The Hunt is On (The Patroness) Read online

  I held up my hands in a common gesture of truce. “Hey, I’ve a cat. I happen to know the saying is true. Just kinda funny to see it on the shirt of a feline shifter who commands an investigative unit.”

  Another mock killing glance. “You’d better tell me why I’m here and not stretching out on my couch right now.”

  I liked her. I’m a gut person and went with my instinct since it had saved my ass more times than I could count. The subconscious picked on things such as vibes and body language and most of the time one knew the basics of a person when you met. With Pauline for example it had clicked from the first moment, a warm bond and friendship suddenly there as if we had known each other in a previous life. Well, with my weird life that might actually be true. Anyway, with Inspecteur Vigeur I felt…at ease. Though, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t be careful while trying to figure out where exactly it was she stood and how she had gotten there.

  I quickly clued her in on my two missing persons, and her demeanor changed from grumpy to being all ears, the cop’s curiosity stirring.

  Resting her arms on the table she asked, “When were they last seen?”

  “Madame Gauthier didn’t come home from work, an art shop not far from here. That was three nights ago. And Monsieur Dessus, a tourist slash visitor, went out of his hotel near Gare du Nord to get another bottle of wine to share with his mistress last evening and never came back.” Leaning forward I also told her about Monsieur Gauthier’s failed attempt to get the police involved. “They think she ran off.”

  “It happens, Cadic. People react differently. Some are just sitting around waiting to die. And others are doing whatever will give them the impression of dying happily, which sometimes means they disappear to reappear in the arms of their high school sweetheart or some such. Only a few have listened and actually understood that this happened before and that our chances of survival aren’t that bad.”

  “Monsieur Gauthier was her high school sweetheart.”

  “Maybe she wanted a change then, fearing she might have missed out on something.”

  I leaned back in my seat, studying her. She looked unconcerned, or tried to, but she couldn’t hide the flicker of interest in her eyes. “But you don’t believe that, and neither do I.”

  She smiled sadly, “You’re right, I don’t believe it.” Vigeur expelled a deep breath and leaned back, drumming her finger on the table. “Both disappeared in the same area, maybe just a few streets away from each other for all we know, and in the evening. Already too many points in common for my liking. Let’s go have a look.”

  She got up from her seat, grabbing for her coat when I said, “I already did that.” I opened the small bag around my hips and pulled out two sealed plastic bags, one filled with a lock of brown hair and the other with a piece of fabric. Smiling sweetly I added, “Thought you could help me with the sniff.”

  She didn’t return the smile. “Why do I suddenly feel like a search dog?” Vigeur muttered, but snatched the bags anyway.

  Ha. Curiosity killed the cat.

  The black leopard strolled silently along the sidewalk, only stopping from time to time to scent the air or the ground, its gait fluid and lethal, while I was following a few steps behind and carrying the Inspecteur’s clothes.

  “Just walking my cat,” I muttered under my breath. The leopard turned his head, lifted a brow at me and growled. “My very big and annoyed cat.”

  We had started at the hotel where Monsieur Dessus had last been seen since his trail would be the freshest of the two missing. For once even the weather was on our side; it was damp and it hadn’t rained in the last thirty-six hours but most importantly the wind, our biggest enemy, had settled. Ideal conditions. I wasn’t able to track scent but I had read about it and I had seen shapeshifters in action. Scents dispersed in the wind but would cling for dear life to shady areas and vegetation, to moisture to be exact, so Anouk’s best chances weren’t exactly the sidewalk but the shadows, corners, gutters and planted trees and shrubs along it.

  As I looked at the sky that was clear for a change I could make out a few stars and a smile touched my lips. Whatever might happen, those stars would be there; even the Turn couldn’t change that. I hoped others would find comfort in that as well.

  I grew up knowing that the magic left on Earth was only residual but that one day it would be back full force. So I wondered how it would be growing up thinking that the world had nothing more to it than was visible. How would it feel like now, suddenly knowing what was out there and having a family to protect – without the slightest idea as to how to do it? It was true, humans had a lot on their plate.

  Anouk was right, there were those who disappeared without a word or explanation, too focused on running, on erasing the regrets or fulfilling the dreams they have.

  But my missing persons? They didn’t fit the bill. I had checked their financials and nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, except that no withdrawals or purchases had been made since they went missing. Neither of them showed the behavior or had the cash on them that would support the runaway theory. But most of all it was my gut telling me that these two didn’t go voluntarily.

  The black leopard hissed and suddenly I was ripped out of my thoughts as the pressure and atmosphere changed around us and I felt as if being squeezed in a hard hug by the air around me. For one moment my senses sharpened – the colors, scents and sounds became more intense and through the sheath across my back I could feel Cutter warming. My blood burned in my veins and my whole body seemed to vibrate with…magic, I realized. It was gone as quickly as it had come.

  Coughing as my ribcage and lungs were released from the invisible hold, I looked at Anouk who had changed back into her human form.

  Panting she cursed. “What the hell?”

  Still breathing heavily and feeling exhilarated as if I’d run a marathon and won, I tossed her the clothes, which she hurried to put on. “I think we just got a taste of things to come. The gates leak.”

  Invisible gates, or doors as some called them, separated the realms from each other, preventing magic from flooding our world. With the Turn a few weeks away those gates were obviously weakening and leaking magic.

  We sat down on a bench to catch our breaths. My skin was still tingling and my ears were ringing.

  “At least the timing wasn’t bad,” Anouk remarked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Before that…moment I was trying to figure out something odd. It was his scent, it seemed to have vanished. Not scattered in the wind, but really gone. Then, when the magic came… I don’t know how it was for you, but…”

  “The senses sharpened,” I helped out. Yeah, and it kind of felt as if my body had burned through all the energy to accomplish that though, and now I was starving.

  “Exactly. And his scent is really gone. It somehow lingers in the air, but there’s nothing on the ground. He really seems to have disappeared – like literally, poof. Either he was taken, got in a car or…”

  “Or the cause isn’t natural but magical.”

  Anouk nodded in agreement.

  I studied her as she sat with her arms resting on her knees. She looked a little paler than usual, her skin having lost that healthy hue of earthy gold. “Are you alright?”

  “Fine, just tired.”

  “I’m sorry I got you on your night-off.”

  “No, it’s alright. I’m actually glad you clued me in on this.”

  “Hey, we want the same thing, so why waste time with futile power games.” My gaze caught on a store a couple of meters further up the street and I got up from the bench. “Monsieur Dessus wanted to buy another bottle of red wine when he went out, which was round about half past ten. Most bigger supermarkets would have been closed by then, but not that one over there.”

  Anouk got up and saw the superette. “He never made it there, though.”

  “Okay, but I think we can scratch the theory that he went willingly into a car or other kind of transportation if he was
a just hundred meters from his goal.”

  “Which leaves us with kidnapping or some magical influence. Neither is reassuring.”

  “I know. Why don’t we head back to my office where I can show you my files? Then we can start figuring out what exactly is going on here.”

  “Sure.”

  An hour later Anouk, leaning against my filing cabinet, finished reading through my notes. “Tomorrow I’ll have the guys look through the other missing person reports. Maybe there are more, same area and time. They will check financials and telephone records, too. And I will try tracking Madame Gauthier’s scent trail.”

  I took the files and copied them for her. “We should check out their magical background as well.”

  “Good idea.” Anouk sat down in one of the chairs. “Did you try scrying for them, Maiwenn?”

  Remembering the pendulum’s confusing answer I sighed. “Yeah, I did.” I put the copied notes into a folder and handed it to Anouk. “I couldn’t find them though. But I don’t believe they’re dead. The pendulum behaves differently if that is the case. They’re more like…I don’t know…hidden, maybe.” And only something very powerful could keep me from detecting where they were hidden. Only thinking about it set my teeth on edge. The scrying had felt too much like a damn déjà-vu.

  The door opened suddenly and Viviane scowled at me. “Finally! You’re late.” Then she noticed Anouk. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt. I thought you were alone.”

  I shook my head. “It’s fine. Inspecteur Vigeur this is Viviane, the former patroness.” To Viviane I explained, “We were just talking about the missing persons cases.”

  That moment Pauline bounced down the stairs and joined us.

  “And that’s Pauline.”

  “Nice to meet you two.” Anouk smiled and got up from the chair. “I think we are done here anyway so I’ll head back.”

  Pauline, dressed in a sleeveless tangerine dress stepped forward. “Or would you like to join us? We want to celebrate my birthday in a karaoke bar tonight. It’ll be fun, especially since Maiwenn owes me a song.”

  I groaned at the reminder which made Anouk laugh. “Thanks, I’d like that but I have an early morning and Maiwenn here already took up most of what could have been a healthy beauty sleep. Maybe another time.” She headed for the door and held up the folder. “Give me a call when you find something, Maiwenn. And happy birthday, Pauline.”

  Pauline smiled. “Thanks.”

  After a last goodbye from all of us Anouk left and I went to lock the door. Turning around to face Pauline and Viviane, both dressed up and ready to go, I said, “Give me ten minutes.”

  I ran upstairs to fresh up and change into clothes that befitted a girls’ night out, deciding on brick-red pants, a dark blue top and a casual blazer. For once I let my dark blond hair fall freely passed my shoulders and applied some basic but subtle make-up. I even put in ear rings, nothing dangling and dangerous since I wanted to keep my ears but red and blue studs in the form of frogs the size of the tip of my thumb instead. Except for a silver pendant around my neck that served as protection, I never wore any jewelry but I liked ear rings nevertheless, and sometimes I would see a pair in a shop, like the happy frogs with their fingers spread as if sitting on a leave, and I’d just buy them. Today for a change I would wear them.

  When I was ready we headed out to meet up with Riva, Gabin’s sister and another raven. The night air was cool and to the west gathering clouds hid the moon but Paris was softly illuminated by its own warm light and seemed peaceful tonight – at least to me. I noticed once again that my patrols might be rather quiet, regarding rogues and such, but apart from that there were a lot more people partying through the night than usual. They behaved as if they had nothing more to lose; as far as they could see the world sure would end soon. Their save haven was not Paris, but the oblivion found at the bottom of their glasses or in the arms of mindless passion.

  The karaoke bar we’d chosen looked like a typical Parisian café, complete with a zinc coated bar and well used wooden tables and stools, and smelled of strong coffee, cool beer and wood. The bar was situated in the 11th arrondissement of Paris on the Rue de la Roquette which wasn’t too far from our apartment - which sure would come in handy on our way back home - and was a famous hang out for otherworldlers.

  We sat, already laughing and eagerly snatching the bottles of tequila standing in line to be emptied.

  Some foggy time later I found myself on a stage, in the spotlight and in front of people and singing. But then again it was my best friend’s birthday and that’s just what you did as a friend. Besides, I owed her a song. Even tipsy I could make out some vampires, witches, faeries and shapeshifters among the clients, relaxing and laughing around, and as long as they behaved, it was totally fine with me.

  In an electrifying mix of jazz, soul and cabaret I agreed with ZAZ and sang about freeing oneself, opening one’s mind and the importance of doing the things you really want to do. Right, piece of cake. Except that in the harsh light of day that seemed a little impossible for me. Curses sucked. Or did they? Would I ever want to be something else, someone else? No. I knew I would never be able to turn my back on it, knowing I could help save innocent lives. Besides, life wasn’t that bad.

  When the song was over I tried to make my way back to our table on oddly wobbly legs. Well, we sure were a magically funny bunch. Pauline, the sweet faery with violet eyes and pointed ears. To her left sat Riva, the female raven. She had dark, red brown hair, a color that would also show in her feathery form, and amazing warm, golden eyes.

  “You’ve such a beautiful - hic - voice, Maiwenn. You should use it more often. I mean for singing - hic - and not for grumbling - hic - or ordering around,” Pauline slurred between hiccups.

  I looked at her and her double. “That’s so not very sweet of you.”

  “It’s the booze,” Pauline apologized sweetly.

  “I guess, we all drank too much,” Viviane suggested, holding her head.

  I pointed at her, or tried to, and called out, “Ha, you’re just looking for an excuse for flirting with the old guy on the table over there.” And the girls burst with roars of laughter and nodded in agreement.

  “Well thanks, that old guy is my age. And though it might come to you as a shock, we’re not too old to have needs.”

  “Needs, huh?” I asked while I wiped away some happy tears.

  “Uh, Viviane you beast, let out your needs!” Pauline exclaimed and we all cracked up again.

  “Oh, you silly cows, watch and learn!” With that she got up, ran a hand through her short hair so it was deliberately tousled in a come-back-to-bed kind of way, and walked away. Clad in a dark green dress that hugged her womanly curves she went over to the dark blond man sitting at a table on the other side of the room. Her hips swaying with all her fifty-four years of experience and the sweet, tempting hint of sex she was instant death to every man.

  “Yeah!” Pauline cheered her on, and I couldn’t hide a smile.

  We watched as Viviane reached the other table, leaned down and made the man laugh, who immediately motioned for the seat beside him.

  “What did she say to him?” Riva wanted to know, stunned.

  “No idea, but you can ask her tomorrow,” I replied.

  “Tomorrow? Why not later?” Riva asked, incredible innocence suddenly showing in a face of a grown woman. Since Riva came into existence less than a year ago just like Gabin, she sometimes reminded me of a child, loud and direct along the lines of ‘children and fools tell the truth’. She still had a lot to learn, and I sometimes forgot how much that really was.

  “Well, look at them. He’s her age. He has a beautiful voice and sings ‘La Mer’, one of her favorite songs. They like each other, and she has needs. You won’t see her again tonight.”

  Pauline’s head jerked up, and she looked at me suspiciously. “And exactly how do you happen to - hic - know that he has a beautiful voice and sings ‘La Mer’?”
/>   I smiled mischievously. “Remember the first time we came here, with Kylian and Chastel? Well, he,” I jerked a thumb towards the man currently in deep conversation with Viv, “had been on stage singing ‘La Mer’ at the time.”

  Pauline might have been drunk but she was clever, too, and immediately understood what exactly I was saying. Eyes narrowing but still grinning, she demanded, “Did you play cupid? Did you deliberately provoke her?”

  I shrugged. “I just nudged her into a direction she’d have loved to go anyway. Look at her. She’s laughing, drinking and flirting. She’s happy.”

  Pauline shrugged. “Yeah, and at least one of us might get laid tonight.”

  Riva got slowly up, obviously not quite trusting her legs. “Well, I guess I’ll go home. I’m feeling funny.”

  “Are you sure? You could crash at our place or we could call a taxi for you,” I asked her, worry stabbing through the drunken haze.

  “I’ll be fine. It was a great evening.” And I really hoped she wouldn’t have any problems remembering it in the morning.

  I picked up a bottle of tequila, one amongst others. “Wait, Riva. Last one. I would really like us to do this again sometime soon, by the way.” I filled our glasses once again with that intoxicating, sweetly burning booze and took mine. “So ladies, here’s to Pauline and a great evening!”

  “Thank you girls, all of you - hic - for coming.” Pauline managed to get out. We clinked our glasses and downed them. Then we kissed Riva good-bye and I refilled Pauline’s glass and mine.

  After another tequila-flavored hour Pauline and I set out on our long, long way home. A dark cover of clouds had settled over the city and with it an eerie calm. It was dark and cold and a little foggy. Leaning onto each other, we were singing drunkenly but whole-heartedly ‘If it makes you happy’, when Pauline suddenly stopped. “Do you believe those words?”

  My brain needed a few moments to understand what she was talking about. The song. “If it makes you happy it can’t be that bad? Sometimes it’s true, I guess. It depends on the situation. Why?”