Dangerous Dalliances (Maxwell Investigations) (10 page)

“With
everything that’s going on, I’m sure it’s safe to say nothing is alright,”
Madison said as she appeared sitting on the trunk of the car next to Barry’s.
When he pulled Lily behind him and stood protectively in front of her, Madison
laughed. “Oh, this is a moment,” she mocked.

Dark
eyes narrowed as she slid off of the car and slowly approached them. “What do
you want Madison?” Barry released Lily and stepped between her and his sister.
After talking with their father, there was nothing Barry would leave to chance.

Madison
smiled as she looked at her brother. “The world in ashes,” she answered
honestly. “But for now I’ll take Lily, and whatever it is you have in that
box.” She closed her eyes and slowly inhaled. A frown crossed her face when she
sensed Fae magic around the box her brother held. “Give them over, B. I don’t
want to hurt you.”

Barry
shook his head. “You’ll have to hurt me, Madison. I’m not letting her go.”
Madison’s arched eyebrow was his only warning before she launched herself at
them. Barry pushed Lily away from him as magic lashed out around them. He
rolled away from Lily and quickly came up to his knees with his gun trained on Madison.
His eyes narrowed when he saw that she now had her trademark ruby scythe in her
hands. “Do not make me shoot you, Little Girl,” he ordered.

Madison
laughed before swinging her scythe. As chunks of concrete jumped into the air,
she easily blocked Barry’s shots with her blade. She snatched a stone out of
the air and threw it at him. When Barry raised his arm to cover his face,
Madison’s magic lashed out. Barry cried out when he felt multiple cuts on his
arms and legs pulse and throb. “I’m not so little anymore, Barrence,” Madison
mocked.

Lily
scrambled to her feet and charged Madison. With a grunt, she slammed the
Necromancer into the side of a near car. She ignored the pain that flared in
her shoulders as she stood back and watched the other woman.

Madison
sat back against the car and admired the damage Lily inflicted. “Is this
foreplay?” she asked as she wiped away a trail of blood from the side of her
mouth. She laughed as Lily curled her hands into fists and remained between her
and Barry.
“How sweet.
You’re going to protect your
man.” Madison stood and dusted her clothes off. “But is he really your man?”
She saw the way Lily’s eyes darkened to emerald. “Did I touch a nerve?”

When
Lily rushed her again, Madison touched the car behind her. She ducked low as it
exploded with magical energy. She quickly jumped to her feet and ran to where
her scythe had fallen. Just as Madison straightened, Barry’s fist slammed into
her jaw, knocking her back down. Madison’s eyes narrowed as she kicked Barry’s
leg out from under him. She growled and kicked at him again when she felt his
hand grab her ankle. Madison glanced up in time to see Lily standing over her,
ready to drop a tire on top of her head. Madison rolled to her side, catching
Barry once more with the heel of her shoe. She quickly moved to her feet and
kicked Lily in her back.

Barry
caught Lily as she stumbled toward him. Her body temperature had gone up as a
dark pink hue covered her normally mocha colored tone. He frowned when he
looked into her glowing eyes. “Baby?” he questioned. Barry’s lips pressed
together when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

Lily
stepped away from Barry as her fingers lengthened to claws. She growled low in
her throat as bat like wings and a sharp tail erupted from her back. Her gaze
found Madison as a pair of horns also sprouted from under her hair.

Madison
looked at the transformed demon for a long moment. Her top had been ripped
away, leaving her in nothing but her bra and ripped pants. Madison banished her
scythe. “Now, that’s what a Horseman looks like,” she said with a nod.

“I
won’t go with you,” Lily snarled.

Madison
humored her with a smile. “Not at the moment. But you will,” she said before
vanishing.

Lily
turned in time to block the blow Madison was about to deliver to her ribs. She
growled as she and Madison traded blows with ease. Her eyes narrowed when she
grabbed Madison’s wrist and pulled her close. “You won’t win.”

Madison
smiled as she looked into Lily’s eyes. “I don’t have to win,” she laughed. When
Lily’s frown deepened, she turned her eyes to where the security cameras were
trained on them. “I only have to fight to a draw.” Before Lily could move,
Madison leaned forward and kissed her.

Lily’s
tail instinctively wrapped around Madison’s throat and ripped her away. Madison
laughed as she felt the clawed barb at the end cut into her neck. “What? You
two think this was supposed to be the main event?” she asked. Madison looked at
the blood on her hands and nodded at Lily. “This was just foreplay, Lilavanti.
Next time I get to tie you up,” she said before vanishing.

Barry
went to Lily’s side and stared at her. He swallowed as she lowered her head and
turned away from him. “Lily?” he questioned.

Madison
appeared a good distance away. “Oh, and you may want to get out of here.
There’s about to be a cave in,” she said before vanishing again.

Lily
didn’t think. She grabbed Barry and jumped over the railing. She pulled Barry
into her arms and strained to reach the roof of the hospital. Once she was over
the helipad, she dropped him and fell to her knees. As he stood, she wrapped
her arms around her body. She hadn’t meant for him to see this form. This form
had been the reason why she and Cord had been chased from town to town before
Mathias found them. With her head hung low, she wrapped her wings around her
body and turned her back to Barry.

A
strong sigh escaped him as he turned and fished his phone out of his pocket. He
quickly dialed his father’s phone and frowned when he realized neither he, nor
Lily had the box Father Daniel had given them. “Dad,” Barry exclaimed when
James picked up the phone. “Madison was at the hospital,” he said quickly.

Lily
moved away from Barry and looked at the parking garage. Her eyes widened when
she saw Madison approaching Barry’s car, holding the box. Without a word, she
launched herself into the air after the Necromancer.

“Lily!”
Barry shouted when he saw her take off after his sister. A growl escaped him
when he realized his father was still on the phone. “It’s like she’s playing
some kind of game. You need to get down here.”

Madison
looked up at Barry’s shout. She blinked when she saw Lily barreling towards
her. Before she could react, Lily’s fingers clawed her face. Madison screamed
in rage as she and Lily both fell back. When both women stood, Madison glared
at her. “I am going to fuck you up,” she breathed.

“You
won’t be the first to try,” Lily replied easily. Just as Madison’s scythe
appeared in her hands again, the ground under their feet started to rumble.
“But maybe next time.”
Lily quickly grabbed the box off of
the ground and ran for the railing again. She glanced over her shoulder and saw
Madison vanish from sight again. When she joined Barry on the helipad again,
she was surprised to find a pair of strong arms around her in a tight embrace.

Barry
buried his face in the crook of her neck and held her close. He trembled as the
parking garage crumbled in a cloud of dust. His girlfriend was safe in his
arms, but the thought that she could have been harmed tore at his insides.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he ordered.

Lily
closed her eyes as his scent wrapped around her. He was covered with small cuts
and multiple bruises, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him. She bit her
lip as his phone started to ring again. Lily was shaking as she pulled away
from him. “Dylan and Crispin are here,” she said softly.

He
looked at his phone and saw his sister’s cell phone number. He locked eyes with
Lily as he answered the call. “We’re on the roof. We’ll be down in a minute,”
he said before hanging up. His eyes stayed focused on the Succubus in front of
him as he approached her. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” he
questioned.

She
shook her head and tried not to look at him. “I honestly never wanted you to
see me like this,” she confessed.

“Why?”
he asked. “You’re beautiful.”

She
snorted and shook her head. “I’m a monster, Barry.
Devil
wings, tail, and a body for sin.
You really should be running.” She
blinked when he reached up and brushed her hair back from her face.

“Then
call me hardheaded,” he said in turn. “Let’s get to Dylan. After that,
everything else can be handled in stride.” He smiled as Lily wrapped her arms
around his waist carefully took to the air. “And for the record, I really do
think you look amazingly hot like this,” he whispered into her ear.

Lily
shook her head at his attempt to lighten the mood. “You may have been dropped
on your head as a child as well,” she said as they made their way to the
ground. The amount of destruction was sickening. But what really bothered her was
the knowledge that she knew that this was only the beginning.

She
spotted Dylan and Crispin and lowered Barry to the ground. Just as she landed,
the effects of the day started to weigh at her. She blinked heavily as Barry
went to his other sister. When she moved to follow, she noticed a dagger in one
of her arms. “Barry?” she questioned as the world around her started to tilt.

Barry
turned to Lily’s call and caught her as she started to fall. His eyes were
round as her form changed once again. He quickly stripped off his jacket and
wrapped it around her upper body.

Dylan
reached his side and quickly saw the small blade sticking up out of her skin.
She pulled it out and watched as Lily’s eyes drifted closed. “What the hell is
going on?” Dylan asked as Barry pulled Lily close.

“Madison,”
Barry answered as he lifted Lily into his arms. He noted that she still hadn’t
dropped the box before looking at his youngest sister. “And I know you may not
want to hear it, but she’s bad
Dyl
.”

Dylan
looked at her husband with dark eyes. “That’s all we’ve been hearing,” she said
lowly. She then looked around and saw a number of people were gathered around
the parking garage trying to figure out what happened. A sigh escaped her as
she looked at her husband. “They only want to see what happened,” she said
after scanning their minds. “We can get out of here with no problem.”

Crispin
nodded as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Your parents are getting
Eric released as soon as possible. We can take you both back to your hotel and
have Thorne there with another car for you.”

Barry
winced as he thought about his car. The car he just finished paying off.
“Thanks, Cris,” he said carrying Lily over to Crispin’s car.

Crispin
took Dylan’s hand into his own and led her to the car as well. “There’s one
more thing,” he said lowly. His expression darkened when he saw Barry and Dylan
look at him with the same expression. Neither one wanted anymore on their
plate, but it couldn’t be helped. “There was another explosion downtown. An antiques
store was bombed. It was Nate Castle’s shop.” He kissed Dylan’s hand as he told
her something that had the potential to rip her heart in two. “Jimmy was inside
when it happened. Currently there’s no sign of him.”

Casper
didn’t know what to make of the chaos that was surrounding Madison and Troy’s
family. After a long trek down the hall, he reached the room where Alex was
sleeping and frowned when he saw Kayin sleeping next to Alex while little Aiden
colored quietly on the floor. “What’s going on Aiden?” Casper asked as he sat
next to the quiet boy.

Aiden
looked at him with bloodshot eyes. Anyone would be able to tell he had been
crying. “Daddy left to save Alex,” he said in a whisper.

Casper
was about to nod when he heard the angry thoughts running through the boy’s
mind. He pressed his lips together and pulled him into a hug. “It’s not what
you’re thinking.”

Little
arms wrapped around Casper’s neck and held him tightly. “Mommy’s gonna kill
everybody and Daddy’s gonna help her,” Aiden said defiantly.

He
hid his face in Aiden’s shoulder for a moment. “We’re going to get Mommy and
Daddy back,” Casper he promised. When Aiden continued to frown, Casper ran his
fingers through the boy’s curly hair. “But when Mommy gets back, she’s going to
need all of us to love her.”

Aiden’s
eyes filled with tears. “We do. She doesn’t love us anymore.”

Casper
pulled him into his arms again and allowed him to cry. He looked over his
shoulder and saw that Alex was slowly starting to wake up.
“Don’t say anything
about Madison to these two. Aiden’s having a bad time,”
he told him
mentally. When Alex nodded slowly, Casper pressed a kiss to Aiden’s temple.
“That isn’t true,” Casper said lowly. “She adores you both. It’s something some
really bad people are doing to her.”

Aiden
shook his head. “Gramps said that nobody ever loves us.
Even
family.”

Casper’s
eyes widened at the boy’s words. He quickly went into Aiden’s mind and saw the
conversation Aiden was talking about.

“He
said ‘
specially
family,” Kayin said from the bed with
a yawn. He looked at Alex and buried his head in his foster brother’s neck. “He
said Nana threw Mommy away when she was our size, and Mommy was going to leave
us because we weren’t strong enough to stop her.”

Alex
tightened his arms around the boy. He pressed his lips together when he noticed
the damage Madison did to his arm was completely healed. “That isn’t true,”
Alex said before sitting up with Kayin in his arms. “It’s like Casper said;
something is making Mom do things she would never really do.”

“But
then why did Daddy leave us too?” Kayin asked softly. “I thought he wanted us.”

Casper
stood with Aiden still in his arms. “Your dad went with your mom to protect
her. The bad people may try to hurt her and he’s there to watch her back. They’ll
be back in no time. Just watch.” He sat Aiden next to his brother and quickly
entered their minds. There was no way he could allow the twins to believe the
same things that Madison did about her family.

Alex
climbed out of the bed as Aiden and Kayin slowly drifted to sleep together. It
killed him to hear what the two thought was going on. He could only inhale as
Casper made this easier for them. Hopefully in time they could all get things
back to normal. But until then, he had to try and hold things together for his
little brothers.

Once
the boys were resting, Casper looked at Alex. He didn’t want to believe the man
they all considered a friend at one point would dare to say something so
heartless to a pair of children, but it stood out as a crystal clear memory.
“Did Pan ever say anything like that to you?”

Alex
slowly shook his head. “I never really spent any time around him like that,” he
confessed. He then paused as he thought. “Wait, there was one time. Mom was
ribbing me about having a girlfriend. He said it was a waste of time because we
were all destined to be alone. When I asked him what he was talking about, he
laughed and said it was the fate of the Necromancer. I thought he was just
blowing smoke or something.”

Casper
nodded as he turned and left the room. He couldn’t help but smirk at the
two-step hesitation Alex had. The young Necromancer wanted Madison back as much
as any of them did. When they reached the stairs, he turned and looked at him
with serious green eyes. “I’m only going to ask once,” he started slowly.

“Fuck
you, she’s my mother,” Alex said before moving around Casper and going down the
stairs.

“Language,”
a cultured voice said from the bottom of the stairs.

Casper
laughed when he saw Donald standing quietly with a bruiser of a man. “Are you
two planning to come with us?” he asked.

Donald
raked onyx eyes over Alex’s form. His former charge seemed to be doing better
than the last time he saw him. “I think it may be best if I stay behind with
the twins. Belle can only do so much with them and the baby.” He then lifted
his hand and showed Alex a shoulder harness and gun. “You’ve been doing very
well in your marksman classes. And if what I
think
is waiting for you,
is waiting for you, you’re going to need this.”

Alex
glanced at Casper before taking the harness and quickly putting it on. “Thanks,
Don,” he said lowly.

Donald
only nodded in response. He then turned to Casper. “Your blades have been
sharpened, as you requested. One is in the back room where the twins cannot get
to it. Another is in the trunk of your car. The rest are at the Prince’s
estate.”

Casper
nodded clapped Donald on his shoulder. “You’re the best, Don.”

The
stranger stepped closer to Casper. “Victor wants me to help you,” he said in a
deep growl. When the younger prince frowned at him, he smiled and revealed a
set of dangerous fangs. “Her magic can’t hurt me, and I owed him.”

“What’s
your name?” Casper asked. He had a feeling he knew who this was, but he needed
to be sure.

“Dominic
Saluzzo
. You can call me
Nico
,”
he said simply.

Casper
shook his head and chuckled. When he saw Alex’s confused look, Casper
straightened. “Pop is breaking out the big guns.” He moved around the small
triad to make his way to the back of the mansion. “
Nico
is the Gargoyle that handed your mother her ass when she was a teenager.” He
heard
Nico
sigh but refused to turn back. He needed
to find Belle and make sure she was holding everything together.

It
was somewhat surprising to see the normally sturdy woman quietly reading a law
book to the infant sleeping in the bassinet. Casper stood at the door to the
sunroom and slipped into Belle’s mind.
“The boys aren’t taking this well,”
he told her.

She
looked at him and frowned.
“I’m not taking any of this well either,”
she
sent back.

Casper
smiled as stepped farther into the room. Belle had been working with his father
with her mental communication. It was too bad her feelings were still in
turmoil after what Dennis had done to her. She would have been a good match for
the old man.
“They think Madison and Troy don’t want them anymore. That’s
why Aiden’s been staying away from the baby. And there’s something that I have
to talk to my father about. I dulled down their memory of it, so if you ask,
they won’t know what you’re talking about.”

Belle’s
eyes narrowed as she looked at Casper. A Vampire’s skill of memory manipulation
was something she still had a major problem with. And he couldn’t blame her.
But Casper found himself respecting Belle. He wouldn’t lie to her.
“They’re
too young to think that their parents abandoned them. And if I thought it would
do any good, I would pack them and you up with Lacey and Antonio.”

She
looked away from him and sighed.
“Are you sure it would be a moot point?”
she questioned.
“Maybe being away will be good for them.”

Casper
shook his head.
“Madison has become an Angel of Death. So she’ll be able to
track any Necromancer she wants to.
Including Aiden.
And according to the old man, she
can
teleport now
too. You leave here, she can find you, dispose of you and we wouldn’t know
until it’s too late.”

Belle
frowned as she turned her eyes back to the book in front of her. “Then you need
to get out of here and find them. We’ll be fine. Victor and Dennis are only
shouts away.”

Casper
pressed a chaste kiss to her temple and stood. “We’ll get them back,” he said
before walking out of the room.

* *
* * *

Victor
entered the bakery with a heavy heart. Things had gone completely out of
control. Both Troy and Madison were gone, Alex was hurt and now Jimmy was also
missing. It also didn’t help that with their home on high alert, Lacey and
Antonio were on their way to Germany, then Italy. After they picked up Claudia,
they would travel to the
Saluzzo
family. They would
look after his granddaughters. They still owed him for
Nico’s
life.

He
painted a smile on his face when he looked at the girl behind the counter.
Rebecca had been working at Éclair’s for years, and over that time he learned
to read her moods. The strained look around her hazel eyes told him something
was wrong. “Rebecca,” he acknowledged.

She
forced herself to smile. “Hi, how can I help you today, Mr. Solomon?” she
questioned.

Victor’s
eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She called him Victor for most of their
acquaintance. He watched her until her eyes darted to the corner of the shop.
“I’ll simply take some of your éclairs. The boys should be coming to visit me
sometime today.” As she started to fill his order, Victor’s eyes scanned the
shop. He growled when he saw Ashton Nicodemus sitting at the booth in the far
corner. “I will be just a moment, Rebecca.”

He
ignored her as she nodded and left them alone in the shop’s front. Victor
glared at Ashton. “What are you doing here?”

Ashton
finished off his pastry and looked at the former king. “I needed a snack,” he
said smartly. He smiled when he heard a growl coming from Victor. “Temper,” he
cautioned. “We wouldn’t want poor little Rebecca to know that you’re really a
Vampire, would we?”

Victor
leaned in close to Ashton’s ear. “I do not care what you want, one way or
another. If you harm her, I will personally see to your demise.”

Ashton
turned his head and looked into Victor’s eyes. “You can try. There are still a
couple of days before Madison has the Gates of Hell open. Anything can happen
between now and then.”

He
was trying to go somewhere with this. “Why are you here, Ashton?” he asked
again. When Ashton smirked, Victor felt his fangs beginning to lengthen.
“Answer me before you reach the end of my patience.”

The
dark haired Necromancer laughed. “Madison is so much scarier than you.” He
sipped his latte. “Alright, I’ll give you a bone,” he said with a sigh. He
looked at Victor and stood. “You want to know who started this ball rolling.
The one who found the original prophesy and figured out most of it. It was
Pan.” Ashton waited as the news sank in before continuing. “He trained
Necromancers, hoping that he would find the one
the prophesy
talked about. Then he set about keeping her separated from her family, threw
her out into the world. By the time you knew anything was wrong with her, it
would have been too late.” Ashton frowned as a stunned look crossed Victor’s
face. “He’s even started planting the same seeds in her sons.”

Victor
held back his growl. Pan had been a trusted friend. The knowledge of his
betrayal would not go unpunished for long.
After he had
evidence of it.
At the moment, Ashton’s word alone could not be trusted.
“I know your history with Madison,” Victor stated quietly. “Why would you help
her now?
Especially by betraying Pan.”

Ashton
finished his latte and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I have my reasons.”

It
would never be that simple. Not when it came to dealing with him. “I need
something more to go on. If you refuse to tell me what I need to know, how can
I believe what you have already told me?”

“That’s
up to you,” Ashton said with a shrug. He stood and started to move away from
Victor. His grin disappeared when Victor stepped in front of him. “Don’t try to
stop me,” he warned. His eyes darted to where Becca was working on another
pastry of some kind. “We wouldn’t want to upset Becca,” he reminded.

Victor
growled low in his throat. “Tell me why,” he ordered. His eyes widened when he
felt the pulse of magic run through the shop. Becca’s scream caused him to turn
around. Her face was pale and her hands were clutching her abdomen. Without a
thought of Ashton or his games, he ran to her side and caught her just as she
started to fall. “Rebecca,” he gasped as she curled up in pain.

“Did
you know she had her appendix removed a few months ago?” Ashton said with a smile.
When Victor turned to him with a glare, his face lost all expression. “You want
to know why Pan is doing all of this? I’ll ask you a question. What would you
do for the woman you loved?”

Becca
screamed again pain lanced through her body. Victor held her as she convulsed
on the floor. Rebecca did not have much time left. Ashton’s riddles could be
figured out later. Victor cursed when he started to smell her blood. Ashton’s
magic was still in the air, ripping open whatever scars Becca’s surgery left
behind. Victor looked up in time to see Ashton simply walk out of the door as
if nothing happened.