B. Donna - Blood Pool

Laroque took the tray and headed out the door, muttering, “Smartass like your mother, too.”

“Raul and Seth are both dead. Word is that the Empusas are coming from Greece to see what the problem is on the island. Tobias, we need to show a unified front. You know Kate will grant them dominion over us if we don’t clean up this mess,” Solaris pleaded. “She always throws in a monkey wrench whenever she can.”

Bo paced while the two squabbled over who should be mayor.

Tobias balked. “Raven was abducted yesterday. I can’t take on the responsibility of mayor. I need to find her. Besides, I’m not here that often.”

“With the baby coming, you’re still going to leave? Don’t make the same mistake…” Solaris cut off her sentence.

Tobias eyed her cautiously.

Sol had a habit of tossing out her opinions, whether people wanted them or not.

“No, you’re right. I have to stay with Emmie, but finding my daughter is a priority. Nevertheless, I still do not want the responsibility. You’ve dealt with the Empusas before. They know you and respect you. I have no patience with those hideous creatures. They give vampires a bad name.”

“I thought the Bathorites did that,” Solaris added. “But I suppose you’re right.”

A look of disgust cloaked Tobias’s face at the mention of Bathorites. A species of vampires with no moral compass.

Bo turned to Solaris. “You take on the job. It’s in the decree, anyway, that if anything happened to Frank, the job would fall to you. You were the mayor before Frank.”

Solaris let out a deep, long sigh. “Damn! Raven tells me you can’t remember where you put your shoes at night-or your keys-but this you remember!”

Bo smiled, but not quite. It was more of a smug expression. “I don’t want to waste time squabbling about who should be mayor. I want to find Raven.”

Sol could sense the wolf inside struggled to break free, demanding to use its natural abilities to track Raven. She understood the need to protect Raven overwhelmed Bo. And knowing him as she did, she bet he despised himself for failing to protect her.

Thank the gods they came to an agreement, Sol grew weary of the arguing. “All right, I’ll do it. Temporarily,” Solaris said. “Did they clean up the office? I’d rather not have all that dried blood in there if I can help it. Bad mojo. It’ll require a complete sage ceremony and salt-water cleansing.”

Sol sat at her desk at Blood Pool. She hoped she would transition nicely back into the job of mayor of Mirabelle.

Bo placed his hands on his hips. “Yes, they’ve got painters in there now, and the floor will be sanded and re-stained.”

Tobias rested his fists on the desktop, leaning toward her. “Have you been able to get a fix on Raven?”

Solaris canted her head. “No. I was going to ask you the same thing. The only thing I know for certain is that she’s not in the immediate vicinity. I want to say Haiti, but that’s too obvious. I kept getting pulled in that general direction, though.”

Bo began to pace once more. The wolf was agitated. He flipped open his cell phone and started making some calls. While punching numbers for his automated answering service, he informed them, “No one seems to know where she could be. Jules, Bridget, Iris and Emmie…even Nat and Ian tried to scry for her. Do you think Kate would help?”

“No!” Solaris and Tobias shouted in unison.

“Are you going to call off the Harvest Celebration?” Tobias asked.

“I know how you feel about this, Tobias, but I do think it’s a good idea to keep everything as normal as possible. Plus…” Her voice trailed into the ethers.

“What?”

Solaris sighed. She hated to bring this up. “The people of the island are very superstitious. You know that. If we don’t go ahead with the ceremony, and economically the island does poorly, they’ll say it’s retribution, that the spirits are angry for not being honored. Anything that goes wrong in the coming year will be blamed on the fact that we didn’t conduct the yearly ritual.”

Tobias raised his voice in anger. “I don’t care what the people think or don’t think. We’re talking about my daughter’s life!”

Bo spoke up. “We’re not living in the old times. The townspeople will understand.”

Solaris rose from her seat, hands on hips. “You think so? I’ve been getting phone calls already. Sam Johansson is claiming his apples aren’t doing as well as last season. His reason? We cut the Nights of the Parades down to a week. And he’s not the only one. Sue Graver’s corn has come down with some disease. You want the list?”

Bo’s shocked expression conveyed he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He let out a low growl as he raked his hand through his hair in frustration. “Corn and apples,” he muttered.

“What’s more important, Solaris, Raven or some bushels of apples and corn?” Tobias snapped.

Solaris shot an angry gaze at the ancient Lamai. “Of course Raven is more important! There’s something else. I think maybe…” She sat back in her seat, suddenly exhausted.

“What?” Tobias prodded.

“It’s just a very strong feeling I have. You’re not going to like what I have to say, either one of you.”

Tobias prodded her to confess what she knew, but was obviously uncomfortable sharing. “If it has to do with Raven, tell us.”

Bo voice was strained. “Please, tell us.”

She leaned forward, folding her hands neatly on the desktop. “Laroque might use the ceremony to get your attention.”

Tobias turned away from her. “Sol, I do not want Raven used as bait. I’m going out to look for her. Maybe Rhia knows where she is.”

Solaris stood. “Rhia is an ancient Lamai with severe dementia. She won’t be of any help.” She walked around to the front of her desk.

Tobias’s grey eyes shone brightly, and he shook his head in dismay. “I expected more from you. You’re like an aunt to Raven. At the very least a little understanding would be nice.”

“That’s unfair, Tobias.”

“If that’s what you think of Rhia, then she has done her job well,” Tobias said with a sigh. “That’s what she wants people to think, that she is a feeble, old deity with little sense and even less influence on our lives than we give her credit for.”

“Tobias, she is your deity, not mine,” Solaris griped.

The evening sun was setting. The only reason Raven was able to tell was that the room was plunging into darkness. She hadn’t seen Philippe all day. The Lamai, Mick, brought her breakfast and lunch. Dinner was yet to be served.

She asked repeatedly where Philippe was, but the Lamai refused to answer.

“Come on, Mick, you know me. I’ve seen you every night at Blood Pool. We were buds ,” she said sarcastically.

For a big man, Mick was soft-spoken. “Mr. Laroque will see you when he’s ready.” He handed her clean clothes-a cotton shirt, a package of underwear and jeans. “Sorry, Mr. Laroque didn’t know your bra size.”

She grimaced as she tore open the package. “How thoughtful of him. Can I at least get cleaned up?”

He pointed to a washcloth and a bowl of soapy water next to her bed.

She held up the panties, frowning. They looked more like granny bloomers. They would have to do. “Then can you tell me…is he still on the island?”

Mick walked out without answering.

“I have to pee,” she yelled before the door closed.

His voice boomed out from down the hall. “Don’t wet the bed!”

“Damn,” she swore as the door slammed.

At some point during the night, the winds picked up. The slamming of the shutters woke Raven from her restless sleep. The sheer curtains billowed inside and became soaked with rain. Despite Raven’s newly humanized sense of smell, she could still identify the bougainvillea, jasmine and plumeria that scented the air.