Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (12 page)

Madison painted a smile on her face. “Hey, Belle,” she
greeted. When something slammed into the door, her expression hardened.

Belle paled as she thought of Spencer. “Oh God, they’re
killing him,” she whispered.

The blonde man looked at Madison. “There’s a Wolf in there,”
he said. “And if they’re attacking, you’ll need something more than your dagger
and magic.”

“Magic?”
Belle
asked.
First zombies and now magic?
She wasn’t sure if
she would be able to handle too much more.

Troy tightened his hold on his mother. “I’ll explain later.”
As she nodded he reached a hand out to Madison’s arm. “Be careful,” he told
her.

This time her smile was natural. “Don’t worry.” She gripped
the ruby necklace she wore and allowed some of her more dormant magic to flare.
When the stone finished changing shape from a simple necklace to a scythe
almost as tall as she was, she winked at Troy. “I live for shit like this,” she
said before glancing at Casper. “I’ll save who I can but if they’re eating,
they have to be cut down.”

Belle looked at her long time coworker. There was no such
thing as magic. Zombies weren’t supposed to exist outside of movies. And there
was no way a small ruby could instantly change into an instrument of death.
“What the hell?”

Troy moved his mother over to the stairs and sat her down on
one of them. “There’s no time to explain Mom,” he said calmly. He knew why
Madison had showed off her magic. There was no other way for her to get to her
weapon before she was in danger, but if he had a choice he would have taken his
mother to a different floor. “I’m going to need you to stay here with me.”

Madison looked at Belle for a moment. It was going to be
interesting telling her the truth. “Casper, I want you to cover this door. Make
sure nothing gets in here,” she ordered.

Casper looked at Troy and the shell shocked woman. “On
three,” he said gripping the door handle.

Madison blew Troy a kiss as she moved over to the door. She
would leave him with Belle. It really was for the best. After all of his pretty
words he still had no clue to what she was capable of doing. During the ride
over all she could think of was the blood and magic that she would have to
pull. It wasn’t going to be pleasant for anyone around her.
“One.”
She adjusted her hold on her weapon. “Two,” she continued.

Casper silently turned the latch and nodded to Madison.
“Three,” he said before ripping open the door. He stepped aside as Madison
swung her scythe up and cut across the chest of a charging zombie. Casper
quickly saw Spencer doing his best to stay away from the teeth of the dead
women attacking him. “I have him,” he said as Madison went down the hall. With
skilled ease he lunged forward and severed the head off of the small blonde
that was currently stabbing the poor mutt with a Gucci shoe. As she fell to the
floor, Casper turned to see Madison’s scythe easily cut through a brunette that
was wearing a lab coat. “Oh hell,” he whispered as he felt the amount of wild
magic that was in the air.

Madison’s small frame was glowing in a red light. Her hair
was a nimbus around her shoulders as she went down the hall taking any and
every head that she could. This was why she always warned Barry to leave Death
Magic alone. While he could control massive amounts of power, Death was like a
live wire. Her glowing eyes focused on a nude form that was currently huddled
over a young man’s body. Madison could tell it had once been a woman but it
appeared that it was dehydrated and shriveled. “One of the originals,” she said
in a sibilant voice. Her eyes glowed brightly as she quickly brought down her
blade and took its head.

Casper watched her. Madison’s magic was one of the few
things that ever scared him. She was still completely in control, but he wasn’t
sure how long that would last. “Do you see the other one?” he asked.

Red eyes looked around the corridor and spotted blood on the
other set of doors. A growl escaped her as she gripped her scythe. The weapon
then changed into the shape of a sword. “It’s in the building,” she answered.

“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it,” Casper said
approaching her. He saw the way she continued to the door and ran after her.
“Madison.” He grabbed her arms and forced her to turn to him.

Madison pulled her arm away from Casper’s grasp and glared
at him. “I have to get this under control,” she told him. The sibilant quality
of her voice only grew worse as she stared at her friend. “If I don’t, the
Council can kill him for this.”

Casper frowned as Madison turned to follow the trails of
blood. He should have known that she wouldn’t allow her brother’s fuck up to
endanger anyone else. It was bad enough that they were going to have to explain
how so many people died. There was no telling how the Council would to handle
this. As a rule it was entirely possible that Barry would be executed for this.

When the door Madison went through closed, Casper pulled out
his cell phone and dialed his brother. “I hope you’re on your way,” he said
making his way to where he left Troy and Belle.

The low hum of an engine echoed through the phone. Finally a
sigh came across the line. “How bad is it?” Crispin asked.

Casper looked around the hallway. “It’s a blood bath. And it
doesn’t help that her magic is about to start pulling on everyone in the
building.” He heard Crispin’s low curse and nodded to himself. “That about sums
it up. Get here ASAP.” Casper snapped his phone shut and glanced back at the
door Madison went through moments ago.

Belle’s scream brought his attention back to the present.

He didn’t even hesitate as he ran to the stairwell. Casper
ripped the door off its hinges in time to see another nude form tackle Troy to
the floor. He moved forward and hissed when he saw the raw bite wound on the
young wolf’s neck. Just as the crazed woman went to sink her teeth into him
again, Casper grabbed a handful of her greasy hair and cut her head off. He
ignored the screams of the woman they saved. Right now his main concern would
have to be Troy.

Dazed gold eyes looked up at Casper. “Where’s Madison?” he
asked as he tried to get his feet under him. He looked around the stairwell and
saw at his mother. “Are you okay?” he slurred.

Belle nodded mutely as she backed away from Troy. His entire
body was encased in a soft glow and his facial features were beginning to
become more and more lupine.

Casper knelt in front of Troy and forced the younger man to
look into his eyes. The frown on his face deepened as he saw threads of red
entering gold. “Troy, I need you to stay still,” he said lowly. His lips
thinned when Troy tried to stand up again. “Damn it, are you listening to me?”

Troy couldn’t make out what Casper was saying. The need to
shift and find his mate was becoming unbearable. His eyes turned to Belle
again. The expression on her face solidified his decision to stay away from
her. Troy grabbed Casper’s arm and pulled him between them. “Get her out of
here.”

Belle came up to Casper’s shoulder and frowned at her son.
“What’s wrong with him?” she asked the tall stranger.

Casper looked at her and quickly scanned her mind. His lips
thinned when he felt the block on her mind. He didn’t know what was hidden from
her, but he had a feeling it was something big and bad. Casper was about to
grab Belle’s arm when a door to the floor above them opened.

Troy sniffed the air and the tension in his body started to
relax. He fought his way to his feet. “Madison,” he called.

“I’m here,” her sibilant voice echoed. Madison walked down
the stairs with a distant gaze in her eyes. She looked at Troy and went to his
side.

Casper stepped back from both Madison and Troy. He made sure
he took Belle with him. With the way Madison’s eyes were glowing and the magic
that radiated around them both was a dangerous combination. “Madison, pull it
back.”

Her eyes lingered on the bloody mess of Troy’s neck. She
could feel the magic trying to take his body over. It was slowly killing him
but for some reason it hadn’t taken him over completely yet. Madison looked at
Casper and Belle. The older woman was gripping Casper’s sword arm. She was
clearly torn between her fear of what was happening and fear for her son.
Madison reached out and gently touched Troy’s neck. “You should be more
careful.”

Troy couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was splattered
in blood, her eyes were unnatural and there was something wrong with her voice,
but she was still beautiful. He pulled her close and tangled his hand in her
hair. “I’m fine,” he told her. Before she could object more, he covered her
mouth with his own.

Casper inhaled sharply and took a step towards the couple.
“Madison!”

Madison’s fingers clawed into Troy’s wounded neck as she
gave into his kiss. She felt the Death magic in him and forced it to her. There
was no way she would allow anything to harm him. Not even
her
own
powers. If Troy walked away from her, it would be of his own free
will. He would not be a victim of some stupid stunt her brother pulled because
he thought he could handle her area of expertise.

“Madison!” Casper shouted as he pulled her away from Troy.
When she looked at him with murderous eyes, Casper gestured to Troy. “Are you
trying to kill him?” he asked. As expected, without Madison holding him up Troy
fell to the floor unconscious.

Red eyes looked past Casper to where Belle was trying to
reach for her son. Madison fought back a snarl as she moved away from her Mate.
She knew that Belle was only doing what a mother should. Part of her went
completely livid at the thought of another woman near Troy when he was injured.
“Call for clean up,” she said softly.

Casper allowed himself to relax a little. Her voice was
starting to return to normal. “Crispin is already on his way with a crew,” he
told her. As she nodded, he noted the way Madison seemed focused on Belle. He
moved between them and gave her a challenging look. “Back down Pixie,” he said
in a warning tone.

Madison narrowed her eyes at her long-time friend. She could
feel her magic rise in challenge to his tone. A low growl escaped her as she
turned to the stairs. “I’m going to find a bathroom.”

Eric climbed out of his car and frowned as he looked at the
building he had been called in to help quarantine. He spotted Madison’s car,
Dylan’s Porsche, and his mother’s Hyundai. He sighed as he quickly went to the
main entrance of the Criminal Investigations unit. Dylan called him to let him
know that something went wrong with Barry’s attempt to
Raise
the bodies. Barry should have never tried to
Raise
anyone. But he felt he had no choice. Now Madison had to clean up after him.
The idea of their mother being here with Madison didn’t bode well for any of
them either.

Eric spotted his father in the lobby waiting for him. “Has
everything been contained?” he asked carefully.

James Maxwell looked at his oldest son. “You could say
that,” he said darkly. When Eric glanced around him, James stepped closer to
him. “Do you know what the hell happened here?”

Eric’s jaw tightened. “Mathias came to me with a case. Three
bodies came in and there were too many questions for a regular ME to answer.
Since all of you have basically sidelined Madison, I asked Barry if he could
help.”

James’s eyes went round. “Barry was here?” he asked alarmed.
Eric nodded. “Where’s your brother now?”

“He’s laid out at Madison’s. Throne had enough sense to get
him to her place.” When the door down the hall opened he frowned. Crispin and
his brother were carrying out an unconscious man that looked vaguely familiar.
“Cris,” Eric called.

Crispin looked up and frowned at his brother in law. “So,
they called you all.” When Eric frowned, Crispin gave his burden over fully to
Casper. He then approached his in-laws. “How much have you heard?”

“Nothing much.
Only
that there were zombies here and Madison needed containment,” James answered.

Crispin looked at the man for a moment. The story was both
right and wrong. “Madison is fine. She went to the locker room to change. All
of the zombies and infected are subdued.” Crispin continued to watch James as
the man digested that information. “The entire ME floor and both stair cases
are covered in blood. I think it would just be best to get Madison out of here
now that everything is handled.”

Eric nodded before turning to his father. “Where’s Mom?” he
asked dreading the answer.

James took a slow breath. “She went to find Dylan.”

Both Eric and Crispin frowned. Tina may have gone off to
find Dylan, but Dylan went to find Madison. If Tina and Madison got into it
again, they just may have more blood to clean.

* * *
* *

Madison pulled her head out of the sink with a gasp. She
needed to find a way to calm down. It wouldn’t do any kind of good if she were
to attack Belle simply for giving a damn about her son. As she looked at the
blood tinted water in the sink, she caught a glimpse of a figure at her side.
“I’m starting to get the appeal,” she said before dunking her head under the
water again.