Disclaimer: I own nothing, everybody and everything belong to other people including myself. This is just for your enjoyment and there is no money being made off of it.
Warning: bad language and a very violent crime scene. So be warned
Chapter 19
The Grand Hilton Hotel was located in the heart of the business section. We followed Zebrowski into a parking garage and parked in the nearest spot we could find. As it turned out, we wound up on the very top of the garage. We rode down the elevator to a walk way that went over toward the hotel. We were greeted by Jamil and Shang-Da, whose looks were barely contained menevolence toward Zebrowski.
You could tell by the stiffness in Zebrowski's form, that he was uncomfortable around these two. He walked past them without a word, toward the entrance without a second glance. Jamil and Shang-Da watched him leave, glaring holes into his back. They stared after him until he was out of sight behind the hotel lobby doors. They turned back toward us, both looking for a fight, daring us to say something.
"What's he doing here?" Jamil asked pointing at Nathaniel.
"I asked him to come along. Is that any concern of yours?" Anita answered.
"You know Richard's not going to be happy that you brought one of your cats along." Jamil said.
"Why would Richard care, if I brought Nat along?" Anita asked.
"You know why Anita. He's hated those felines ever since Gregory scratched you up," answered Shang-Da.
"I could care less about whether he likes it or not. If I want to bring a member of the pard with me, I have the right to do so. Besides would you prefer that Micah came along instead of Nat?" Anita said, getting a little hot.
"That would be worse," Jamil acknowledged.
"All right then. As far as the incident with Gregory it's in the past and should stay there. We can't go back and change it, so just drop it," Anita said.
"If we have to stay downstairs while you take care of business, then so does the cat." Shang-Da replied.
"Why do you have to stay downstairs?" Anita asked.
"Because the cops won't allow any visitors in to see Richard," Jamil replied.
"Well I'm not you two and Nat's coming with me, so get over it," Anita stated.
"Over our dead bodies," said Shang-Da.
"I'm not here for a pissing contest with you two. I'm here to get Richard out of his so-called jail cell, so move it or lose it," Anita said..
"Fine." Jamil said.
Jamil caught site of me and his mouth dropped. He smacked Shang-Da and pointed at me. He looked my way and his eyebrows went up. They glanced at each other, turned around, and walked off.
"What the hell was that all about?" I asked.
Anita turned toward me and said, "I haven't got a clue, but we better hurry up before we lose Zebrowski."
"Maybe they've never seen a blue person before," chimed in Nathaniel.
"I don't think that's it," I said.
"Why is that?" Nathaniel asked.
I looked at him and said, "Because when I met those two last night, I was green and they were quick to make jokes about it. Today they are... well serious."
Nathaniel stared at me and asked, "How many colors do you change into?"
"Just five. One for each of the elements and one for spirit," I told him.
"Wow. You'll get along great with Zane then. He loves dying his hair different colors." he stated.
"I'm sure I will," I muttered.
We walked into the hotel and looked for Zebrowski. He was coming out of a little coffee shop with a white foam cup in his hand. He saw us and came over.
"It's about time you three got in here," he said.
"We were having a discussion," Anita answered.
"Oh," replied Zebrowski.
"If you are ready, lets go get your other boyfriend," he said.
"He's not my boyfriend anymore," Anita remarked, trying not to lose her cool.
"Whatever," He quipped.
I couldn't help but giggle. That got me an elbow in the rib section. I doubled over, then grinned unabashedly up at Anita.
"That wasn't funny," She growled.
"Sorry," I said.
She glared at me and walked on with Nathaniel on her tail. I stood back up, rubbed my ribs, trying to ease the pain that her elbow caused. In the process of doing that, I felt two pairs of eyes watching me from the other side of the lobby. I glanced over in that direction to find Jamil and Shang-Da standing there. I just shook my head and went to the elevators, when my shields closed up. There was something very wrong around here. I felt something evil fly through the air like a rocket. There was black magic being stirred, and I could feel it. It was so thick that it was choking me. Instead of going after Anita, I followed the pull of the magic. I moved toward the opposite direction and pushed my way through the thickness of the power. The spell was getting stronger and more suffocating. I was pushed to my knees and was having trouble breathing. Two sets of arms grabbed me and pulled me to my feet. It was Jamil and Shang-Da.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Jamil said through clenched teeth, so he wouldn't yell.
"There's something seriously wrong here. You don't feel it?" I asked.
"I feel it, but we're not going anywhere near it." He warned.
"I must. I need to find out what it is," I replied.
"You can barely stand and you are wheezing. I don't think that's a good idea," Shang-Da commented, keeping his voice low to avoid bringing attention to us.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm going to find out what's causing all this black magic. I wouldn't be doing my job, if I walked away from this and let something bad happen to someone, when I could have prevented it," I responded.
I pulled away from them and began staggering toward the source. I moved toward the place where it was the strongest. Jamil and Shang-Da closed in warily behind me in case I passed out from whatever was making me sick. The power was coming from the end of the hall, so I inched toward the hotel room, while pulling out my wand. The closer I came to it, the stronger the power. I got the backlash of the spell when it climaxed to it's highest peak. A shock of electricity went through my body, liked I had been hit by a bolt of lightning. You could smell the hint of blood on the air as the magic passes over. There was a maid that was coming out of the room next to it. I stumbled up to her nearly scaring her to death.
"I need you to open that door, right now. It's an emergency," I commanded.
"I can't, there's a no disturbance sign on the door," she said.
I pushed her toward the door, waving my wand in her face. "Open the door now, or I'll have you arrested for interfering with a government investigation, " I said, making my wand glow bright red.
She looked at me, hesitant at what to do, before she unlocked the room. As soon as she opened the door, she threw up from the smell of blood in that room. I pushed passed her into the room to find a horror scene. Two lovers where in bed having sex, or where having sex when they were killed. A young blonde female, who was skinny as a bean pole and pale as could be, was straddling a well- built man. He was tan with brown hair to his shoulders. Their insides had been blown out from their chest all over the bed, floor, and walls. Their chest cavities were shooting straight up in the air. The young woman's body was bent so far backwards, her head was touching the man's kneecaps. The guy's body was bent the same way leaving a huge gap between his spine and the bed. There was blood and gore seeping out everywhere and was splattered all over the room as well.
The maid was in hysterics and Richard's bodyguards were instantly alert, looking around the room for the any other surprises, that might pop out of thin air. Me, I've seen this kind of thing too many times already to let it bothered me. Working for the four councils and doing their dirty work, often brings me into situations like this. I learned early in my career not to let it get to me, or I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life. I've even done things like this, in order to save my life, or someone else's from bad guys. I was comfortable in this element, because I'd learned to adapt to these types of horror. I went to the bedside to phone the police. I asked to speak with Sergeant Storr and they sent me straight through.
"Sergeant Storr speaking. What can I do for you?" He asked gruffly.
"Hey Dolph, it's me Alexandra. Are you sitting down?" I replied.
"Yes I'm sitting down. What do you need?" He asked.
"There's been a murder here at the hotel. I called you because it was done by someone in the magical field." I answered.
"You've got to be kidding me," He said.
"No, I'm not," I replied.
"Where's Anita?" He asked.
"She doesn't know about it. The two people hadn't been dead long. I found them by following the feel of power," I told him.
"How come she doesn't know about it," He asked.
"I lost her in the lobby and I didn't feel the magic until she was in the elevator. It just happened before I got to the room, sir." I said.
"Find her and get back there. I'll meet you there. What room is it?" He questioned.
"It's room 103. It's on the floor with the lobby," I said.
"The squad and I will be there shortly," he said, then hung up.
I turned to find the bodyguards standing near the door, trying to comfort the hysterical maid. They were also being careful not to mess up the crime scene with their feet.
"What room is Richard in?" I asked them.
"He's in room 311," Jamil said.
"Thank you," I replied. Then glanced back at the corpses. With my back turned toward the guys I asked, "Do you know who they are?"
Shang-Da looked over at me and said, "They were two of Narcissus's people."
"You're joking right?" I asked.
"No, I'm not," Shang-Da answered matter of factly.
This was just great, we had two dead hyenas on our hands. I was not looking forward to a meeting with Narcissus. Why would anyone risk their life to try and take out a couple of lycanthropes? Then something started eating at the back of my brain and a light came on. I turned toward the couple and started to hover over the bed to keep from stepping in the blood. I dropped my shields and sent my power out searching for the couple's beasts. When my power touched the center, I found nothing. I knew what kind of spell was used to do this. It was an exorcist spell, a spell that forces something out of someone else, usually a preternatural out of natural. It was a powerful spell that could only work if the mage was up close and personnel with the intended victim. The wizard's council used it a lot to reverse possession spells that are put on their Aurors. Aurors are the police of The Wizards Council, they are hired to handle dangerous criminals, mostly dark lords. Whoever killed these two were trying to force their beasts out of them. Apparently the beasts weren't going to go quietly. They were fighting back, trying to keep their grip on their hosts. The force of the magic became stronger and when it was shoved into the bodies, the beasts were coerced to let go and they exploded out of the people with a high-pressure that caused their insides to blow out with their animals.
I wasn't sure if Dorkson was learning how to perform black magic or he hooked up with another dark lord, but whatever the case was, this had his name written all over it. I flew around the room, making sure I touched nothing, so I could look for more clues. I went to the dresser next. It had a mirror and it was covered in a residue. Upon closer inspection, I found that it was still warm. The person or persons who did this was recently here and they used the mirror as a transport. They must have left just before I arrived at the crime scene. I glanced around for prints and couldn't find any. They were careful not to leave anything behind for the police, but they left a lot for me to work with. I collected samples of the dust and residue off the dresser, putting it in a small bag. Then I pulled my wand out to test the spiritual elements of the room. I was looking for particles of the mage's magical being. When someone works magic, they leave a piece of them behind, making it easy for Aurora's to track it back to its user.
I found the string of magic that was left behind and placed it in a round clear ball. It swirled black as I pushed the cord in. I would use this later to find out who the dark lord that was helping Dorkson was. How did I know it was a dark lord and not Dorkson's doing? Easy, only a dark lord's magic would turn black inside a tracing ball. If it were Dorkson's it would have been grey. I used some powder and a few ancient words to create a portal from the hotel room to my father's lab. I placed all my findings in a pouch and sent it through the portal to the lab. The maid saw it and freaked out. Jamil and Shang-Da glared at me, for destroying their hard work at calming down the hysterical woman. Now they would have to do it all over again and they were not happy about it. I just smiled and went over to phone Richard's room and a male voice answered.
"Hello," the voice said.
"Hello. This is Agent Montgomery, is Ms. Blake there?" I asked.
"Just a minute," he said.
I waited for the phone to switch hands and then Anita came on. I told her that she was needed at room 103. I didn't give her a chance to yell at me, by hanging up the phone on her. Five minutes later Dolph showed up with the squad, Anita and Zebrowski taking up the rear. I finally got Jamil and Shang-Da out of the room and made them take the maid to the coffee shop for awhile.
Dolph, Zebrowski, and Anita walked into the room, glancing around at the horror that lay before them.
"All right Alexandra, what happened here?" Dolph asked.
"Dark Lords is what happened here," I answered.
They all stared at me. "What's a dark lord?" Dolph asked.
"They are wizards and witches that dabble in black magic," I told them.
"How do you know they were killed by magic?" He said, while trying to be careful where he stepped due to all the blood.
"Because Dolph, a normal human couldn't do it and a vampire wouldn't risk losing their dinner. So the only other thing that could have done this is a dark lord," I stated.
"What about a lycanthrope?" He asked.
"Dolph hate to disappoint you, but a lycanthrope didn't do it either," I scowled.
"Why not?" He replied.
"Because those two corpses were lycanthrope," I said.
He stared at me, then at the bodies. I glanced over at Anita and realized she was wearing a horrible expression of recognition on her face. While Dolph and his men were occupied with studying the bodies, I walked over to Anita and pulled her out of the room.
"Anita. What's wrong? Do you know who they are, besides being two of Narcissus's people?" I asked.
She looked at me and answered, "The woman was Miranda, she was his favorite actress. The male was Angus, he is a new hyena in town. He just showed up about a week before you did."
"I probably already know the answer to this, but I have to ask. Why would those two come to this side of the river for a little sex? Don't they have hotels on their side?" I asked.
"Yes they do, but they were trying to hide their relationship from him," She answered.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because Narcissus had a thing for Angus and would have gone off the deep end, if he found out those two were seeing each other," she replied.
"And how do you know that?" I said.
"Jason," she replied.
"Figures," I snorted.
Narcissus is not going to like this. He's going to want something for this or he's going to start a war between the groups." she stated.
"You're joking right?" I said.
"No, I'm not," She replied.
"He's going to start something, just because two of his people wanted to have sex in a hotel on our side of the river?" I asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"He's a nut case," I mumbled under my breath.
Anita heard, smile and said, "You don't know the half of it."
We stood outside the room in silence, waiting for Dolph to come out. I'd already seen the crime and didn't want to be in there any longer. Finally he came out and stood in front of us, while Zebrowski stood in the door way. Dolph looked over at Zebrowski and said, "Go get Richard and take him to the coffee shop. He's free now, so Richard can wait for Anita and Alexandral there. Send the uniformed cops home. I'll handle the situation here."
"Ok boss," he replied.
Once he was out of sight, Dolph turned back toward us and said, "I don't expect you two to go back into the room, so Anita since Alexandra was on the scene first and know what's going on, I'm going to ask here questions first. Is that all right with you?"
Anita nodded her head and Dolph continued, "All right Alexandra start talking."
"Ok here it goes. The two victims are lycanthropes and were killed with a exorcist spell, whoever did this used the bedroom mirror as a portal to get into the room. I collected some samples of the person's residue to look at later. Once I find out who it is, I'll let you know," I told him.
"How does that spell work and how did they get through the mirror as you say?" He asked.
"The wizard or witch can use a mirror as a portal to travel from one place to another, but there has to be another mirror present for them to come out at the right place. As long as there's a mirror they can get through to anywhere. As for the spell, it forces things out of something it shouldn't be in. What happened here is that the killers wanted to free the victims of their beast, by forcing it out of them. Unfortunately the beast put up a fight and when the killers caused it to explode from the corpes chest, it took their insides as well, bringing their death when they climaxed," I told him.
"Anything else you can tell me, besides the fact where dealing with a warlock?" he asked.
"Only that sex can be use as an energy source to help with casting spells," I said trying not to turn red in the face.
"You're joking right?" He asked.
"Nope," I answered.
"Are you trying to tell me that this warlock used those people in that room having sex as a guide for that spell?" He asked.
"Yep," I replied.
He turned to Anita, who listened to the entire conversation. "Is she telling the truth?" He asked her.
"Yes, she is. Sex according to what most witches believe, is powerful when it comes to working magic," Anita answered.
He started to pace the hall, while looking over his notes. Finally he returned his attention toward us. "Does this have anything to do with Dorkson and his followers?" He asked.
"I believe so," I told him.
"Well if that's the case then I'm putting you on this case with Anita as your partner," Dolph stated.
"You've already told us that," Anita said.
"I'm saying it again. You two are the only ones who can take these people down. Even Reynolds doesn't have this much insight of the craft. She's good, but not as good as you two," He commented.
Anita glanced over at me and I looked at her. "We'll take that as a compliment," Anita said.
"Good, now get going so the clean up crew can do their job," he replied.
We nodded and left the scene, walking toward the coffee shop where Richard, Jamil, Shang-Da, and Nathaniel was waiting. Richard caught sight of us and stood up. The others followed his gaze as we came to stand beside the table.
"So what happened?" Richard asked Anita while staring at me.
"Murder scene," she stated.
"Oh," he replied. "Who's this?" He asked.
Anita glanced over at me and said, "Richard this is Alexandra. Maximus's daughter and the new pack member. Alexandra, this is Richard."
He stepped around the table and greeted me, by shaking my hand and rubbing his cheek along mine. Before I knew it I was dangling from the air in a bear hug, with his face shoved into my neck right behind my ear. He put me down and gave me a smile and I returned it. He turned back toward his guards.
"Lets get out of here. I've had enough of confinement," He said, then walked toward the door.
His guards followed him, leaving the rest of us standing there. I felt an arm wrap around me and turned to see Nathaniel smiling back at me. I glance over at Anita and she was shaking her head.
"Did I miss something?" I asked.
"Richard just shocked me, that's all. It seems all the men in my life are starting to shock me," She said.
"Would you like to explain?" I asked.
"Maybe later. First, lets get out of here," She said starting to walk toward the lobby. Nathaniel and I followed her out of the coffee shop and out the hotel toward the garage. When we got to her van, my skin started to itch. For the second time today something started to eat at me. I looked with my magic and second sight and found an explosion spell on the driver side door. Anita just triggered it by putting her key into the lock. I pushed Nathaniel toward the ground hard as I could, then ran around the side of the van to throw myself at Anita pushing her out of the way, just as the van exploded. Before I could throw up a protection spell, I caught the backlash of the explosion and felt my back start to burn. I got the spell up, just as the world went black.