DARKNESS CALLS Chapter Eight
Fellers' death was in the news the next morning. It wasn't a front-page item and I had to search, but I found it. The blurb didn't say much, just that there had been an accidental electrical fire during maintenance repairs at his office building early in the evening. As he was evacuating the building, Fellers had gotten shocked, fallen down a stairwell and died. The blurb was unclear as to whether the electricity or the fall had killed him, but either way he'd graduated from undead to dead dead.
Great. Now what? What do people usually do when their therapist dies? What if they suspect the cause of death is murder, by magic?
I read the news brief to Joey as we lay in bed together, my laptop across my knees. "This is just too freaky," I said. "If we hadn't been attacked by the grendel I'd say it was a weird tragedy. But it can't be. Do you think if I called his number I could get hold of John?"
He shrugged. "Maybe you should call Amber, Daniel."
"Amber?" That wasn't such a bad idea. Who else did we know who had experience with Darkness and wouldn't think I was batshit crazy?
"Hello?" she picked up after just one ring.
"Amber, this is Daniel Meltzer."
"Yes, you were on caller ID."
"I hope I'm not calling too early."
"No, I've been up a while. What can I do for you?"
"I just read in the news that Dr. Fellers is dead."
"Fellers." There was a pause. "He's the many-in-one you've been seeing?"
The many-in-one? "He was our vampire shrink." Among other things.
Is that what made him a many-in-one?
"How did it happen?"
"He had an accident in his office building last night. A pretty freaky and improbable accident, if you follow me."
"I believe I do. Let me see what I can find out. I'll call you back at this number."
We had breakfast and got dressed. An hour later Amber called back. "You're right," she sounded grim, "it was a very improbable accident. He fell onto a six-foot shaft of iron rebar a workman had left propped up against some scaffolding. It went directly through his heart."
Fuck me.
"Whoever did this cares nothing about consequences," she continued. "If it was an Estrella, it will cause problems for the entire lineage." She paused. "I have revised my thinking about your and your brother's safety. I invite you both to come stay with me until the succession matter is resolved."
"Why your place?"
"Two reasons. First, it is more secure. Second, it accords you the status -- temporarily -- of members of my household. That will give you some protection until things are settled."
"Let me think about it. I'll call you back."
I hung up and turned to Joey. "She wants us to go stay with her. Someone definitely killed Fellers with magic and she thinks her place is more secure. Your gut tell you anything?"
Joey tilted his head and got that listening look in his face that was starting to be familiar.
"Yeah," he said, "she's probably right. Amber's our friend, Daniel. We can help each other."
I redialed her. "We'll do it. When do you want us to come over?"
"Right now." She paused. "You should know that Opal is staying here as well. She's agreed to behave, but Opal's standards of good behavior are a bit looser than most."
"I know it. I can handle her, as long as we don't have to share a room."
"That won't be necessary." She sounded amused. "There's plenty of space."
The address Amber gave me turned out to be an eighteen-story apartment building. I parked in the private parking garage and a security guard buzzed us into an express elevator to the top floor. Yeah, it was secure.
The elevator opened directly into the penthouse foyer. Amber was waiting for us. I glanced around. The foyer was floored in grey slate tiles; the walls had recessed niches for a small but exquisite collection of Hopi Kachina dolls.
"Nice digs," I said. "How long have you lived here?"
"I don't, usually. It's owned by the lineage." She slid me a look. "The entire building is owned by the lineage."
I whistled appreciatively.
We followed Amber out of the foyer into a chrome-and-black-leather furnished living room that spanned the whole width of the building. On either side of us were floor-to-ceiling windows. Definitely nice digs.
Opal lounged in a recliner chair by one of the windows, next to a gleaming black baby grand piano. Her eyes were closed and she was listening to something with earbuds. She ignored us as we walked by. Amber led us down a short hallway. She opened the door to a comfortably furnished bedroom with a king-sized bed.
"Bathroom's through there," she nodded toward a door on the other side of the bed. "Do you want to share this room, or would you each like your own?"
Fuck. It was an innocent enough question, and given the circumstances it made sense that we'd want to stick close together, but saying yes would mean that Joey and I would be sleeping in the same bed -- and she'd know it. I could feel the flush spread across my face. Double fuck. Now she knew that I was embarrassed, and would wonder why. Depending on what Opal had told her, Amber might already know that I had the hots for Joey. Would she guess that we'd had sex?
"I want to stay with Daniel," Joey said.
"Fine," she nodded. "The living room divides the penthouse into north and south wings. This is the north wing. I'm in the north wing bedroom that faces east. South wing is the foyer, kitchen and dining room, plus a couple more bedrooms. Opal's in one of those."
She glanced at her wristwatch. "There's coffee in the kitchen. Would either of you like some?"
"Sure," I said.
Amber turned and headed back across the living room, sailing past my discomfort as if she hadn't noticed it and therefore it didn't exist. The consummate hostess.
We followed her into the kitchen. It was big, with yards of black granite countertop and stainless steel. On the center island was a large Bunn coffee maker. Amber poured us each a cup.
"Hey, Dan. Long time no see."
I turned. Opal was leaning against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed.
"Opal," I nodded.
"And Joey."
Joey regarded her with a level gaze.
"Wow, Dan," Opal stared at him, "your little brother looks so different. Like he's all growed up." Wearing his hair pulled back made Joey look older and more masculine. He couldn't be confused for a girl any more.
She smirked. "Sooo ... what have you two been up to lately?"
"Daniel killed the grendel that ate your cat," Joey answered.
"Yeah," the smirk slid from her face. "That's what Amber said."
Amber cleared her throat. "Since we're all here, I'd like to talk about our next step. The gathering of the first line is tomorrow night. I'd like for the two of you to come with us."
"What?" That was Opal. Her jaw dropped enough to flash her tongue bar. Apparently she hadn't been in on this.
"Why?" I asked Amber.
"The grendel attacked you, and Fellers was your darkfather. You have a grievance on both counts."
Darkfather?
"You can't take them to the convocation," Opal protested.
Amber gave her sister a polite `don't be an idiot' look. "Of course they won't attend the convocation itself," she said. "But they can accompany us to the Valley. Technically, as Mercedes' child, Joey is automatically second line."
"Really?" I asked. "But he's male."
"Yes, I noticed. That distinction doesn't officially matter."
It didn't? That was interesting. "What about me?"
"You'd be present as my satelles."
"Which is?"
Her green eyes locked with mine. "Bodyguard."
"When you called you said we'd be safe with you."
"I said you'd be safer. No one is entirely safe right now. This has gone beyond internal Family politics. If it's not resolved soon, others will get involved. As a contender for the matriarchy, I am entitled to have a bodyguard. If you go as my satelles we'll be announcing that we're allied."
So Amber had decided to throw her hat into the ring. Good.
"What about me?" demanded Opal. "I'm a contender, too."
Amber shook her head. "We've already discussed this, Opal. I'm the only one who has a chance of countering Sherietta."
"You could help me do it. You and Mother could back me up. For once in my life, you could both give me some support!"
"I'm sorry." Amber really did look sorry. But also unyielding.
Unshed tears trembled in Opal's eyes. Her hands clenched into fists. I'd seen her like this once before; any second now she might start throwing things and screaming. Wow. Had I really dated this woman? What had I been thinking? Of course, at the time it had all been about not thinking. Not thinking about Joey, I mean.
Opal turned and stormed out of the kitchen. A few seconds later a door slammed.
Amber sighed. She looked sad. Sometimes it's tough, being an older sib.
"You keep mentioning the first line," I said. I, too, could politely ignore things. "Can you tell me who that is?"
She regarded me warily. "What do you mean?"
"Like who's in it? Their names and how they're related to you?"
"Oh. I see no reason why not." She seemed relieved to move on. "In all, there are seven of us. There's Mother, Opal and myself, and Charolotta's three daughters: Sherietta, Katerina and Brenette. Then there's Great Aunt Rose, Momma Lolotta's sister."
"Vivana's still first line even though she joined the convent?"
"Yes. You're first line for life. Mother must participate in the process, even if there is no way she'd ever become matriarch."
"Will Sherietta's sisters support her?"
"Probably."
"Sounds like Great Aunt Rose will carry the deciding vote."
"It's not a vote, but yes, it is fairly evenly split. What Grantie Rose will want is anybody's guess."
"So what about Sherietta?" My enemy. "What can you tell me about her?"
"She's Charolotta's eldest. She went off to college when I was in sixth grade. I didn't see her much after that. For the past ten years she's been in charge of the Family's investments and financial dealings."
That's right, they owned the building. "What sort of financial dealings?"
"Have you heard of Eveningstar Investments?"
"Yeah." Eveningstar was a privately owned brokerage and investment firm. Specialized in wealth management for high-dollar clientele. Kept a pretty low profile. "Eveningstar's your broker?"
"The lineage owns Eveningstar."
Holy fuck.
"That's not something known to many lightblind," she said.
"Got it. Sherietta uses magic to make money in the market?" I'd never thought of that. Whole new vistas opened before me.
"She uses magic to foresee the market. Then she uses money to make money. Isn't that how all investors do it?"
"Sure." But lightblind investors never knew for certain what the market was going to do. The Estrella Family must be wicked rich.
Something to think about later. "So Sherietta's the family CFO, and she's aiming to become Chairman of the Board?"
"I suppose that's one way to put it."
"Think you can stop her? She must have a lot of experience with corporate infighting."
"I have experience with academic infighting."
That's right, the most vicious.
Amber looked down at the counter top, then back up at me. "I should be honest with you. I don't know for certain how this will go. The death of your therapist is shocking. If Sherietta killed him, it means that she's willing to do anything, regardless of the repercussions. Restitution will be expected. To allow her to become matriarch could trigger a conflict that would cause harm to the entire lineage. I have no choice now but to try and stop her."
Actually she did have a choice. And she'd made the right one, gutsy lady.
"So far," I said, "you haven't said anything about what happens to Joey and me after the next matriarch is selected."
She looked surprised. "I thought that was clear. If I become the next matriarch I'll insure that the vendetta is over and that you and Joey are safe."
"And if Sherietta becomes matriarch?"
She bit her lip. "I don't know."
So, there it was. Amber just had to win.
"Okay, then," I gave her my best buck-up smile. "I guess we're in it together, aren't we? Joey and I will both go and I'll be your satelles. Do you want me to wear armor and carry a sword?"
"No," she smiled and the worry retreated from her face. "That won't be necessary. But I expect you'd look great in sunglasses and a black Armani suit."
Actually, I did. Too bad I'd left the suit at home.
Opal sulked in her room for most of the day. I worked out in the penthouse gym while Joey practiced on his clarinet. Amber was waiting for me in the living room when I came out of the bedroom after my shower. She was holding a manila folder in her hand.
"I have something here," she said, "that you might find interesting."
"What is it?"
"It's the scholarly work I'm most proud of," she smiled ruefully, "and it will never be published anywhere. Less than half a dozen people have ever seen it. You don't have to read it, but there are things in it that may help you contextualize the situation."
"Sounds good. I'd like to take a look."
She handed me the folder and left. I went over to a lounge chair beside the window and sat down. Inside the folder was a sixty-page manuscript. SINE QUA NON, it was titled, and beneath that, A Comparative Analysis of the New World Lineages.
It took me thirty minutes to read the manuscript. Afterwards I sat for another hour and thought. It had been written in academic style, as if the original intent had been to submit it to a professional journal. Amber was right, though. There was no way it would ever be published.
She started off with a couple of simple premises: that Darkness resided in the blood, and that it could be present as either a gift, acquired at some point during one's life, or as a legacy. Gifts included the moon gift (also mentioned were the sea gift and the chalice gift, whatever they were). Legacy Darkness was the inherited capacity to practice the Dark Arts.
It was recognized that some degree of legacy Darkness was present in all humans. Amber stated this as neither a confirmed fact nor as her own hypothesis. Rather, it seemed to be a long-standing theory that she assumed would be accepted by the reader.
Humans with greater-than-average legacy Darkness might become psychics or witches. On the North American continent alone there were hundreds of bloodlines with this deeper Darkness flowing through them.
That was all in the introduction. In the body of the manuscript Amber explored the question of what made a lineage a lineage. After lots of researchy narrative, plus a few charts, she concluded that -- in the Americas at least -- all true lineages shared the following four properties: (1) each intentionally bred to preserve and deepen the Darkness of its bloodline; (2) each had methods of studying and teaching the Dark Arts to every new generation; (3) each had a strong common identity and an enforced line of authority; and (4) all of the preceding had been true for many generations.
The manuscript made it clear that the Estrellas were not the only lineage on the continent. My impression was that Amber had direct knowledge of over a dozen other lineages in the two Americas. The manuscript didn't discuss how many there were across the globe, but clearly there were more.
It was fascinating, really. But what most gripped my attention were the things that lurked around the edges of her writing, things that were implied without being explicitly stated. Thus far the only shadowkin I'd met had been Dr. Fellers and members of the Estrella Family. The manuscript made it clear that the world of the shadowkin was larger and older than I had imagined. There were institutions, customs and alliances that stretched across centuries and oceans. The worlds of Darkness and of light have existed, intertwined, ever since our ancestors started the first fire.
When the werewolf attacked me, it had turned me into a monster. That's how I'd thought of it. That's how the lightblind would see it. But to the shadowkin I'd been given a precious gift, one that had transported me across a threshold from our world into theirs. That's what Fellers had been trying to help me understand. I wasn't a monster. I was shadowkin, and within the Darkness I had a home.
That night Joey, Amber and I went out to eat at a nearby restaurant. Opal didn't join us. By unspoken agreement the dinner conversation steered away from anything either family or Darkness related. Amber asked me about my paintings, and even got Joey talking some about his music. She was a good listener, interested and knowledgeable in a way that pulled us both out. I wondered if it was part of her anthropology training. I really liked her, and I think Joey did too. Plus she was gorgeous. Clearly, I'd dated the wrong cousin.
We returned to the penthouse for a nightcap; the city view through the living room's wall of windows was incredible. As we were saying good night, Joey stepped up to Amber and raised his head to look her in the eye.
"Amber," he said, "don't worry about tomorrow." He patted her on the arm. "It'll work out okay."
"Thank you, Joey," she said.
He nodded and walked away. Amber and I exchanged looks. My little brother meant well; I just hoped he was right.
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So, the daring Sir Daniel will get a chance to show off his new abilities. Good. Those lineages have gotten pretty full of themselves lately. Used to be that the Dark Gifts were stronger than the Arts, but over the last few centuries that's shifted. Plus the lineages have become filthy rich. They're in an ideal position to exploit the opportunities created by democratic governments and free markets. The family matriarchs are the new royalty.
Which makes me miss the old royalty. All that backstabbing and ravishing was so much fun. Still, it appears that, like chivalry, it isn't completely extinct. Hope Danny-boy gets to kill someone. I do love watching the Sturm und Drang on the animal farm.
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