Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 1 (23 page)

Bahlin turned and nosed me to the ground. The messenger bag slid from my aching shoulders, and I stumbled when I touched the floor before getting my feet under me. With a shimmer of air, his dragon form seemed to rend itself in half and the man emerged, gloriously naked. He knelt on the floor, limbs trembling slightly, hair dampened with sweat, obviously exhausted.

“You alright, pet?” he asked, his voice rough.

“Sure. You?”

“Truth? I’m completely knackered. Cloaking is one of my skills, but it wears me thin to extend it to another creature and to carry that creature for so long in my arms when I’ve not eaten properly. It’s not so bad when you ride.”

“Where are we?” I asked, looking around him and into the room beyond. The cavern wasn’t huge, but there were visible natural tunnels leading away from that main room that gave the impression of extended size and depth. The sound of trickling water indicated a small underground stream somewhere nearby.

“This is what’s referred to in mythology as a dragon’s den, or lair. All dragons of a certain rank have them. It’s our most closely guarded secret. You’re the first person I’ve brought here since Aloysius.” He looked around for the bag I’d dropped when I stumbled from his back.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed. I was under the impression that your sensibilities preferred me with clothes.” He ran his hands through his hair, arching his back, his eyes never leaving my face. He was beautiful in the firelight, like a gilded Renaissance nude, and I wanted to reach out and touch him.

“Go ahead,” I said huskily.

“Go ahead and what?” he whispered.

“Clothes would be a good thing. No need to reaffirm life for Maddox’s death.”

Bahlin laughed and bent to dig through the bag, pulling out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved charcoal shirt. After slipping into the clothes he stuffed his feet into sneakers, impressing me.

“Not going barefoot?”

“Even my feet get torn up on this rock when I’m in human form,” he answered. “Come inside and we’ll have a seat.”

We walked further into the cavern, and I realized there were what I considered basic necessities. There was a sofa and several chairs, a bed in one corner, and a number of weapons—swords, knives and handguns. The room was not large itself. In truth, it would have been nearly impossible for Bahlin to enter in his dragon form and do much more than turn around.

He walked to a small larder and pulled out a round of cheese and some bread, and a large packet of what looked like beef jerky.

“I need to eat again,” he said. “It takes a lot out of me to change because my form is so large, so I have to eat regularly and protein’s a must.”

He gestured me over to one of the chairs, and I sat. He pulled a small knife out and carved a piece of cheese off the wheel for me and then gave me a chunk of bread. We ate in companionable silence.

When we were done, and Bahlin was only snacking on the jerky, he said, “I suppose we’d better talk about the head.”

I looked at Bahlin and took a deep breath. “I think I know who did it.”

Chapter Twelve

Bahlin choked a bit and looked up at me, surprised. “Go on, then. Tell me what you’ve got.”

“I’m going to be an adult about this and call it, him, Maddox.” I shuddered. Sure I was. “He’s been missing for four days. We know that the only ones to know the case specifics were the High Council and the king and queen of the fae. Right?”

Bahlin nodded, crossing his feet at the ankles, one hand behind his head. He looked relaxed but his entire attention was focused on me.

I held up my pointer finger. “First is Sarenia. She wasn’t at the meeting, so she didn’t have specifics of the crime. As an Atlantean, Sarenia wouldn’t have had a reason to hire Maddox, assuming he was the killer’s proxy. She could have dragged me down to her sunken city and simply drowned me. No need to hire a shooter. She’s also over eleven thousand years old, as much as it boggles the mind. She’s had plenty of time to come up with better ways to commit murder than the obvious. Finally, I don’t believe she would have had her only child murdered, not for power, not for anything.”

Bahlin’s face went slack, and he looked confused. “Meyla is dead?”

I nodded, not considering he might have known her.
Way to go, Niteclif. Nothing shows compassion like blurting out,
“
Hey your buddy’s dead.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth to apologize—again.

“No. Go on.”

I hesitated, my mouth opening and closing like a guppy’s. “You’re sure?”

His answer was absolute silence and a hard stare that made me feel guilty.

“Right.” I cleared my throat and held up a second finger. “Imeena is a vampire. They are highly attracted to faerie blood, so she wouldn’t have wasted any of it if she’d killed Maddox. She would have ripped his throat out, yes, but she wouldn’t have discarded such a treat. Nor would she have left Maddox in the fridge. As a vampire she’s capable and willing of killing on her own without a proxy. She has all the tools she needs to kill me without hiring someone to shoot me.” Remembering her canines, I shuddered. “And she would have had access to me at night, when she could have really reached out to touch me, as a High Council member. Hell, she’s my employer. I would have come to her whenever she called. And I can’t reconcile her motive to kill these creatures.” I paused to catch my breath.

Bahlin’s eyes narrowed and he had developed a tic in his jaw. “Go on, luv, you’re obviously on to something.”

Third finger. “The king and queen of the fae may have asked Maddox to kill me. But if they’d had Maddox kill me it would have been an act of loyalty. He wouldn’t have run. He’s been with them for generations and was considered a member of the family. They wouldn’t have killed him but instead would have hidden him away from the Council’s reach inside the sithen. It would have been easy since the Council has to be granted access to enter. Say no and no one gets inside, so hide him there and he’s out of harm’s way. The only thing I can’t figure is where Tarrek’s disappearance fits in for them.

“Tarrek was abducted, so he couldn’t have done it.” I didn’t even hold up a finger for this one. I glared at Bahlin, daring him to argue with me.

“If you’re sure. But what about me?” he challenged me, forcing me to look closely at another suspect I didn’t want to consider.

“I’m sure. You didn’t do it either.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve had too many opportunities to kill me. And when you had the family tree in your hands, the date of death didn’t appear. From what I understand, if you were the killer and your intent was to off me, the date of death would have shown up. Right?”

“Depending on the probability of success, yes.” He leaned forward, sensing the rising tension in my voice. “So who did it?”

“Who’s left?” I whispered.

Bahlin took a deep breath, held it, then let it out on a long sigh. “Gretta and Hellion.”

“Gretta’s dead. I killed her,” I said softly, my pulse so hard in my throat I was sure Bahlin could see it jumping beneath my skin. “I killed her,” I repeated, “after Hellion ordered her to kill me. They were mates, and she was never supposed to die, Bahlin. He didn’t intend for it to happen. But Maddox had failed them. Remember, Gretta came after me with a sword, but it was too large for her to handle properly. She would have killed me if she’d been able to heft it over her head like she tried to do. But she couldn’t, and I stabbed her with the dirk when the sword fell behind her head and shoulders.” I closed my eyes momentarily and swallowed the bile that threatened. “Hellion now had an open reason to come after me, as well as a scapegoat for his crimes. He could kill me while claiming to avenge the murder of his mate and blame Gretta for killing the other beings, at least until he found a way to continue his efforts.

“And if together we figured out he killed Maddox and took his head, then it was all well and good because Maddox had been issued a death warrant by me just before we met. The king decreed it after Maddox was sentenced.”

Bahlin pushed himself up off the couch and stretched, my hormonal body, mind, and spirit admiring and coveting his body as he did. Hands locked behind his head, he walked to the pantry and retrieved two bottles of water before returning to sink down on the couch. He cracked the lid off his drink and tilted it toward me in salute. “How do you know for sure Hellion killed Maddox?”

“The sword marks on Maddox’s neck. The sword skidded off his chin with enough force to continue along the jaw and sever the head all the way to the spine. The spinal column was cut through surgically, ensuring that there were no bone pieces or meaty bits to get stuck to the killer’s clothes or hands. It was very clean. That has to take strength and skill with a blade. Next to you, Hellion is the largest, and likely strongest, man on the Council. Gretta couldn’t wield the sword against me. She didn’t have the strength to cut Maddox’s head off that cleanly, even if he held still and showed her where to swing and strike. That means it was a larger person’s sword, and if Hellion sent her to kill me, it’s only logical deduction that he’s our killer.”

“So Hellion is killing the other creatures?” Bahlin asked, his eyes sparking in the flames of the torches lit about the room.

“Yes, he is.” I didn’t want to say this. Not out loud. Because once I said it, it was real. And another man was going to be sentenced to death, though I thought he likely deserved it. But I was afraid that the man across from me would be the one to dole the sentence out, and I didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. But I didn’t know what else to do. He’d reached the conclusion with me. It was too late to stop justice’s forward momentum.

“Why, Maddy? Why is Hellion doing this?” he pressed, forcing me to say out loud what I had suspected of the killer since Gretta had come to my room to try to poison me then stab me.

“He’s stealing the strongest pieces of each immortal creature so he can morph them into himself. He wants to be immortal.”

Bahlin surged to his feet, pacing the small room. He seemed more raw here in the cave, more animalistic. “So that’s why you don’t think Tarrek is doing it? Because he’s immortal?”

“At the least you said he’d live for thousands of years, Bahlin. Possibly thousands upon thousands. What good is immortality if you already nearly have it? And power? He’s got it in spades.” I reached out and grabbed Bahlin’s arm as he stormed passed me for the fourth time. “I didn’t realize it until I met his parents and fully understood that he’s fae royalty. He will eventually command the light and dark sides of faerie. He can make his own magic in the sithen, really. What more does he need with others’ magic?”

Bahlin sank back into the sofa, resting his head in his hands. “Finish the thought, Maddy. Tell me why Hellion wants the collective power of the creatures he’s killed.”

I was about to drop the final brick for Hellion’s tomb. “As a wizard, he isn’t immortal. But he will be when he pushes all this power together, immortal creatures forced into a mortal man. How can he not be? And once he’s achieved that kind of power, he wants to take over the Council, which is why he needs me dead. You said it yourself, there’s no leader and without a Niteclif, chaos will reign unless the Council leads. Hellion is aiming to change that and become your leader.”

Time was immeasurable without the sun as a point of reference. Instead of walking to the front of the cave we sat together on the sofa, listening to the sounds of the earth around us: running water, the muted cry of gulls, the distant and subdued boom of surf. Bahlin was physically exhausted and when he pointed out how tired
he
was it was like someone threw a switch in me. I just crumbled. The sofa was a futon-style piece, but even open and laying across it diagonally it wasn’t long enough for me. No way would it fit Bahlin. After several minutes arguing with me, he convinced me to come to bed with him for the third time in roughly twenty-four hours. Protesting too loudly was silly, really, since we’d already done far more than simply sleep together. But I insisted on keeping my T-shirt and underwear on. Prudery, thy name is Niteclif.

Bahlin dug through a small bureau next to the bed and pulled out a pair of lounge pants when I flatly refused to sleep with him in the nude. He hadn’t packed any boxers, whether by oversight or planned seduction. It didn’t matter. No clothes, no sleep companion, no negotiation.

I made one major mistake in my calculations, though, and you’d think I’d have learned because I was a repeat offender in this area. I didn’t negotiate no cuddling. So the minute he crawled under the blankets he wrapped me up in his arms and spooned me close. I was about to drift off to sleep to the sounds of the shore when Bahlin tucked his head into my neck, picking up a thread of the earlier conversation I had hoped he’d leave alone. Because for all my pushing over the last few days, I suddenly didn’t want the answers I’d so seriously thought I needed.

“And me, Maddy? How long do you think I’ll live?” he asked quietly. “Is there any last reason you can find to not trust me. Truth, remember?”

I rolled over to face him and propped myself up on my arm, looking down at him. His hair was spread over the pillow like burnished foam in the light of the one torch I’d insisted he leave burning. I stared at him, the vestiges of sleep held off for a moment longer.

“I’ve asked you plenty of times how old you were, but you’ve never seen fit to answer me. I can only imagine you have some valid reason for not wanting me to know. But it does cast a shadow of doubt on you, Bahlin. Why not be honest with me about your age, or your longevity? Or even try to be more forthcoming about your species. And it bugs me how your sister is always referring to something she’s seen regarding me that you don’t want me to know. What is it? Do I end up with Tarrek after all this?” I half joked. He didn’t answer, and I swallowed hard. “Bahlin? What has Brylanna seen?”

He draped an arm over his eyes, refusing to remove it when I tugged. “I won’t answer what Brylanna has seen. Her visions are subjective. And I don’t answer your questions about me as a dragon, Maddy, because I’m afraid it will be one more reason for you to step away from me. Besides, it’s a bit insulting. Have you realized that you never ask me questions about me as a man?”