Page 84 of Deadly Deception
Aurelia’s lips twitched before she said, “Your concern is…strange, but not unwelcome.” And then she was gone.
Boone and I remained silent for a beat, the sound of Little Fang’s purrs filling the empty space. Finally, Boone muttered, “Huh?”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“Our escort should be here shortly,” Tabitha Clark announced as she walked back into the room, missing Aurelia’s presence completely. Like Boone, Clark looked tired, but had recovered from the destructive charm Sara released. Boone told me earlier that he was once more connected to his necromancer abilities. He’d exerted a lot of energy earlier and his reserves were low, but he said he could definitely feel his necromancer side. Boone’s relief was palpable.
I was thankful Boone remained seated. I took it upon myself to bring up the kitten. I had no idea what we’d do with Little Fang if Clark told us Navarre couldn’t take her with him. “He seems pretty attached,” I said while pointing at Fang. “Is it possible for Navarre to take the kitten with him?”
“Absolutely,” Clark agreed readily. “I’m glad he has an anchor to reality.” With a sad head shake, she added, “It will take me months to weed through all the souls clinging to him.”
“What about Benny?” I asked. I couldn’t remember his last name.
Clark waved me off. “I’ve already sent him beyond the veil. Benny found his earlier outburst very satisfying. He was content to shuffle off. Unfortunately, he is one of many. Benny was one of the easier spirits to tease free of Navarre.”
“Oh.” Yup, that was the extent of my response. I had nothing else.
“When is your escort supposed to be here?” Boone asked.
“Within the hour.”
Chewing on his bottom lip, Boone finally looked up and said, “Tabitha, I don’t know how to tell you this or if it’s my place, but I’ve got serious doubts about the Magical Usage Council. I called them when we realized you’d been taken, and let’s just say they were less than concerned.”
Clark’s eyes danced and her lips twitched. “That’s because I’d already advised them not to intervene, that I was currently fine.”
Boone and I shared a confused glance before I asked, “Are you telling me Sara didn’t confiscate your cell?”
“Oh no, she took it.” Clark was clearly annoyed. “It took me forever to find it. That’s what took me so long earlier,” she huffed.
“Then how…?” I let the question hang in the air.
With a wink and sly nod, Clark said, “I’m a medium. I don’t mean to boast, but I’m no slouch. If I’m familiar with a spirit and have a good relationship with them, then I can contact that spirit from hundreds, even thousands of miles away. Elvira passed along my message.”
“Elvira?” Boone questioned.
“Well, that’s not her birth name. We don’t speak her given name. Suffice to say, Elvira’s life while she lived under her original moniker was not…pleasant. Elvira’s taken a liking to the Magical Usage Council headquarters. She’s come in handy morethan once and seems to enjoy being helpful.” Clark blew out a frustrated breath. “Of course, she also enjoys her fair share of mischief as well, but those are stories for another time. The point is, had I needed or wanted their help, all I needed to do was contact Elvira and she would alert the council members.”
“Why didn’t you ask for help?” Boone questioned.
Clark shrugged. “Because it wasn’t needed.” With a winning smile, she closed the distance between herself and Navarre and patted him on the shoulder. “I’d say things worked out very well.”
It took several seconds for me to register my mouth was hanging open. “How do you figure that?”
“Easy. We’re all still breathing, aren’t we? That’s a win in my book any day.”
Once again, words failed me. Considering Boone’s stunned silence, I figured we were once again on the same page.
It had been a long day and an even longer evening. Boone and I were ready to crash. We could have booked our room for another night. That would have been the wise thing to do. Our desire to get out of the Chicago area overrode any sense of wisdom.
We briefly stopped by Nana’s house to say goodbye. She was understandably concerned by our haggard appearance and shoved more pumpkin pie my direction. Boone and I ate slices on our way to the hospital. It was our last stop before the airport and our flight back to Mobile. As far as I was concerned, we could sleep on the plane. I’d see how I felt when we got back to Alabama. If I was too wiped, we’d get a hotel room and drive the rest of the way home tomorrow.
We’d gotten word that Sheriff Henson was in stable condition and had been moved to a private room in the progressive health unit. I’d gotten a text from Captain Tompkins that he’d been discharged but was staying close to Henson. Emotion didn’t come through well in texts, despite the litany of emojis available to do just that. While I couldn’t be certain, I imagined there was a loadstone of guilt flowing through Tompkins’s words and actions.
Boone and I rode the elevator up to the third floor. Boone had Henson’s room number scribbled on the back of our hotel receipt. I don’t think either one of us had enough faith in our exhausted brains to remember Henson’s room number without a visual copy to remind us.
“310 should be down this way,” Boone pointed to a wall plaque with room numbers and hall directions.
“Lead on,” I mumbled, and we shuffled down the pristine floor. The fluorescent lights reflected brightly off the hard surface. If it hadn’t been for one of Holland’s activated pain charms, the light would have added its own symphony to my pounding head.
