INTEGRATION (Bonfire Academy Book Two) (Bonfire Chronicles) (35 page)

“You knew Nari?” Her tone was soft and desperately hopeful.

“I did,” Mason said. “I’m so sorry that he’s gone. And now I’ve heard that your husband has been killed, as well. Bad news travels fast around the shifter community. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Help? No. There’s no way to bring them back. I feel…empty.”

“Justice may help fill the emptiness,” Mason said.

“We tried that, and look what happened! I have now lost a husband in addition to my son. There’s no justice to be had here. King Sebastian has this school in the palm of his hand.”

“Perhaps, but there are other ways. I may be able to help you get the justice you deserve.”

“How? I’ll do anything.”

“Please take this,” Mason said. “When you feel ready, call the number on the note, and we’ll take it from there.”

“I’m ready now,” Mrs. Russo said.

“I understand your craving for revenge, but it’ll be more effective if you’re healthy. Wait for Dr. Marks to give you the all clear, and then call the number. I must go now. I smell Dr. Marks coming. Feel better soon.”

Mason left, and I heard Mrs. Russo crinkling something as Dr. Marks walked in.

“Hello, Dr. Marks,” she said in a surprisingly cheery voice.

“Mrs. Russo! You look so much better; that nap seems to have helped you.”

“Indeed. And I’d like to go home now. I need to take care of my husband’s funeral arrangements. Where’s his body?”

“It’s in the morgue. I can have it transported to your home.”

“Please do. Can I go now?”

“Yes, if you’re feeling up to it. You’re healing nicely, and your pulse is strong. Have a doctor change your dressing regularly. I will go arrange for a private plane to take you home.”

“Thank you, but I’ll use my own plane. It’s waiting for me at Engadin. Could you have a helicopter drop me off there?”

“Certainly. I’ll go and arrange that right now. Shall I ask Frau Schmelder to—”

“No. That won’t be necessary. Just arrange for the helicopter.”

As soon as the door closed, she got on the phone again.

“Hello?”

I froze as I recognized the old woman’s voice.

“This is Mrs. Russo. A boy named Mason asked me to call this number.”

“Ah, Mrs. Russo. I’m so glad you called. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss. Can you come to New York?”

“Yes, where in New York?”

“Have your pilot fly you into Newark airport. I’ll have a limo standing by to bring you to me. I look forward to seeing you.”

An hour later, after a short helicopter ride, we were on our way to Manhattan. I felt both excited and sick at the prospect of finally meeting the old woman. I had no way of letting King Sebastian or Jagger know what was happening. I was just a silent passenger.

I wondered how Jagger was coping. I would have been going crazy with worry had the situation been reversed. I needed to be extra careful, especially since the old woman had detected me twice before when I tried the same stunt. There would be no peeking and no manipulating Mrs. Russo. I had to be totally inert…or I would be history.

When Mrs. Russo finally knocked on the door that I presumed belonged to the old lady, I nearly passed out from the strain of having to remain quiet. All I wanted to do was to have a little peek to see if it was the same woman who’d tried to fry me.

The door opened, and a man’s voice said, “Welcome, Mrs. Russo. Miss Miller is waiting for you in the parlor.”

Miss Miller? I searched my brain for the name. It was a fairly common last name, but not one I’d come across, at least not that I could remember.

“I’m Robert, Miss Miller’s partner,” the man continued. “I heard about your husband and son. My condolences.”

“Welcome to my home.”

The voice made me shudder. It was the voice I had heard in Mason’s room, the one that belonged to the old woman who’d tried to kill me. I longed to take control of Mrs. Russo’s body and rip the old woman to bits, but King Sebastian had warned me that although the woman was old, she was very powerful, a deadly combination for an imbalanced demon witch.

As Mrs. Russo sat down, her stomach rumbled loudly. She hadn’t eaten on the flight over, presumably still being full from all the food I had eaten.

“May I get you something to eat?” Miss Miller said.

“Yes, please. Excuse my rudeness. I seem to have ingested something disagreeable.”

“Robert, could you ask Horatio to prepare something?”

“Certainly, my dear. Please excuse me.”

“While Robert does that, could you tell me exactly what happened to your son?”

Mrs. Russo went through the incident, painting a slightly different picture from the one we’d all seen on the surveillance recording. In her version, Faustine taunted Nari and then launched herself at him, eating bits that she shredded off his bleeding body while he screamed in pain. Whatever.

“Tsk, tsk,” Miss Miller muttered. “And the school did nothing? Ah, Robert, thank you.”

Mrs. Russo made chewing sounds and gulped down bits of food.

Miss Miller cleared her throat. “And your husband?”

“He was killed by King Sebastian.”

“And what exactly are you after?” Miss Miller asked, her tone now softer.

“I want them dead.”

“Sebastian and Faustine?”

“Yes. The boy, Mason, said you could help.”

“Well, that is something I can help you with. But…” She paused, making a gross clucking sound with her tongue.

“Anything,” Mrs. Russo said. “Please, if you can help me, I will repay you in any way I can.”

“We don’t want much,” Robert said. “Merely an introduction to your brother.”

“Pauli or one of the others?”

“The sovereign shifter of Rome,” Robert clarified. “We’ll need some assurance that he’ll work with us.”

“To do what?”

“That’s not something we can discuss with you at this point. You can rest assured that we’ll take care of both Sebastian and Faustine.”

Sheesh! They were going to do that anyway, even if Mrs. Russo didn’t cooperate. King Sebastian had been right. The old woman was up to something big that obviously involved getting multiple city councils in her corner. I had to warn him. But how? I was stuck.

“I can introduce you to my brother, and though I can’t pledge his cooperation, I’ll do my very best to convince him to work with you. He will be as devastated as I am by my husband’s death.”

“Good,” Miss Miller said. “In that case, Robert will accompany you back to Rome. You may use my private jet. Please feel free to stay the night; I can have my housekeeper prepare a room for you. You’ll have to excuse me now; I have a meeting to attend. It was nice to meet you. Once again, my very heartfelt condolences.”

Mrs. Russo stood up. “Thank you, Miss Miller. It was a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for your hospitality.”

“Robert, before I go,” Miss Miller said, “did you want to show me your new poem?”

Poem? Haiku? I fought the urge to have a peek out. Who was Robert?

Miss Miller cackled, making my blood boil. “This is good! Thanks, Robert. I’ll pass it along to Mason.”

And there I had it. Finally.

“Mrs. Russo, Angela will show you to your room,” Robert said. “We’ll leave at ten in the morning. I’ll have Angela bring you breakfast before then. I shall leave you now as well. See you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Robert.”

I heard a new voice in the room, a shy, timid one. “Madam? Please follow me,” she—I presumed Angela—said in a pleasant Southern accent.

We were on the move again, going up some stairs, then I heard the sound of a creaky door.

“This is it,” Angela said. “I’ll have some dinner sent up.”

“No need. I’m going to take a nap. I’ll call down later if I need a snack,” Mrs. Russo replied.

Once the door screeched shut, Mrs. Russo got on the phone again. “Pauli? Selma here.” She went on to update him on what had happened at the Academy, which was met with sniffling from her brother. She then told him about Miss Miller’s proposition.

“Sel, I can take care of Sebastian myself. I don’t need this Miller lady’s help. Who is she anyway?”

“I don’t exactly know. She is very old, in her nineties, I’d guess. She has a younger partner, Robert. I can’t fully tell what kind of paranormal she is from her scent. I would guess a demon, but there is something mixed in with that.”

“I suggest you ditch them and come back home. Like I said, I’ll take care of Sebastian.”

“How? There’s no way you’ll get close to him now, not after what happened. And why not just hear them out? They may actually have a viable plan. It would keep blood off your hands.”

“Hmm. I need more information about this Miss Miller first.”

“Well, her partner is flying me home tomorrow, and he’d like to meet you then. You can speak to him then and get all the information you need.”

“Okay, Sel. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll send a car to pick you up at the airport.”

Mrs. Russo fell back into what I assumed was the bed, and her breathing soon turned even and heavy.

It was my chance to escape. I considered making the trip to Rome with her, but I really couldn’t bear being inside her much longer. I felt suffocated and utterly claustrophobic. Plus Jagger would have kittens if I didn’t get back to him soon.

I floated out of Mrs. Russo’s body into a surprisingly modern bedroom. I had imagined an old-fashioned, dark loft when I heard the creaky door, but the room was anything but. I cast an admiring glance at the huge abstracts on the wall, a perfect complement to the neutral shades.

I looked down at the sleeping Mrs. Russo. She looked so serene and young as she lay on top of the covers. I could understand her sadness, but I quickly put my empathy aside and stared down at my
enemy
. It would be easy to kill her, but that would cause the shit to hit the fan when Miss Miller found the body. Maybe I could get rid of the body altogether. I looked down at her again. Tempted as I was, I decided I’d better clear it with Sebastian first. He might have other plans; he’d kept Mrs. Russo alive at the Academy, after all.

At the moment, I needed to concentrate on getting out of the house without getting caught. I had to move quickly and quietly. I considered possessing Angela and escaping from the apartment using her body. However, I dismissed that idea quickly. She could be a demon. I thought about jumping out the window, but after peering down, I realized I’d have only two choices. One, plummet to certain death. Two, transform into demon form and then jump. Either way, it would freak out the hundreds of people milling about on the street below. My only way out was through the house. I crept back toward the door and put my ear to it.

I heard loud voices coming from downstairs. Shit. Maybe if I was really quiet, I could just walk out the door. I put my pinkie around the doorknob and pulled it as gently as I could, holding in my breath. The door squealed as though it were about to give birth. I froze as Mrs. Russo stirred, thrashing her arms and then turning over and settling again. The voices downstairs stopped.

“Mrs. Russo?” Angela shouted up the stairs. “Did you need anything?” I heard her start to walk up the stairs.

I slid to the floor, crawled under the bed, and pulled the spread down to conceal the opening. I held my breath as the door opened.

“Mrs. Russo?” Angela whispered.

Beads of sweat formed on my nose and slid down my cheeks into my hair as I lay on my back, every bone and muscle glued in position. If Angela spotted me, I’d have no option but to transform and jump out the window, freaking out all of Manhattan in the process.

Thankfully, Angela made no move to come inside, and after standing in the doorway for a few seconds, she closed the door and left. The noise of the closing door unsettled Mrs. Russo, who was now writhing around above me.

What if Angela came back with Robert or Miss Miller? Jagger. I needed Jagger to get me out of there. But Jagger was thousands of miles away. How long would it take him even if I managed to contact him? I had to try.

I closed my eyes and tried tapping into my heartbeat, failing when I was disturbed by Mrs. Russo’s constant movement on the bed. I figured she must’ve been having a bad dream. I pinched myself really hard and concentrated on the pain. I searched for my pulse from there. Once I found Jagger’s beat, I waited to see if he’d respond. I lay as still as I could for ages without feeling anything from Jagger; I was even losing the feel of my own limbs.

I finally gave up, deciding that Jagger must be too far away to feel me. I had to get out of there. Mrs. Russo still seemed to be asleep. She rolled around and mumbled every so often, probably deep inside a nightmare. I snaked my way out from under the bed, each movement making me want to scream in pain. My legs were cramped from having been locked in the same position for so long. Once I was out, I lay face down on the floor, working my leg muscles into life again. I slid my knees under my tummy to get up, stopping dead when I heard a noise outside the door. I turned to dive back under the bed as the door opened.

“Hey!” Angela rasped from behind me.

Before I could transform, I felt pressure on my shoulder. I buried my face into Jagger’s warm chest as he wandered me to safety. The journey lasted a long time, and I savored every moment. Jagger didn’t stop until we were safely back in his room, sitting on his bed.

“Don’t say it. I know you’re angry,” I said.

He pulled me closer, crushing my body against his. His fingers slid up the nape of my neck and closed around a fistful of my hair. He pulled back my head and brushed his lips against my neck, then worked his way up to my lips.

He stopped a whisper away from my parted lips. “Never,
ever
do that to me again.” He closed the distance.