The Golden Bell (16 page)

Fallon’s fist curled. He wanted Azion dead.
Knowing the man would like to return the favor, especially to
Fallon’s wife, made his blood burn.

“Your eyes are glowing again, Fallon. Calm
down. Cool heads will solve this better,” Keilor cautioned. A
battle veteran who was far older than he looked, the man knew what
he was talking about.

“It’s easier when it’s not family,” Fallon
said grimly.

“I hear you. You should be grateful your
woman turned her problems over to you and Jayems. I have nightmares
thinking of the trouble Jasmine might get into in the same
situation. You’re a lucky man.”

“Believe me, I get down on my knees and give
my share of thanks,” Fallon said fervently, relieved again that
Rain wasn’t involving herself. That had to be hard, and he was so
thankful. He couldn’t stand the idea of her in danger.

Keilor’s com unit vibrated, and he answered
it. For long moments he said nothing, just listened. “Okay, I’ll be
there in a moment. Standby.” He looked at his closed com for a long
moment, then looked at Fallon with wide-eyed sympathy. “You and
Jayems had better come, too.”

Dread pooled in Fallon’s stomach as he
followed Keilor, but he kept his mouth shut. Whatever was going on,
he knew Keilor would show him soon enough.

To his surprise, Keilor led the way to
Azion’s rooms. The door was shut and the guards before it looked
agitated. Azion’s large, heavyset aide fidgeted at the door. When
he saw them, his face lit with an odd mix of chagrin, relief and
caution. “My lords! I didn’t know what to think. The guards didn’t
see or hear anything, and there is no scent of anyone strange in
the room. The elder had been in there alone all morning. No one but
us has been in since we discovered…it.” He trailed off,
strained.

Fallon exchanged looks with Jayems.

Keilor asked calmly, “Who else have you
notified?”

“No one! I didn’t want to say anything until
someone else had confirmed what we thought. Come in and see for
yourselves.” Dorron ushered them in and led them through a room of
severely plain furnishings made of the most expensive materials.
Behind the massive desk, he stopped and stared at a small heap of
orange dust. It looked like someone had dumped a bucket of dirt out
on the carpet.

Keilor knelt and studied the dust.

Dorron swallowed. “I’m afraid…I think this
might be Azion’s remains.”

Fallon’s brows shot up as he stared at the
dust. “How?”

“I’m not sure, but you can see Azion is not
here, and this is.”

The men exchanged looks. It couldn’t be this
easy. “I know of nothing that can do this to a body. We don’t have
any weapons capable of this.” Even as he said it, Fallon’s brows
drew together. He remembered Rain’s ingenuity, her inventions. If
anyone had motive…

Keilor stood up and looked around, studied
the room. After a moment, he changed and wandered around. Baffled,
he changed back. “Could he have wanted to disappear for a while?
Could this be an effort to do that?”

“Impossible,” Dorron said coldly. “He had
plans. He wouldn’t just leave, especially not right now.”

“Really?” Keilor drawled, looking the man
over.

Jayems spoke for the first time. “I want
tests run on that dust, and I want this room ripped apart. I want
to know the truth, Keilor.” His voice was strained, but a thread of
relief crept through. “Do whatever you have to, but get
answers.”

Keilor nodded and ordered a forensic team
over his com unit.

It was half an hour until they were able to
return to Jayems’s room. The forensic team had confirmed that the
dust contained the base minerals that were in every human’s body,
but it would be some time before they broke down exact proportions.
It was plausible that Azion really had been turned to dust,
however.

Fallon was ready to explode with frustration,
desperate to find Rain and shake the story from her. After that
he’d just shake her. What was she doing? She could’ve been
killed!

Keilor practically dragged him into the
study. “Wait! Your Haunt are with her and apprised of the
situation. Azion’s supporters are still too baffled to act, and
they don’t know what we know.”

“If she did this, I’ll give her the moons,”
Jayems said fervently. He was pacing, in a fever of anticipation.
His personal nightmare was closing.

Fallon’s was just beginning. “What if she’d
got hurt? He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill her.” Pacing on the
opposite side of the rug from Jayems, he was shouting and didn’t
care.

Jayems shot him a look. “Mind the child,” he
snapped. “She needs her rest.”

“Sorry.” Fallon clamped his mouth shut. He
felt like a hawk in a cage, desperate to beat his way out with his
wings. He wanted his wife! Wanted to punish her, shout at her and
make sure she was okay.

Keilor got in his way and clamped his hands
on his shoulders. “Breathe and stop thinking like a husband for a
moment. This is larger than that. If she’d been a trained soldier,
you’d be offering her the moons.”

“She’s not!”

“Fine, but she did us a service just the
same. Don’t punish her for it. Have you considered that she might
be hurting? Killing is never easy. For all you know, she’s afraid
of what we’ll do if we find out.”

“We won’t do anything! Well, I might spank
her blue, but…”

Keilor actually shook him, smoothly dodging
Fallon’s thank-you punch. “Fine, now that you’ve got your
aggression out, you’d better plan what you’re really going to say
to her,” he snapped, and then his face softened. “I’m trying to
help you, cuz.”

Fallon dragged in a shuddering breath.
Somebody had better help him, because it was going to kill him to
do what he had to do.

DJ and Malix found her brooding by a
fishpond. Among other things, her knee ached.

She couldn’t stand to be alone, but wanted to
avoid conversation, so she’d chosen to sit by the deserted pond on
the edge of the park. For once she’d been glad of the silent
company of her guards. As a plus, they even scared off the casual
passersby; or maybe it was her expression that did that.

She shouldn’t have been surprised to see the
kids, since they seemed to get around. What did surprise her was
DJ. “Hey, kid. Where’s your fuzz?”

DJ blinked his dark eyes at her. Black haired
with long, thick lashes, he was destined to break hearts one day.
“I didn’t want to scare you.”

She snorted in amusement and tossed another
mangled piece of grass on the ground. “Wouldn’t worry about it,
buddy. I’m at least as scary as anything running around these woods
today.”

The boys sat on either side of her. “You’re
sad?” Malix asked, looking at her face.

She sighed. “Just having one of those moments
all mad scientists have.”

“You’re not mad,” a deep voice said,
surprising her into looking around. A dark haired man about twenty
years DJ’s senior stood right behind her shoulder. Handsome in a
rugged way, he was looking at her with penetrating sable eyes.

“You must be the father,” she said dryly. “DJ
couldn’t look more like you if he tried.”

He shrugged. “Malix takes after his mother.
She likes to gloat about it, but DJ and I don’t mind. I’m Keilor,
your cousin-by-marriage.”

“Ah. Nice to meet you.” She couldn’t summon
much enthusiasm.

Keilor looked at the boys. “Now that you’ve
said hello, run over there and play with Kial and Brack. I think I
see a tree you haven’t climbed yet.”

Rain raised her brows as he sent her
bodyguards off to play nanny. Obviously he had the authority. By
the looks of him he was more than capable of defending her…or
cutting off her head.

Keilor studied her for a moment. “Has Fallon
mentioned what I do? My title is Master of the Hunt. I’m in charge
of the Citadel’s military and head of security. Jayems sent me to
speak with you.”

She let the shields slam down over her eyes,
knowing that he’d pick up on it. “Oh?”

His eyes never left hers. “An interesting
thing happened to Elder Azion today.”

She let her interest show, knowing it was
expected.

“What we assume are his remains were found in
his rooms. We’re still running tests.”

Somewhat strained, she asked, “Why do you
assume it’s his remains? Can’t you sniff it out?”

His smile was sardonic. “It’s difficult to do
much with a pile of dust. I’m wondering if DNA testing will find
anything.”

“Wow. Well, if you expect me to cry at his
funeral, you’ll be disappointed.” She looked away, unable to add
any color to her voice.

Keilor seemed to chew on that. “Technically,
he was murdered. Under the circumstances, there’ll be a lot of
pressure to find out who did it. Officially, I have no body, no
witnesses. I doubt we’ll ever solve the case.” His smile was slow,
admiring. “Someone did a very good job of removing an evolving
threat, not only to yourself, but to Jayems and his family.” At her
surprise, he added casually, “Jayems’s daughter wasn’t ill, she was
poisoned. While we had no proof that Azion ordered it, we had our
suspicions. There are a great many people who want what he‘s got.”
While she digested that, he stood up. He offered her a slight bow.
“Welcome to the family, Rain.”

The world was a little rosier after that.
Apparently the Haunt here held a different view of justice than the
government back home. For once, she was actually glad to be in the
Dark Lands. Head held high, she headed back to her home, almost in
charity with the two Haunt at her side.

Fallon met her at the door. By the expression
in his eyes, he knew. “You’ve had an interesting day.”

She just stood there once he’d closed the
door, waiting to see what he’d do.

He studied her a moment, then smiled and
handed her a glass of liqueur. “Have a drink. There’s more than one
toast being made to you today.”

By reflex, she took a sip, then had to ask,
“You’re not mad?”

He looked surprised, then reached behind her
head and held her steady for a confirming kiss. “Do I look mad? You
wouldn’t believe how hard it is to assassinate a man like Azion.”
He looked into her eyes. “He’s a murderer and a child killer, Rain.
Not all justice is done in the public eye, nor is it taken lightly.
Someone else would have taken him down if we hadn’t been beaten to
it.”

She took a deep breath, then swallowed more
liqueur. “Death is an ugly business, Fallon.”

He nodded. “Which is why you’re a scientist
and I’m a politician. With luck, we’ll be able to keep bloodshed
out of our life from now on.” For just a moment, he let her see the
depths of worry, and yes, anger, simmering below the surface. He
was giving her slack this time, but she could see there would be
consequences next time. Somehow, that made her feel better. He
wasn’t a man who let those he loved walk lightly into danger.

She nodded, hoping he was right and trying
not to think about the rest of it. When he put his arm around her,
she was more than happy to let him lead her to the garden to
unwind.

There were times when she really, really
loved that man.

Six months later

Rain took off at the sound of the shot,
racing for her life. The Haunt fell behind her; one beat, two. The
dirt path was smooth and even under her shoes, giving speed to her
flying feet. Redemption was just ahead, the scarlet ribbon a
promise of relief to her burning lungs. With a lunge, she broke
through the line, slowing gradually into an easy lope, a walk, then
a stop.

Fallon, now changed back to normal, finally
caught up and swung her into his arms for a panting kiss. “You did
it!”

She laughed breathlessly. “You’re not
supposed to celebrate losing, you know.”

He smirked and kissed her again. “Hey, at
least I’m still on my feet. Look at them.”

Rain looked back and saw the other eight
Haunt in the race, some changed back, some not. Most were bent
over, panting. One was lying in the middle of the track, spread
eagled.

She laughed. “Well, you have been training
with me.”

Fallon gave her another bear hug, then
grunted as two little missiles slammed into them. Malix and DJ
almost knocked them over.

“Wow! I’ve never seen anyone run so fast,”
Malix exclaimed.

“I’m going to run that fast when I grow up,”
DJ promised.

“Looks like they have a new hero,” their
mother Jasmine said. She put an arm around her husband Keilor’s
waist, giving him a smile.

Keilor kissed the top of her head. “I’m not
worried.”

Rain looked at her sweaty husband and had to
laugh. Finally, for the first time in years, neither was she.

The End

About the author:

I'm a stay at home mom with three kids, a dog
and an active imagination. I spent the first 34 years of my life in
Alaska, land of the midnight sun, but these days I'm located in
Washington, and am enjoying a much warmer sun :)

I'm married to my high school sweetheart,
John, who is known to bring me flowers "just because". My leisure
time is filled with gardening, crochet, knitting, sewing, art and
reading.

Connect with me online at:

www.autumndawnbooks.com

http://authorautumndawn.blogspot.com

Bibliography:

Spark Series:

When Sparks Fly
Dorchester

No Words Alone
Dorchester

Solar Flare

Anthology for the
Mammoth Book of Time
Travel
Romance:

Hemlock & Iron

Indie books:

Dark Lands Series in order:

The Charmer

Dark Lands: Homecoming

Scent of Danger