Faustine (22 page)

 “That’s weird.”

“Do you want me to get her?” Ryker asked.

“Get her?”

“You know, break her out? Bring her over here?”

“Yes! I mean
yes
to the break her out, but can you take me back to Manhattan first? Then, we could all meet at my home. I need a break from the London madness, some time to think.”

“Sure.”

“Dorian, I’ll be back soon,” I promised.

“But, Princess, we have things to do,” he protested.

“And you and I will take care of them,” Mom replied from behind the large sofa in the corner. She had been totally hidden from view behind the tall, ornate back of the couch.

“Mom! Have you been here all this time?”

She got up and walked over to us. “I had made myself comfortable reading by the fireplace when all of you arrived. I decided to keep reading...” she explained, pointing to her book.

“So, you heard everything?” Dorian queried.

“Well, yes. It was hard not to.”

I chortled.

“What’s so funny, hon?” Mom asked, smiling at me.

“Oh, just the thought that we are hoping to sniff out an out-of-control, possibly-possessed vampire, but we can’t even sniff you out, sitting right here in the same room! How ridiculous is that?”

“It’s not the least bit funny,” Dorian retorted huffily.

“Actually,” Mom said, her smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. “What’s not funny is that you have involved my
fifteen
-year-old in this! I absolutely forbid her to have anything more to do with this.
I
am taking over,” she said firmly, shooting Dorian the death glare for good measure.

“Mom, they–the other London sovereigns–won’t listen to you,” I warned.

“They will,” she said firmly. “Now, it’s not like you haven’t got your hands full, anyway. You need to find out what’s going on with Neave and Tessa. I’ll talk to the council and get a plan organized to hunt down the killer vampire.”

I nodded. Mom commanded respect, and when she was in this mood, no one would mess with her. But, just to make sure, I shot Dorian
the look
. It was his task to keep her safe. It was hard to find anyone with a sharper mind than Mom’s, and she could turn out to be invaluable in helping us hunt down the killer.

Then, I turned to Ryker and nodded. He placed his hands on my shoulders, and I felt the weightlessness I had felt the last time we wandered together. I clung to him as my eyelids were forced shut by the pressure, and we remained glued to each other for much longer than we had the last time. I was jolted back to reality when my feet connected with something solid. Ryker let go of me, and I opened my eyes. We were back in my Manhattan bedroom. I slumped onto my bed and watched Ryker as he disappeared into thin air again, this time to retrieve Neave.

I was in a no-win situation with Katerina. Unless I could figure out a way to rescue Kismet, Luke and the others, it was fairly clear that I’d be forced to abdicate.  I couldn’t think of a way to rescue them. The only one who could release them from a protective shield was the witch who cast the spell in the first place–Katerina. Did I even have a guarantee that she would release them after I abdicated? No.

I picked up the phone and called Fitch. I
knew
that I could trust him. “Fitch, can you come over? And, can you bring Taylor?”

Ryker returned–alone–before Fitch and Taylor arrived.

“Where’s Neave?”

“At her apartment, in her room.”

“Doing what?”

“Eating pizza and watching
Freaky Friday
.”

“Why didn’t you bring her with?”

“She’s protected–confined–in a shield. I couldn’t penetrate it.”

“Did Katerina get to her? Why?”

“She doesn’t know. Her stepfather decided that it would be safest for her to stay in her room. She assumed that she was just locked in when she called me earlier and was just as surprised as I was to encounter the shield. She hadn’t even noticed before.”

“Who put it up?” I asked, confused. Ryker shrugged. Tessa wasn’t home. Could she have done it remotely to keep Neave safe?

“Expecting someone?” Ryker asked when the doorbell rang.

“Yeah. Just Taylor and Fitch.” Ryker followed as I went to answer the door.

“Wassup?” Fitch asked.

“Hey, guys! How are you feeling, Taylor?” I asked.

“Great. Back to normal. What are you doing back here? Fitch gave you Kismet’s message, right?” she asked, throwing Fitch a stern look.

“Yeah,” I reassured her.  “Mom’s dealing with stuff in London at the moment. We came back to break Neave out of confinement, but it seems she’s been witch-shielded as well, so...” I shrugged.

“By Katerina?” Fitch asked.

“No idea. She doesn’t know. She just thought that Robert–her stepfather–had locked her in for her own safety because Tessa is missing.”

“Robert?” Taylor repeated, shooting Fitch another
look
.

“Yeah. Tessa’s new hubby–nerdy human stockbroker,” I explained. “What was that look all about?”

“What look?”

“You know, the one you two shot each other when I mentioned Neave’s stepfather.”

“It wasn’t that you mentioned the stepfather,” Fitch explained. “It was the name–Robert.”

I raised my shoulders and eyebrows. “Explain.”

“Robert’s a fairly common name; it’s our dad’s name as well.”

“Yeah, really common name,” I agreed.

“It’s just that, well, combine that with the nerdy stockbroker thing.... It’s probably just a coincidence, but… our dad’s name is Robert and he fits the description.”

My mind blanked for a moment. Then my mouth fell open. “Are you saying that your dad may be Neave’s new stepfather?” I asked, totally aghast.

“Geez,” Ryker murmured. “Is he a wizard?”

 “Describe him. In detail,” I demanded. Fitch described Tessa’s Robert exactly; it was the same man I had encountered in the elevator with Ryker. Either him or his doppelganger. Sheesh. What did this mean?

“How could Tessa not know that her husband is a warlock?” I asked, stumped.

“Oh, Dad’s really good at disguising himself,” Taylor said. “I can’t believe he got married without even telling us!”

“At least we know where he’s been spending all his time,” Fitch muttered.

“So, I guess Robert put the shield around the apartment to confine Neave,” Ryker muttered. “But why? Do you think he’s trying to rescue Tessa and did it to keep Neave safe?”

Taylor shrugged. “He would know there’s no way he could do that other than convincing the witch who cast the spell to remove it.”

“Does he know Katerina?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Fitch replied. “I should warn you, though; he’s a very powerful and power-hungry warlock. Everything he does is well planned and aimed at furthering himself. When we were younger, he would tell us that one day we would be the warlock sovereigns of New York.”

“How does marrying Tessa fit into that, or did he marry her because he loved her?” I asked.

“Dad doesn’t do anything for love,” Taylor said, shaking her head.

My head felt like it was about to explode. What was all this? I let my head drop on to my palms. What the heck was going on? Had he married Tessa just to get access to me?

“Why don’t we call Mom?” Taylor suggested. “She might be able to help figure this out. After all, she was married to him.”

“Can we trust her?” Ryker inquired, much to my relief.

“Duh! Yeah! Of course we can,” both Taylor and Fitch exclaimed. “Why would you even ask that?”

“Well, it’s just that Oscar is missing, too, and Alexandra did conveniently step in...” I explained.

“It’s not like she wanted to! She was practically forced by the New York council. And, she’s hoping that Oscar will return so she can get back to her regular life. She’s not loving dealing with all this,” Taylor said firmly. Fitch was nodding as well.

“All right, call her. Or maybe we should go over to her place?”

“
H
ey, kids,” Alexandra said, ushering us into her apartment. “Getting together to study? Taylor, you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom. We need to talk to you.”

“Oh, okay. What can I do for you? Let’s go to the kitchen, so I can get you some snacks.”

Once we were seated around the breakfast table, and I had finished chewing the first few pieces of my steak, I got down to business. I wasn’t sure where to start. I had to assume trust, or this was going to go nowhere. If I was wrong to trust her... Well, it could end up in a demon showdown.

“How’s Kismet? I’d love for you to bring her up for lunch when it’s safe for her. Is she still over at Pauline’s?”

“She is,” I confirmed. “She–all of them, Luke, Tessa and Pauline–are confined at Pauline’s house. They can’t leave. They are
shielded
by a witch’s spell.”

“Really? Did Edith do that to keep them safe?”

“No, Katerina did. But not to keep them
safe.
”

“Your half sister?” she asked, surprised. “Why?”

“She wants my crown.”

“Ah. She’s blackmailing you?”

I nodded. “She’s doing a lot more than that, though. Have you heard about the London killing spree?”

“Of course. We–the New York council–had an emergency meeting to discuss it last night. Sophia, our vampire queen, is flying over to London to assist Alfred. Do you think Katerina is involved in the murders?” Alexandra’s eyes narrowed.

“Not just involved, I think she’s responsible.”

“I guess she might be responsible for Peter’s death as well, then,” Alexandra murmured.

“She is. She told me so herself,” I replied.

Alexandra shook her head. “What a mess. Is there any evidence to suggest that she’s behind Sebastian and Oscar’s disappearances?”

“Definitely my dad’s. She admitted it. I don’t know about Oscar, though,” I whispered.

“Mom,” Taylor broke in. “We think Dad may be involved somehow.”

Alexandra rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised. I wonder what arrangement they’ve come to. Katerina obviously wants more than just control of London. She probably wants New York, as well,” she mused. “She’s putting plans into place to undermine anyone that she can’t manipulate. That would include Alfred and Sophia by organizing this vampire revolt. She is sowing mistrust between the demons and vampires by suggesting that the vampires in question have been demonized. A war between the vampires and demons would bring down the whole council in both cities, making it easy for her to step in. She could end up with complete power of two of the most powerful cities in the world. She could create such havoc. And, she would have a perfect partner in Robert. It would be the end of human and paranormal existence, as we know it. She and Robert would destroy everything in their quest for more and more power.”

“Taylor? What’s the matter?” I asked, noticing her eyes welling up.

“I’m going to have to do it, aren’t I, Mom?” she sobbed. “I’m going to have to stop him. No one else will be able to get close enough to him to stop him.”

Alexandra went over to her daughter and put her arms around her. “You and Fitch will have to work together to destroy him and Katerina.”

“Why them?” I asked.

“Since she has imprisoned Kismet and the others, we can’t just destroy Katerina,” Alexandra explained. “We need someone to harness her spells and powers before we destroy her.”

I nodded. That made perfect sense. But, how? It wasn’t like Katerina would share her spells with anyone.

“In order to do that, someone will have to demonize her: possess her and absorb her powers.”

“How will I do that?” I asked.

“You can’t,” she said simply. “Sure, either you or I could possess her, but we’re not
witches
, we can’t harvest her powers and spells.”

“I can, though. I can do both,” Taylor said, reminding us that she was part demon and part witch. “But how will I get close enough to her? And even if I do, she’ll never relax enough in my presence to allow me an opportunity to occupy her.” She paused, then opened her eyes wide.  She nodded.

“How?” I asked perplexed.

“Through Dad.”

Alexandra nodded. “He’s probably the only one who can get close enough to Katerina, if he is indeed involved in her scheme. If he is, she must trust him. That trust will make her vulnerable to him. It would be fairly easy for Taylor to possess her dad; he trusts his daughter.”

“Taylor, how do you feel about this?” I asked.

She welled up again. “Are you going to kill him?”

I considered the question. Did I need to? He had Neave, but Taylor would release her when she controlled him. Then, she’d leave his body to take control of Katerina. How would Robert react when he was free again and realized what Taylor had done? I guessed that’s what would determine whether I would kill him or not. So, I just shrugged. A tear fell down Taylor’s cheek.

“I don’t want to,” I assured her. “And I’m really hoping not to. But, if he goes nuts when you leave his body, I’ll do what I have to.”

“Could we get Edith to restrain him with a spell after Taylor leaves his body?” Fitch asked. “I don’t want to see him hurt, either.”