Heart of Darkness Read online

  Edwina narrowed her gaze and Meriel gave her blank face right back. She’d groomed her blank face over many, many years. Considered it perfect. It was the only way to win with her mother, who pushed to get a response. One of these days though, oh, Meriel would give it to her, all right.

  “Thank you.” Meriel said it again, holding her mother’s gaze.

  Edwina sighed and moved to the door. “Keep me apprised.” And left.

  Meriel read through her notes and headed to Gage.

  Chapter 2

  GAGE looked up as she tapped on his door. Meriel liked this part of the office. Back in a far, infrequently used corridor, Nell ran the investigative and law and order arm of the clan. They had a pinball machine. Hello.

  Gage sat, boots up on his desk, a phone to his ear as he looked over whatever he had in his hands. She waved when he looked up and made to leave, but he waved her in to sit and wait.

  “I have to go. No. Nell, if I so much as get a whiff you’re back in town before Sunday, I will kick your ass. And I’ll tell Meriel.” He grinned up at her as he paused, clearly getting an earful. “Bye.” He hung up, laughing.

  “She can’t possibly be coming back early. William has to be more attractive than anything she could find here. William in swim trunks. Yum!”

  He rolled his eyes. “I had to call her about this New Mexico stuff. I take it your mother spoke with you?”

  “Yes, that’s why I’m here. It could have waited until Monday, you know. Nell’s only going to obsess about it now.”

  “I know. But she made me promise to call if anything unusual came up. I found a way around it for the investigation at this club. That’s not new.” He shrugged and Meriel laughed, delighted.

  “I love the way you two are together. You keep her in line.”

  “William told me marrying Nell was like getting me too. But then he confessed that he was glad because it would take more than one person to keep her in line. He said as long as I had no designs on the parts he liked to keep in line we were good.”

  Meriel always had wondered why Gage and Nell hadn’t hooked up. But she imagined it was one of those great, totally non-romantic partnerships. They teased, but there wasn’t an ounce of sexual tension between them.

  “He’s a smart man.” She held up the file. “So what do you know about New Mexico?”

  “I spoke with the person who called your mother. They don’t have a clan organization so no law enforcement to speak of. No investigative team. They’re not going to bring in anyone else. I did offer,” he added at her questioning look before continuing. “Missing witches. No real connection they know of. But there’s too much they don’t know for me to be really comfortable with the situation.”

  “We need to be sure we’re keeping a good eye on everyone. Even the outclan.” This would make her mother insanely angry, but just because those witches didn’t want to join the clan didn’t mean the clan should simply leave them without any protection. They used the font. They obeyed the clan rules. They deserved some benefit.

  “I agree. We have something in place, as you know. But I think it can be stepped up. I’m going to work with section five to see if we can’t monitor through the font. You know, see who is taking and filling. Look for gaps.”

  The font was the collective energy bank for the clan. All witches within it were keyed in so that their magickal energy should be part of it, if not every day, at least several times a week. An absence could be detected; she just didn’t know how hard it would be to do it.

  “Good. That’s a good idea. They’ll tell you if it can be done or not. Keep me apprised. I’ve been named the point person on this.”

  Gage’s brows went up a bit.

  “I know, I’m surprised too.” She couldn’t very well say she was shocked her mother had let go of the power. Her mother had a way of hearing lots of things. Most likely, her mother thought this was all bullshit so it was fine to give it to Meriel, who’d also end up with a reality check that would smack the notion of working with other witches and protecting against external threats by banding together right out of her head.

  Ha. Edwina had no idea. None. Which bugged Meriel. For heaven’s sake, she was Edwina’s child—canny and strong willed, just like her mother. The future didn’t involve this continued self-segregation and her mother could pretend Meriel didn’t know any better or that she was naive, but they both knew that wasn’t true.

  “Totally hypothetical question here. Do you think this might be connected to the situation in Minnesota? With the mages?”

  A witch had been found nearly dead and had recounted a horrifying tale of being kidnapped by a group of mages who’d spent days siphoning her power. She had only been able to escape when she’d managed to grab back enough of her magickal power to siphon the air from the room and the mages had passed out. She’d crawled nearly a mile before someone found her and took her to the hospital. By the time the police had arrived at the house, everyone had gone.

  The human authorities were looking for human monsters. Human monsters could be taken down. But mages were not human, and they had no code of ethics like witches. No, they stole power and magick to twist it and use it like a drug.

  And what if they’d decided to hunt witches for that drug?

  BY the time she’d made ready to leave for the day, the sun was down. She’d had plans to duck out early but of course that hadn’t worked out. As it was, she still had the opportunity to stop at the little boutique just down the street from her apartment building. She wanted something new for that night. Wanted to find an outfit suitable for club wear.

  Her phone was ringing when she came out from her bathroom and she ran to grab it. It had been Gage’s mother, Shelley, calling from his house where he was currently suffering the throes of food poisoning. She’d assured Meriel that Gage would be fine by morning, but there was no way he’d be accompanying her that evening.

  Meriel had almost felt sorry for him as he’d attempted to order her to wait until the following night and she’d refused, promising to be safe and check in the following day before telling him to get well and hanging up.

  She’d made the choice to go and, she thought as she put in her earrings, that was that. It hadn’t simply been a matter of their font being stolen from. It had been bigger.

  No spiky-heeled sandals that night. She needed to be able to move easily and quickly. So she opted for her cowboy boots. Thankfully they went well with the outfit she’d picked up.

  The skirt was a little shorter than she usually went for, but it wasn’t so short she’d be in danger of showing any of her bits. And the shirt was snug and a little stretchy; the sequins accenting it here and there would catch the light. Feminine. Sexy. And it all emphasized her best parts and hid her worst.

  In the garage she looked at what she’d picked up two days before. Nell’s car. Nell’s beautiful, cherry-red classic 1967 Camaro. All shiny and powerful.

  Her own car was nice enough and all, but this, well, this was part of the whole night. Unexpected like the short skirt and this mission she went on. Silly, but it was thrilling all the same.

  She traveled across the lake toward Seattle, feeling as if there was a reason she felt nearly driven to do it. Though Meriel was as rational and logical as they came, she still believed in following her gut. Her gut was where her magick lived and it wanted her at that club tonight.

  There were no reasons to expect a violent response from Bright. He’d been peaceable since he’d arrived in Owen territory, though still a thief. He had to quit that, of course. And the opportunity to do something so unexpected—to act on behalf of her clan with this witch to make him stop—well, that excited her.

  It could wait, of course, for the next night, or the next week for that matter. Restlessness had settled into her bones over the last year. Before that she’d been pretty much single-minded with her studies and her job.

  Ambition came to her naturally. Her foremothers had created Clan Owen from nothing and b
uilt it into one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Meriel accepted that the blood of these women ran in her veins for a reason and that she was supposed to use every gift she’d been given to protect and serve her people.

  From infancy there had been one path and she greeted that with joy and a sense of duty. But things were changing. The older and more experienced she got, the more the witches in Clan Owen expected her to lead and many had begun to look to her first, before Edwina, and that had created a rift. Most though weren’t sure she could be as brutal and ruthless as Edwina. So she’d have to show them. But in her own way.

  For the first time in her life it was hard to wait for what was next. She wanted to go out and greet it. Wanted to make things happen. Wanted to see what this heady sense of expectancy was all about.

  She supposed at this point in a full-council witch’s life, it was about finding her bond-mate to finally ascend to her full power. She was in limbo until that happened. Until a full-council witch performed the ascension spell with her bond-mate, she wouldn’t achieve her full power and take her seat on the ruling council of the clan.

  It wasn’t so much that Meriel was aching to find her bond-mate. It was more than the magickal ascension, though she did want that very much, it was a lack of soul-connection. It had only gotten worse once she’d seen Nell with her new husband, had seen love in her best friend’s eyes.

  Things were about to change. She could feel it.

  DOMINIC tucked his shirt into his jeans and gave himself one last look in the mirror on the back of his office door. He had a to-do list as long as his arm and the sense of impending something lay heavily in his gut.

  He hated that. He didn’t want this special-sense thing. He liked his gifts well enough, but it was just fine with him to be an ordinary guy with a little bit of magick. He didn’t want foresight. Tom, the closest thing Dominic had to a father and the man who deserved the credit as one, got on his case for being a slacker and not living up to his full potential. That’s what fathers did, Dominic knew. But he had a successful bar, didn’t he? Was he not giving a place to go to both others and humans alike? It wasn’t like he was still living on the edge the way he had those years before. No probation officer. He was a businessman now. No more running from bill collectors. Hell, he even had employees. As far as Dominic was concerned, he was a useful member of society and Tom should be satisfied with that.

  It wasn’t so much that he never used his magick. Just that he used it the way he wanted to. This whole clan business, having to be a member and obey rules, none of that was his scene. He didn’t need to be told what to do. Not by anyone.

  After finally growing tired of the violence and hand-to-mouth nature of the lifestyle he’d lived for the early part of his twenties, he’d landed in New York City where he’d learned how to run a business. When he’d saved for a few years, he’d come back home to the Northwest.

  He’d made something of all that energy and ambition. He took an empty space and with some magick, okay some borrowed energy too, had created Heart of Darkness. At first glance it was an industrial nightclub but through an arch, hidden to non-magickal eyes, was the spot for Others in Seattle. Part cafe, part bar.

  The place was packed every night and as Simon pointed out just that day over lunch, they were bound to get a visit from some clan witches very soon. There was no way word of the place hadn’t reached them and there’d be a bill come due from using their precious font. Even an outclan witch like him knew he was breaking their laws by using their magick without being keyed in. Until then though, he’d continue to do so because he needed to and they couldn’t possibly have a use for all that spare power.

  And because he still liked to play on the edge.

  Chapter 3

  MERIEL stretched her legs out the open car door, unfolding her body to stand beside the shiny curves of steel. Part of the reason people stared was the car, and she totally got that. Normally, Meriel drove an Audi. Low slung, sporty and temperamental. Sort of like she was on a good day. Heh.

  Still, maybe a little bit of Nell’s sexy-momma mojo would rub off on her.

  The valet tried to look sullen and bored as he approached with an outstretched hand. A valet at an industrial nightclub? What was the world coming to?

  Sullen and on the verge of tears seemed to be similar looks for this boy. No way was he more than a hair this side of nineteen. His skinny jeans only emphasized just how thin his legs were. It must have been a serious workout for him to move in those big boots he had on. Couldn’t have been more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. Probably why his guyliner was running. Or maybe that was on purpose. Whatever, she didn’t really care. Emo boys were not her cup of tea anyway. As long as he didn’t scratch the car, he was free to weep and write bad poetry all day long.

  She dropped her keys into his palm and raised one eyebrow. Might as well put on a show all the way and throw a little Edwina in there. “Do be careful, won’t you?” She added a touch of magick to be sure he was.

  He nodded, Adam’s apple sliding up and down as her magick tickled his skin and permeated his brain. She briefly toyed with also telling him to eat a sandwich, but let that go.

  “Tell me”—she paused, looking at his name tag—”Spider. Very goth, by the way, Spider.” She tried very hard not to snicker. “Is Mr. Bright in this evening?”

  “Should be.” Spider tried to look tough, but she could use him to pick spinach from her teeth with one hand so the effect was lost on her.

  She nodded, taking her tag and sauntering past the line and through the doors. The bouncer took one look, a smile settled over his features and he stepped back, letting her pass.

  Once inside, the scent caught her attention. Mmmm. Humanity. Sex, lust, greed, anger. Beautiful. The hard-edged beat vibrated off her skin as she prowled through the crowd. In every flash, flash, flash of the strobe lights bodies moved, arms up in the air.

  Magick drifted through the large room, drawing her to its source. It wasn’t hard to find the go-between, the place normals wouldn’t see but Others would be drawn to, and through, into their own private club.

  Heart of Darkness—not a bad name for a club, really. One of her favorite books too. Too bad Gage wasn’t here. The women would have been falling over themselves to get to him. Her mother would also have a cow when she heard Meriel had disobeyed her orders and had come out unescorted, but for goodness’ sake, it wasn’t that dangerous to talk to a thief in public. And hello, she wasn’t fifteen. It had been a long time since Meriel had looked to a mother to do any taking care of her. And last, it amused her to visualize her mother having a cow.

  Despite her amusement and admittedly, no small amount of admiration for how much talent it took to set this place up, Heart of Darkness had the potential to be dangerous for them all. Dominic Bright took risks he had no right to. Not on Owen ground and certainly not with Owen font magick.

  Though the Weres had been out for a decade and the vampires discussed it endlessly, witches were far less enamored of the idea.

  They’d been there and done that and many of them hadn’t survived. In fact every time humans focused on them it involved hanging or drowning or being burned alive so they were obsessive about keeping what they did quiet. Pagans and Wiccans already got enough hatred; if humans knew there were witches like Meriel, well, she didn’t like thinking about it overlong.

  This place was a risk of exposure on top of the fact that one simply didn’t just steal from Clan Owen and not face consequences. Clan witches loved rules. Rule breaking was frowned upon because risks were dangerous.

  Mr. Bright needed to be taught that it was the height of offense to a clan to come in this way. Some of them would have sent enforcers in and he’d never have been heard from again. Lucky for him, Meriel thought that a big show of aggression would be an overreaction. At least until she learned more.

  And then, if he needed to be disappeared, Nell would make it happen. The weak got preyed upon and Clan Owen wasn’t
weak.

  Already she knew he had some sense. The closer she got to the go-between door, the more the repulsion spell increased in intensity. The entrance looked like a back door and the presence of two large bouncers looking like bartenders would stop interlopers.

  The nature of the club would tend to have their kind blend in, although she didn’t know a single vampire who actually looked like the ones she saw in movies. Still, she’d have to talk to Bright about it.

  Ignoring the stares and touches from men and women alike as she passed through the crowd, she moved with single-minded purpose toward the warded entrance.

  The bouncers didn’t bother removing their sunglasses. They wouldn’t need to. Even with shades on, they’d see the magick crackle over her skin with their othersight. With the patented bodyguard nod, they stepped aside and let her pass.

  The sound dampened and the energy changed as magick of all sorts sparked against hers. The wards recognized her and she passed through the human part of the club and into the domain where her people walked. She recognized the flavor of the magick as Owen font magick. This was their power being used to hide that doorway. Oh, that naughty man. Against her better judgment and a lifetime of training, instead of apprehension, a glimmer of excitement slid through her. A challenge.

  BY contrast to the press of humans out front, this part of Heart of Darkness wasn’t such a crush. The pulsing lights and dark ambiance outside had been abandoned. Within this world created just for them, it was more like a restaurant/ pub than a dance club, though there was a dance floor too. She imagined later tonight and on the weekends it would probably be busier and noisier. Magick of all sorts danced through the air. Were, vampire, witch—even a bit of Fae. Bright might be breaking the law by stealing magick, but she couldn’t deny the place had appeal.