The Marradith Ryder Series—The Art of Shadows, Part 12
“You’ve got to tell me one day, exactly why it is you hate Fiona. I know that you weren’t happy about her getting with Will, but it seems like you were angry with her before that,” Marradith said.
Daria and Marradith were sitting in a limousine, waiting to start the second part of their trip. This was something Marradith had wanted to ask about for some time. There had been too much security staff on the jet with them that morning to speak openly.
One thing Marradith was learning quickly; there was no telling who was tied to whom within the Sojourners, and what alliances or disputes existed between people.
Daria smiled. “You’re right . Just to be real with you, Fiona’s a slut. Around her, any man that can stand upright is fair game. Secondly, I almost didn’t become a Sojourner because of her. If it hadn’t been for Justin, they weren’t going to let me in.”
“Why?”
“Fiona made some excuse about me not having the character for it.”
“Well…. What does that mean?”
“It’s a bullshit excuse that really means, ‘I don’t like that bitch’ . Well, after that, me getting into a fight with her didn’t help.”
“You didn’t…!”
“Oh yes I did. I guarantee that woman’s got a scar from me somewhere. Anyway. Part of the reason Justin and I are so tight is because he did stand up for me to the higher ups. Do you know what happens, Ryder, if you start the process and they decide you’re not Sojourner material?”
“I… that never occurred to me.”
“Well, I am sure Justin wouldn’t have wanted to stress it to you. Seeing as you made it through already, you might as well know. They kill you.”
Marradith sighed. “Um, yeah. He didn’t mention that. I think we’re gonna have a talk about that when I get home.”
Daria laughed. “Go easy on him. We all knew you’d be fine.”
“Anyway. Back to Fiona!” Marradith said.” I was shocked to find out she was having an affair with Will right under her husband’s nose, but, things happen. And I’ve never seen that much affection between her and Rafael.”
“Notice I didn’t go telling you upfront what my beef with her was,” Daria said. “You have to see how she is for yourself, Marradith. ShapeShifters in general, are funky people. It’s not just that they change the way they look. They change the way that they are.”
Their flow of conversation was cut off when Fiona opened the door of the limousine and slipped in across from them.
***
“I hope you both got good sleep last night,” Fiona said.
The two girls looked like they’d been caught with their hands in a cookie jar.
Fiona had told them that she’d meet them in New York, but they probably expected to see her at their hotel. She had flown in on another plane.
Fiona hadn’t heard what they were talking about, but had the feeling she was the topic of conversation.
“So what’s on schedule for today?” Marradith asked.
Daria rolled her eyes and picked at her fingernails.
“We’re going to the Abbott Arms,” Fiona said. “I want you to do a walk through of the room. See what traces of energy you can pick up there, the way you did that day we went to Jenny Winslow’s house.”
“I’m not sure I can duplicate that again,” Marradith said.
“I know. But I’d like you to try.”
“Fiona,” Daria said. “The night that I went to Rafael and found that ShapeShifter there - can you think of any reason someone pretended to be him?”
“No,” Fiona replied. “Why?”
“I have been thinking about it,” Daria said. “Justin and I talked about it, too. If this person intended on leaving New York and going back to Colorado with me, maybe they wanted to infiltrate Ryder House.”
“That’s a possibility,” Marradith said.
“What I am really wondering,” Daria said, “is if Rafael was really the person these people are after. Could there be anyone out there that might have it in for you, Fiona?”
*****
Fiona felt her blood pressure rising.
Daria always managed to get her riled.
Looking at Daria and Marradith together, Fiona reminded herself that both girls were young enough to be her daughters. She should treat them as such.
“We don’t have enough information to make that kind of assumption yet,” Fiona said.
“Well, we need theories,” Daria replied. “Rafael has to be the priority.”
“He is….”
“Stop!” Marradith cried.
“What?” Fiona said.
“Not you,” Marradith said, reaching past her to pound on the partition that separated the interior of the car from the driver. The driver opened it and glared at her.
“Please, stop and take us back to that spot where we were before. Before you made that last right hand turn.”
*****
Marradith was out of the car as soon as it stopped.
Fiona and Daria trailed behind.
“What’s she doing….?” Daria sighed.
“Hush just this once,” Fiona hissed.
Marradith crossed the street, hands shoved into her pockets. A patch of green grass came into view as she walked up an incline. Just ahead was the entrance to a neighborhood park. Forgeting about her companions, she broke into a run.
When the other two women caught up, they saw Marradith standing beside a tree, with her hand over her mouth.
Fiona reached her first.
Marradith had stopped inches short of where the body lay.
The corpse was hidden by the shade and a ragged crop of shrubs. The smell of death made Marradith step backwards.
Fiona didn’t want to look. “Marradith, is it…?”
“No,” Marradith said quickly. She didn’t dare touch the body. But she noticed a small tattoo on the back of the man’s neck. “Fi, this isn’t anybody we know.”
“Shit,” Daria whispered, looking around to see if anyone noticed them. “Well what are we going to do with him?”
“I don’t know,” Marradith said. “But this guy…. he was killed by a Wolf.”
_______________
©2010 Lori Titus
For more about this author and her imagination, see her blog:
http://loribeth215.wordpress.com/
