Eldritch Files: Elemental Flame Part 4

"Ivan," I said. "I need you to get on the net and search every street camera, every restaurant surveillance system, anything that was near the precinct where he and Levi worked on the fourteenth. Look for any sign of Crwys's car. And also look for anything about Crwys's phone. His LUDS were tampered with."

"Got it," Ivan moved to the chair by the computer and closed his eyes. I watched as he held out his hands, palms up and connected to the net. Within seconds, I could see the wisps of colors, of information coming to and going through him as he opened his now green eyes and looked into a world the rest of us couldn't see. He moved his hands in the air as he sorted through files, hacked into systems, and set up parameters on his own programming.

Someone's phone went off and Levi pulled his from his pocket. He turned and answered it.

"Kyle," I turned to him. "You, Levi and I are going to check out Cryws's apartment. Have you got anything in your a.r.s.enal that could be used to look at past events?"

He winced. "It's been over forty-eight hours. I'm not sure if we can still see anything."

"It's not going to hurt to try. Go get packed up so we can get out of here. I'll drive."

"Sam," Levi said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm gonna have to step out of this one. Got a body I have to get to. I don't want Prescott a.s.signing me a new partner, so I need to handle it." He reached into his pocket and handed me a card. On the back he'd scribbled an address in pencil. "That's Crwys's apartment. Just be careful. And keep your phone on you."

My phone. Oh c.r.a.p. Where was my phone?

"Hey Sam?"

I looked at Kyle at the break room door. "What?"

"The Cairn? Did you forget there's an open Cairn out there with Boggarts coming through?"

Lady Darksome! I started to answer when the bell over the door dinged again. I thought it was Levi leaving the shop, but a familiar voice sent tension into my back.

"There you are, Detective. I thought I might find you here."

FIVE.

Captain Mildred Prescott. Crwys and Levi's boss. I turned to see her stepping inside with a uniformed officer in tow. You know, if they kept coming in like this, my neighbors were going to start feeling a bit nervous around me. They were going to think I was either a narc or a troublemaker.

"Captain," Levi said as he bowed and then held up his phone. "I got a body."

"Good," she waved him on and he headed out the door. Prescott turned, and saw Grey, who just panted at her as she played on the floor with Kathy. Even though Prescott took Grey forcibly from me last month, my mom had no resentment toward her. In fact, she told me that the captain was just doing her job. I expected that from Mom, since she'd been a detective herself when I was young.

But apparently Prescott didn't know how the wolf felt and carefully, cautiously, stepped around Grey. Then with a smile at Robin offered her hand. "Mr. Tremere, nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you, Captain," Robin shook her hand then gave me a quizzical look.

I shook my head at him before I motioned for Kyle to go get ready and then moved to stand in front of the very odd looking Ivan. "Captain Prescott. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit now?"

But she wasn't looking at me. She was taking a seriously hard look at Ivan. "Is he all right?"

"He's meditating."

"I see. Can he stop doing that?"

A text box like the one on a cell phone floated in the air to my right as Ivan sent me a message. I can go in the break room. Or your office?

I put my hand on the counter. "Ivan can go meditate in my office."

As if on cue, my tall Google boy slipped off the stool and walked in a sort of dreamlike state through the break room door and closed it.

"Is he on drugs?"

I shook my head at Prescott. "No. Just high on life. Robin? Can you take Kathy with you?"

"Sure," he said as he motioned me to him. I smiled at Prescott and moved between her and her officer to follow Robin to the front door. "Look, about the way we left things-"

Oh no. "Robin-this isn't a good time to have this conversation," I spoke in a low voice and nodded toward the cops. "Maybe later?"

"Sure. Kathy? Say goodbye to Grey."

Kathy made lots of protesting noises but she hugged Grey, then I knelt down to get my hug. "Save him, Sammie. He's so sad," she whispered in my ear. She kissed my cheek and followed Robin out the door.

I slowly got off my knees and watched them walk down the sidewalk. If she was dreaming about Crwys, and he was in some kind of trouble, then it was possible Kathy had a Dianic Gift coming to the surface. Clairvoyance maybe. Or a Seer? The only other Seer I knew was Arden Vervain, Kyle's aunt. Maybe I should try to call Arden, though it galled me to even consider it, and find out exactly how the Seer Magic worked. Or I could Google it myself. Or go over to Ina's and look for the answer there. Ina has a pretty large library on the occult and especially the G.o.d Mother's children.

"Miss Hawthorne?"

And back to business. I tried to hide my frustration with the captain's arrival as I walked back and stood behind the counter. "Captain. What is it?"

"Someone filed a missing persons report for Inamorata Devons.h.i.+re. I know she's your aunt, so in investigating her whereabouts, I discovered you're having her house renovated."

"She's not my aunt. Not biologically. She...was an old friend of my mom's who stepped in and raised me."

"In the house in the Garden District."

"Yes."

"Do you know where Miss Devons.h.i.+re is?"

I shook my head. "No. But Aunt Ina travels a lot. Sometimes she's gone for months." It wasn't a lie. After I grew up and moved out on my own, she'd go away for weeks and I wouldn't know where she was. But thinking back now, knowing she'd been possessed all these years by a Leviathan, I had to wonder if maybe she was plotting her next big escape during those trips.

"So you think that's what she's done this time?"

"That's what I a.s.sumed. Who filed the report?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential," Prescott smiled. "The workers there told me you were in charge of overseeing the rebuilding of the interior garden, as well as some minor house repairs."

What I was doing was cleaning up evidence of zombies popping out of the backyard like daisies. Something Circe, a Ceremonial Magician and certified nut-job, had done during our last little bout with magical mayhem. But I couldn't tell her that. I couldn't tell anyone there had been dead bodies buried in that backyard because that would lead to all kinds of trouble I just couldn't deal with. Not now. "Mmhmm. Someone vandalized the property. So I'm getting it cleaned up."

"Did you call the police?"

"No. By the time I went over there to check on the house, it was already done."

"You should still call the police. File a report. File a claim with your insurance?"

The truth was Crwys had handled most of the arranging of workers at the house. He paid for it out of his own pocket, so I had no idea if he'd ever filed a report on it or not. The only thing he and I and everyone else agreed on was if someone asked about the work, the house was vandalized. "No. I don't think so."

"Miss Hawthorne, either you did or you didn't file. Which is it?"

"Captain Prescott," my nervousness bled into my frustration. She was keeping me away from looking for Crwys, or at least finding answers. "My name is on the deed. I can have work done on the house any time I want and it's not illegal."

"Not if you didn't fill out the proper permits."

"I'm sure we did."

"We?"

I didn't answer at first. I didn't want to bring Crwys into my problems. "It's complicated."

"I see. Since someone believes Miss Devons.h.i.+re is missing, may we go into the house to check things out for possible foul play?"

Now I got it! She wants permission because she doesn't have enough for a warrant. "Can it wait till the work's done? They've nearly finished and I wanted to keep it all nice and new so when she returns she'll be happy."

"You think she's coming back."

"Oh...I'm counting on it." And I was. I was pretty sure my business with Dionysus, the Leviathan inside of Ina's body, and his business with me, wasn't over with.

Prescott looked like she'd stuck a lemon in her mouth. She pursed her lips and nodded to the officer who tipped his hat at me and left the shop. "Sorry to disturb you. But just so you know, if Miss Devons.h.i.+re doesn't appear in the next twenty-four hours, I will have a warrant to search the premises."

I stepped forward before she turned to go. "Captain...any word on what happened to Detective Holliard?"

She looked confused. "Happened?"

"Yes. He's missing."

"No he's not. He filed a notice with me on Valentine's Day, effective immediately. He's not missing. He went to Baltimore."

What? I blinked a few times. I knew why I was suddenly a bit emotional. It was easier to believe the detective had just gone out of state to get away from me and my Arcane than to believe he was a Dragon and in trouble.

"Miss Hawthorne, are you all right?"

"No...I mean yes. I will be," I wiped at my eyes. "So he handed you this notice personally?"

"No. It was on my desk the next morning with an address to send his last check. I tried calling him but there was no answer," she clasped her hands in front of her. "I must admit, your reaction is as strange as Tulose's had been. He looked like I'd hit him in the stomach," she pointed at me. "That's what you look like. Good afternoon, Miss Hawthorne."

I watched her leave and followed just behind her. I locked the door and pulled down the shades Crwys had installed for a bit of privacy. Turning the sign to closed, I headed back through the break room door with Grey at my heels and found Kyle waiting for me by the table. He had a bag in his hand. "You don't look so good."

I told him what Prescott said about the missing persons report.

He looked as weirded out as I felt. "Who would report her missing? You don't think it was Dionysus do you?"

"It might be." I moved to the stairs leading up to my apartment. The door was open so I went in and grabbed the leather jacket tossed on the couch. I paused when I caught the smell of Crwys on it. It was his jacket. I buried my face in it and inhaled as deeply as I could. Something gnawed at me, in the center of my stomach. It was anxiety; a deep longing that hadn't been there before. When I thought he'd left me that gnawing had been laced with anger, but now that anger was directed at myself.

Was he in pain as Kathy said? Had he been in pain since the moment he vanished? I'd been holed up in a cabin for two days, making my own little pity party with my Elementals and the man I wanted to profess undying love for had been suffering.

Sweet Lady, I needed to get a hold of myself and stop being a whiny Witch. I had my power back, and I had an extra kick if I wanted it. The Arcane, every time I used it, it felt stronger. Crwys believed my Elementals held the Arcane in check like a dam. And when they were gone, it built up strength and lodged itself in the mark on my chest, which I now kept covered.

What I'd noticed in those woods as I practiced with the Elementals, was that even though the voice wasn't as vocal anymore, the power was still there, just below the surface. Waiting. Watching. Ready to strike.

"Sam?" Kyle called up.

We'll find him, Sam-Sam.

I took comfort in my mother's voice as I slipped the jacket on. I grabbed my pistols from out of my bag, checked their ammo and slipped them into the back of my jeans. With a glance around the main living room, I spotted my cell phone on the kitchen table where I'd left it before heading to the cabin. There was less than fifteen percent battery life left and over a hundred texts and voice messages.

Whoops.

I grabbed the charger and headed down the stairs.

After locking up, we piled into my Jeep where I hooked my phone up and handed it to Kyle. "Type the address off this card into my navigator, then start going through my texts and emails. If anything looks odd, tell me."

Relegated to the back this time, Grey made herself as comfortable as possible as we drove around town.

"You going to tell me what the Dragon fantasy thing is all about?"

I glanced at Kyle. "You sure you wanna know?"

"I don't like going in blind."

"Remember how my dex always claimed to not know what Crwys was?"

"Yeah."

"And remember how he said he was a Drachen when we first met?"

"Yeah...but I thought he was kidding." His eyes widened and I could see his jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. "He was serious?"

I nodded.

"Crwys is a..."

"You can say it. It's not like saying Voldemort."

Kyle put his hand on the dashboard. "Crwys Holliard is a Dragon?"

"Mmhmm. Levi confirmed it. And I think Kathy is having her first visions as a Seer like your aunt. She's been having dreams about him. That the Dragon is in pain and that the princess has to rescue him."

He made a rude noise. "You are no princess."

I ignored that. "But if anything she said is true, and remember it's filtered through a child's eyes, then I'm going to find him."