Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 (15 page)

It's because they both
care about you a great deal.

"Pffft," I said aloud. "They should be
quiet."

I will tell
them.

I smiled to myself.

Wait…

Mephistopheles
?

Yes?

I opened my eyes and focused on a
large LCD clock. It read 2:34 a.m. It wasn't my clock. I looked
around the room. This wasn't my room, either, or my apartment.
Pushing myself up onto my elbows, I blinked a few times as my eyes
adjusted to the dim light and took another look around. I
recognized the digs just as someone knocked at the door. "Yo…" I
croaked out, and then cleared my throat.

Jason stepped in, and the arguing
outside grew louder for a moment. He had a cup in his hand. He shut
the door behind him. "The Old Man said you were awake."

"Well, who can sleep with all that
yelling?" I managed to push and pull myself into a sitting
position. I wore a tank top and a pair of thin cotton pajama
bottoms. I wasn't going to ask who dressed me. Figured it was
better off if I didn't stress about it. Besides, these guys had
seen me at my ultimate worst, and I thought of them as
family.

"Why, thank you, Zoë," Jason said as
he sat on the edge of the bed and handed me the mug. "Hot
chocolate?"

"Oooh…" I took the mug, and the
ceramic warmed my fingers. I could see where whipped cream had
melted on top with little brown flecks of shaved chocolate. One sip
and all was better. Chocolate, food of the Gods. "How long was I
out?"

"Several hours." He crossed his right
leg over his left and propped himself up on his right hand on the
bed near my feet. "Daniel left Ms. Moultrie near the crime scene in
Grant Park. Morgan let Joe know she was there. She was taken to the
hospital after you were brought here."

"And they've been at it ever
since?"

"Only since Joe arrived. Tel and
Umayma were grilling Daniel and Inanna earlier to find out what
happened. Asking them why they disappeared. And why they left you
in such a vulnerable state, especially with this rapist roaming
around Montreal."

I listened to the voices for a few
seconds and heard Tel and Umayma thrown in the mix. Tel was the
Revenant, or host, to the First Born Loki, and Umayma was host to
Frejya. All of them siblings of the first Phantasm. "Joe really
sounds pissed off."

"He is. But for other reasons. When
Daniel let him know Ms. Moultrie was nearby, he didn't inform him
what'd happened to you with the Powers. So when he got here and
discovered you were unconscious in this room with a bullet hole in
your head…" Jason winked. "He went ballistic, so to
speak."

I put a hand to my forehead and
pressed around. I didn't fell a hole. Was it gone?

You have been
healed.

The lights flickered, and abruptly the
clock shot straight up and put one hell of a dent in the ceiling.
Dust floated down on top of us, and I put a hand over my mug. Gotta
save the chocolate. "'The hell?"

Jason sighed as he stood up. "Joe.
It's something I've noticed lately, especially since the incident
with Rhonda. When he's agitated or angry, he tends to leak
magic."

I looked at the clock embedded in the
ceiling. "That's a little more than a leak."

" He's powerful. Possibly more
powerful than Rhonda or Nona."

I moved on the bed to get out from
under the dangling clock. I didn't want to stand just yet, so I sat
on the edge of the bed as the yelling continued in the other room.
"Is this new? This power thing? I mean, I always knew he was like
Mom, but he never really showed it."

"You'll have to ask him why that is,"
Jason said as he pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. "But
what I need to talk to you about isn't Joe."

Oh. I kinda figured where this was
going and I didn't want to turn down that road. "No, Jason. Not
wanting to talk about that. I'm more interested in why that
reporter was in that house with those Powers. What does she have to
do with any of this? Oh, and did Geist or Daniel tell you what they
said?"

"Geist?" Jason narrowed his eyes. "I
haven't seen Geist. He was with you?"

"Yeah." I downed half of the chocolate
and enjoyed its regenerative powers. Heh. "Yeah, he was there. TC
said he was going to send Geist to help me since he had to get back
to the Abysmal Plane. Oh, and warning, he's looking like Barry
Stephens."

"Who?"

"The guy who was killed that night I
was raped…and killed." I was a little surprised how calm I was even
mentioning that night. I still didn't like thinking about it, or
remembering it, but apparently my parents seemed to think it was
just hilarious to dredge it all up again.

Jason made a face. "Daniel didn't
mention seeing Geist. But then, he's more than likely angry at him,
too, for helping Rhonda. Which is probably why he hasn't
manifested." He put his hands on his knees. "Regardless, we're
going to talk about your mom—"

"No."

"Zoë—"

"No. Jason, she had me raped and Barry
murdered."

"That's just not true."

"She admitted it."

"No." He held up his hand and pointed
at me. "She admitted you weren't supposed to be raped and that
young wasn't supposed to die."

"Same thing as far as I'm
concerned."

"But it's not like you
think."

I finished the mug and
handed it to him. I really didn't think he'd take it, but he did.
"Jason, I know you two had a…
thing
…(ew), and I understand you feel
a bit of loyalty to protect her—"

"That's not it."

"—but I'm just not ready to deal with
it right now. I'm going to have to live with the fact my existence
didn't mean anything more to my parents than some…some…" Oh, what
was the word? "…some inner Planar battle thingie. Fine. I'm here.
And I'm not quite what they wanted. Whatever that was. Either way,
innocent people are dying tragically and in a manner I'm familiar
with. And I have to use what I am and what I can do to stop it. So,
are you still going to sit there and spit out excuses for my mom,
or are you going to help me figure what the hell is going on and
get the love of my life back?"

Jason stared at me, and his eyes went
completely black. Mephistopheles was in the house and leaned
forward, still holding the empty mug. Jason's voice took on the
duality it usually did when the First Born spoke through his host.
"I will help you bring the Guardian home because it is in our best
interests. 'Our' meaning my brothers and sisters. But there is
something I will not do." He stood and walked past me to the door.
There he paused and turned very slowly to look at me.

I shrank back just a little as I saw
Mephistopheles in Jason's face. "I will not condone the
condemnation of someone I love, someone who has put their life
ahead of so many others, simply because you choose not to
investigate the facts. I understand you're still hurt and full of
anxiety for the man you believe you love. But if your actions, rash
and impetuous, in any way puts any of my brethren or the soul of
the woman who saved my life in danger, I will abandon you as you
have abandoned her. Do I make myself clear?"

I have never once been afraid of Jason
or Mephistopheles. They had always been there to help me and my
friends. And even after I understood what they were, fear of them
never seemed to play a part in my understanding of our
relationship.

Yet in that instance, in that tiny
second of time where the world around me stood still and the
arguments from beyond that door ceased, I found myself shaking with
a terror I'd not known in my entire life.

In a second, he was gone through the
door, and Daniel was stepping through and on his knees in front of
me. "Zoë…"

I looked down at him and stared hard
into his beautiful blues. I knew I was seeing and speaking with
Daniel Frasier, a man I loved and respected and for whom I felt
guilt for ruining his life. But I was also aware that just behind
those eyes lived a creature just as powerful, if not more so, than
Mephistopheles.

Inanna.

The First Born's words came
back to me, the ones I'd heard before I passed out.
I make you my First
.

"Zoë?"

Now I was just as terrified of her as
I was of her kin. I now understood the threat all of them held
within their grasp. It was time for me to grow up, wasn't it? And
understand that nothing was safe. I cleared my throat. "Sorry…I
just…thanks for getting me out of there."

"You scared me. But Inanna assured me
you're okay. She…" He licked his lips. "She told me what she
did."

"Yeah." And I pieced together the
significance of being a First Born's choice. Inanna had, in some
way, saved me. Not just for Daniel, but for herself.

You must never tell my
family what I've done.

Because I'm a
Wraith?

Yes.

I swallowed, aware Daniel
could hear what his First Born and I were saying.
You're not supposed to bond like that with
something like me? Just the same as Daniel's not supposed to drink
from me?

The same. But not because
we know the outcome or consequences, but because of what happened
between you and Azrael. No one foresaw that such a union would
create a Wraith. I believe we're all afraid of what monster may
spring from the head of Zeus next.

"Let's hope it's not a bond she'll
ever have to use," Daniel said. "First Borns usually have more than
one."

"They do?" I was relieved to hear
that. "Do you, Inanna?"

Yes. In fact, I have five
bonds. I like to keep my options open.

And I could almost feel her
smiling and hear her laughter.
So I'm glad
I'm not the only one.

You aren't. And
besides…
She paused.
Since my brother has a link with you, I doubt seriously the
bond would work.

TC was her brother, and everyone knew
he and I shared—something. Touching me while I was out of body had
been what freed him from his obedience to his sister. And that same
touch had turned me into a Wraith.

TC's busy now, so don't
worry. And I'm honored, you know that?

I believe I do. It's just
that…

When her voice trailed off,
I looked at Daniel. He was looking at me.
Inanna? What is it?

"Is she talking to you? I can't hear
her, but I can feel her sort of…moving…."

Moving? Ew. "She's
fine."
Inanna?

Your blood…something's
shifted inside of Daniel and I can't figure it out yet.

Shifted
?

Yes. It's like…I've lost
something like a valued object but I can't remember what it was and
where I dropped it.

I frowned.
That's sort of an odd thought.

That's how I feel. I just
need to suss this out a little more before I can say what it is
your blood did to him.

You'll let me know?

Of course.

Daniel reached up and brushed hair
from my face. "I am sorry I left you there. But I couldn't risk
being seen." Then he looked up and spotted the clock in the
ceiling. "Wow, Joe really needs to rein that temper of his in. What
if that had been you?"

I glanced up at the clock, but
shrugged. It was going to come down pretty soon. "So…what happened
to the chick in the basement? The reporter?"

"Hospital. The house was searched. The
owners—a pair of newlyweds—haven't been found."

"You think the Powers got rid of
them?"

"That's what I'm afraid of. Joe's
pretty pissed off about that. Among other things." He stood, and
then sat down beside me on the edge of the bed.

"Is that all that's happened, Daniel?
My blood gave you the OOBing power?"

"Is there supposed to be something
else?"

"Hon, I have no idea. I just know that
after TC and I touched, I started doing all kinds of weird
shit."

He stood again and took a few steps
away, then stopped and looked back at me. "Then I'll make a point
of telling you when I do weird shit. Joe's coming."

Daniel's abrupt behavior and attitude
shift sort of made me dizzy. I opened my mouth to speak as he
reached for the door, but Joe pushed it open and nearly conked
Daniel in the head with it. Daniel had his right hand up, and
stopped it so fast Joe staggered and then stepped back to see what
was behind the door.

"What the fuck are
you
doing in
here?"

"Leaving." Daniel moved around Joe and
hurried out of the room.

Joe watched him leave, then turned
back to me.

"Do you have to be so rude to him all
the time?" I liked Joe. I really did. I wasn't going to admit it to
anything more, 'cause you know…I was in love with Dags. But
sometimes Joe could be such a….a…cop!