Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) (24 page)

“Thank you for your help,” Felicia said.

His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t thank me. I happen to agree with Oliver. That was the most incredibly stupid display I’ve ever seen, dangling yourselves like fresh meat in front of the most dangerous predators on the planet. What the hell were you thinking?”

Fletcher rounded on him. “Hang on! First of all, you seemed to enjoy putting your hands all over my sister—”

“Your sister, huh?” The man’s eyes slid to Felicia.

“And secondly, I could have handled that lecherous vampire on my own!”

“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Never mind that.” Felicia stepped in front of Fletcher. “We’re looking for someone called Stormchaser.”

“You found him. Now get out of here. You’ve caused enough trouble for one evening.”

Muttering “stupid kids” under his breath, Stormchaser strode toward a nearby exit, opened the door, and disappeared outside. Felicia, Raven, Tori, and Fletcher scrambled to retrieve their jackets and hasten after him.

Raven burst through the door first, and into a wide alley. To his dismay, Stormchaser had nearly disappeared around the corner. Raven sped after him, nearly running headlong into the man’s drawn knife as he waited out of sight.

“Whoa!” Raven put his hands up. “Stand down!”

“What do you mean by following me?”

“I know you. We were opponents at a martial arts tournament in London a few years ago. Your father is the—”

“
Shut up
,” he hissed. “You should know better than to blurt things out where anyone can overhear!”

Fletcher, Tori, and Felicia skidded to a halt next to Raven. Tori gasped at the sight of the knife. With a sound of disgust, Stormchaser lowered his weapon and slid it into a sheath inside his boot.

“Is there someplace private where we can talk?” Raven asked.

“It’s important,” Felicia added.

“Compared to what?” he scoffed.

“The end of the world as we know it,” she said.

One eyebrow lifted. “You heard about that, did you?” He sighed. “All right, we can talk at my place. I’m moving tomorrow anyway.”

Chapter Fifteen

Hubris

A
S
F
ELICIA
D
ROVE
T
HROUGH
T
HE
D
ARK
S
TREETS
with Stormchaser seated behind her, she tried not to dwell on the pleasurable sensations his proximity aroused. It was unusual for her to be attracted to a stranger, much less one who was so completely indifferent to her. She knew nothing about this man, other than the fact he was exotically gorgeous, with an aura of power that made her pulse beat faster. When he put his arm around her waist at the party, her very breath caught in her throat. Nevertheless, she was determined to hold herself in check.
I’m through being led by my emotions.

Stormchaser’s current residence was a dark, boarded up structure, a former small hotel in a dodgy part of Hollywood. They parked in the rear, and he fished a small penlight from out of a cardboard box next to a battered dumpster.

“Follow me and try not to wake the children.”

“Children?” Tori asked.

“Runaways. Drop outs. Kids who need a place to crash. I take the penthouse on the top floor and they get everywhere else.”

The stairs were immediately to the right as they entered. Stormchaser trained the flashlight on the steps while they climbed up five stories. The “penthouse” turned out to be a recreation room, which was largely empty of furniture except for a broken down sofa, a threadbare pool table, and a few folding chairs. He lit several prayer candles with a torch lighter and set them on a linoleum counter. Felicia picked up one of the candles, which featured a picture of St. Jude. “Are you religious?”

“The candles were two for a dollar at the discount store.” He peered at Raven. “Now I remember you. You’re that annoying kid who kicked me in the head.”

“The name’s Raven. This is Fletcher, Felicia, and Tori,” Raven said, pointing in turn. “You raised a knot on my forearm the size of Big Ben.”

“It’s your fault for blocking my roundhouse.”

Raven chuckled. “What can I say? I didn’t want to die young.”

“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” Tori asked.

“Martial arts tournament,” Stormchaser replied. “I won.”

“Yeah, but I hadn’t had my final growth spurt yet,” Raven said. “I’ll bet things would be different today.”

“Doubtful.”

“I hate to interrupt your reunion, but don’t we have some questions to ask?” Fletcher demanded. “What kind of a name is Stormchaser anyway?”

“The kind that lends anonymity. My real name is Chase Oshiro.”

A shock ran through Felicia. “
Oshiro?
Are you related to the former Tokyo Shakespearean Institute director?”

“He’s my father—or was.”

“I was very sorry to hear about his passing,” she said. “What are you doing here…living like this?”

Chase brushed off her question. “I know who you all are now. Raven Cassidy, son of Ian Cassidy, one of the higher profile Shakespearean hunters. Fletcher and Felicia Harrington, grandchildren of the Director of the Shakespearean Institute of London.” Chase’s gaze rested on Tori. “The only one I can’t place is
you
.”

“Raven and I met at school,” she said. “He discovered I can see demons.”

“Interesting.” He turned his attention to Raven. “So you’ve heard about the Apocalypse?”

“Yeah,” Raven said. “Do you know who’s behind it?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Try us.”

A shrug. “Okay. All Shakespeareans know the demonic sacrifice of a Leap Day child will lead to the Apocalypse, but that’s not the real goal here.”

“No? Then what is?” Raven asked.

“A lesser blood sacrifice, which will make the shadow world visible to everyone.”

Tori had a look of disbelief on her face. “To what end?”

“Over the centuries, Shakespeareans have been doing an excellent job eradicating demons—so much so that hunters are retiring and chapters are closing. What better way for the Institute to regain power?”

“That’s preposterous!” Fletcher exploded.

“Absurd!” Raven exclaimed. “My father would
never
agree to such a scheme.”

“Nor would mine, which is why he was killed and I’m on the run. This plot was hatched in a meeting of Institute directors and my father refused to go along. Shortly thereafter his car went off a cliff…only he couldn’t have been driving because he was locked in the trunk.”

Tori gasped.

Felicia rose. “My grandfather couldn’t be part of this.”

Chase’s smile was brittle. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you differently, Felicia. Lord Birmingham is the mastermind.”

His words felt like a blow to the stomach. “You’re lying,” she managed.

He regarded her with something akin to pity. “I guess we’ll see on March first who’s been lying to whom.”

“This is stupid. I’m not listening to any more nonsense,” Felicia said. “Let’s go.”

“One last word of advice. Weapon up if you want to survive, and get rid of anything that connects you to the Shakespeareans.”

Raven paused. “What do you mean?”

“Demons are anticipating the Apocalypse. Whether or not you thwart Birmingham’s plan, they’ll feel cheated enough to seek revenge on Shakespeareans in particular.”

“How do you intend to survive?” Raven asked.

“I might lay low or I might just go out with a blaze of glory, killing as many demons as I can,” Chase said. “I haven’t decided.”

“If you know so much about this plot, why don’t you help us stop it?” Felicia was so angry, she said each word like it was a bullet.

“Trust me, I’m the last person who should become involved.”

On their way home, Felicia, Fletcher, Raven and Tori stopped at an all-night coffee shop. Felicia stared into her mug of tea, chewing the inside of her cheek in frustration. Disappointment mixed with anger as she tried to reconcile what Chase had said with what she knew to be the truth.
I can’t believe I’m attracted to that loser! Maybe Nicholai was right and there’s something wrong with me.

Tori seemed equally pensive as she sipped a cup of black coffee. Raven and Fletcher were devouring a platter of deep-fried onion rings drenched with catsup. Although they weren’t saying much either, the evening’s turn of events had apparently not affected their appetites. Fletcher flagged down the waitress and ordered some bacon, sour cream, and cheese potato skins as well.

“Maybe the death of his father sent Chase around the twist,” Felicia said finally. “That’s the only explanation I can think of.”

“I don’t want to believe him either, but it
is
strange his father and my parents should have died in exactly the same way,” Tori said.

“It’s possible a rogue Shakespearean engineered the deaths due to some agenda of his own, but I couldn’t imagine Grandfather not knowing about it. He’s a very meticulous man, and he always insists on being in control,” Fletcher said.

Taken aback, Felicia gave her brother a hard stare. “That sounds very much like you’re entertaining the notion our grandfather could be a murderous Machiavellian.”

“I seem to recall you saying if we want to figure out who is behind the plot, we shouldn’t exclude anyone out of sentiment,” Fletcher said. “I’m trying to take your advice.”

Her hand ached to slap him. “I can’t believe you’d throw that in my face.”

“I wonder why Chase said he’s the last person who should become involved?” Tori asked.

“Clearly he’s a coward,” Felicia said.

She felt Raven’s eyes upon her.

“The man’s no coward. He has nerves of steel,” he said. “I saw it tonight when he stood up to that vampire, and years ago at the tournament.”

“He’s not wrong about one thing,” Tori said. “Demons are gleefully awaiting the Apocalypse. When they don’t get what they want, they’ll riot.”

“I’ll urge Dad to redouble his efforts to fortify Blackfriars,” Raven said. “Unfortunately, that won’t help the general populace.”

“There are about two weeks until the big day. If Shakespearean Institute directors are involved, would they come to here to witness the blood sacrifice?” Tori asked.

“They might,” Fletcher said. “In fact, if I hear they have plans to travel to L.A. within the next ten days, I’ll take that as a confirmation the directors are involved.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying these things.” Felicia was disgusted. “This is Grandpapa we’re talking about!” She pushed on Fletcher’s shoulder to get him to move. “Budge over. I’m leaving.”

“But I haven’t had any potato skins yet!”

She continued to push. With a sigh of resignation, Fletcher stood and let her slide out.

“Fine. I’ll go with you to make sure you get home all right.”