Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (11 page)

Before Troy could reply, the front doorbell rang. Both he
and Madison straightened and went to the door. They could only stare as a human
came into her house carrying her brother on his shoulder. It took Madison a
moment to remember his name. “Thorne?” she asked.

Troubled brown eyes looked at her. “Madison, I don’t know
what Barry did, but I think he fucked up. Big.”

Madison frowned as Dylan fixed the blankets around Barry’s
unconscious form. “When he wakes up, I’m going to kill him,” she said
dangerously.

Dylan shook her head. “I don’t need this right now, Madison.
Why don’t you go and see if there’s anything else Thorne can tell you.”

Madison glanced at the man leaning against the wall before
turning back to her sister. “I already know what happened. I can smell it,” she
snapped. When Dylan looked at her she picked up Barry’s bloody hand. “Moron
here tried to
Raise
someone. Instead he turned the
poor bastard into a Zombie.”

Thorne frowned as he moved away from the wall. “He was
trying to bring back three bodies,” he said looking at Madison. “He thought he
was doing something wrong, and then the last one jumped up and took a bite out
of him.”

With a resigned sigh, Madison turned her attention to her
brother. “You’re lucky you’re the Caster,” she mumbled before moving to leave.
Just as she was about to reach the door Madison looked at Thorne. “Where are
the three now?” she asked.

While he knew of Madison’s reputation and had even met her
on an occasion or two, the look she wore was at complete odds with the wild
child everyone painted her out to be. “I shot the one that was biting him,” he
answered. “I just grabbed Barry and ran. They should still be locked in the
Examination room.”

Madison shook her head and barely held back a curse. “Dylan,
call Eric. Tell him what’s going on with Barry.” She then turned and quickly
walked out of the room. She blinked when she saw Troy leaning against the wall
waiting for her.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“I have to go and find these things before they decide to
turn DC into Raccoon City,” she said darkly.

Troy looked at her as he started to follow her down the
hall. “Raccoon City?” he asked. “Is that out in Wyoming?” he asked.

Madison stopped cold and looked at her Mate. “It’s from a
video game.” When he gave her a confused look, she returned it. “You know,
Resident Evil?
The horror survival game that started them
all.
Please tell me you know what I’m talking about.”

He blinked as he slowly nodded.
“Yeah,
sure.
Whatever you say, Sweetheart,” he lied. Troy found
himself
smiling as Madison shook her head. “I’m sorry, I
never found myself to be into video games that much,” he admitted as she walked
towards the back of the house.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “It’s fine,” she said.
When his arms went around her waist, she fought not to blush. “I’ve pretty much
done the whole gambit.
Video games, movies, anime, comics.
There was a running joke that I would either be some
uber
-geeks
dream girl, or make someone a very nice husband one day.”

Troy gently kissed her cheek as he pulled her tight against
him. “While I’ve never been an
uber
-geek, I think
it’s safe to say that you’re the woman of my dreams,” he whispered into her
ear.

Again, Madison’s eyes rolled. “You don’t even know me.”

He smiled as she stepped away from him. “True. That's why I
want to go with you.” He held up his hands when she opened her mouth to
protest. “I’m your Mate whether you like it or not. And I can’t stand back and
let you run off into a possibly dangerous situation when I could help.” Troy
then reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Besides, my mother
was working today. If she’s in that building, there’s a chance she could get
hurt.”

Madison frowned as she looked at him. She could tell that he
was a man that was used to getting what he wanted. And in this case it would be
better to have him there, even if it is to just keep Norms out of her way. “I’m
taking Casper too,” she shot back. “He’s good to have in a fight, and he
apologized for what he said earlier.”

“I don’t want him to say shit like that to you again.” While
she could forgive the Vampire, he couldn’t. Not just yet. “The next time he
does, I get to hand him his ass.”

Madison smiled at him and took his hand. “I’ll let him
know,” she said just as Kayin ran over to them.

Kayin wrapped his arms around Madison’s waist. “Is Uncle
Barry hurt?” he asked.

She sighed as she lifted him into her arms. “He’ll be
alright,” she said as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. “Uncle Barry
did something stupid that your father and I have to go fix.”

“Will you get hurt?” Kayin asked softly.

Madison shook her head and kissed his forehead. For all of
his stubbornness, she knew Kayin was more sensitive to people’s pain than anyone
in the house. His magic centered on the lighter side of Life and Death. “I’m
going to be fine. I promise.”

Kayin looked over to Troy and slowly reached for him. When
his father took him into his arms, Kayin leaned over into his ear. “Mommy
doesn’t like to be careful. Watch her,” he ordered.

Troy could only blink as Kayin hugged him and easily
shimmied out of his arms.

Madison shook her head as she walked over to where Victor
and Crispin were talking. “I’m going down to the morgue. If these things Barry
tried to Raise got out there’s no telling what havoc is going to be caused.”

Victor frowned. He remembered the hell she caused last time
she went into that office to work. “Madison, are you sure you’ll be alright?”
he asked.

She knew what he was concerned about. “I’ll be fine,
Father,” she assured him. “Troy is coming with me and I’m sure Casper won’t
mind tagging along either.”

Crispin started to stand. “Why don’t Dylan and I come with
you,” he suggested.

Madison read his intentions and smiled. “That’s sweet,
really. But I’m a big girl and can handle these two.”

Troy looked at his new friend. “I won’t start anything with
your brother.” As Crispin nodded at him, Troy knelt opened his arms for Aiden.
“Come on Squirt,” he said with a smile.

Aiden ran to Troy and jumped into his arms. “Come back
soon.”

Madison leaned over and kissed his forehead. “We will. But
you stay down stairs and leave your uncle alone.” As Aiden nodded, she touched
Troy’s shoulder. “Let’s get going.”

“You can take the limo,” Victor suggested.

Madison cringed at the thought. She never did like the long
sleek vehicles. They resembled hearses too much for her liking. “I’ll take the
‘
Cuda
. Casper can fit in the back seat.”

Crispin mused. “As well as the trunk,” he said as he
motioned for Madison to walk towards the garage. “Just to cut time, I’ve
explained what’s going on to Casper and he’s already at the car putting down
the top.” He then gave Madison a serious look. “If you need us, don’t be
stupid. Just call.”

Madison rolled her eyes before looking at Victor. “You’re
still King, can’t you do something about him?” she asked before walking down
the hall.

“I gave up my title,
Dearest
,”
Victor reminded her. “He can do whatever he wishes.”

“Unless you veto it,” Madison mumbled. She opened the door
to her garage and saw Troy was trying not to laugh. She also saw Casper
climbing into the driver’s seat of her candy apple red ‘74 Plymouth Barracuda.
“You’re all blood sucking bastards!” she called out loud enough for the entire
house to hear.

Troy felt his mouth watering at the collection of cars in
the garage. “Are all of these yours?” he asked. He may not know video games the
way Madison did, but damn it he knew muscle cars. The collection he was
currently looking at would make any collector’s head spin. “Please tell me
these are yours.” He then looked at the amusement in Madison’s eyes. “Wait,
don’t tell me.
Because if they are, then I would have to
marry you.”

Madison shook her head as they walked to where Casper was
waiting. “What if I wanted to drive?” she asked the Vampire.

“I’d have to remind you that I taught you how to drive and
barely lived to tell the tale. No thanks.” He then looked past Madison and saw
Troy. “If you’re smart, you’ll never let her drive you anywhere either.”

Madison smiled at Casper. At least he was trying to extend
an olive branch. “I’m not that bad,” she said lowly.

Troy opened the passenger’s side door and hopped into the
back seat. He knew from experience with his own
sisters,
never argue about a woman’s driving skills. He looked at Casper. “I’ll take my
chances,” he said. After Madison was seated and her seat belt on, he nodded to
the Vampire. “But thanks for the warning.”

Madison shook her head. “I’m telling you, I’m not that bad.”

Casper smirked as he started the car and put it in gear.
“Pixie,” he is smirk turned into a full blown smile as Troy grinned, “it’s
called an “Oh-Shit bar” for a reason.”

Belle Davenport could barely hold back a sigh as she walked
to the main medical examination room. She was supposed to meet Leslie Barnes
and work out the details on her latest case. This was the part of her job she
hated most. Even after all of these years, cases with children were still hard.
Unfortunately, the body she would have to view was a child that had been
attacked. As she approached the room, she heard something crash. Belle quickly
walked to the double doors and pushed on them. She nearly choked at the sight
of a creature huddled over
eating
part of a person’s neck. From what she could tell, the person that was
currently being turned into a meal was Leslie. The woman’s long brown hair and
small stature went limp under the leathered husks of the
things
over her.

Just as Belle gathered enough breath to scream, she noticed
another of the creatures in the far corner with one of Leslie’s new assistants.
She tightened her grip on her briefcase and slowly tried to back out of the
room. Belle was going to stay calm. She stepped back and allowed a shiver of
fear run down her back. Something grabbed onto her ankle. She turned her pale
blue eyes down to see one of her subordinates. “Marie,” she whispered about to
kneel next to the injured woman.

“Don’t touch,” a rough voice said from behind her.

Belle screamed that as she was grabbed by her shoulders and hauled
out of the medical room. She looked into the eyes of one of her most trusted
assistants. “Spence,” she gasped before hugging him. “What are you doing here?”

Spencer James looked her over as he quickly moved her away
from the door. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Are you hurt?”

She took a shaky breath as she stumbled back and hit the
wall. “I lost a shoe,” she said before reaching down and pulling the other off
her foot.

Spencer frowned. “You don’t know how close you just came to
losing more than a shoe, Belle.” He wrapped an arm around her and easily swept
her up into his arms. “How the hell did zombies get here?” he asked as he
started to run to the stairwell.

Belle returned his frown. “Those things were eating Marie
and Leslie,” she said in the same dark tone. “You mean to tell me that they’re
brain eating minions of Hell?”

Spencer opened the stairway door and gingerly put Belle on
her feet. “They’re more like the flesh eating minions of a Necromancer,” he
said in a reasonable tone. When she blinked at him, he held onto the doorknob.
“Go to my office. Take Carla with you and tell her to call Dennis. She’ll know
who you’re talking about.”

Belle’s frown deepened. “You’re not staying here,” she said
about to pull him into the stairwell with her. “Those things will kill you
too.”

The sound of a door opening made Spencer turn. He paled when
he saw a crowd of interns walking towards the room. “Go back!” he shouted.

Before anyone could respond, the Medical Examination room
doors crashed open and at least eight zombies charged out into the hall.
Spencer’s eyes widened as he saw the two women he used to work with stumble out
of the room and visually lock on him and Belle.

Belle gripped Spencer’s suit jacket and tried to pull him to
her. “Come with me.”

Spencer removed her hands. “Dennis Wolfe,” he said clearly.
As Belle started to shake her head, he gripped her shoulder. “I need you to
find him. He’ll protect you and explain everything.”

Belle screamed as Spencer pushed her through another set of
doors. As he slammed the door closed, Leslie jumped onto his back. She gripped
her remaining Gucci stiletto ready to wield it as a weapon and charge back into
the hallway. “Spencer!”

“Mom!”
Troy
shouted.

Belle turned around and saw her son jumping down the stairs.
“Troy,” she gasped before running to him. As he swept her up into a tight
embrace she saw a tall man with short blonde hair carrying a sword followed by
a woman she hadn’t thought she would see in this building again. “Madison?”