Lauren Dane - Heart of Darkness

He smiled. Of course she knew he would call to check in on her.

“Excuse me,” he heard her say. “Sir. Hey!”

The phone hit the ground. Dominic heard the clatter and he was moving to the door before he’d even thought about it.

“Meriel? Meriel?”

“Let’s go.” Tom was next to him and they hurried out, the phone still pressed to Dominic’s ear.

Dominic continued to listen, his heart pounding so hard he was light-headed.

“I have a message from your mother-in-law.”

“You should let go.”

“Witch, you have no power over me.”

“You’re so wrong there.”

“Ouch! Here, she wanted you to …” A snarl and a loud cry of alarm.

“Yeah? Tell her that’s from me.” Meriel picked up her phone and spoke to Dominic again. “I’m here.”

“What is going on?” he demanded.

“Just a little messenger. I took care of it.”

“Where are you?”

“An alley at 2nd and Bell. I’m not that far. I’ll be back shortly. I’m all right.”

He cursed the slow elevator and headed for the stairs instead, talking them three at a time. “Stay here, Tom. I’ll call if there’s a problem,” he called back over his shoulder.

By the time he hit the sidewalk outside she was already making her way up the block.

She waved to him like it was totally normal to scare the shit out of him on a daily basis.

“I told you I’d be home soon.”

Her skirt was dirty, an oily smudge along her thigh, and her blouse was ripped.

Rage bubbled through him.

“Who did this to you?”

She looked up at him. “It was a friend of Gloria’s. A human one. He’s a lot more fragile than he thought he was. I punched him in the nose and my hand hurts. I hate punching. And I kicked him in the junk too.” She had the audacity to look proud of this.

He started to move past her and she grabbed his arm. “No. He’s gone and I want to go home.”

“Why are you smiling?” Annoyed, he turned away and escorted her home.

“Because you’re ridiculously hot when you get protective.”

“It’s not a joke.”

“No, it isn’t. She sent a human, Dominic. She knew I’d flay her or any mages alive, so she sent him knowing I most likely wouldn’t kill him. But this messenger of hers told me she wanted to meet me and gave me a piece of paper with an address on it.”

“He gave you something of himself?” If that was the case, he clearly knew nothing of witchcraft or he’d be shitting himself. A strong witch could use that paper to trace the item back to its owner.

She shrugged. “I don’t trust it. Doesn’t matter anyway. When I popped him in the balls, I also managed to attach a fun little homing spell of my own. Also, Nell called when I was getting the wine too. We have a location for Gloria.”

So fucking smart. He wanted to haul her up and kiss her silly, but he wasn’t sure how hurt she was and so he put an arm around her and steered them into the building.

Tom was waiting near the elevator and when he saw Meriel, his face darkened. It made Dominic feel a lot better to see it.

“Come inside.”

“I’ll be right back. I need to clean up.” She tried to move past him, but Dominic put an arm around her.

“We’ll be right back. I want to check you over so don’t argue with me. Where’s the paper?”

Meriel handed it to him. “I disabled a homing charm.”

He grinned. “Despite how you’re destined to kill me by the time I turn forty with all this business, you sure are smart.”

“Not hard to be smarter than some dumb bigot human.” She shrugged.

As gentle as he could be, he stripped off her clothes and examined her for any use of magick or any sort of physical harm. She had a bruise on her thigh, where the smear of oil had been.

“He pushed me into a wall. Dumb, I know. But I wasn’t expecting it. The bruise will be a good reminder.”

“Sometimes, Meriel, I really wonder what it was like to be you growing up when you say stuff like that.” He held out her favorite pair of lounge pants and then a soft, long sleeved shirt.

“All the best lessons in life are those learned the hard way. If I don’t take them as lessons, then I take them as failures. I prefer the former.”

“I prefer for my woman not to get assaulted in the middle of a crowded city at rush hour.”

“Me too.”

“I’VEgot something.” Nell walked into Meriel’s office.

“Really now? Can you clear it up with a cream?”

Nell’s serious face fell and she snorted. “Ha! Thank God William used a rubber before me. No creams needed, though dude, my mother happily informed me yesterday that I’m going to leak. Super glad I told her I was pregnant.”

Meriel moved back. “Like how?”

Nell laughed. “Thank God for you, Meriel Owen. Milk. From my boobs. Though you can leak amniotic fluid. Which, ew.”

“Have you been watching those baby delivery shows on cable again? You cried the last time. We agreed you weren’t to do that anymore.”

“I cry a lot. Especially when my mother tells me my breasts will leak dairy products.”

“This is what happens when you let the boys go too far, Nell. I would have thought you’d know that by now.”

Nell socked her.

“Enough baby talking. I know where your human is. Your homing spell worked perfectly. I also sent some people to go check the address on the paper. In entirely predictable news, it’s a warehouse complex in North Seattle. Lots of empty space there. Only two tenants left and I think she’s one of them.”

“WELL,let’s search a little, shall we?” Meriel moved to her computer and began to search. They’d already done a search on the address. It was a commercial property run by a management company. The management company had come up clean. But that didn’t mean there was a dead end.

“How are the individual warehouses numbered?”

“They’re lettered. A through F. B and E are occupied. Tool and dye shop in B. Has been there in that location for nineteen years. Owners are a local family. Not a witch in the bunch that I could find.”

Meriel was busily verifying this herself. “No liens against anyone in the family. No criminal records.” She continued clicking. “The business pays on time, the owners too.” She looked at pictures on their website. “They’re established. She’s not there. This isn’t about them at all.”

“I agree. E is a smaller warehouse. Current business has been there three years. They make specialty trailers to pull luxury cars. I shit you not. I’ve seen these trailers, they’re really amazing and cost a crapton of money too.” Nell’s love of cars was clear on her face.

“These people aren’t as well known. One of the owners’ sons has a record for assault. Also for writing bad checks.”

“I already got that part. Sheesh. I can handle the police record stuff.”

She glanced to Nell. “They’re mortgaged to the gills though. But, that’s not unusual right now. Many people are hurting.”

“I don’t think she’s in the occupied warehouses.”

“Why’d she not say which one if I’m supposed to meet her?”

“I’m sure she planned to have you wander around and then get the drop on you.”

Meriel rolled her eyes. “She’s dumb.”

“Totally. So your boy is interestingly enough in the vicinity. Want to take a pass with me? I’m not going in or even getting close. I just want to see it for myself.”

“That little shit who ripped my blouse yesterday is at the warehouse facility?”

Nell nodded.

She got back on the computer and began to look for the origins of the building and then the land it sat on.