Chapter 8

“Remi?”

Her eyes opened. Disoriented, she had no idea what time it was. “Come in.”

A groan sounded behind her, and right at the same moment, she felt a warm hand against her stomach.

“Sorry to wake you guys.” Cait stood at the end of the bed, a hesitant look on her face. “Nadine just called me. Randell is downstairs.”

“What time is it?” Darien said in a sleep-filled voice.

“Three,” she said softly.

Remi pushed up onto her elbow. “I slept all day?”

“You needed it.” Darien’s tone was flat.

Cait moved over to her side. “Oh, Remi, your face looks a lot better.” She tucked her hands in her pockets. “I heard Pascal here this morning. I guess it works on you.”

Darien shoved up until he was sitting and gently turned her head so he could see. “Slight bruising,” his eyes moved to her arm. “How are you feeling?”

Remi dropped back onto her pillow. “Stiff from lounging in bed all day.” Touching the side of her face lightly, it barely hurt now. “Call Nadine and tell her we’ll be down in half an hour.”

“Is there any coffee up here?” Darien swung his legs off the bed and stood up.

“I made some when Naddy called.”

“You’re an angel, Cait.”

“No,” she giggled, “I’m a troll.” Turning, she walked out.

Darien came around to her side of the bed and held out a hand. “Get up slowly. You’re going to be wobbly with no food all day.”

Remi nodded and took his hand. “Do you think I have time for a shower?”

“Make time. He can wait.”

He hadn’t been kidding when he said she’d be wobbly, although mushy was a closer description. Her legs were shaking as she gripped his forearms to steady herself. “Do you think Dell found out who attacked me?”

Darien gave her an annoyed look. “Just focus on standing without shaking.” Leaning forward, he gripped her waist lightly, giving her no choice but to put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. “If Attis couldn’t track them, I doubt Dell found anything.”

She tilted her head up to look at him. Light-headedness had her squeezing her eyes shut and leaning her forehead onto his chest. “I think I need food.”

He wrapped his arm around her, supporting more of her weight than she was. “Just get your balance and then we’ll get you cleaned up and fed.”

Remi nodded, not sure if speaking was going to make her feel sick or not. She took a few slow breaths.

“When was the last time you ate?”

She could hear the concern in his voice. “Dinner?”

“You mean the salad you barely ate while doing paperwork?”

She frowned at him.

He shrugged. “I asked.”

Remi nodded.

“That was over twenty-four hours ago. Remi, you have to start taking better care of yourself.”

Exhaling slowly, she looked up at him, trying her best to give him an exasperated look. Straightening, she took a deep breath to assess how she felt.

“Are you going to be okay to stand in the shower?” His grip on her loosened to give her space to try moving.

“I’ll let you know when we get there.” She took an unsteady step, keeping her hand on his arm as she did. “This can’t be from lack of food.”

“You did get your head cracked on a tree, not to mention a smack to the face.” His voice had dropped. “If it wasn’t for Pascal’s blood, I doubt you’d be able to stand right now.”

“I’m glad I didn’t get to see what my face looked like before his help. The expression on everyone’s face was enough.” She took a few more steps with his hand on her back, happy he wasn’t moving too far away from her.

“It wasn’t good. Did I mention you scared the hell out of me?” His voice cracked.

Remi concentrated on getting to the hallway before she said anything. “I think so.” Nodding, she moved a little further from him.

“I don’t think standing in the shower is a good idea right now.”

She wasn’t used to hearing Darien sound this worried and really didn’t have the energy to argue her case. “Just get me in there, and Cait can help me clean up a bit.”

He hesitated, his eyes searching her face. “I can go down and stall super cop.”

Remi eyed him for a moment. His expression gave nothing away. “I don’t think so. You haven’t eaten either, and I know how easily you snap when you’re hungry.”

He smirked. “Afraid I’ll take a bite out of super cop?”

She started to move slowly toward the bathroom, keeping one hand out in case she lost her balance. “Yes.”

Darien followed her, his hand resting against her back. “I’ll stay up here until you’re ready to go down.”

By the time she got downstairs, she felt a little steadier but not as solid as she would have liked. When they stepped into the cafe, Nadine was placing two plates at the counter and she realized Darien must have called down while she was getting changed. Sitting on the stool, she gave Naddy a grateful look and took a bite of her eggs. Only a few customers lingered; the café would be closed in a half hour for clean-up and to get the bar set up ready.

Kyran came through the door. He spotted Randell talking on his phone. With no more than a glance in his direction, he turned and started walking toward her. “You look better.” His eyes scanned her face.

She’d seen what her face looked like now, and if the bruising was better, she was really glad she hadn’t seen it before. “I’m a little shaky, but I’m sure this food will help.”

“Speaking of food,” Darien glanced at Kyran, “How do you take your eggs?”

Kyran leaned on the counter. “Sunnyside up.”

Darien looked over at Nadine, who nodded and went back into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Pascal came out carrying a plate, Remi glanced at the clock. “You’re up early.”

Setting the plate in front of Kyran, Pascal moved down the bar and reached into the fridge under the counter to get a bottle of blood. Without even warming it, he took a long guzzle and then paused, studying her. “I got up to check on you,” he tipped the bottle in her direction. “Then I realized I’d missed this before going to ground.”

Remi knew he slept on a bed, she’d seen it, but he still referred to sleeping as going to ground. Just one more tidbit that told her he was a lot older than anyone realized. “Sorry.’ She said before taking another bite.

Finishing the bottle, he set it on the counter and came back to stand across from her. “It’s hardly your fault.” Reaching over, he tipped her chin up with two cool fingers and looked at the side of her face. “I guess the mystery of my effectiveness is solved.”

She grinned. “I wouldn’t want to wound your ego by not responding.”

He released her chin and gave her a wink before his expression became serious. “You could use more from the looks of it.”

Remi sipped her coffee while she considered the offer, now that she wasn’t in agony. “Maybe later.”

Pascal inclined his head in that regal way he had and then turned to look at Randell. “How long has he been here?”

Darien glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to the food in front of him. “Not long.”

Pascal turned his attention to Kyran. “Any news?”

Kyran paused in eating and shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Ah, well.” Pascal gave him a forced smile. “Here comes our exemplary detective now, so I suppose we’ll all find out together.”

All heads turned to watch Randell walk across the bar. He was the type of man that didn’t saunter or strut. His steps were always purposeful. He came to Remi and grasped her chin, turning her head to look at her face. She was momentarily shocked. Recovering, she leaned back out of his hold.

“Any other injuries?” he jerked his head toward Kyran. “He said it was too soon to tell this morning.

She looked passed Dell to Kyran, who sat there his expression giving nothing away. Turning back to her food, she played with it, stalling and considering what to say. “The pain in my head has eased, but my neck and shoulder are still quite sore.” She kept her head down to avoid Darien and Pascal, knowing the looks of disapproval that she hadn’t mentioned those injuries sooner.

Randell moved to lean on the bar, a little closer than she would have liked. “You’re lucky, that’s all.” He lifted a hand, motioning in an agitated way. “What the hell were you doing out back alone after dark?”

Setting her fork down, she turned the stool to see his expression. It was hard and snide. “I go outside all the time.” Randell glanced at his partner; a look passed between them that made her spine stiffen. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Kyran glared at him, and at the same time, Pascal cursed softly.

Darien leaned forward, his posture suddenly tense.

We both knew Pascal had read one of their thoughts and we weren’t going to like it.

Sitting down, his jaw clenched, Randell sighed. “The inspector isn’t the first victim.”

Darien’s fork clattered on the plate as he dropped it and turned to face her ex. “What do you mean?”

Dell looked at Kyran, who nodded. “He was the third. All three are linked to here in one way or another.”

Remi’s heart started to pound. “How?” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Who were the others?”

Tapping his fingers on the counter for a moment as if he was trying to decide what to tell her, Dell finally looked back at her. “That old woman you used to have clean here.”

Remi gasped, “Mrs. Chaise? She retired last month and hasn’t even been in here since…” her voice cracked. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she fought to keep the food down.

Darien stood up and put his hand against her back, moving it slowly up and down, trying to comfort her.

“Who else?” She asked, even though she was afraid to hear the answer.

Pascal leaned on the counter and hung his head down. “Mark.” He said before Randell could say a word.

“He went back home,” Remi said, sure there had to be a mistake. “He was only here for a few weeks and then decided to work it out with his family and go home.”

Randell just sat there, not saying anything.

A gasp came from the kitchen door and then Nadine stepped up beside Pascal. She placed a hand on his arm. “Is it true? Was it him?”

Pascal looked down at her and then nodded. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it yesterday.” He looked from one cop to the other. “You must have worked hard to keep it out of your thoughts.”

Her ex didn’t even acknowledge that he’d spoken, but Kyran’s look became an apologetic one.

Randell leaned closer to Nadine. “I’d like to talk to you about magic.”

Her eyebrows rose as she held his look. “Like what?”

“Could the attacker have tried to cast on Remi last night?”

Nadine looked at her for a moment. “Not from what I’ve been told.” She gave Remi a questioning look. “Did they say anything?” Remi shook her head. “They wore gloves?” She nodded. Glancing back to Randell, she shrugged. “It wasn’t magic, none that I know of anyways.”

Dell nodded and then looked around Serenity. “How many males work here, Remi? Where were they last night?”

Remi jolted like he’d hit her. “What does that have to do with what happened to me?”

“There are nine males that work here,” Darien replied with a cold tone. “All were here, inside, at the time Remi was attacked except two of the Lewis boys.”

Nodding his head slowly, she watched him process that.

“It wasn’t any of the Lewis boys, Dell. They’re not tall enough,” she added quickly before he could think about it much longer.

“How tall was your attacker?” He finally looked at her again.

“At least my height. Maybe taller.” Darien’s hand now rested on her shoulder as if sensing she was ready to freak out. First, she finds out people she knew were dead, and now he was trying to accuse her own staff of attacking her.

Randell finally sighed. “Okay.” He looked back at Nadine. “Can you and your coven extend a no-harm spell to cover most of the property?

Nadine looked at her briefly before nodding. “We can try. It’s a bit harder without walls.”

“And you,” Dell turned on her, his face a harsh mask; he pointed a finger at her, “go nowhere alone.”

The hand on Remi’s shoulder tensed.

“I always knew something like this was going to happen,” Randell continued, “I…”

“We’ll look after Remi,” Darien said in a quiet tone. “You just do your job.”

Dell stood up and moved into Darien’s space. “Like you looked after her last night?”

Darien released her shoulder and stepped into Randell’s chest, forcing her ex to look up at him. “Maybe if you’d told us everything, I would have known to keep a closer watch over her.” A low rumble emphasized his displeasure.

Kyran and Pascal moved at the same time; they both pushed in between the seething males. “Enough,” Pascal said in a firm voice. “Tearing into each other isn’t going to solve anything.”

Kyran pushed Randell to step back a few more feet. “I was here too last night, Peterson, and it still happened.”

Dell spun away from him and retreated a few feet. “Just keep me posted.” He stomped to the door and left without another word.

“He just makes me want to bite someone,” Pascal muttered in a quiet tone.

Kyran turned to look at him, his eyes filled with surprise. “I thought you only drank from a bottle.”

Pascal flashed him a fanged grin. “I do. Now.” With that, he hopped back over the bar and went back to the small fridge for another bottle, this one he warmed in the microwave.

Remi sat, dazed. She couldn’t focus on any one thought. “I can’t believe they’re gone, and no one told us.”

Darien was behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders.

“We were told not to tell you right off.” Kyran sat down again. “At least until I had a chance to see what the atmosphere was like internally.”

“And what’s the atmosphere like internally?” Remi shot back, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Kyran glanced around at the others standing near before making eye contact with her. “All of you are a family unit. You’d go to bat for each other in a heartbeat.” Getting up, he rubbed a hand down the back of his neck. “I’m going to get some air.” Turning on his heel, he left through the side door.

“I’m going to go get the kids from mom, and then I’ll put in some calls and see if the others have any thoughts on how to extend the casting to the property,” Nadine said quickly.

Remi nodded.

“I don’t want any of the staff arriving or leaving alone, Nadine,” Darien said in a somber tone. “Until we find out what the hell is going on, that’s the way it’s got to be.”

Pascal set his bottle of blood on the counter. “I’ll go call the rest of the staff and give them a heads up.”

“Thank you.” Remi finally said as the emotional haze started to lift.

Pascal paused at the door, holding it open. “Kyran is on our team if you’re worried about that.” He gave Darien a look she didn’t understand and then looked at her again. “He’d go to bat for you too, Rem.”

After he left, she looked at Darien, who had a snarl on his lips. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” He moved away from her, grabbing their plates. “You better go up and talk to Cait.”

Confused, she watched him go into the kitchen. “Just one normal day,” she whispered, picking up her cup and drinking what was left. “Is that too much to ask?”