Page 53 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

Abril glanced up from her computer monitor to her office door when a soft knock sounded.

“Come in,” she called and waited to see who it would be. So far she’d had visits from Crispin’s aunt Eshe, who was married

to his uncle Armand Argeneau, his cousin Nick’s wife, Jo, and a brief one with his aunt Basha... or was Basha a cousin

too? Abril couldn’t remember. It was hard to keep everything straight when you suddenly had your boyfriend’s family unexpectedly

thrust at you.

Did I just call Crispin my boyfriend? she thought with alarm. They hadn’t agreed to be boyfriend/girlfriend. Maybe she shouldn’t presume—

“Oh, hi!” She smiled enthusiastically when Crispin slipped into her office.

“Hi,” he greeted her with a grin as he walked around her desk, only to pause and bend to pet Lilith when the pup got to her feet and demanded attention from him by nuzzling his knees.

Abril chuckled at the dog’s eager antics. She was happy to see her up and about and acting like her old self after that drugging

business courtesy of Diane Foley. The vet Lucian had sent for had driven down, arriving just minutes after the backup that

had flown in had arrived in the SUVs they’d rented on landing. Valorie Moyer-Andronnikov was her name, and she was Anders’s

wife. She’d been kind and soothing as she’d examined Lilith, and then had assured Abril that the pup would be fine. She had been drugged and just needed to sleep it off.

Abril had been grateful to hear it, but had also actually felt bad that the woman had driven all the way down here in the

end, since by that time they’d already known Diane had drugged the pup from the men reading her mind. Still, it had made her

feel better to hear the drug wouldn’t harm the Labrador.

Watching Crispin giving the dog some lovin’, she smiled crookedly and asked, “Is it bad that I feel jealous that she’s getting

all the affection right now?”

Crispin glanced up with surprise and then amusement curving his lips, he straightened. “I do not think so. But maybe that

is just because I have been jealous all day that Lilith got to stay in here with you while I was stuck in the kitchen with

Cassius, guarding Bloody Mary out there.”

“Bloody Mary?” Eyebrows rising, she stood and walked around her desk to greet him properly.

“Bitey Betty?” he suggested.

“Oh, that’s awful,” Abril assured him as she urged Lilith aside so that she could get close enough to wrap her arms around him.

“Hmm,” he murmured, sliding his arms around her too. “It is pretty bad. But Diane is not a name that goes well with words that call murder to mind.”

Abril considered it briefly and then shook her head. “The only thing I can come up with is Diane the Death Bringer, or—Oh!

Dracula Diane.” She frowned slightly and then said, “For some reason that reminds me of a song I heard once.” Shrugging, she

lifted her face to his and asked, “Were you planning on kissing me? Or am I out of luck?”

“Sadly, you are out of luck,” he said solemnly, “Because while there is nothing else in the world that I would rather do than

kiss you right now, that would lead to us doing other amazing and delightful things that leave us in a sweaty, naked heap

on your office floor.”

“I’d be all right with that,” Abril said a little breathlessly, her body already responding to his nearness.

“I would too,” he assured her. “However, Lucian would not, since he actually sent me in here to get you. He and the boys are

leaving, and he wants to talk to you first.”

Abril couldn’t hide her surprise. “They’re leaving already?”

“Just he, Decker, Bricker, and Anders. They’re taking Diane back to Toronto to stand before council.”

“That leaves Cassius, your uncle Armand and his wife, Eshe, your cousin Nick and his wife, Jo, and...”

“Basha and Marcus,” he finished for her when she hesitated, not wanting to get it wrong and call her an aunt if she was a cousin, or vice versa.

Of course, Crispin didn’t know that, she acknowledged as he told her, “They will still be around for a couple days. Your neighbor Kim and her family are all set and taken care of, but there were apparently ten people chained up in Diane’s basement and more than half are in very bad shape, physically as well as mentally.

It is going to take a little time to sort them out.

” He paused briefly and then added, “Unfortunately, your boss’s boyfriend, William, is one of them. ”

Abril nodded. She felt bad for the victims in Diane’s basement and could only imagine what they’d been through, but asked,

“How were Kim and her family taken care of exactly?”

“Their minds were wiped and new, more pleasant memories of a couple of days of family time were put in their place,” he explained

reassuringly. “They have only been under Diane’s influence since the excavator supposedly broke down. She did not have the

time to torment them like she did the victims in her basement. She was too busy watching the goings on over here and trying

to break in, so less effort was needed with them. They are all good now.”

Abril nodded and then asked, “And William and the others? How bad off are they?”

Crispin hesitated and then admitted, “They are in much worse shape. Although,” he added quickly when her shoulders slumped,

“there is some hope that they will all survive. Or at least most of them will.”

Her mouth tightened at this news. Diane Foley was responsible for a hell of a lot of misery and death.

But there was nothing to be done about that now except pick up the pieces.

Swallowing, she asked, “And then what? I assume you erase their memories as well. Does that mean William won’t recall where he was, or why he’s been missing for two weeks?

How do you explain things to them? And what about their families and friends?

Can you put thoughts in their mind? What—? ”

“All of them will be given new memories that will cover for where they have been since they went missing from their lives.”

“What kind of story can possibly cover William disappearing for two weeks? You aren’t going to erase Gina from his memory,

are you?” She frowned at the very thought. Gina really cared for William and was suffering from what they’d all thought was

his sudden abandonment of her.

“No. Of course not,” Crispin said reassuringly. “As for how to explain his absence, they will probably move his car to a parking

lot, take him to one of the hospitals in the city, and put the memory in his and the hospital staff’s minds that he was hit

by a car while walking from his vehicle to the store to buy lottery tickets or something. That he’s been unconscious, had

no ID, so the hospital staff had no way of contacting family or anyone until he woke up to tell them who he was and who to

call.” He shrugged. “Something like that.”

Abril let her breath out slowly and then murmured, “Milk.”

Crispin blinked in confusion. “Milk?”

“That’s what he left to get the day he disappeared,” she explained. “He was running out to get almond milk for his coffee.

He’s allergic to dairy and Gina had run out of the almond milk.”

“Right. Good to know. I’ll tell Lucian that so he can pass it on to whoever does the hospital transfer.”

Abril nodded, but briefly wondered how Gina would handle his sudden reappearance. She’d no doubt be happy as hell, but then

probably be determined to put the equivalent of a dog tag on him so that something like this couldn’t happen again. A gold

dog tag, of course, engraved with his name, and her number to call in case of an emergency.

“Come on,” Crispin said abruptly, urging her toward the door. “Lucian is not the most patient of men.”

“Really?” she asked with dry amusement, but dragged her feet. “What does he want to talk to me about?”

“I presume he just wants to say goodbye and thank you for your hospitality while he and the boys were—”

Abril’s lips widened with amusement when he stopped. “You can’t even speak the lie, can you?”

“No,” he admitted on a sigh. “I have no idea what he wants. I cannot read him. But he will probably be a pain in the ass and

rude.”

“Something to look forward to then,” Abril said sarcastically as she opened the office door.

Lucian was seated at the island when Abril and Crispin entered the kitchen. But Diane was no longer in the seat she’d been

in since they’d captured her the night before. Roberts now sat there, and Diane now stood between Bricker and Decker who each

had her by an arm. She looked as salty as could be and actually glared at her when she entered, as if the situation she found

herself in was somehow Abril’s fault.

Frankly, Abril didn’t care what the woman thought or felt.

She would just be relieved to see the back of her.

She hadn’t managed to sleep a wink last night knowing the woman was here in the house, guarded or not.

She was just so damned cold and evil. So, Abril ignored Diane and focused on Lucian instead.

“I hear you and the boys are leaving,” she commented.

“Yes. We have to take Mrs. Foley before the council for judgment. It is best to deal with it quickly.”

“What will happen to her?” she asked with curiosity.

“As I said, she will go before the council,” he repeated, and when she scowled at him impatiently, he rolled his eyes and

added, “Then she will no doubt be staked and baked.”

“Staked and baked?” Abril asked incredulously. She had no idea what that meant, but suspected it was not good.

“She will be executed,” Crispin said solemnly, not bothering to explain the actual way it would happen, or what staked and

baked meant exactly.

Abril suspected she didn’t want to know. It was enough that the woman would be eliminated. She had never been a big advocate

of death sentences, but then this was the first time she’d encountered someone who was so evil and had killed so many people

over the last twenty years.

Biting her tongue, she stepped out of the way when a gesture from Lucian had Decker and Bricker escorting Diane from the kitchen.