“Carmine doesn’t know that, though, and I don’t have to actually perform a séance to talk to Carol, especially if Carmine’s in the room. But it gives me the perfect excuse to be touching his hand.”
“I’m not sure about this, babe,” Viktor said, trying not to bristle at the mental picture of a darkened room and Carmine holding hands with his mate. “We should talk to Bridget about it. I can imagine so many ways this could go wrong, but I could be overreacting, so talking to her would help.”
Then Viktor had another thought. “Wouldn’t it be easier to tell Carmine that the site was contaminated and you couldn’t read it at all? Yes, he’ll think he knows how to thwart your magic going forward, but it also means he will never know just how powerful you are. I don’t think it’ll do us any favors if he knew that for sure.”
“If it were just us dealing with Carmine, I’d agree with you. I’ve never cared what someone’s opinion of me was – good or bad. But this is about Carol, and I still want to get justice for her. There was nothing in the scene I saw that indicated those men killed her in self-defense. Besides, I’d like to talk to Carol anyway because I’m still not sure how the two men killed her, and the ME’s report didn’t shed any light on it.”
“Excuse me. Are you all right?” Viktor asked. “Only, I’m pretty sure it was your mind I was tapping into when I saw Carol being brutally murdered by two men.”
“The wounds they left on her were superficial. They were healed before the men left – likely by a simple medicated ointment that could be bought over the counter from any mage-endorsed store. The only thing I can think of that could have caused her death was a poison in the whiskey she was drinking.”
“Whiskey?” Viktor still didn’t even remember seeing a bottle, but Ant had mentioned it earlier.
“Yes, she had a bottle of whiskey when they first arrived in the clearing. I told you that. She was drinking directly from the bottle, and now I’m thinking about it, I remember seeing her wave it in their direction a few times, probably offering them a swig, but they didn’t take it. They were just encouraging her to keep drinking. She laughed as she did it, probably thinking it was funny.”
“That doesn’t explain why they roughed her up so badly, and then healed those wounds after she died.” Viktor got a sudden shiver down his spine. “That sounds weird, just mentioning it.”
“You’re right. None of that made sense.” Ant shook his head. “For all I know, they got a thrill out of beating a woman they already knew was dying. But then, perhaps they got worried about Carmine finding out, or that they would leave traceevidence on her body, so they healed her and tidied her up. But no. They were prepared – they had the salve, and that’s not something most people would just have in the dash of their car.” Ant grimaced. “I don’t know. I can’t work any of this out. I just know she didn’t deserve any of that.”
Ant was sad again, and while Viktor couldn’t summon the same level of empathy for a dead woman, he could care for his mate.
Rubbing Ant’s scalp, Viktor said softly, “If you recall when we were back at the house, you said that you wanted to do the scene reading, which you’ve done. Food was next on the list, which we all need, including Able.”
Able looked up and wagged his tail as his name was mentioned.
“Then you said you wanted to go to the library, and before we consider this idea of a séance or trapping Carmine, or anything else, I seriously think you need to look into ways that you can protect yourself from Carmine. He can give you a headache just by being in the room with him, so you need to have more protections in place before you go putting yourself into a situation where he’s going to hold your hand.”
Viktor barely kept the growl out of his tone as that picture flashed across his mind again.We’re working on being more understanding,he warned his vampire side.
“It’s what people in séances do.” Ant shrugged. “I can’t think why, to be honest. It doesn’t do anything to impact the outcome, but if that’s what Carmine’s expecting, he can hardly say no.”
“What if he wears gloves?” Viktor was seriously considering doing that himself, assuming he was going to be part of the séance circle. He didn’t want to be touching Carmine for any reason.
“Aww, come on.” Ant chuckled. “How on earth is the spirit going to be able to come through if somebody’s not relishing the skin-to-skin contact with another person? I mean, the circle of life has to be preserved. How else can the spirit come through?”
“I’m sure I’ve read some shit about that somewhere” - Viktor scowled - “usually spouted by scammers who were looking to steal the watch off your wrist while the lights were dimmed.”
“I don’t want Carmine’s watch,” Ant said. “It’s far too flashy for me. I want to know what he’s up to and what he knows about Carol’s murder. If Carmine comes to a séance where I might possibly talk to his dead sister, then he’s going to be thinking about her, and that’s all I need to get the details about what he knows. No spirit knocking or stolen watches required. I don’t see that as a bad idea, do you?”
“I’ll make you a list of why I don’t think this will work over lunch,” Viktor promised. “I can see a lot of ways where this is a bad idea. But I guess we’re going to go along with it anyway. Now that’s decided, can we please get out of here?” Viktor glanced over at the patch of grass where his foot had disappeared. He doubted he wanted to walk in a park anytime soon. He would feel a lot happier when his boots were hitting the pavement again.
“Use your vampire mojo, my mate.” Ant lifted his arms and hooked them around Viktor’s neck. “You can speed walk Able and me back to the car if it makes you feel better.”
It did.
Chapter Thirteen
“He said no.” Bridget looked positively delighted when she came in while they were eating breakfast the next day. “There was a letter from that damn gangster left at the office this morning with more of those cursed flowers. You, my little brother, have done something I never thought could happen. You’ve got Carmine Doukas running scared. He said no to the séance. Make me a coffee, please, Vik.” She pulled out a chair and sat down with a thump and a huff. “Ooh, toast. That sounds like a good idea.”
Ant pushed over his side plate that still had two slices of toast on it. He wasn’t particularly hungry, even though Viktor had cooked a lovely meal. He’d never slept well after a vision, and his excursion to the library at the Mage Academy hadn’t been as helpful as he would’ve liked.
Everything he’d read suggested he could best protect himself from emotional attack by creating wards or taking potions designed to block his ability to sense emotions. Unfortunately, none of the texts suggested how he might do that, when being open to his visions and the spirit world was the core of his magic.
The rough night meant he and Viktor had a later start than usual to their day. It was close to ten when Bridget arrived. “Haven’t you had breakfast yet?” Then he did a double-take at his sister. “Who’s been attacking your neck? Have you been in a fight?”
There were red marks on the side of Bridget’s neck, and Ant was sure they weren’t caused by an allergic reaction to makeup.
“My neck? Oh.” Bridget’s hand flew to the exact spot. “Sorry about that. Just ignore it. My makeup routine was a bit rushed this morning.”
