Revelation of Blood (33 page)

“Baby, what is it?” Archer asked as he put
his hand on my shoulder.

“That was a detective from the Arson Unit,” I
whispered dazedly. “There’s been a fire at my house. He needs me to
come.”

Archer’s brows shot up, then furrowed. “Arson
Unit? Did he say arson was suspected?”

I shook my head as I made myself move.
“I-I’ve got to get dressed.”

“I’m coming with you,” Archer said, jumping
into action. He went to the closet and got us out a set of clothes
as I wound my hair into a high bun and secured it.

My house had caught fire and my mind spun
with thoughts of how bad the damage was. My beloved vintage hand
chair was in there and every photo album I owned.
My art!
I
panicked silently as I threw my ripped jeans, Toadies t-shirt, and
chucks on. I’d be crushed if my abstracts were gone. I’d put my
very soul into every piece and couldn’t bear the thought of them
being destroyed.

A minute later, we were done and Archer
grabbed my hand and led me to the garage. He decided to go
relatively low-key by taking the Porsche, and soon we were tearing
off down the driveway.

Once we pulled onto my street, my stomach
sank as I took in the two fire trucks and five police vehicles.
Behind them, I caught a glimpse of rising smoke and I shifted focus
to the charred remains of our once two-story townhouse.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, covering my mouth in
shock. “Oh my God…our house. It’s…it’s gone.”

“Wow,” Archer shook his head. I don’t think
either of us was expecting a complete and total loss. “I’m so
sorry, baby.”

He stopped the car at the road block and I
jumped out and jogged dazedly toward what was left of my home. A
uniformed police officer stopped me as I tried to go under the
yellow tape at the end of my driveway and I frowned at him. “I need
to see the Arson Detective. This is my house.”

The patrolman apologized and asked me to wait
while he talked quickly into his radio. Hands wrapped around me
from behind and I leaned back against Archer for support. I needed
him badly at the moment and was thankful he had come with me. I
didn’t think I could go through this alone.

Oh God…how am I going to tell Nikki
?
She’s going to be devastated
… Archer held me tightly and
told me everything would be okay as a man in a suit approached
us.

“Miss Morrison?” he asked and I nodded my
head. “I’m Detective Duren.”

“What happened?” I asked, my voice shaking a
bit with emotion.

I watched as he pulled out a small pad of
paper and got ready to take notes. “9-1-1 received a call from your
neighbor at approximately four thirty this morning stating that
your home was fully engulfed in flames. By the time the fire
department arrived eight minutes later, the adjoining residence was
also on fire.”

I stared at my house in a state of shock as I
watched a fireman continue to douse the smoldering remains of
Nikki’s side of the townhouse. Shaking my head, I finally slid my
eyes back to the detective. “I can’t believe this,” I
whispered.

“Miss Morrison, can you tell me where you
were when the fire broke out?” he asked as he glanced back and
forth between Archer and me.

“I was at my mate--boyfriend’s house,” I
shook my head, slipping up. “He lives out on the north shore of
Lake Travis.”

“You’re the boyfriend?” the detective asked,
motioning with his pen to Archer.

“Yes, detective.”

“Fancy place you must have,” he drawled in
his thick southern accent as he arched a brow. “Mind if I have your
name, son?”

“It’s Archer Rhys,” he said calmly behind me
as he lightly stroked his fingers up and down my arm.

After he jotted Archer’s name down, he lifted
his eyes back to me. “Miss Morrison, do you have any enemies…anyone
who would want to cause you or your property harm?”

Shit, where do I even start
? I thought
miserably before lying my ass off. “No, sir,” I shook my head and
looked appropriately concerned, “not that I know of.” It wasn’t all
that hard because, truth was…I was concerned as shit. By him being
here, I knew the fire was no accident. “Are you saying someone did
this on purpose?”

“We don’t know that for certain, ma’am,” he
answered, looking back down at his pad, “we’re just trying to cover
our bases.”

My eyes narrowed and I knew he was keeping
something from me because he wasn’t meeting my eyes. I squeezed
Archer’s arm tellingly as I dropped my mental walls and focused on
the detective’s thoughts. “
Lengthy pour pattern on bottom floor…
some type of accelerant used…probably gasoline…someone obviously
has a grudge against this girl if she didn’t do it
herself
.”

I stiffened as I caught the slight
accusation. “Why the hell would anyone burn their own home down?” I
asked with a frown before realizing what I’d said. “I mean MY home.
Why would anyone burn down my home?”

The detective eyed me for a few seconds,
jotted something down on his pad, and then asked me another
question. “We can’t seem to get ahold of your neighbor, Miss St.
James. We’ve tried calling her cell but there’s no answer. Do you
know where we might find her?”

“Nikki’s aunt had an accident a few days ago
and she flew up to Maine for a week to help out. She’s in an area
where cell service is sketchy, so I’m sure she hasn’t gotten your
call.”

Detective Duren frowned and wrote something
else down. “Do you know when she’ll be back in town?”

“A few days, I’m sure. If she contacts me,
I’ll give her your number and tell her to call you.” I looked at
the charred remains of what was once our beautiful home and my
breath caught as the emotions flooded me. “She’s going to be so
devastated. I…I can’t believe this happened.”

The detective pulled out a card from his
inner suit pocket and wrote something on it. “This is my office
number, cell number, and that is your case number,” he said,
pointing each out with his pen after he handed it to me. “My
investigation is just beginning, so there isn’t much I can tell you
right now. Give me the rest of the day and I’ll be calling you
tomorrow morning to fill you in on my findings.”

He looked up at Archer for a moment, then
back down at me. “I may need to ask you more questions at a later
date, so please let me know if you plan on leaving town.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” my brow furrowed as
I shook my head. “When can I go through the house?”

“It’ll be hours, ma’am. Based on what I see,
there’s not anything in there that’s even remotely salvageable,” he
said before continuing gently. “It’s a total loss, Miss
Morrison.”

I bit my bottom lip and told myself I wasn’t
going to cry as Detective Duren sighed tiredly and pushed the hair
back from his forehead with the back of his hand. It may have been
only six in the morning, but the muggy Texas summer was in full
swing. It was already eighty degrees with a high humidity index
and, with the heat from the fire as well, he was beginning to sweat
in his suit.

“You’ll need to contact A.F.D. and get a copy
of the fire report for insurance purposes,” he explained, sympathy
crinkling his eyes a bit. “They usually have them ready and
available in seven business days. If you have any questions about
what steps you need to take next, I would recommend calling the
Austin Fire Department headquarters and speaking with someone. Of
course, your insurance agent will be able to answer questions for
you as well.”

My eyes left his and slid back to the black
remains. “Thank you, detective,” I said softly. “I appreciate all
your hard work. I just want to find out how this happened.” I
swallowed thickly and met his eyes again. “This fire took
everything from us.”

He tsked compassionately and briefly touched
my arm. “You still have your life, Miss Morrison. It was a blessing
no one was home when this fire started. The Captain said it was
really bad.” I nodded my head as I shook his hand and thanked him
again. He promised to be in touch and then pointed me to the Ladder
Captain so I could get his card.

“Someone set our house on fire,” I said as
soon as Archer and I were back in the Porsche. “Someone actually
burned my house down.” I scoffed in disbelief and shook my head.
“Why would somebody do this to me? What did I do to deserve
this?”

Archer leaned over the console and pulled me
to his shoulder. I burrowed my face in the hollow of his neck as
the tears finally came. “Baby,” he soothed as he stoked my hair.
“We’ll find out who did this, don’t you worry. Everything you lost,
I can replace,
cion
. I’m just thankful you weren’t staying
there. I can’t replace you.”

“How am I going to tell Nikki?” I sniffled as
I sat up. “The girl has already been put through the ringer because
of me and now, IF I can even rescue her, I have to tell her that
she has no home to go to.”

“Nikki can always stay with us,” Archer said,
thumbing away my tears. “We can move the rest of your clothes into
my room and she can have the guest room across the hall.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. Will Nikki even
want to have anything to do with me after tonight? I had my doubts.
I knew from experience what it was like to be harmed by vampires
and to completely lose your trust. “Can we go home now?” I asked in
a sad, exhausted whisper.

Archer kissed my temple softly and started
the car.

**********

Work at Dan’s dragged something horrible. It
felt like the clock was ticking two seconds forward then taking one
back. It’s not like the bar wasn’t busy, it was, my mind was just
occupied with the fire that had completely destroyed mine and
Nikki’s house and the impending battle I had coming up tonight. I
was dying to see Nikki and couldn’t wait to get her far away from
Weston and the other Dark Ones. I couldn’t help but worry if she
was okay and if Weston was minding his manners as I auto piloted my
shift. I’d flip my shit if she had fresh bite marks on her
tonight.

At five o’clock, I took a break and stepped
outside to call Archer.

“Skye,” he breathed hard and then grunted as
if he’d been punched in the stomach.

“Archer?” I asked worriedly, my body freezing
with fear. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I heard a screech of metal
on metal followed by someone else grunting.

“Fine, baby,” he chuckled as the noise in the
background became louder, “just showing Hagan a thing or two down
in the basement.”

Hagan mumbled something and it was followed
by another loud groan from Archer.

“Are you two fighting?” I asked,
incredulously.

“Ooh! Are you going to let him get away with
that,
athair
?” Trey laughed and I heard the phone jostle as
the clash of metal sounded again, only this time much louder.
Clapping rang out followed by a cheer as Hagan cursed in
Gaelic.

“Practicing for tonight,” he said cheerfully
out of breath and I shook my head. “I needed to burn off a little
frustration.”

“Well, don’t burn off too much,” I smirked as
I resumed my stroll around the employee lot. “We’ve got two hundred
ass kicking’s to hand out.”

Archer let out an
oof
and it was
followed by an ear piercing clattering sound. After some scraping,
Archer came back on the line. “Sorry, Hagan knocked the phone out
of my hand.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’ll let you
go, baby. I just wanted to call and tell you I love you.”

Archer called a halt to the fight between him
and Hagan and the room got significantly quieter. “No, don’t go,”
he said gently. “Talk to me. How is your shift going?”

“Terribly,” I sighed, feeling the weight of
the day on my shoulders. “I just want to get out of here, get
Nikki, and then go home and sleep for a few days.”

“Baby,” he whispered sympathetically. “I’m
sorry all this is happening to you. I wish more than anything I
could fix it.”

“Have you talked to Dean?” I asked, changing
the subject. Archer didn’t need to hear my drama again.

“He called Jameson a few minutes ago. He’ll
be arriving a little before six with four black cargo vans and
fifty three wolves. I have to say, he sounded more than ready to
fight.”

“Good. How’s Lochlan?”

“He’s out by the pool soaking up sun,” Archer
said with a small chuckle. “He’s been at it since you left this
morning.”

I smiled, remembering his Divine Power
display the night before. “He has the coolest gift ever,” I told
him before I cleared my throat and got to the real reason why I was
calling. “I…I just want you to be careful tonight, okay?”

“
Cion
,” he said softly,
affectionately, “I don’t want you to worry about me. I’ll be
fine…we’ll all be fine.” I silently nodded my head even though I
knew he couldn’t see it. “I’d tell you to stop worrying, but I know
it’s pointless. Just remember who we are and who we have on our
side. Those Dark don’t stand a chance, baby.”

“I’ll remember,” I whispered. “See you
tonight?”

“See you tonight, my love.”

I ended the call and stared down at the phone
as I took a deep breath. Archer didn’t sound the least bit worried
about the battle and that made me feel marginally better. He’d been
around over thirteen hundred years and I knew he’d seen his fair
share of battles. I told myself that if he wasn’t worried, I
shouldn’t be either. Reluctantly, I stuffed the phone back in my
skirt pocket and went back to work.

Lochlan arrived at seven thirty and I quickly
said goodbye to Dan, changed into a pair of jeans, donned my
chucks, and met him in the back parking lot.

“Hi’ya, feek,” he winked at me with a small
smile as I climbed into the Audi R8. His smile quickly faded as he
studied my face. “You okay?”