I knew the woman looked familiar when I saw her in Drew's mind, but I couldn't quite place her face. The first time I saw her she was in sad shape. I blocked the whole experience out because I couldn't stand the images in my mind anymore. It's a difficult, and some may say a slightly unhealthy, way to live-but hey, it's served me well over the years.
The woman, Angie, was the mate of a sadistic vampire. He'd kept her mind and will completely locked away deep inside her head, and did whatever he wanted with her. When I first greeted them more than eight years ago in the lobby, I had no idea what was going on. At the time, she pulled away from my handshake and I didn't push trying to read her. I figured I would greet her later and see more then.
On their first night at The V V Inn, her then-husband, Ivan, a vampire about a hundred years old, requested a donor to be sent to their suite. Debi, the employee who went up, was the first ever to use the panic-button bracelets. Ivan attempted to force Debi into a mind-controlling stare. Debi had the wherewithal to trust her instincts and hit the button right when he locked gazes with her. When I answered the alarm, he had her stripping down.
That in itself wouldn't have been a reason to worry, but the blank stare combined with the call for help prompted reaching out and touching her to see if anything was wrong. Once I uncovered what Ivan was doing, I pinned him in place with my will. In turn, my next touch of Angie revealed she was locked far deep inside her own mind. Ivan raped and tortured her for a full year with no one in their seethe the wiser. His control over her was so complete he spoke through her and guided her actions in all matters.
But she was aware. And he knew it. He fed off her fear, disgust and shame. Over the course of the year, he escalated what he made her do.
Their mate bond ensured that she could never leave him. What was meant to be a gift of trust, he had warped beyond any semblance of normalcy. Their minds were so interwoven through the mate bond ritual, that only a vampire would come out fine were the bond to be broken. When Ivan finally tired of her, he could find another victim to torment for years but ultimately Angie would perish.
So appalled by what I saw that I did what I often do-I acted on instinct and damn the consequences.
I severed their mate bond, like a surgeon wielding a scalpel. A cut performed with precision and minimal effort. Something that, according to our ancients, cannot be done.
The ensuing mess and involvement of the tribunal was horrendous. I altered Ivan's mind and made him think Angie had died during my rescue of Debi. It was touch and go there for a while on what his punishment from the ancients would be. I was assured that the verdict for this abuse would be death. That will teach me to trust a bunch of old, pompous, undead assholes again.
I spent the next few days erasing Angie's mind. Blocking out the hardest time I'd had trying to save a mind in more than a hundred years helped to stave off my own nightmares of Ivan's acts. When Angie eventually left us, she was a new woman. I alone remembered her previous pain. It turned out exactly as I'd hoped.
"What are the chances this is not Ivan?" Rafe asks.
"I was wondering the same thing myself," I answer slowly. "I erased the location of the inn from his mind. Remember?"
"It was the smart thing to do. The only thing to do," Rafe answers. "It was a precaution in case they didn't kill him." He pauses and considers a moment. "Could you have been discovered in his mind-you know, tampering with his thoughts?"
"No, absolutely not," I say with utter conviction.
"Hmm..."
Rafe apparently has his doubts, but that's okay. I know the extent of my skill, and I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince him right now. Jackass.
"I did not erase all his memories from that night, only the location of the inn. It was the easiest way to go unnoticed in my tampering."
"Okay, then. Where does that leave us?" He ticks off on his fingers. "The tribunal didn't kill him," one finger goes up. "He has somehow made it here," second one follows. "And his former wife's second husband is a guest with us." The last annoying finger goes up, and I have to hold back the urge to want to reach out and break it off.
I hate it when the obvious is pointed out to me in a neat, little numbered format. I really don't see how it helps me solve the problem.
"Earth to Dria, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Damn him. Of course, with my snide rambling thoughts I'm not thinking, period.
Rafe rushes forward before I can think of a witty reply. "I bet Ivan tracked Angie down after he served the sentence the tribunal gave him, or he escaped, and then went for Drew after he killed Angie."
"Yes, yes, logically that makes sense. But you're forgetting an important step. How did he know where to find Angie?" I raise my eyebrow in a challenge. I know what he's thinking and I'm going to force him to say it, the rat bastard. "He had to know about Angie and then track her to him."
Rafe adds a little warily, seeing the heat in my gaze and the anger below the surface, "Which only would have worked if he got through your mind wipe of the events..."
"No! That. Did. Not. Happen."
I'm emphatic on this point, and I won't budge. I know it didn't go down that way, but he's going to think I'm paranoid when I tell him what I truly think. My heated voice causes the sleeping Sheba to stir, so we rise and move into the kitchen to give her some peace.
Once there, Rafe takes a seat at the table. "What other alternative is there?" he asks, in a calm, reasonable tone one might use to address a maniac in a hostage situation.
Prick. I'll prove myself right, in time, if not right now. But this is one time I wish I were wrong.
"I think someone on the tribunal set me up."
His look turns pensive, like he's debating the thought in his brain. He shakes his head and meets my angry stare.
"No, Dria, I just don't see it happening that way." He sounds certain and his voice comes out low and calm. "There are so many variables in that scenario. You make a huge assumption to think the ancients could be that corrupt."
"Some of them have been in the past," I say.
That gets Rafe's attention. I don't talk much about my twenty years as an enforcer for the tribunal. "How long ago did you serve them?"
I cross my arms over my chest and look out the window into the snowy darkness. "Serve is not the right word, really. But I did take direction from them to hunt down particularly bad cases." The sparkle from the rope lights dances in the windowpane, and a sigh escapes me at the simple beauty. "It was about four-hundred and fifty years ago, and my full powers had manifested about sixty years prior to that."
"How many of them had you killed by the time you left?" My head whips back to face him. I've never discussed this before, and his question has caught me by surprise.
"How did you know?"
"You always get sad and distant when you talk of your past. I knew you must have left bodies behind."
My eyes fill with moisture, but not a tear trickles down. "I killed two of the worst ancients. After I drained them, I made them crawl into the full sun when their guards weren't around. Both looked like suicides, and I spaced them about a decade apart."
"You're very lucky." He comes over, placing his arms around me in a hug. "They never connected it to the 'Red Death' rumor from the devastation in your first seethe?"
"No, I made sure my first name, Ceara, died with them and made myself over in the fifty years after. We've gone over this before, Rafe. Why bring it all up again?" I pull away from his warmth and lean back against the counter.
"You've never talked much about your time as an enforcer and I think it has colored your opinion of the Tribunal of Ancients."
I snort through my nose at that one. "The tribunal is necessary, I get that. But they are not all sunshine and daisies. Believe me."
"I do, but in a thousand years, they have done a lot of good too. Kept the worse bastards from continuing on and have worked to hide your kind from detection."
Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I realize I'm about to be saved from discussing any more of this unpleasant topic. I push away from my position next to the sink, grabbing the phone as I go. Punching in Jonathan's number, I wait for him to pick up while responding to Rafe. "Yeah, well, looks like they didn't do too well with this bastard. They let him go."
Jon answers after the third ring, recognizing my voice right away.
"I ordered breakfast for you before we head up to suite six," I tell him. "But it's kind of redundant now."
"What is? Why?" Jon asks.
"'Cause we figured out who did it and why. Come on over. We've got a lot to fill you in on."
I hang up, turning back to Rafe. I can see he is still unconvinced with my conspiracy theory. I know I shouldn't dig, but I do anyway. "You're remembering the polite faces of the tribunal members during the dealings with Ivan. One of them must have had a hidden agenda... obviously."
"We'll talk it over with Jon when he gets here, okay?" Brushing off my thought of a possible set-up by someone on the tribunal quite neatly, he's becoming diplomatic as he ages. "Maybe he can see something we've missed."
"It's a moot point anyway, isn't it? We're going to go sniff the room out in a minute and then the rest doesn't really matter, does it?" A smug smile hangs on my face. "The scent will match Ivan and you'll be groveling in apology."
There's a knock on the entrance door to our suite. "Is that the breakfast you mentioned to Jon?" I nod and Rafe heads to get the tray. In a further attempt at diplomatic diversion, he adds, "I hope Paul added the sauteed mushrooms to the omelet again. That was heaven last time."
By the time he sets up the table with the contents from the tray and pours out coffee from the carafe, Jon arrives at the back door. He looks fresh-faced and spectacular this morning. I'm betting he hooked up with one of his fellow employees last night when he cut out of here so early on. Good for him. It appears to have softened the tension he had last night after he stumbled on Rafe and me coming up from the basement.
Hanging up his coat, Jon turns to us, giving me a once over. "I heard what happened in the bar last night." He smirks and adds, "News travels fast in this place."
Er, which part is he referring to?
Good God, it seems like last night went on forever. I raise my eyebrows to indicate he'll need to let me know what the hell he's talking about.
"Good thing you've got lots of skirts, eh?" Jon raises his eyebrows with a wiggle. "Charlie certainly loved retelling that bit over and over."
Oh, my ass on display. Great.
I shrug my shoulders. "Glad to be a constant source of amusement for the ex-lumberjack." My face remains neutral. In the big scheme of what has happened in the last fourteen hours, that part seems inconsequential. "Rafe, would you mind filling him in on all that has happened? I want to clean up and get ready for the day."
Rafe nods and digs in to his food while it's still steaming hot. I leave the men and contemplate what I'm going to wear. I'll be meeting Asa today and will have to give him a tour of the place. Plus I've got a tea scheduled with Olivia, and a nooner tour with Liam and his mate on the fun floor.
Dressing in layers today sounds like the best approach. I strip everything off and take the fastest shower I can. Good thing I blew out my hair yesterday morning. Vampire hair grows so damn slowly that to keep my long hair healthy, I don't style it every day.
I pull on a black lace Merry Widow with matching thong panties, pairing both with sheer black stockings to complete the first layer. Next, I choose a snug, soft gray, turtleneck cashmere sweater with a below-the-knee charcoal, pinstriped suit skirt. The nice part about the skirt is it will hide most of the thigh-high, patent leather black boots I'll be wearing.
Zipping the second boot up into place, I take a last look in the full-length mirror before heading back into the kitchen. It's a fine line between sexy, intelligent innkeeper and a moment's transformation into a sexual dynamo, but I think I did a good job this morning. I fluff up my hair and give it a good shake, ready for whatever rolls my way in the next few hours.
Grabbing my cell phone and the notebook containing my thoughts on the crime, I then check my watch as I stroll into the hall. I'm happy to see that it is almost eight and I'm right on time. Being late drives me nuts. The sounds greeting me as I head back to Rafe and Jon are of plates clanking and chairs scraping back.
"How was breakfast, boys?" I call out, feeling cheerier than when I went in to change.
"Great." Rafe pats his full stomach. "Paul is one of the best additions we've made to this place. When is his contract up?"
"His latest two-year contract expires the end of next season. You worried he'll leave us?"
Jonathan snorts at that. "Where else can a chef earn two hundred K to cook for a max of thirty people a day? For that matter, who the hell pays the basic ground crew and maids a hundred? No worries on that front, Viv. They'll stay as long as you want them."
I look over and raise an eyebrow. "You complaining? You earn more than both of them put together. If you want a salary adjustment, just say the word."
Jon holds up both hands in a stop gesture. "Nah, don't get hasty there, lady. No complaining, simply pointing out the employees have plenty of incentive to stay. Loyalty through excellent pay and great working conditions can go a long way in today's economy, and you two provide both." He winks. "And then there's the perks the guests add. Never a dull moment here, that's for damn sure."
Rafe stands, pushing in his chair. He glances over his shoulder to the slumbering Sheba on the couch. "How long is she going to be out? I don't want her in our suite when we're not here."
"Can you give the front desk a call and have someone bring her back to her room?" I answer. "She'll be out for about six more hours."
Jon surprises me and says, "I'll bring her up. She's staying on the second floor where we're going, right?"
He walks across the room and gently slides his hands under the voluptuous curves of the cocoa-skinned beauty. "You did the right thing, Viv. Rafe filled me in. There was no other way you could have gone."
I grunt in response. "Yeah, but I'm still shocked it's Ivan. I really thought he was dead. What are your thoughts on how he found us?"
Jon stands, cradling the woman to his chest. He looks over at Rafe, making brief eye contact before replying. "I think it will be interesting to see what we smell up in the room. Let's get a move on and I'll share my thoughts when we're done."
Hmm... cagey son of a bitch. What the hell were those bastards talking about while I was gone?
Relax, Dria, we weren't talking against you. Just exploring all angles. Both of us have doubts with your take on things, but that doesn't mean you're wrong.
I'm not wrong. Time will tell.
The three of us make it up the stairs and deposit Sheba in her suite in short order. We proceed to the next wing where I use my master key card to unlock the door to suite six for our entry. The blood smell from last night is non-existent now that the rug and padding have been removed.
"Sheeet!" Jon says. "That hole is big. No choice, huh?"
"Nope," Rafe answers. "It wasn't pretty, that's for sure."
I ignore them and walk over to the window.
"Poor bugger," Jon continues. "What are we going to do with him? Bury him out in the woods this spring or send him home with Sal's group?"
Crap, do we have to discuss this now? Why is Jon always so damn kind and sweet? I feel like an uncaring sod because none of that had occurred to me earlier.
Rafe's loving voice trickles in past my self-flagellation. Chere, come on now. The blood smell had you loopier than a bird hitting a window full speed. I'll take care of the details. Don't I always? Let it go and stay focused on why we're here.
Aloud he adds, "We'll talk to Sal and see what he says. He'd be the one responsible for members of his seethe."
I squat, as best as I can in high-heeled boots without pitching ass-over-tea-kettle, and clear my mind. I'm not a damn Were and I'm not scenting prey, so this could be tricky. Closing my eyes, I try to block out the men's chatter behind me.
Sheba's recollections come into sharp focus and I can see the scene unfold from her perspective once again. I bend forward and take a deep breath in. Shades of color bloom behind my eyes; a mix of scents, discernible to only the most sensitive nose, appear like clouds of rainbows.
I match what I'm seeing and smelling with what I recall from my memories of Ivan over eight years ago. It isn't the same. Perhaps I'm not picking up the same unknown vamp that Jon scented. Only one way to find out.
Rising in one smooth motion, I call out to him. "Jon, come here. Tell me if this is the same scent you picked up outside yesterday."
He saunters over, giving me a semi-insolent look. "I don't need to. I can tell from here. Yes, it's the same."
My mind scrambles. Could Ivan's smell have changed during his confinement? What does being imprisoned for years underground and bound by silver do to one's internal scent? I know I saw the bastard in Sheba's head, white hair or not. I know Angie was Drew's wife. Dammit, Rafe saw it too.
I can tell by the looks they're exchanging that the shock must be apparent on my face and they've figured out it doesn't match my memories of Ivan. I know I'm right and it must be his scent has changed.
Jon cracks a smile sending me over the edge. My power pushes forward and encircles both men in its grasp. The werewolf sways a bit on his feet and Rafe squares himself, ready for what he knows will come.
My voice comes forth in a violent hiss. "Fuck you both and what you're thinking! I know I'm right. Scent or no scent, that bastard is Ivan."
Rafe clears his throat. "Relax, baby, we don't doubt you. But the evidence is different than what you got from Sheba's thoughts."
"Don't try to placate me, you son of a bitch! It's Ivan! I know it!"
"Could someone have messed with Sheba's head and fooled you?"
I speak before thinking, the instinct coming to the front before logical examination can raise its ugly head. "No. No one was in her head but Ivan and me. I'm sure of it."
They still don't look convinced.
Jon unwisely adds, "Maybe a call to the Tribunal of Ancients is in order, you know, just to check."
Prick! Good thing I'm not sleeping with him, or I'd be tempted to bite his cock off the next time it was in my mouth. Once glance at Rafe and I see he thinks Jon's idea may hold some merit.
Et tu, Brute? I send out through our mental connection.
Now, now, liebling, no need to sharpen the teeth and get angry. A phone call is not unwise.
The phone clipped to my waist starts to play Bad to the Bone and I fumble to grab it.
"Yes?"
"The plane from New York landed. Asa will be here in twenty minutes."
"Thanks."
I hang up and clip it back to my waist. I pull my aura back in and turn a fierce, toothy smile on my tormentors. "You two were saved by the proverbial bell, weren't you?"
They both look uncomfortable, and they should. I'm not some fledgling young vampire, recently turned. I know what happened, and they are going to have to find the facts to match what I know.
"Let's go down and meet Asa," I continue. "He may be able to shed some light on the subject as well."