I removed the battery pack, shook it, and put it back. The lights didn’t even flicker on the dead little scrap of technology.
A familiar Audi sidled up to the curb. Zhan waved. All I could do was nod and get in.
And wait for Johnny.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
We didn’t have long to wait. Johnny emerged from the police station less than ten minutes later.
“In addition to the Eldrenne’s death, they’re investigating the long strips of melted glass found on the Lake Erie shore,” Johnny said as he buckled his seat belt. Zhan was letting him drive; she sat in the back.
“How’d they link that to you?” I asked as he accelerated onto US 303.
“A man’s wedding ring was found embedded in the glass. Though partially melted it had some unique markings, which led to the item being ID’d as one that was sold to Robert and Donna Conner.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah. They paid a visit to the Conners’ house, trying to locate Robert to ask him about the glass. Donna told them they should ask me where he is.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked him if I was under arrest. He said they were just looking for information. I said I didn’t have any and couldn’t help him.” Johnny shook his head. “It won’t be the last of it, but he had no reason to hold me. I mean, Donna didn’t even file a missing person’s report.”
We were coming up on a road that would connect us to the interstate. “Are we heading home or to Pittsburgh?”
“It’s two and half hours one way,” Zhan said.
Johnny shook his head again. “We’re going home. This day’s fucked.”
“But I thought you wanted to get this taken care of ASAP.”
“I do … but we never moved Demeter’s bed to her new room and there should be a sense of hope in the onset of what we’re undertaking. Not this. Nearly being arrested is like a bad omen, you know?”
“I didn’t think you were superstitious like that.”
“Me either.”
I wondered if this “bad omen” should keep us from the haven tonight.
After lunch, I ordered the cake for the kids’ party the next day and we set about taking Nana’s bed apart and relocating it in her new room. When we were done, Johnny decided to track down Feral, Lycanthropia’s bassist, and talk to him about the band situation.
Before he left, I asked, “Has the Rege set a date to confirm you?”
“No. I think he’s got his people working on ways to alter the interpretation of their laws so he can deny me even after I prove that I can change at will.”
I broached the subject of the party at the haven. “Should we go?”
“Yeah. You have your duties. I should be back in time for it.”
“Should be?”
Zhan let him take the Audi. I think it was a means to coerce him to return on time.
Nana worked on her quilting. I settled in at the dinette in the kitchen and wrote up a reminder list for the party. It was the first kids’ party I’d ever thrown, and even though I’d be disguised as someone else, I wanted Nana to have a reference to make sure everything was proceeding according to plan.