Undeniable (The Druids Book 1) (8 page)

Chapter Nineteen

The evening was a little bit warm for the green hunting jacket Granger wore, even if it was lightweight and over a plain white T-shirt and jeans. He strolled up the alley where he’d found London in the grips of a vampire a few days earlier. He’d LoJacked her car, and tracked her to this neighborhood that evening. Coming across her in the grips of the vampire had been accidental, and fortunately for her, he’d noticed the commotion as he’d been walking past. But now he was curious about why she’d been down his particular alley that particular day. As he scanned the backs of the shops that line the alley he gauged where she might have come from. Some doors were locked and bolted from the outside, but one was unlocked and with a weak bulb hanging over the door. It was the fire exit for one of the taverns, Granger had to guess. He gauged the distance down the alleyway and then walked around to the front of the shops on the main street. It was a dance club, of all things. He wouldn’t have thought London much for the dance club type, but then again, perhaps she was there for another reason.

Walking into the low light, the flickering of neon dazzled his eyes at first and Granger paused just inside the doorway to glance around. The crowd seemed young, mostly 20’s and 30’s, and just here to dance, drink, and enjoy the atmosphere. The music thumped away, coming from the live band on the stage at the far end of the narrow building. He didn’t see London among the crowd, but then again, the LoJack was reading somewhere close to her own neighborhood at the moment, but it had been there for the majority of the day and he had to wonder if she’d caught a ride with someone. Just as he was getting ready to start strolling farther into the club, a fellow leaned over and greeted him, “You seem like you’re looking for someone. Can I help?” The fellow seemed pleasant enough, with an easy smile. Might have been one of the college students, which was Granger’s first guess.

“I’m looking for a friend of mine. Her name’s London. Do you know her?” Granger wasn’t expecting an answer, one way or the other, but it never hurt to cast out bait and see if he could catch anything interesting.

The fellow’s smile grew a little bit wider and he gave a nod. “Yeah, I’ve met her a couple of times. She might be here, I don’t know. But if anyone does know, it’ll be Joe, over there by the bar. I’ve seen her hanging out with him a few times.”

Granger gave a nod of thanks to the young man, and headed off in that direction. He could feel the gaze still following him and, when he glanced back, the young man was smiling, and following his progress with his gaze. Granger turned back more slowly, thinking the bloke was a little bit too interested, given the circumstances.

But he headed towards the bar at an easy pace, and leaned up next to the guy he’d been directed towards. “How’s it going?” He asked in a casual manner, like just another stranger being polite in this social environment.

Joe turned towards him, and then gave a glance past him up to the stage. The drummer paused mid-beat and gave a cutting gesture across his throat with one hand before rolling the sticks, and going back into the rhythm without missing a beat. Joe looked back towards Granger.

He gave a half smirk. “I get the feeling I was expected.”

“Shall we step into my office?” Joe said, gesturing towards the back exit, which Granger knew led out to that alley.

This was an interesting turn of events, Granger thought. Was this London’s bruiser of a boyfriend, about to get jealous and threaten Granger to shove off? Or was there something more at play here? As Granger glanced around, he noticed more guys than just the young man at the door were tracking the pair of them. No, there was definitely something more to these people than what met the eye. Granger was game to find out what. “All right. Lead the way.” There was nothing in his expression or his voice that suggested that he wasn’t aware of what was probably getting ready to happen. It wouldn’t be the first time that he had to negotiate with knuckles.

Joe pushed open the outer door and Granger followed him. There were just a couple steps down from the door to the concrete of the alleyway. They got that far, before Joe turned on him. The arm that came at Granger wasn’t merely a fist aiming for his gut, as he’d anticipated. Nor was it a knife, which was where his thoughts went next, when he saw the glint of light. He gripped Joe’s wrist before he could complete the thrust, but it didn’t matter when he hit the trigger, and sent the barbs of the taser, shooting into Granger’s torso and shocking the living shite out of him.

That really did hurt.

It slammed him against the brick wall, as his body jarred and jerked with electricity, and then he dropped towards the ground. If not for the bulletproof vest, he would’ve taken the full shock, but what he did get was bad enough.

Already the young man from the front door came jumping down from the landing. As Granger was pushing himself up, the guy did a roundhouse kick and caught him in the side of the face with a foot, sending him tumbling.

Granger came up, rubbing the blood from his lip with the back of his hand as he turned towards the two men that were coming at him. “Is this how you blokes always have a conversation?” He growled, hardly down because of these cheap attacks, even if he was jarred by them. As he braced himself against the wall, he started to pull himself up again, but the guys didn’t have a chance to reach him. The back door slammed open and the young drummer came bounding out, shouting at them, “What are you doing? I gave you the signal that he wasn’t the guy!”

Joe glanced over at the kid and repeated the gesture that he’d seen. He made a cutting mark across his throat with his fingertips. “You did this.”

“I know,” the kid insisted. “It meant he’s not the guy.”

“It means to get rid of him,” Joe said in frustration.

“You guys need to get your signals figured out, before you go attacking people,” Granger said, but he was staring at the drummer now. At his face, which he would’ve recognized anywhere. And those ears sticking out from beneath his hair. The name of the band, “Fey Bangers” was emblazoned across his T-shirt. And heck, if it wasn’t true. This kid was the fey that had escaped the building with London. Now wasn’t that an interesting turn of events?

The youth made a frantic X-ing out gesture, like that could undo everything. “He’s not the vampire.”

“Yeah, I’m not a vampire.” Granger remained a little bent over, willing to play up the pain, and maybe throw some guilt their way. “So what the bloody crap was all this about?”

“If you’re not the guy who’s been after London, then what business have you with her?” Joe wasn’t apparently willing to concede that perhaps he’d made a mistake, as if perhaps Granger still might have had it coming.

“I’ll save that conversation for when I am speaking with her.” As much as Granger wanted to know more about this kid, now was clearly not the time.

As if conceding the fight, Granger stumbled out of the alleyway. Once he was clear, he straightened up some, making less of a show of the pain. On the wall outside the club he saw one of the band posters plastered onto the brick wall. He snatched it off, ripping away the corners that had been secured with tape. The poster even listed the band members’ first names and gave a website. How convenient. He glanced it over again, seeing the boy’s face on there, and the name ‘Malcolm’ scrawled below in a slasher font. “Gotcha.”

Chapter Twenty

With her arms each clutching a paper shopping bag, London slowed as she approached the outside of her building. Granger leaned against the back quarter panel of her Honda. His long legs stretched before him, and crossed at the ankles. His hands were jammed into his jacket pockets, and his head lowered, as if he contemplated his shoes. Only she knew that wasn’t what was on his mind, as he waited outside her home for her to return. As she slowed, he glanced up. She could only see the left side of his face, but the frown was serious, even from this angle.

She debated saying something in greeting, but could tell he wasn’t in the mood to hear it. And the reason became more clear as she drew closer, and got a look at the right side of his face. The bruise was too large to be called a black eye. It covered almost the entire side of his face, discoloring it into a dark, purple bruise. “What happened to you?”

“Your friend, Joe, and his little ninja-kicking buddy.” His voice was flat.

London grimaced. “What happened?” Although she had a sinking feeling that she already knew.

“I guess they thought I might be a vampire looking for you.” He straightened. “That’s what they said, anyhow.” He drew closer and scooped the heavier shopping bag from her arms. “I take it that the guy is still after you. Did you ever figure out why?”

She hesitated, but couldn’t see any benefit in lying. “Yes, he’s still out there, and no, I don’t know why yet.”

Hoping that Lugh hadn’t decided to stop by for a visit again, she opened the front door to the building, and led Granger up the stairs to her second floor flat. “I regret that you got caught up in things. It probably is best to just steer clear of me right now. My life tends to be more complicated than strictly necessary.”

“I can imagine.” He followed her up the stairs, and waited by the door while she unlocked her flat. “With the friends you keep, I wouldn’t expect it to be any other way.”

“They meant only to protect me,” she turned towards him, reaching to retrieve the bag from him, and leave him at the door. “Please don’t hold that against them. You won’t press charges, will you?”

Granger gazed at her seriously, but then only asked, “May I come in? Or are you going to leave me out here like this? Bashed up by your boyfriend and unappreciated for my gentlemanly gesture?”

Biting her lip didn’t help her come up with a good reply to that. “Yeah, come inside. I’ll get you some ice for your face.” She held the door open as he carried in the groceries, and then locked it behind them. One could never be too careful. When she turned back, he’d already set the bag down on the dining table next to her laptop and was beginning to unload it, sorting the things for the refrigerator from the ones destined for the pantry. Her protest didn’t make it past her thoughts. There was nothing in the bag she needed to hide, and to her relief, a casual glance didn’t reveal anything incriminating lying about. She was trying to be good about putting those things away every time she finished with them, as a precaution. Instead, she started moving the items he unloaded into the kitchen where they belonged. “Can I get you a beer?”

“A beer would be excellent, right about now.” He crossed back into her living room and flopped onto her sofa like this had been an incredibly long day already. “Nice little club you like to hang out in. I wouldn’t have thought of you as much of a dancer.”

“I’m really not that graceful,” she admitted, bringing him a bag of frozen peas, “but I like the music.” She handed the bag off to him. “Here, that might work better than ice cubes.”

Taking the bag, he punched it a couple of times to break up the chunks inside so it could better conform to his face. “I want you to know that you make it really hard for me when you hold back information.”

“Hold back?” She called; back in the refrigerator for the bottle of beer she’d promised him, and getting one for herself.

As she set his on the coaster and settled onto the chair opposite the coffee table from him, Granger reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and slapped it down, face up, on the table between them. It was the only show of annoyance; that slap. Then he picked up the beer, giving her the chance to look at what he’d laid out.

London had an uneasy feeling, seeing the colorful poster from the other side of the table, that she knew what it was. When she lifted it quietly to examine, as if there was all that much to study, her heart nearly froze.

It was the poster for the Fey Bangers, with Malcolm’s face prominently featured and his name emblazoned upon it.

As she stared at it, Granger said, “Joe and his buddies weren’t there to protect you, were they? You weren’t even planning to go to the club this evening.”

Silently, she tipped back her bottle, taking a sip to avoid the conversation.

“They were there to protect Malcolm,” he concluded. “Just like you were, the night the vampire jumped you. Joe isn’t your boyfriend. He’s a co-worker.”

Still, she didn’t speak. Granger was crawling all over the truth, and there was nothing she could say at this point to steer him away from it.

“So, Malcolm’s not just any ordinary fey, I take it. He’s a Sidhe.”

If Granger was fishing, he was doing a heck of a job.

“Is that his symbol?” Granger asked. “That one that you wear hidden inside your shirt?”

“No, it’s not,” she said, refolding the poster and setting it aside, as if that small act could tuck Malcolm away from Granger’s notice.

“Is it his magic that is in your blood? It showed up on the forensics report. What do they call that? Cursed?” He just kept right on talking, like this was just casual observations.

London folder her arms. “Is this an interrogation?”

“How is it an interrogation? I’m doing all the talking.” He pulled the frozen bag from his face to fix his cop-gaze on her with all seriousness.

London picked up her beer and carried it with her as she walked to the window, where she moved aside the curtain, to see who might be out there. Vampire. Granger’s backup. Zombie apocalypse. At this rate, the latter was feeling like an improvement.

In a moment, she heard him getting up to move in behind her. “How did it happen?” His deep voice rolled all over her, laced with compassion.

London didn’t want him to be there. Didn’t want for him to play supportive for the sake of some lie to get her to open up to him. As much as she wanted understanding, she couldn’t accept it from him. Half glancing over her shoulder, but not meeting his eyes, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

His hand closed over her upper arm. “It matters.”

She turned towards him, finally gazing into his face. His jaw muscles had tightened, and she could tell it did matter to him. Tilting her head, she considered Granger’s expression, and then pointedly glanced to his hand on her arm. “What is it that you are really asking?”

Granger didn’t release her. Not yet. “Did they do this to you against your will? Or did you ask to be tainted by their magic?”

Tainted. That one word said it all.

Quietly, but firmly, she said, “You should go.”

Granger’s hand dropped away, as if that was answer enough for him. “Why won’t you just tell me everything, so I can do my job?”

“Your job is to mess up my life,” she said, trying for bantering again, but it was too much the truth to really pass for it. “The fey were the victims. The crimes being committed against them were atrocious. It’s over now and it’ll never happen again. Can’t you just leave it at that?”

“It’s not over.” Granger dropped the bag of peas on the table by his half empty beer. “Not all of the wizards died in that attack.”

London stared at Granger. She’d waited as long as she could, before locking the place down and beginning the mission. Lugh had given her two directives. Protect Malcolm. End the wizards.

She’d known that not everyone had been there that day, but she’d hoped enough had been to bring an end to the organization.

But she’d heard it before from Lugh. To allow a wizard to live was to allow the torture and death of the fey they encountered. A wizard would never give up the pursuit of power.

She could barely breathe, as she asked, “What do you mean?”

Granger turned from her, aggravation stiffening his stride. “As you said, it doesn’t matter.” He unlocked the door and closed it behind him as he left, not giving her another word.

London followed him to the door. Her fingertips trailed down the wood, wishing she could have gotten more out of him. Then she locked it. She’d have to find her own answers. And if what he said was true, her mission might not truly be over.