They walked on in silence, both pretending to watch everything else, yet so keyed in to one another when Cassie stumbled on a high spot in the concrete Drew caught her elbow.
"Thanks." She grumbled, unexpectedly flustered at his closeness, pulling away to keep her wits about her. It was none too soon that the neon green tower marking the gas station came into sight and they ducked inside to wait behind a tall rack of snack cakes for their ride.
The cab company Directory Assistance referred them to, showed up ten minutes after they called. They rode mutely to Carter's where they were going to pick up the Ducati and, Drew didn't know it yet, but he was going to disappear for a while.
Drew kept his nail gouged neck out of the driver's sightline easily enough by turning his head and Cassie held her arm down at her side, covering the blood stain on her clothes. Blood was leaking out from under the nonabsorbent tape bandage in a light trickle, not severe but enough to be annoying.
She wondered if she had time to call the healer to meet them at the hotel. It would be safe to stay local for only a short time. Drew was in danger and, regardless of how mixed up as she was about him, her duty was to protect him and keep him close until his brother and Pritchard were recovered.
Brandon Carter and his motives remained a mystery. He cared for his brother, that was undeniable. The ring had been without a doubt an attempt by Brandon to protect his brother from Pritchard's influence. Yet that was years ago and Drew had said Brandon was changing lately. His physical changes could very well be because Pritchard's hold over him had grown more powerful and he might not be able to defy his master any longer. What had happened in the alley was damning in the extreme.
Cassie hoped Julia and Quan would return soon. She welcomed the break from Drew the reinforcements' arrival would offer. And the perspective she desperately needed.
Cassie reached for the slim wallet in her pocket she carried in place of a purse needlessly, Drew had already handed a twenty to the driver.
As the car pulled away he lifted his chin stubbornly. "I'm not a child, I don't need you to take care of me."
"This isn't a date, it's business." She tried to hand him twenty dollars and he refused, backing away from her.
"You told me last night I wasn't a client and there was no business between us, now I am? You can't have it both ways."
Cassie latched onto the chance to reestablish some boundaries between them. "You're in danger now that they know you've come after them." She leaned in closer to keep their conversation private; standing on the curb had them nearly within earshot of the valets. "You have magickal abilities, are untrained, and you're exposed both physically and psychically to a number of things including a very dangerous witch. I owe you protection."
That she wasn't touching him made no difference. She could feel the masculine charge her words shot through him, sending his back arching rigidly to put his chest in her face. "I don't need anyone's protection."
Cassie strained to meet his elevated gaze. "Whether you want to admit it or not, you do and you'll deal, or you're going to end up like those guys in the alley." At the sight of his haunted expression, Cassie regretted speaking so harshly.
Hating herself and her job, she watched him turn and continue past the valets giving them a quick nod, acknowledging their friendly hails. What she'd done was being cruel to be kind. Drew needed to understand what he was up against if she was going to keep him safe. Even with her it might not be enough if Brandon and Pritchard came at them together. Disturbed at the thought that she might not only lose his trust, but that she could also be responsible for his demise, Cassie said a quick prayer to her mother's patron goddess she'd adopted when her mother had passed. Asking Brigit to look out for her charge assuaged some of her trepidation.
Cassie walked in and Tavaris was at his post. Yay. Shooting him a severe look she saw him back down from whatever it was he'd been about to say. Catching sight of Drew's familiar figure disappearing in the shadowy interior, Cassie easily vaulted over the velvet rope to follow and caught him at the door. Though he never looked back, she knew he was aware of her. He threw the door at the top of the stairs wide enough to allow her through without actually holding it open.
Jaime was in the upstairs bar tonight and gave a slow wave to them both. Her boss didn't bother to do more than dip his chin and Cassie managed a poor excuse for a smile. Dance music beat loud and fast, the blue and red lights following the frantic drumming with a crazed strobe effect that cast Drew's movement in a disjointed, macabre game of hide and seek. The sound faded when they reached the blackened hallway, the light from the office bringing Drew's outline flashing back into view as he opened the door.
With his profile so clearly illuminated it was impossible not to see his step falter and jaw drop. Instinct kicked in and Cassie rushed unthinking after him, pulling power through her palms as she ran. His hand had fallen limp from the handle, leaving the door to swing open and allow Cassie a clear shot to leap in and throw herself into him, sending them both crashing to the ground.
Cassie was already bringing her hands up, sending a blast at the intruder when Drew took her by surprise and twisted underneath her. The muscles in his chest hardened and his arms encircled her, trapping hers at her sides and sending her attack flying off out of control and into the framed drawings on the wall. They came sliding down with a crash.
"No Cassie." He hissed in her ear. "It's Brandon."
She stiffened, eyes searching for a man sitting at the desk only to find him sitting directly opposite her on the floor, beneath the desk. The sickly face staring back at her was probably handsome when he wasn't seriously underweight and overstressed. Wild, haunted blue eyes looked straight through her and she felt that tug again, the same one she'd felt when she'd met the real Drew, the one under the superficial playboy facade. Here was another man who'd grown up afraid, one who needed her help.
Drew felt Cassie's acceptance that his brother was not an imminent threat as she stopped struggling. "It's Brandon." He repeated, quieter this time. "Brandon? It's cool Bran, Cassie can help you." As he reassured his brother, he pictured Brandon in dark robes and a pointed hat standing trial in front of a panel of similarly garbed wizards and snorted.
Cassie turned and raised a quizzical brow. She probably figured he was cracking up. It was a definite possibility, Drew himself couldn't be sure. It wasn't every day his brother faced being sent up for magickal misconduct.
Cassie could tell Drew was struggling with his brother's sudden appearance and such a shocking one at that. She felt responsible for his poor handling of it, his nerves and emotions were most likely still raw from the removal of the amulet. Seeing him this way had to be hard.
Torn, she struggled with Brandon turning up as well. On one hand she wanted to comfort Drew, but on the other, she was facing a potential criminal who was arguably a threat to the greater population. There wasn't time to get Drew squared away, he was just going to have to manage and she would help where she could.
"Brandon," she used a gentle voice, treating him like a victim and not one of the offenders. "Brandon, can you look at me? My name is Cassie Porter, I'm an agent sent here to look into a man named Terry Pritchard."
He flinched at the mention of Pritchard's name though outwardly he was otherwise vacant. Drew remained motionless, watching intently. Cassie flushed realizing their entrance and ensuing contortions had left her sitting on his lap with his arms around her on the floor. To move might spook Brandon so she stayed where she was, refusing to concede how unauthoritative her position happened to be.
"Brandon, can you tell me about where you've been? Do you know where he is?" Experimenting, she avoided saying Pritchard's name. This time seeing Brandon only tighten his eyes, a less volatile reaction and one she considered an improvement.
Still he said nothing. Cassie was attempting to figure out a plan of action when her phone rang in her pocket. Trying to catch it before it upset him, she answered quickly.
"Cassie, we're comin' back." It was Julia and she didn't sound happy. It was windy where they were, the gusts were audible through the speaker.
Instantly, Cassie feared the worst. When a man is being hunted he's a lot like an animal, he goes home where he's most comfortable to hole up or make his stand. "He's turned back, hasn't he?"
"Yep," Julia's hand covered the phone and there was talking in the background. "He laid a false trail, we just figured it out." Julia sighed, frowning down at the much abused body of a well dressed young black man lying splayed on his stomach with his limbs at odds from his body, most likely from being dumped from a moving car. His body lay only a few feet from the road in a small stand of saplings. From the road he'd looked like garbage, it was easy to miss.
Quan was furious to have fallen for Pritchard's trick. He squatted with his hands hovering over the young corpse, trying to capture what traces he could of the elusive witch's power. An eelskin wallet lying open on the ground identified the man as Alfred Toohey. They had no idea who he was or why Pritchard would have used him other than the fact that the magick matching Pritchard's had been stored in the man planted here to draw them after Pritchard had laid the trail and abandoned it. It was a sick man's treasure map and they'd just found what was under the "X."
Julia closed her eyes and turned away. "How's it going there? Is Drew handlin' things without the amulet?"
"Uh, yeah. The amulet was definitely keeping everything from hitting him. He seems like he's doing okay on his own though."
Drew changed his position abruptly and Cassie nearly lost her balance. Her hand shot out to catch herself, wrapping around his neck to secure her position. He flinched when her fingers caught the fresh scrapes.
"That was the source of his charm."
Tipping his lap, Drew dumped her unceremoniously on the floor. Unaffected, Brandon continued to stare listlessly at their antics. Cassie clambered from all fours onto her feet and aimed a withering glare at Drew.
Cassie stepped out into the hall and proceeded to fill Julia in on their visit to the Ray of Light, what they'd found on the notepad, and the street fighting skills of the older woman in addition to the drugged Seer, Caroline. "We're having the car towed, our people should have it out of there by now but I can't be sure Pritchard's people didn't get enough to track it back to Drew. I'm keeping him with me from here out." Hearing the defeat in her partner's voice Cassie worked to incite confidence that they didn't need to worry about things there.
"Good, sounds like you've got it all under control." Julia sounded tired. "What did you say the name you found in the church was?" When Cassie repeated the name, Julia craned her neck to get examine the wallet more closely. They had a match and she told her young partner as much. "I'll call it in and see what Research can find to connect the two." Continuing with the debriefing, Julia changed the subject. "Have you heard anything from Brandon?"
"Funny you should ask." Cassie replied dryly. "I'm looking right at him. He's not a threat in his condition."
Annoyed, she shifted her phone to hear Cassie's muffled voice in one ear and a pitched, rapid-fire verbal assault on Pritchard in the other. Julia listened to both partners go on and wondered why she hadn't taken the offer of a teaching position at the Academy Anna had offered a few months ago.
Seeing how she'd stepped up on this mission, Julia was confident Cassie could handle Brandon, damaged as he was. Quan's pronouncement overshadowed anything Cassie was saying after she heard one word. Chameleon.
Chameleons were a rare sort of witch and almost always dangerous, more even than Chaotics. A Chameleon, like his reptilian namesake, had the unique ability to tie in to the magick of any witch he laid his hands on. That explained why the deaths of the drug dealers in the alley so closely resembled the deaths of the Carter's parents. It had been done with the same magick, only a different witch. Toohey must have had some semblance of magick as well though it had been covered up by Pritchard's dummy charge.
Cassie went on, oblivious to the happenings on the other end of the line and grateful for the routine of giving her report. "He's pretty shaky Julia." She finished. "I think Pritchard's done something to him, he's terrified and he looks half dead. I'd like to call a healer."
More mumbling before Julia came back. "Sounds good honey. Get him a room at the hotel and lay low. Keep 'em both out of sight until we can get back." She paused, doing some math. "We should be able to get back by tomorrow evenin.' Keep an eye out, Pritchard might show up lookin' for his boy."
"Will do." The line went quiet and she replaced her phone in her pocket. Taking a deep breath, she let it out and put her game face back on.
Drew's backside was to the door, his front half had disappeared through a hole in the floor beside the desk amidst the shattered pictures. Brandon hadn't moved, it was possible he hadn't even blinked.
"Drew what are you doing?"
A muffled hum drifted up, his words undistinguishable until he came up holding several small stacks of green and white bundles. "If we're going to run, we need cash. I don't have a lot after the car. This was my emergency money in case I could get Brandon to break away from... him." He cast a nervous glance at his catatonic brother. "It's enough to get us out of the country or something until I can get us set up somewhere safe and get a job. Thanks for your help Cassie, but I've got it from here."
"You're not running anywhere." Outwardly unperturbed, Cassie leaned against the cabinet beside the door. "My partners are on their way back. They said we should head back to the hotel and I'll keep you two safe." Praying he wouldn't make her stop them, Cassie watched the outline of the shell of the man Drew would risk his life for. He was rocking back and forth. Brandon was completely broken, even a healer would have trouble bringing him back.
Drew got up and walked past her giving no heed to her words. He grabbed the first aid kit and dumped out its contents, returning to stack the bundled cash within and pausing only long enough to aim a frightening gaze at her. "I have my brother back. We're leaving before he comes for him. I'm not losing him again."
"Drew stop." Cassie was more unnerved by his break from reality than Brandon's catatonia.
"He's coming." He whispered harshly, forcing the words between clenched teeth.
Cassie swallowed the lump in her throat keeping her expression placid. "You can't run from him. He can't run. I can keep you safe. Stay with me, Drew." The backs of her eyes pricked at the voicing of her true desire, probably the last time she could say it without inspiring hatred in him. It wouldn't be long now and he would detest her.
He listened. Sitting on his haunches with his hands on the money and a defeated slump in his spine, he looked up at her.
The trust she saw in his eyes inspired a greater self-loathing than any amount a magickal blockage ever had. Slowly, Cassie went over to put a hand on his arm. "We have healers who can help him. I can call and have one here in a few hours." She could do that for him at least.
"How can they help this?" He turned his face only partway, unable to look upon his brother so destroyed.
"Our healers can handle psychic damage."
Drew let his head fall into her chest and gave in. For as much as he feared what would come of Brandon once Veritas or Pritchard got a hold of him, Cassie was right. Brandon was in no state to make a run for it and there was no doctor he knew who could help him. No, he would have to throw in and trust Cassie again in order to save his brother. He would rather visit a sane Brandon in prison than a vegetable in a mental hospital.
"I'll get us a car." Laboriously he pushed himself up with his hands on his thighs and grabbed the house phone. "Jaime, yeah. Did you see him come in? Yeah, he's not feeling great that's why I'm calling. My car is out of commission, I was wondering if you could call one for us? Thanks. Let me know when it gets here."