Chapter 12
LINDA AND THE others were gathered in the preparation room, sitting in a semi circle. The Moonrise Coven consisted of twenty-one members. Thirteen of us were in the Inner Court, seven were Outer Court. Only now that number stood at six with Rose’s death.
Among the Inner Court, five of us—Linda, Sandy, Terrance, Angus, and me—formed the council. We were responsible for the final decisions of the coven. Everybody was present, except for Rose, of course. And by the looks on their faces, they had all heard the news.
“Sorry we’re late.” I slid into my place, with the other council members. Sandy sat next to me. I glanced over at Linda who shot me a puzzled look, but when I shook my head, she turned back to the rest of the coven.
She held up her wand. “If we’re all here, then, I declare the December Esbat meeting of the Moonrise Coven under way. Before we go any further, I have made a decision that tonight we will forgo ritual. With all that’s happened this week, the energy would be far too volatile to practice any magic. But we have several issues to discuss.”
Shauna, a member of the Inner Court, raised her hand. “What happened? We know Rose is dead but I’ve been out of town and have no clue what went on.”
Linda let out a long breath, then glanced over at me. “Are you comfortable taking questions? I don’t have the answers to a lot of them and, considering the circumstances, you might.”
I wasn’t, but sometimes we all had to step up and take on uncomfortable roles.
“I’ll tell you all that I can, but with the case under investigation, it’s limited. I found Rose in my backyard. She was murdered. Ralph Greyhoof is in jail for questioning on the matter. As to anything else, I can’t discuss it, so please don’t ask any other questions about it.” I turned to Linda. “Sandy and I really need to talk to you in private.”
Looking confused, she led us into her office while the others broke out the post-ritual snacks. Given we weren’t working magic, the food promised an early comfort.
As she shut the door behind her, Linda cast a quick Silence spell to keep what we said within the confines of the room. Nobody would be able to listen at the door to hear what we were saying. While theoretically that shouldn’t even be a worry, the others were curious and it was better to avoid the possibility.
Linda motioned to the sofa near her desk and we sat. I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees as I entwined my fingers together.
“Linda, we need to talk about Rachel and Essie. You do know who Rachel is, don’t you?”
She slowly nodded. “Yeah, I remember Lena having issues with her.”
“Then we need to know if you’re aware that the vamps may be trying for a coup.”
She pinched the top of her nose, between her brows, and let out a sigh. After a long while, she nodded. “A coup? What are you talking about?”
Linda was lying—it rang in her voice. I glanced at Sandy, who shot me a “WTF” look. “Surely you know or heard what Delia had to say? She and I talked today.”
Linda’s shoulders sank. “All right. Yes, I know that Essie and Rachel are vying for control of the throne. And yes, Essie assassinated Lena, although nobody will ever be able to prove it.”
“And you never said a word to us because—?” Sandy’s eyes narrowed.
“Because it’s ancient history. Lena’s dust. Essie agreed to abide by the treaty. End of story.” Linda frowned. “As High Priestess of this coven, it’s up to me what information to disseminate to the group.”
“The full coven, yes, but the Inner Court Council? No.” Sandy scowled. “What gives you the right to keep an assassination silent? I remember when that happened. You never said a word about Essie being responsible for Lena’s death.”
“You’re questioning my authority?”
I broke in before Sandy could respond. “Enough. Linda, this is personal. Delia thinks that Rose was killed by mistake. That whoever murdered her was after me instead.”
Linda paused, breathing deeply as she straightened her shoulders. “I’m sorry about that, Maddy.”
“So, you know they’re vying for the throne. That means you knew Rachel was back in town even though Lena had barred her from returning?” I asked, trying to piece together the puzzle. There were still several gaping holes and Linda seemed to know some of the answers, but she was resisting and that made me terribly suspicious.
Linda inclined her head, but said nothing. The pinched look on her face was growing stronger.
Sandy suddenly snapped her fingers. “I think I’ve figured something out. What if Essie’s behind Rose’s death? What if she enthralled Ralph and made him believe she was Rachel. That way she could take out one of the members of the Inner Court and her rival for the throne at the same time and Rose was the unintended victim.”
I cocked my head, trying to follow her reasoning. “How do you figure?”
Sandy sounded excited as she laid it out for me. “What if Essie thought, why not kill you and make it look like Rachel’s fault? Ralph was quick about giving you info on who put him up to sneaking into your bathroom, wasn’t he?”
I nodded. “Too quick. I see your point. When a vampire enthralls someone, they usually put a gag order on them to protect themselves. But he told me right off, full description, and that he thought she was a vampire.”
“Then you get the text telling you where Rachel is hiding. Not overly obvious but enough for you to put two and two together. Essie had to know that Aegis would go after Rachel if you were hurt, and he could easily win. He’s stronger than Rachel by a long shot.”
I was beginning to see where she was going with this. “And if somehow Essie’s plan didn’t work, then I would assume Rachel was after me and take care of her myself. Which would leave Essie in the clear, her rival out of the picture, and there would be one fewer member of the coven to worry about.”
Sandy reached over and laid a light hand on my arm. “Maddy…you were Mad Maudlin, one of the scariest vampire hunters in history. Essie’s bound to know that. While you were living in Seattle you weren’t such a threat, but you moved to Bedlam. If she’s out to stage a takeover, then you are a serious threat to her and her people.”
I felt a shiver race over my back. “Damn. I never thought of that, but it makes sense.”
“Are you sure about this? Rachel sounds like the most likely suspect. Plus, she has a grudge against you.” Linda’s voice was shaky.
I turned to her. “Linda, what aren’t you telling us? You know full well we’re on the right track, so why are you clamming up? What do you know about Essie?”
Linda paused and I thought she wasn’t going to answer, but then she finally crossed to her bookshelf where she withdrew a thin volume.
“Here.” She handed me the book. “Page fifty-two.”
I opened the journal to find that it was hand written rather than actual print. “It feels old.”
“It is old. It’s five hundred years old and the only way it’s managed to make it this far is because it’s been magically enchanted to stand through time.” Linda reached over to lovingly stroke the leather. “Whoever takes over as coven leader will inherit this and be responsible for its upkeep.”
I opened it to page fifty-two and glanced at the writing. In clear, concise cursive was a description of Essie, along with a careful drawing of her. I recognized her right off, even though the style of dress had changed and her hair was different.
Essie Vanderbilt: Essie Vanderbilt was born in New Orleans in 1844. She was part of the Voudou community, and studied with Marie Laveau, the Queen of Voodoo, and later with Marie’s daughter—also named Marie—who was also a practitioner. Essie was considered one of the most powerful Voudou priestesses ever, and people far and wide feared her as well as flocked to her for help with their problems. At the height of her career, when she was 33, Essie made the mistake of walking down a back alley. Where no human in the area would dare harm her, vampires didn’t have the same qualms.
A vampire named Philippe, originally over from Paris, ruled as the Vampire King of the Southern States. He had fallen for Essie and also saw her a potential business partner, decided it was time to stop taking “No” for an answer. He dragged Essie into the shadows and forced her to drink from his veins, then drained her dry. When she rose, he expected her to succumb to his will, but he had no clue how powerful Essie was. She had managed to retain some of her powers, though she would never again be accepted in her Voudou House, and she set out to destroy Philippe for what he did to her. The two waged war, dividing both the vampire community and the Otherkin community, and in the end, she threw him down, staking him in front of his court, and took his crown. When she later decided to move north, she forged an alliance with her successor and moved up in the hierarchy of the Vampire Nation, a loose alliance of regents.
She later moved to the Pacific Northwest, and supplanted Lena Verda as queen.
I silently handed the book to Sandy, who quickly skimmed the passage.
“Crap.” She set the book on the coffee table. “So, Essie would certainly know what to do with your hair, all right, if Ralph got away without you finding him. Rachel doesn’t have a magical background, does she?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Aegis certainly didn’t mention anything of the sort. So, we have Essie, a Voudou vampire who apparently enjoys her power. Given her reaction when Philippe tried to assert his authority over her, it’s clear she doesn’t play well with others.” Turning to Linda, I added, “All right. You knew Essie’s a Voudou priestess. Why on earth did you allow her to stay on the island?”
Linda stared at her feet. She began to rock back and forth, biting her lip. I had the strange feeling that we were about to enter territory that would shift everything.
“Linda, Rose was murdered. I’m a target and—apparently—so is our entire coven. If you know anything, you owe us an explanation. I know you’ve been our High Priestess for decades, but you can’t hide something that might put us all at risk.”
“I know that!” A shower of sparks sizzled around her. Linda ran heavy fire energy and it flared when she was upset.
Sandy tapped the coffee table. “So, out with it.”
“All right. I guess I can’t hide it anymore. Essie has something on me. She’s holding some information over my head and I’m terrified to cross her.” Linda looked so miserable that I wanted to reach over and give her a hug, but I refrained.
“What is it? You can tell us.”
“Apparently, I have no choice.” Sounding bitter, Linda crossed to her desk and retrieved a picture frame from a locked drawer. She returned, handing it to us. We found ourselves staring at a lovely young woman with an innocent look on her face. “This is Patricia. She’s my daughter.”
That was odd. Linda had never mentioned a daughter before, or a husband. “You’re married?”
“No, I’ve never been married. But I used to live with a man named Ryan. I got pregnant and he left. Patty is the result of that union. He was human, so she’s mixed blood. But Patty is a special-needs child…woman now. She’s developmentally disabled. She has the emotional age of about a ten-year-old, even though she’s seventy-two. She inherited my longevity, but few of my other powers. I realized early on that she would be a target for my enemies, and I have more of them than you want to think. So I took her to Kali, my best friend at the time. Kali always wanted children but couldn’t have any. She welcomed Patty in as her own and has raised her from the first month.” Her voice was wistful, and I could see both regret and relief in her eyes.
“Essie found out about Patty?”
Linda nodded. “She’s threatened to turn Patty. She also somehow convinced Kali to keep Patty prisoner in the house. I don’t know what she promised her, but my best friend has been cooperating with the vampires to keep my daughter confined, away from me. Essie has enough threads in her network to kill Patty if I make a move against her or Kali. I’d never make it down there in time.”
Heartsick, I rubbed my forehead. “Why don’t you just take out Essie?” But even as I said it, I knew the answer.
Linda shrugged. “Because she left instructions that if she’s staked by any person, Patty’s to be attacked without question. And Essie’s allies are widespread enough that there’s no chance I could save my daughter before they got to her. So you see, Maddy, I have to protect Essie in order to save Patty’s life.”
“Holy fuck on a hand grenade.” Sandy’s irritation vanished, as did mine. “What can we do to help?”
“Nothing. No one can help me.” Tears trickling out of the corners of her eyes, Linda hung her head. “I’m so embarrassed. I’ve broken my oath to the coven. I’m as good as a warlock. I’ve put you all in danger, and I know I should resign, but Essie wants me in power. I’m her pawn. And now, she’ll find out that you know, and my daughter will die.”
I glanced over at Sandy. This complicated matters in an entirely jacked-up way. But it explained why Linda had tried to sidestep the discussion.
“So that’s why she’s targeting me instead of you. I’m a threat. I’m a known enemy to vampires, even though I may be canoodling with one.”
Linda sighed, and the sound settled around us. “Maddy, you’re so well-known for your past. You thought you could walk away from it, but memories run long and deep among Otherkin. Add to that you’ve taken up with Aegis, an unaligned vampire who’s refused to join Essie’s court. He’s too powerful for her to destroy, and you’re under his protection.”
“So Essie doesn’t intend to wipe out the coven. If she has you under her thumb, she has control because nobody questions your authority. Once she gets rid of the members of the coven who might make waves, nobody will know what’s going on until she takes control.”
The thought that the Moonrise Coven had become a sock-puppet for the vampires was sobering. But I realized that the drive to protect one’s young was primary among most beings. Now what the hell were we going to do? We couldn’t leave things alone. On the other hand, if we made any sort of move, it would endanger an innocent girl.
Sandy appeared to be thinking along the same lines. She flashed me a warning look, her gaze darting from me to the door. Linda was a powerful witch—stronger than Sandy and me put together. She could probably destroy us and then spin some lie about what happened.
“So what are you going to do?” I finally asked her.
Linda closed her eyes and we tensed.
Then, she slowly opened them again and gazed at us with resignation. “I don’t care about what happens to me. You’re asking me to choose between my daughter and your own lives. How can I sacrifice an entire coven of people who depend on me? I’m so lost right now.”
I bit my lip. “What if we can smuggle Patty out of where she’s being held captive and then make sure you two reach a sanctuary? You could go to the mother temple, perhaps? You and Patty could live there until Essie is long gone.”
“I’d willingly give up everything to make sure my daughter is safe. But how can you manage it? Kali and her family are threatened, as well.”
“Let Sandy and me find a way. We’ve got resources and I have the beginnings of an idea. We won’t do anything to put you or your daughter in danger without consulting you.”
With a whisper, she agreed. “I suppose I have no choice. At least you know the truth.”
“What do we tell them?” I nodded toward the door. “We’ve been in here a long time.”
Sandy stood, brushing the wrinkles out of her robes. “We tell them that we were discussing how best to help Rose’s parents through this. And that we were discussing matters concerning Ralph Greyhoof.”
“That sounds like a plan.” I turned to Linda. “I want you to be ready to leave. We won’t do anything without your permission, but in case the opportunity arises, you need to be ready to go.” That was the first time I had ever lied to my High Priestess, but I had no choice. If I told her what I was planning she’d freak and put a stop to it.
She gave me a long look. “I’m holding you to your word.”
I nodded. I’d deal with the aftermath later.
“All right. Let’s go.” She led the way.
We returned to the others, who looked at us expectantly. I kept my expression neutral, as did Sandy. Linda quietly explained that, with so much going on, we were going to meet later in the month. That tonight was just not the best time. Within ten minutes, the room had emptied and Sandy and I were standing outside by our cars. I let out a long breath, realizing that I had been afraid that we wouldn’t be allowed to leave the temple.
“Speaking of Ralph, if he’s in thrall to Essie, how do we break it?” Sandy asked.
“First step: find out if he is. I asked Delia to check Ralph for fang marks but she hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”
“Give her a call.”
I pulled out my cell. “Good thought.”
Delia answered on the first ring. “Maddy, I was going to call you but I knew tonight was an Esbat night. Ralph’s definitely in thrall to somebody. We found the marks. I’ve got an APB out on Rachel right now. Hold on.”
I heard the rustle of papers, then she said something to someone and came back on the line.
“Sorry. We’ve got an incident over at Benjar’s Tavern. The Shalof boys are roughing it up again and they’ve broken out into the street. It’s become a street brawl.”
The Shalof boys usually spent at least one night a week cooling it off in jail. They were a couple of happy-go-lucky centaurs until they got drunk and then they took to jousting in the streets, usually with a couple of their goblin friends. Goblins weren’t officially welcome in Bedlam, but somehow they always managed to show up and cause havoc before Delia rousted them out.
“All right. I’ve sent a couple of units over to deal with them. Now, about Ralph.”
“Delia, you said you think he’s in thrall. Do you think he actually killed Rose? Because I don’t. I think somebody else did it and set him up. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Well, there’s one way to find out for certain. We can draw some of his blood and run it by the Oracle. She can tell whether or not it’s Rachel holding him in thrall.”
I thought for a moment. If Essie found out and she suspected she might be exposed, then Ralph was a dead man. But there was another way to cope with someone caught in thrall.
“No! Don’t do that. Ask Andy McGee for one of his Tochlan potions. It will cost a small fortune but I’ll pay for it if the department can’t. Give it to Ralph and it will break the thrall. It might also destroy his memories of the incident, but please—I guarantee you, he didn’t do it.”
“You know who did.” Delia lowered her voice. “And for some reason you can’t tell me who or why right now.”
“Right.”
“All right, we’ll play it your way. I’ll get the potion. I have to keep him locked up for now, but he’ll be out of thrall and no longer subject to control.”
“Keep a watch on him. Don’t leave him alone for a moment. I’ll talk to you in a little while. Meanwhile, I’ve got a few things to arrange.”
As I hung up, I turned to Sandy. “I need to go home and talk to Bubba.”
Sandy gave me a long look. “You aren’t—”
“Can you come back home with me?” I asked. “And ask Lihi to come over.”
“All right, but if you’re thinking what I think you are, heaven help us.”
“Right now, we could use a little help from the gods. I’m going to call Aegis. We have to trust him. We’re walking on shaky ground right now and I really don’t want to topple over the edge.” As I started the engine, I made sure Sandy was safe in her car before easing out of the parking lot and heading back to my house.
“Call Aegis.” I activated the voice control on my phone.
“Maddy?” He answered quickly. “Are you all right?”
“Heading home. Can you meet us there? I’ve got a lot to tell you, and the sooner the better. Sandy’s coming with me. Tell the band it’s important if they complain.” I could hear the strumming of Jorge’s guitar in the background.
“I’m on my way.” He didn’t ask questions, didn’t try to make any excuses. Just those four words. Before he hung up, he added, “Be careful, Maddy. Especially on your way into the house. I’ll try to be there before you arrive.”
Bedlam had always seemed such a happy place to me, but now it felt fraught with danger in all directions. The realization that Essie had Linda over a barrel had hit me like a sledgehammer. Not only did it mean that a woman I cared for deeply was being manipulated and blackmailed, but it felt like the entire base on which I had built my current foundation was crumbling. I had devoted myself to the coven and to the Inner Court. And now, to find out that our High Priestess had sold us out shook me to the core.
By the time we arrived at the house, easing into the driveway, Aegis was waiting for us. He opened my door, then escorted me to Sandy’s car where he did the same. We said nothing as we silently passed through the backyard until we were through the sliding door and safely inside. Aegis shut the slider and locked the door, then moved to the kitchen island where a pot of tea was steeping, the fragrant scent of raspberry and lemon rising through the air. He had also made sandwiches and soup—grilled cheese and tomato soup, and a batch of gingerbread cookies.
“You work fast.” I stared at the homey scene, feeling my eyes cloud over.
Craig, my ex, had never done anything like this. He had been so threatened by the fact that I was a witch that I had turned into Suzy Homemaker trying to make him happy. In the end, I had lost myself. I thought I had left most of the baggage behind. But when I saw Aegis, wearing an apron over leather pants and bare chest, making soup and sandwiches for me and my best friend, I burst out into tears.
“Are you all right?” Concerned, he reached out for me, but I held up my hand.
“Stop. Yes, I’m okay.” But I wasn’t. I looked at him and he set down the teapot. With a gentle smile, he opened his arms. I buried myself in his embrace as he wrapped me in his love.
“I love you. I do, Maddy. I will do anything to keep you safe.”
“I love you too. It never ceases to amaze me how supportive you are, and how caring. You changed the entire paradigm of my world.” I was talking into his chest, muffled by my tears, but somehow he heard me.
“Don’t lose your suspicion, Maddy. I’m not typical of my kind. Outside of this house, away from me, you’ll find most vampires are deadly predators who wouldn’t think twice about using you as a tasty witchy juice box.”
“He’s right. Maddy, we need to talk about tonight.” Sandy carried over the pot of soup and ladled it into our bowls. “You know, I thought you were nuts, but if Bubba can help, then we need to go that route. Otherwise, everyone in town is in danger.”
That put a stop to the hugging. Aegis let go. “What are you talking about?”
“We found out that Rachel isn’t our biggest problem in the vampire world. And frankly, if we don’t put a stop to this, it could easily destroy Bedlam and everybody who has made a life here.” And with that, I called Bubba in, and we told both of them everything we had discovered.