Chapter 9
For the second time that day, Tamsin found herself on the highway, driving between the soldiering front lines of the tall, waving ash and black walnut trees. Like before, the weather as they drove out of the city limits grew steadily warmer, and by the time Tamsin had veered onto the exit that would ultimately lead her to Jack O'Meara's property, the truck was sweltering hot and all the windows had been rolled down to let in a little air.
Dyson rode shotgun beside her. He leaned just slightly out the window, allowing the wind rushing past to ruffle his curls and smooth the stress lines across his face. Sometimes, Tamsin thought, he really was just like a dog. A grin curled the corner of her lip before she managed to catch and suppress it. It was good to have her partner at her side again. Jack O'Meara had left a bad taste in her mouth the last time she'd been to see him, and though she would never admit it, to anyone or herself, the old Fae frightened her, just a little. There was a madness in his eerie brown eyes that unsettled the Valkyrie.
"We should have taken two cars," Bo grumbled in the back. She, Kenzi and Maia were squeezed into the backseat of Tamsin's old truck, and though they were all slim, the day's sudden, unexpected warmth and the fact that Tamsin's backseat windows didn't roll down more than a quarter of the way made the backseat feel close, claustrophobic and uncomfortable.
"Why didn't we take two cars?" Kenzi asked, the question coming out quite snappish and ill-tempered. Her nose scrunched in irritation and she turned away from the window to look at Bo, "You know, if we get Lauren back, she's not sitting on my lap on the way home."
"When…" Bo growled, her nostrils flaring with determination, "…When we get Lauren back!" the Succubus glared across at her best friend. The heat and the uncomfortable closeness of the backseat, as well as her nervous anxiety over her lover's wellbeing, had put her in a foul mood. But it wasn't escaping her attention that Kenzi was behaving rather strangely all day: that she'd been almost un-Kenzi like since she and Maia had arrived at the clubhouse they called home that morning.
"Ladies! Please, for the love of all that is holy, shut up!" Tamsin rolled her eyes in exasperation at the women glowering at each other in the backseat. Maia rolled her eyes with the Valkyrie and traded annoyed looks with her through the rearview mirror, sharing Tamsin's vexation, albeit more quietly. The human drew in a deep, calming breath, stuck between the Succubus and her pet and in the hottest seat in the car.
"Are we there yet?" Bo leaned forward to grasp at Tamsin's seat, head leaning as close to the window as possible to catch as much of the breeze that blustered in as she could. Her dark, thick hair stuck to her neck and the sides of her face and the warm breeze felt almost cool against her damp skin.
"Bo, if you don't sit back and shut up, I swear I'm turning this car right around. No more Disneyland for you, you little brat!"
Dyson couldn't help but chuckle at his partner. He turned his face to shoot Bo an almost apologetic smile; she just grit her teeth and stared back at him, on edge and unable to enjoy any sense of humor.
"We're here," Tamsin sighed in relief as the road swerved around and the thick line of trees opened up in front of them. Maia leaned forward in her seat, ignoring the sharp stab across her shoulders and back, to stare in absolute awe at the fairy-tale scene that unraveled before her. "Impressive, isn't it?"
"So, what's the plan?" Maia hadn't spoken throughout the trip, her voice sounded almost pale after the angry bickering and the loud bluster of wind buffeting the windows. Bo and Kenzi turned sharply to face her, both with dismayed expressions lining their faces.
Dyson's lips pursed, he twisted in his seat to look at Maia and gave a slight shrug in response to her question.
"I guess we'll just play it by ear. Bo's usually pretty good at that," he nodded at the brunette that glared back at him grumpily. Her fingers played together on her lap, she looked antsy and uncomfortable. It didn't instill a whole lot of confidence in Maia, who gave her a quick, calculating look before sighing resignedly.
"So… basically, don't die," Maia muttered under her breath, turning her attention back to the long, arching driveway and the cheerful flowers and ironwood trees that waved to them lazily in greeting, "Great. This is gonna be just peachy…"
The car slowed to a stop beside the unadorned automated guard booth that stood sentry before the gates.
"O'Meara Estate. Please state your business," it rattled off in its familiar monotone.
"Detective Tamsin. Police business," Tamsin's response was succinct, she drummed her fingers impatiently along the windowsill of her car and sighed loudly as she considered Maia's sudden uncertainty.
The gates opened for them grandly, inviting them to the twisted paradise that lay beyond it.
"Welcome," the booth echoed the gate's silent greeting, and Tamsin let up the brake and tapped the gas gently to roll the truck through. Everyone stared out the window at the grandeur that spread before them, sucking in as much of the sweet fragrant air as their lungs could hold and soaking in the beauty that surrounded them.
"Just let the superheroes fight the bad guys. We go in, you and Kenzi get the Doc and Seth out of wherever this guy is keeping them, and we get out. No heroics from either of you, got it?" Tamsin spared Maia a sharp, fleeting glance through the rearview mirror, her faded green eyes glinted in the setting sun. Maia nodded in response and her mouth curled in a tense little half-smile as felt a little of her confidence return to her.
Just like before, Walter stood on the lip of the porch, silver tray of hot moist towelettes in hand and the same snooty expression on his face. He waited patiently for the passengers to stumble out of the vehicle and skip up the steps. The dying sun glinted painfully off the tray and spread long, dark shadows across the lawn and pristine white steps of the veranda. Aside from the sun's position, Tamsin thought, and the additions to her party, the current scene was almost identical to the one she'd come upon earlier that day. Nothing was out of place. She wondered absently if anyone ever sat in the padded porch chairs and sipped cold tea or coffee at the table. Shame if they didn't.
The Valkyrie and her partner both flashed their badges at Walter, though he seemed to take no notice of them. He only offered his tray of towelettes, and thus ignored, gave a sharp nod and turned to lead them into the mansion. The sun's last rays flared as a cloud scudded across the sky, turning the edges that touched the trees a bruised purple, and the clouds a bloody, violent scarlet, before it finally slipped below the horizon and twilight fell.
Tamsin shifted uneasily and followed the crowd in.
In stark contrast to the sudden flare of bright sunlight outside, the interior was blindingly dark. It took them a few moments to adjust to the sudden change of light, but that was all Walter needed to slip in behind them and shut the door. Tamsin heard the lock click at the very same moment her brain registered that the dark shapes looming ahead of her were those of half a score of Redcaps, all grinning madly beneath their bloodied hats and fanned around them in an uneven semicircle. Each of them held weapons of some kind: knives and heavy-duty box cutters glittered in the dim lighting, and the blunt, heavy shapes of baseball bats and crowbars bounced and waved in the half-shadows threateningly.
Maia sucked in a sharp breath and backed into her suddenly. Tamsin could feel the curly-haired human tremble slightly against her, and chanced a glance at the frightened, furious woman to see that her jaw was clenched so tightly she could see the muscles flex. Her face flushed crimson and her lip twisted into a tight snarl, and her uninjured eye widened almost comically in reaction to the threatening display before them.
Dyson gave a low growl beside her, and the three Fae shoved the pair of humans between them protectively and circled them. A soft, deep chuckle came from behind, and Tamsin and Dyson spun on their heels, only to get a face full of rippling muscle and wicked teeth gleaming from behind a cruel grin. Golden eyes glittered down at them, and Dolph's beastly chuckle faded into echoes.
Walter stepped around the Bear smartly and put his untouched tray of hot towels down on a side table, careful not to disturb the arrangement of flowers, guest book, and quill and ink pot. He straightened slowly and clasped his hands in front of him.
"Master O'Meara's been expecting you."
One of the Redcaps snickered, tearing their attention away from Dolph and back to the scraggly semicircle of blood-capped 'gents' that boxed them in. The smirks and sneers on their faces sent chills down Maia's spine, her stomach churned with her anxiety, and her gaze drew like a magnet to a Redcap wearing a cast covered in small, sharp spikes glued on for him by his mates. Duncan saw the recognition spark in Maia's terrified eye and his yellowing teeth peeked behind cruel lips in a knowing smile. His tongue darted out to lick his upper lip suggestively, and he twirled a knife in his uninjured hand. Pale light bounced off the edges of the blade, and Maia recognized that too, as the dagger they had used to slice through her thigh.
Her breathing quickened, her eyes widened in panic and she stumbled backwards into Tamsin again. The Valkyrie gently placed a steadying hand on the small of the human's back. Her pale green eyes found Duncan's, and her lip curled up in a silent snarl. She felt Maia draw in a deep breath and steady beside her as the human fought to control her fear, and succeeded. She still trembled under Tamsin's calming hand, but stood her ground all the same. Bo, observant to the wordless, emotionally charged exchange between the human and Redcap, moved to stand protectively between them.
Walter stepped out from behind Dolph and strode to the end of the circular vestibule. His gloved hand grasped the bronze doorknob of the double doors that rose solidly over the plush red carpet and he cleared his throat, calling for everyone's attention.
"Follow me, if you please." The butler twisted the doorknob and pushed both doors open. The tails of his long jacket flapped behind him as he bustled through, leading the way through the chamber Tamsin had been denied access to earlier that day. Dolph and the Redcaps revolved around the party of five, so that Dolph led and Duncan and his boys covered the rear, and thus arranged, they moved forward.
The red carpet extended down the length of what Tamsin found was a majestic, old-fashioned ballroom. It deepened in color the farther it rolled down the center, from bright red into a deep burgundy, rich and dark. The floors beneath were a warm, waxed dark wood. Its grain was flecked with a dark gold that glinted beneath the steady glow of the massive bronze chandelier that hung from the high vaulted ceiling. The walls blushed a rosy gold, giving the chamber a warm, summer afternoon glow. The center of the floor was bare, but for the darkening carpet that stretched languorously across it. Furniture scattered only along the room's edges, dark wood chairs, barely a shade lighter than the wood of the floor, with legs that curved into clawed paws, with backs and seats padded with a dark bronze-colored velvet. The tables that littered the edges of the floor were also the same dark wood and carved in the same elegant fashion as the chairs. A bar stretched across the far left side of the room, its bronze edged top gleaming fluidly beneath the chandelier's candle-like light. Endless bottles of liquor populated back-lit glass shelves in startling colors ranging from the clear colorlessness of vodka to the deep ambers of rich ports and rums and whiskeys to the neon greens and blues of absinthe and hypnotic and aftershock.
The bar's edge dropped off suddenly in the middle of the room. Where the rich burgundy carpet ended was a pedestal set upon three shallow steps, and upon that sat an elegant throne. Carved out of a wood that was almost black, with deep whorls of grain that shone copper in the light, and inlaid with rosy copper along its edges, it sat regally, patiently waiting its master to sink deep into the thick, dark velvet cushions. A heavy purple throw was strewn carelessly across its back, lending a sudden splash of color that drew the visitors' eyes directly to it.
The warm, sweet scents of honey and citrus wafted tantalizingly through the cool, crisp air.
"Whoever designed this room was a genius," Kenzi breathed. Truly, despite the tense situation the gang was in, the ballroom had inspired an unnatural relaxation in them all. Tamsin's shoulders, knotted and stiff, slowly loosened. Her hand on Maia's back slid down an inch, and she noticed offhandedly that the human's trembling had abated. Maia's uninjured eye blinked rapidly, a dreamy expression relaxing her features as they slowly crossed the room. If her surroundings hadn't stimulated such strange serenity in her, Tamsin might have found it incredibly odd for the curly-haired brunette to feel so calm with Duncan and his boys creeping along behind.
On the throne's side opposite the bar, a heavy baby-blue velvet curtain draped in rich folds over the wall and pooled on the floor. This was where Walter led them, he brushed the drapes aside and fit a small iron key into a lock. Frigid darkness gaped over the threshold and they stumbled across into the tight hallway that waited for them beyond the pale, sky-blue folds.
Tamsin heard the others gasp in shock as the cold pinched at their skin and woke them from their dreamy states of mind. She blinked, then bared her teeth in a snarl as the realization that she'd been led through a room she'd been denied access to in her earlier visit to another she didn't even know existed set in. A Redcap prodded Dyson beside her, eliciting an angry, uncertain growl from the bewildered Wolf, and a glare from both the Succubus and the Valkyrie. Maia shivered beneath Tamsin's supportive hand, shaking off the illusion of tranquility and well-being the ballroom had conjured in her. Only Kenzi seemed indifferent to what had transpired.
Walter's footsteps bounced across the stone walls, receding down along the flight of steps that fell before them. Dolph followed, his own footsteps heavier. Bo and Tamsin shared a troubled glance at Kenzi, who tripped along after, looking entirely unruffled. They, Dyson and Maia followed along with more trepidation, just fast enough to keep the jeering, giggling Redcaps behind them from poking at them with their blades and bats.
The landing offered a little more light to see by than the top of the steps. Torches guttered along the walls, the flames crackling and snapping like small knuckles. A T-section opened up before them, and like Lauren, and no doubt Seth before her, the group was led down the left.
The heavy, unfinished door at the end of the hall opened silently, and Walter and Dolph stepped through without pause. Bo and Kenzi were the first in after them, both spluttered in shock at the reek that hung heavily in the stale air. Tamsin and Maia followed, squeezing through the rough stone portal and stopping momentarily just over the threshold. Maia gasped and coughed, the thick stench of disease and death enveloping her and tearing the breath from her lungs. Her eyes watered and she gagged, lifting the collar of her leather jacket to cover her nose and mouth, though she discovered as she attempted to draw breath through the dense material, it hardly muffled the penetrating odor.
Dyson was the last of their party through, and no one envied his powerful sense of smell now. The Wolf doubled over at the overpowering aroma, breathless and dizzy, eyes watering and nose running in an attempt to expel the offending stench.
"Oh, god, what died in here?" Maia's face was crumpled against the sickening reek of the dungeon, her voice shook with fear and anxiety at the potential answer to her question. Her good eye squeezed shut against it, and behind the thick fabric of her coat collar, she bit her lip hard enough to crack open the split still healing there. She welcomed the sharp, bitter taste of her blood in her mouth, almost as much as she was grateful for the reassuring squeeze of Tamsin's hand on her shoulder.
If Walter, Dolph, or the Redcaps that filed in behind them detected the vile stench that encased them, they made no outward notice of it. They seemed wholly unperturbed by it. Walter fiddled with a heavy iron lock at the end of the narrow hallway the gang had been brought to and slid open the barred door with a rattle and screech that made Tamsin's teeth ache. Bars seemed to surround them an all sides, broken only by narrow breaks of rough stone wall. Duncan and his boys prodded them onward, and Tamsin found herself herded with her fellows into a dank, dark cell. The shadows leapt and shuddered fitfully close to the bars, and grew deeper and blacker as they receded further into the cell.
Dyson faltered at the chamber's edge, and was shoved unceremoniously in by Dolph, whose lips curled in a slow, malevolent grin and he winked almost gleefully at the Shifter that still gasped at the poisonous air. The gate grated shut behind him ominously.
"Oi! Pooh Bear! We were promised a good brawl!" one of the Redcaps shouted suddenly, shattering the unsteady, splintered silence that had followed them into captivity. His mates cheered and with a smattering of curses and agreements, surged forward to be let into the cell with their prey.
But Dolph unleashed a throaty snarl that ricocheted across the pitted walls and stony floor, driving the eager Redcaps back to huddle against the opposite cell's bars. Maia's ears rang with each painful echo.
Walter cleared his throat quietly, calling their attention to him. His politeness seemed almost comical, and entirely out of place, in the vulgarity of his surroundings and companionship.
"I will alert the Master to your arrival," he tilted his head at their 'guests', and didn't so much as glance at the resentful crowd of blood-capped Fae before turning on his heel and marching smartly out of the dungeon.
Dolph straightened, his back to the prisoners, a watchful eye on the Redcaps clustered in front of him, and clasped his hands together. Uneasily, they all settled in to wait.
Author's Note: So a little editing and proofreading did make it a little longer than the 2700 words it originally was, but I did promise a chapter mid-week, so here it is. Things are going to start getting pretty crazy in the next chapter, so hold on to your hats and enjoy the ride!