Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on this. My last trimester was extremely tiring, but baby and I are home now and ready to continue. This chapter does not contain Katie, but is vital to the story. Thank you!
Disclaimer: JKR owns it all and I don't.
Chapter 7
He knew bringing her here would cause him nothing but trouble. He had known that and still he had done it. Fuck! Why couldn't I just leave well enough alone and let Bletchley walk off with her? I had to fucking bid on her…I had to have her. And now…well, I've certainly had her…probably for the first and only time. Bloody hell…what a fucking mess!
"You need to stay."
Marcus paused, his robe half buttoned. Exactly what I don't need right now. "I can't talk. I have business to attend to," he replied quietly.
Ismene's eyes followed Marcus as he recommenced buttoning his robe and then sifted through his closet for a pair of shoes. "You need to listen to me and listen well," she said crossly.
I can guess what this is about…bloody hell, can't women keep their gobs shut…fucking gossips, every last one of them! "I don't have time for a lecture, Ismene." Marcus grabbed a pair of dragon hide boots and righted himself. He stepped into them and used his wand to tie the laces. Straightening his robes, he took one last glance around to make sure he had everything and then headed towards his bedroom door. Dropping a chaste kiss on Ismene's unscarred cheek, he added, "I don't know when I'll be back. It may take a few hours or a few days."
Ismene grabbed his hand tightly, her pale green eyes full of earnestness. "I'm serious Marcus; we need to talk…NOW."
Marcus shook her off angrily. Damn! "Leave it, Ismene. What's done is done and I don't feel like discussing it," he spat. Not caring if she got the message or not, Marcus strode out of the chamber, anxious to leave.
"It's what's undone that I'm more worried about," she shouted as she pursued him down the corridor.
What in Hades is she blabbing about? Fucking seers…always talking nonsense.
"You can't leave Marcus!"
Marcus trotted down the stairs continuing to ignore Ismene's protests.
"You have to be the stupidest bastard to walk on two legs!" Ismene hoped that would get his attention. Marcus hated being called stupid. She leaped down the stairs two at a time, catching him in the foyer.
"Ismene, let me make this very clear to you…I don't have time for this fucking bullshit. I don't care how upset Bell is or how pissed off you are. I fucked up, okay? I get it. But right now really isn't the time for you to begin your "Marcus Flint is Viler than a Troll" lecture series. The Dark Lord is waiting and I know you understand the seriousness of that." Marcus turned his back on his cousin, preparing to apparate.
"She's dangerous Marcus."
"Bell couldn't kill a fly. Trust me; it's built in with all that Gryffindor nobleness and virtue shite."
"I don't know what in Merlin's name is going on between you and Katie…that's your own sick, twisted game and I, for one, am steering clear of it." Marcus glanced over his shoulder, his brow furrowed in confusion. "She's dangerous Marcus," Ismene repeated. "The one he wants…the one he's sending you to find. You can't go. She shouldn't be found."
"What?"
"He wants you to find her…I know…but you shouldn't, she's…she's not right. I can feel it Marcus. It would be better for us all if she was never found," Ismene added emphatically.
"What did you see?" Marcus asked, a hint of nervousness entering his voice. Ismene never screwed around when it came to prophesizing.
"It's what I can't see." Noting the exasperated look on Marcus' face, she attempted to explain. "It's like something's blocking me when it comes to her…a hidden darkness. I've never experienced this before Marcus. She's dangerous and poses a threat to all of us."
"Maybe your off…could be the cycle of the moons or tides or the Dark Lord. He's fucked with your head before Ismene."
"No, it's not him! I'm telling you…I know she shouldn't be found!"
"What do you want me to do? He's given me my assignment. I just can't walk up to him and say, 'Sorry sir, but I'm going to have to decline this mission as my cousin, the seer, thinks the witch in question poses some unforeseeable threat to us'."
"She shouldn't be found!"
"You keep on saying this yet I ask you, what do you want me to do?"
"I don't know Marcus, use your fucking head…give him the wrong location or worse comes to worse, kill her!"
Marcus sighed. It's always something. "I have to go."
"What are you going to do?" Ismene asked fervently.
"I'll figure it out."
hr
It was well past 3 am when they reached their final destination, only a slim sliver of silvery moonlight highlighting the pot-holed road they appeared beside. A warm spring wind blew through the overgrown hedges lining each side of the street, scattering leaves and twigs across the worn pavement. Cassius raised a finger to his lips and then pointed towards a small turnoff a few meters off. Adrian nodded his head and strode forward, wand in hand. Performing a series of intricate movements, he pointed his wand north towards the side lane and drew a large circle in the air. It shimmered lightly, moving away slowly like a giant bubble rising into the night. It seemed to drift aimlessly first one way then another like a leaf in the breeze, while the three young men remained watching intently.
"What's it doing?" Cassius hissed.
"Shh, be quiet. He's got all kinds of protections around this place…muggle repellents, intruder alarms, even a stealthing spell," Adrian whispered.
"How long?" Marcus inquired, his dark eyes wandering towards the moon. It would be best if they could surprise their target under the cover of darkness.
"I'm not sure," Adrian began, "wait…there she goes." Golden shoots shot out of the circle, illuminating a previously invisible smaller gravel drive between the road and the turnoff for the nearby lane. A set of iron gates stood at the entrance, a weathered lock holding them closed. "Check," Adrian grinned. He beckoned the others to follow as he approached the gates. Conjuring a set of muggle bolt cutters, he clipped the lock's chain in half and tugged open the gates.
"Couldn't you have used magic?" Cassius sneered. He hated anything to do with muggles and never wanted to be mistaken for one.
"No," Adrian replied good-naturedly. "He has an alarming spell on the lock. He would know we were here before you could finish saying Alohomora. However, I bet Don Pedro figured we wouldn't stoop to muggle methods."
Marcus had to admit Adrian was pretty clever. "After you," he rumbled gesturing to Adrian. The three made their way quietly down the gravel path, silencing spells dispelling the crunch of their feet against the gravel. Every few meters, Adrian would stop and check for more wards, sometimes halting their progression for ten minutes at a time.
Marcus glanced up at the lightening sky. It had to be almost four now. He wondered whether Katie was awake or asleep, but then reminded himself it was well past breakfast time in England. She was probably out with Ismene, riding brooms or taking a walk on the estate. She certainly wasn't lying around thinking about Marcus.
"The house is around the bend. As far as I can tell, I've dismantled everything. Be careful though, he may have other things, besides spells, guarding this place."
Cassius nodded at Adrian and took the lead. Casting a disillusioning spell on the three, he moved around the curve in the hedge grove. A large dilapidated house loomed before them, boards covering the darkened windows. Avoiding the front door, the trio made their way around the side to the back entrance. Adrian checked the door quickly before sliding a thin knife into the knob. He clicked it twice to the side and the door swung open, the pale moonlight illuminating thick layers of cobwebs. Cassius and Marcus followed Adrian as they treaded silently through the dust-coated kitchen, heading towards the front of the house.
"It doesn't look as if anyone has been in here for ages," Adrian whispered.
"I know, but it could be a ruse," Cassius answered quietly. Holding his wand aloft he beckoned the other two to follow him down a long corridor that seemed to run the width of the house. "We'll check this floor first, then the bedrooms." Marcus and Adrian merely nodded, their eyes continuing to scan for any sign of life.
Empty portraits lined the faded and peeling walls adding to the eerie silence that seemed to surround them. Cassius peered cautiously through the nearest doorway, but only a jumble of sheet-covered furniture met his eyes. Moving stealthy down the corridor, the trio checked each room for any sign of Medici, but as Adrian had stated earlier, it seemed no one had inhabited the house in years.
Marcus chewed his lower lip as his eyes once again tried to examine every inch of the barren library. Smells horrid in this place…certainly seems as if the houselves have given up…Doxy-filled drapes, dusty books, empty decanter of cognac, paper-strewn desk, lifeless hand…Oh fuck…lifeless hand! Marcus eased his way around the desk, his wand still at the ready, only to find a decaying male corpse. Nudging it with his foot to indeed make sure it was real and not a spell, he sighed. "I think I've found our man…or what's left of him," he said.
Cassius and Adrian hurried over and cast some light on the poor fellow. "Sweet Salazar, he's a ripe one, isn't he," Adrian commented as he covered his nose trying to block out the sour stench of death. "How long do you think?"
"Judging by the deterioration of the body, at least two months," Marcus responded.
"How do we tell if it's him?"
"Oh, it's him, all right," Cassius answered as he removed the disillusioning spell. "I looked up information about him and pictures before we left." Running a hand through his sandy hair, he swore quietly.
"What now?"
"Well, if he was the Secret Keeper and he didn't relay the secret to anyone, then her location died with him," Marcus supplied.
"You don't think she could be here, do you?" Adrian asked, his brow furrowed.
"What would it matter if she was…it's not like we would be able to see her," Marcus rebutted. "She could be in this room for all we know."
"It does seem a bit ridiculous to think it could be that uncomplicated, but stranger things have happened," Cassius mused. Waving his wand at the lifeless corpse, he whispered a series of incantations. A flash of light issued from his wand as the walls around them shuddered. A dark cloud gathered across the ceiling and funneled downward toward Medici's body.
Marcus watched with interest as the corpse began to glow, the dark smoke pouring into its mouth and rotting nose. Its pale eyes rolled in its sockets as it slowly staggered into a sitting position.
"Since when did you become an Inferi expert?" Adrian asked, disgust marring his patrician features.
"It's a newly acquired skill," Cassius chuckled. "Damn handy if I do say so too."
"How so? As I recall an Inferi doesn't have a soul, so how can it reveal the hidden location?"
"They don't have souls, but a wizard's wand does hold a memory of the owner's soul and as long as that owner's hand wields the wand, it will tell it us what we want."
"That's brilliant," Adrian gasped, "dark, but brilliant." Marcus had to agree.
"Now then Pedro's corpse or whatever you prefer, I believe you have some magic left to show us," Cassius said, waving his wand once again at the now standing cadaver.
The deteriorating body of Pedro Luis teetered eerily as it pulled out a thin wand from inside its fraying coat. The fleshless hand twitched the rod several times, before extending its bony arm toward the library entrance. Its head swiveled to the side and Marcus watched as the gruesome puppet appeared to be pulled forth by some unseen strings. Cassius beckoned them to follow the corpse as it lumbered slowly out into the hall. Shuffling down the corridor, they made their way slowly back towards the kitchen and out of house. The sun was just beginning to peak across the horizon as they made their way down the far side of the lawn, the cadaver now descending down a set of ancient stone stairs that seemed to dip below the dilapidated mansion.
"He kept her in the crypt?" Adrian asked quietly.
Ignoring him, Cassius and Marcus stumbled down the narrow stairs, their wands held aloft, lighting their path. Medici's body ambled ahead, moving silently down a row between numerous cracked stone vaults. It led the others to a far corner, devoid of any light. Marcus noticed a large pile of dead rat's nearby. Waving its wand arm, the corpse opened and closed its cobwebbed-filled mouth several times, but no sound issued forth. Suddenly, a sharp cackle of laughter filled the dead air, and Marcus found himself gazing down at the ragged body of a young woman.
A chained hand pushed back a copious amount of snarled dark hair, as blue-black eyes met green. A twisted sneer graced the young woman's hollowed face, as she continued to laugh manically.
"Guiliana Lucrezia, I presume," Cassius remarked softly.
"It's about fucking time," Pedro Luis' niece answered in a haughty voice. "Thought I'd be down here with the rats forever." She gestured to the nearby pile and giggled, "Though I don't think they much liked me…never wanted to play." She grabbed at a live one at her feet and held its body up to her mouth. Pearly white teeth pierced the rodent's neck, blood spraying across Guiliana's face and into her mouth. Sucking deeply, she closed her eyes. After a moment she tossed the rat aside and sighed, "I hope you brought food, I'm absolutely famished."
