Page 23 of The Mermaid’s Bubble Lounge (Sam Quinn #8)

TWENTY-THREE

Emerging Patterns

Clive first told them what a pooka was, how it had posed as Clive in order to attack me, how it had been a cat outside our house before shifting to the likeness of our friend.

Vlad cut in to explain that he’d conducted the investigation in Bucharest and had never found a vampire trail at any of those killings either.

Clive pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the video. “Before we begin, remember that the killer, who I believe was the cat I saw on the roof, had seen all three of us investigating the first murder. Notice all the details he gets wrong with Vlad’s appearance.” Clive hit play.

I knew it had ended when all eyes swung to Vlad.

Ahmed gestured to the side of Vlad’s face. “The scars are missing.”

Vlad nodded.

“The height is wrong,” Clive added, “and the hair is a couple of inches too long. The killer saw Vlad from a rooftop while Vlad was turned to the side, talking with Cadmael.”

“This fae thing,” Adaeze began, “can look like anyone?”

“Why are you believing this ridiculous story?” Pablo spat.

Joao’s beautiful face darkened in a momentary display of disgust before it cleared again.

I had no idea how these two worked together.

“Because this makes sense,” he said. “Far more than a phantom uprising of vampires wanting to return to the days of vampire hunters sneaking into our daytime resting places to stake us while seizing our fortunes. I, too, was involved in the investigation in Rio. Other than the way in which the humans were killed, there was no evidence that a vampire was involved.”

Joao pointed at Clive’s now dark screen.

“We cannot drain a victim that quickly and no one vampire, even in the throes of blood lust, would entirely drain a victim. We simply can’t hold that much blood.

It’s ludicrous and why previous investigations assumed it had to be a group of vampires working together. ”

“But why does it pretend to be one of us?” Adaeze asked, looking at Ahmed and then Cadmael. “Is this retaliation for Budapest? You said the fae prince possessing our people was killed. Were these things in league with him?”

Ahmed shook his head and then looked at the others, who wore equally confused expressions. “The killings started before the Budapest meeting.”

“Have any of us encroached on fae land?” Joao asked. “I know Sebastian isn’t here to ask anymore,” he said, looking at Vlad, “but had you heard about Underhill being compromised by any of us?”

Sebastian had been the other European Counselor and one of those killed in Budapest. As an English vampire, he oversaw the UK, which was where many fae strongholds were. The fae could be and were anywhere in our realm, but historically there was a larger number in the British Isles.

Maybe that’s not it at all, I said to Clive. You guys only care about vampires, but is the same thing happening in cities where a different supernatural being is in leadership? In werewolf-run cities, are victims being found mauled to death? We need to ask Bracken.

Do you mind if I do it now? I think it would be better if they were involved.

No. Go ahead.

“In the interest of transparency,” Clive said to the room, “my wife’s great-uncle is a supernatural historian.

If you’d be amenable, I can call and ask some of these questions.

It occurs to me that this may be happening to other groups, not just us, but since we aren’t paying attention, we haven’t noticed. ”

Vlad raised his eyebrows in response. I was pretty sure the little shit knew I was in Clive’s mind, chatting with him.

The other vampires glanced at one another. Finally, Adaeze said, “Yes. See what he might know.”

Clive scrolled through his contacts and tapped on Bracken.

How do you even have that?

I thought it would come in handy, and look, it did.

Smartass.

It rang once and then we heard, “Hello?”

Clive didn’t bother tapping on the speakerphone. Everyone could hear perfectly well without that. “Good evening. This is Clive, Sam’s husband. I remembered you saying you worked at night, so I hope I haven’t woken you.”

“No. Not at all,” Bracken said, his voice brightening with interest.

“Good. I think it only right to tell you that I’m meeting with others of my kind right now and that they can all hear you.”

Pablo looked pissed that Clive was telling someone they were there. Adaeze and Ahmed were staring at the phone, but both gave a slight nod, clearly agreeing it was right to inform him.

“Are you agreeable to this discussion?” Clive asked. “Or would you prefer not to speak with us?”

“How interesting. Am I allowed to know who’s with you?”

Pablo threw an arm out in a slashing gesture. Vlad rolled his eyes at the display.

“I’m sorry,” Clive responded, “but I’m afraid that’s impossible. Would you mind explaining to those assembled about the pooka? I’m not sure my description was complete.”

“Of course, though the information on them is limited.”

Meri says they’re like the boogeyman to the fae.

“I can see how that would be,” Clive responded smoothly. “One of our fae friends told us that even amongst the fae, pookas are seen as a type of boogeyman.”

“Yes,” Bracken said. “Oh my goodness, that is exactly right, so trying to get concrete facts has been quite difficult. I spoke with a relative’s selkie guard.

He was willing to shift and give me what info he had.

He confirmed that at one point there were three pookas loose in this realm.

Members of the queen’s guard were sent to return them to Faerie. ”

Not to kill them?

“They weren’t asked to hunt them, merely to return them?” Clive asked for me.

“Oh, heavens no,” Bracken said. “The queen loves and protects all her people. She would never punish them for their nature. They love nothing so much as chaos. Sometimes it’s good chaos and sometimes it’s bad.”

Ask about the feeding on emotions thing Meri said.

“Is it true that pookas feed on the strong emotions their chaos creates?”

We heard scribbling over the phone. “That has always been my theory, but I have yet to find someone to confirm it. There has to be a reason, don’t you see?” More scribbling. “This is very exciting. You know a member of the fae who confirmed this idea?”

“Yes,” Clive said.

“Marvelous,” Bracken murmured while he continued to write a note.

“This person is the daughter of a merman,” Clive said, causing Joao’s eyebrows to raise. “She said a lot of what they think they know about pookas is mixed up with cautionary tales about behaving or the pooka will get you.”

“Yes. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Bracken asked, his words coming fast in his excitement. “You used the term boogeyman and it’s a good one. Even the fae are frightened of the pooka. Chaos lacks reason, logic, empathy. One can’t prepare for a pooka. One must only deal with the aftermath.”

“We have a question,” Clive told him. “We’ve been focusing on killings in cities around the world that appear to be the work of our people, but we’re wondering if there have been similarly unexplained killings in cities led by other supernatural groups.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” he mumbled, with the sound of pages flipping in the background.

“We’ve had the same thought. I’ve only just started, but I’ve found a few.

Lake Okeechobee in Florida is panther country.

About twelve years ago, there was a series of hiker maulings.

The local claw investigated and found nothing.

They said that not only was there no scent of a panther, there was no scent of anything other than the victim. ”

Vlad nodded.

“Yes,” Clive said. “The same is true of our current killings. We didn’t pick up on any scent other than the victim.”

Vlad tapped Clive’s arm.

“Oh, and a very faint smell of cat, which we believe is one of the pooka’s default forms. There are also many feral cats around the wharf because of the fishing boats and fish mongers.”

“Interesting,” Bracken mumbled, scribbling.

“There are cats all over the world. I wonder if it has become his custom to wear that form, as it makes him easy to overlook. Hmm.” He turned a page.

“Here’s another. Newfoundland is run by the wolves.

The local pack investigated a string of hunters being killed by wolves thirty years ago.

For a while, they assumed it had to be the natural wolves, but the violence of the killings was out of character for natural wolves.

The point seemed to be the killing. Wolves, either natural or shifter, would eat the choicest pieces of the victims. They wouldn’t slash and bite just to inflict pain and bloodshed, leaving the good meat to rot.

It made no sense and again, they didn’t find any strong scents that led them anywhere.

“Much like your cat scent, they caught the trail of a natural wolf pack, but it was an old one. They hadn’t traveled the area where the hunters were found for weeks. The killings went on for less than a week and then they stopped.”

Bracken flipped anther page. “I’m not sure if this next one fits. They aren’t the ruling supernatural in a city, but I believe it’s connected. In the Amazonian Rainforest, there is a shadow of black jaguar shifters. They’ve ruled the area for generations.”

Joao nodded, though he looked uncomfortable.

“There were some workmen surveying the rainforest for a logging company. Three of them were lost and later found mauled to death. It caused quite a scene. There was a lot of money involved in the deal and a great many protestors demonstrating against the deforestation when the bodies were finally brought out. There was an investigation, but it was hushed up. The government didn’t want other companies to stop their negotiations. ”

Again, Joao nodded.

“The odd thing,” Bracken continued, “is that the daughter of the—well, they don’t use terms like Alpha for Jaguars.

He was sometimes referred to as the Rei—the little daughter of the Rei disappeared.

They never found her body. There was some talk about it being vampires—there had been increased tensions between the groups, mostly to do with the vampires making money off the loss of the jaguars’ habitat.

Anyway, the vampires denied any involvement, but the jaguars never believed them.

I could be wrong, but the strange chaos amongst humans, vampires, and shifters feels very much like the work of a pooka. ”

Joao’s brow was furrowed as he scratched his cheek.

Ask about the stolen black jaguar! Russell and Audrey found a female who had been imprisoned by a vampire. George, Owen, and Alec are taking care of her, hoping she’ll eventually shift and tell them who she is and where she belongs.

Bracken flipped another page. “In 1902, in Sowa, Botswana, there was a string of villagers being dragged from their huts in the early hours of the morning. Their bodies were later found a little way away from the village. Their bodies were covered in huge bites and claw marks. Everyone assumed the lions were hunting men.”

Adaeze nodded, her eyes narrowed.

“That area, though, is ruled by lion shifters. The Pride Male swore it wasn’t them. They couldn’t find a scent trail and had no idea who was doing the killings. He ended up moving the pride a few kilometers away to avoid the human hunters who were encroaching on their territory.

“As I said, I’ve only begun the research. I’m still scanning the indices to my journals for similar events. I’m sure there will be more. And these are just the cases I had notes on. I think it’s safe to say that there are plenty of other incidents I haven’t yet heard of or researched.”

“Unfortunately,” Clive said, “I believe you’re correct. Can I ask, though, about the daughter of the Rei that they believe was stolen?”

Bracken flipped a few pages. “Yes, of course. What’s your question?”

“When did this happen?”

“Oh, let’s see. It was twenty-two years ago. The little one was three or four years old at the time. There were some conflicting reports.”

Do jaguars start shifting that young?

“Excuse my ignorance,” Clive said, “but when do jaguar shifters begin shifting? Was she a child or a cub when she disappeared?”

Bracken paused. “That’s an excellent question and one I’m sorry to say I didn’t ask.

Different shifting breeds begin at different times.

Some shift for the first time in the cradle.

Some wait until adolescence of the human side.

As I recall, jungle cats begin shifting quite early.

I can ask people who know to get specifics on jaguars. ”

He gave a soft chuckle. “I have an excellent memory, but I’m afraid there are a fair few facts rattling around up there. My gut response is that they begin shifting as toddlers, so around the time the little girl disappeared. As I said, though, I can find an answer that’s better than my gut.”

What’s her name?

“One more thing,” Clive began. “Do you by any chance have her name?”

There was a pause. “I do. It’s Rafaela. I must ask, though, because these questions lead me to believe you know something about her. Her family is still desperate to find her. They haven’t given up hope and regularly scour the rainforest, looking for a clue as to what happened to her.”

I can feel your heart racing, darling, but this is a tricky situation. She was found with a vampire. We could inadvertently start a war if we tell them we know where their stolen daughter is.

Clive.

I know. Let me do this diplomatically.