He sensed Jade’s apprehension. Ever since she’d seen her sister, she’d had mixed emotions about everything. Laroque could read his daughter and knew Jade began to question the whole situation after observing Raven and Tobias together at the festival. The ancient Lamai appeared to care deeply about his daughter. Laroque was aware of Jade’s propensity to empathize with others.
Why would Tobias take Raven’s mother away from her? Jade had asked her father that question numerous times. And he patiently explained that was exactly what happened. It did not make sense to her, though. Jade pointed out that the dark-haired vampire loved Nicolette as much as her own father did. That enraged him, but he hid his emotions well.
She followed her father into his private office.
“The police know you’re here.”
“So?” Laroque had calmed down. “I had no intention of keeping my presence here a secret.” He tried to keep an aura of power and strength around him. But in his daughter’s company, he softened. Jade, as her mother before her, had that effect on him. It was as if they had the secret code to his heart and knew exactly how to open it.
Not only did Jade inherit her mother’s good looks, she also had her gift of psychic intuition. “It’s a matter of time before they piece this all together. I don’t want to lose you, too!” she cried.
“You won’t lose me, ma précieuse,” he reassured her.
Jade walked to her father and settled into his arms. He hugged her tightly.
“I just wish you could let this go,” she said.
“I know you do, but I cannot… He not only took your mother from me, he took you for the first four years of your life and let that lawyer’s sister raise you. If I hadn’t found you, you would never have known the truth. You would never have known about me. That I cannot forgive.” He guided his daughter to his leather chair and sat her down. Silently, he walked to the fireplace and stoked the fire back to roaring flames.
“You promise you’re not going to hurt them-not Frank and Deidre?” She looked plaintively at him.
“I promise. I have some business I have to attend to. I’ll be back in a little while.”
“His blood work is back. He’s unconscious due to the Tetradotoxin.” Raven stood next to Bo once more as she shared the results from the blood panel with Tracy.
“Due to the fact that Bo is a shape shifter, his blood differs from Derrick’s. He is infected, though. Something is going on. I may have to wait a while until this new strain of virus incubates. I don’t know how this is going to affect him. He’s not like the others. He’s consumed my blood. That will either help him, or kill him.”
“His temperature is the same. I suppose it’s a good sign that it hasn’t elevated,” Tracy remarked. “I can do some more lab work, if you like. If there’s anything to be found I’ll find it. I’ll start ELISA testing and PCR.”
“Already on it. You could try virus isolation.”
“You got it.”
Raven pulled a chair over to Bo’s bedside. “That would be great, thanks, Trace. I saw Mat and Joe arrive. Mat’s going to give blood and we’ll start the transfusions. Where is Dr. Odin?”
“Your father came by with Nathaniel, Dr. Odin’s brother. I think they’re brainstorming. I didn’t know Nat is an M.D., with extensive experience in hematology and immunology…of both the magickal and medical persuasions.” Tracy winked and headed to the door trying somehow to put her boss’s mind at ease.
“That must be the favor my father was calling in-Nathaniel.”
Sitting next to Bo, Raven tried desperately to reach him. They were always able to communicate without words, but this time he wasn’t responding. For the first time she feared she might lose him. Forever.
She knew of only one way to help him and that was to find Jade. She was the key to this whole mystery, and if Raven could enlist her aid, then maybe he would have a fighting chance.
“I’ll be back as soon as I’m able, meu dragoste.” She leaned over and kissed his lips. He lay there unmoving. Her heart fractured into tiny pieces. She couldn’t lose him.
“Maureen, they know how to get in touch with me. I’ve got to try to find whoever did this to Bo and the others.”
Maureen nodded with a sad smile. “Be careful,” was all she said.
The festivities had ended for the night. It was approaching two a.m. Raven stood at the Three Maidens Marina dock waiting for Caleb Gosling, an old family friend. Uncle Caleb, as she called him, used to take her fishing when she was a little girl. So when Raven called and asked him to borrow a boat, he simply asked, “Where and when do you want to meet?”
Raven knew she could count on him.
“You headed far?” Caleb asked, wiping the sleep from his denim blue eyes as he walked toward her.
He handed a set of keys to Raven. Caleb was one of the few humans on the island whom she trusted.
“No, not very far. Thanks, Uncle Caleb.”
Untying the line around the cleat, he asked, “You’re going alone? That detective going with you?”
“No, I’m going alone.” She hopped into the twenty-five-foot Boston Whaler, tossing her bag onto the passenger seat.
He hurled the rope to her. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me what you’re up to?”
Raven laughed. “You know me too well. No, Uncle, I wouldn’t tell, but I’ll be all right.” Despite her laughter, worry lines creased around her eyes.
He let out a hopeless sigh. “You remember how this all works, missy?” He winked in the moonlight.
She saluted. “Aye, captain. I do.”
“Just leave the keys in the boathouse when you return…and be careful. The waters should be calm tonight. But then again, even if they weren’t, you’d convince them to settle down.” He turned with a wave and walked back to his waterfront home.
Raven smiled and turned the motor on, then headed out to the open waters.
As the boat sliced through the ocean, Raven honed in to her newfound sister’s energies. Like the depth finder that aided her in the journey across the waters, her preternatural abilities acted as an echolocation device. Rather than sending out a sound, Raven sent out an energy vibration on the same frequency as her sister’s.
Hannah’s Vineyard was approximately four nautical miles from the island of Mirabelle Cove, and Raven started to pick up on Jade’s energy at two miles out. It came from the southwest corner of the smaller island. Steering the boat in that direction, she pushed the throttle down.
The closer she got to her destination, the stronger the signal she received. Against the night sky’s landscape, Laroque’s home glowed an eerie neon green. A protective shield, no doubt, constructed by the bokur. She cut the engine and let the vessel drift to the docks.
Raven quickly tied the boat to the pylon, took her bag and crouched as she made her way to the house. A light shone through the windows of a room located on the northwest side of the house. Steadily she slipped through the vegetation and peered through the window.
A fire blazed in the fireplace. On the mantle were a dozen photos. Raven could see with her preternatural sight all the pictures looked like Jade at various stages of her life. A cat lay sleeping next to a wingback chair where Jade sat staring into the fire.
There was neither a sign of Laroque, nor a boat docked. Maybe he’s out, Raven thought.
Walking around toward the back of the house she tried to sense if there were any guard dogs lurking in the shadows. There were none. Laroque must have relied on his magick for protection. Locked doors stood between her and Jade as she tried to slip inside the house undetected. Continuing her search for a way in, she noticed a stairwell leading to a cellar entrance at the rear of the house. She tiptoed down and gave the door a nudge. It opened with a creak.