Chapter 24

Cassie woke up feeling warm and content. The sun shining in through the crack in the curtains was higher than it should have been. She'd thought Dr. Jones would have woken her by now. As she became aware of herself and her surroundings she figured out why she was warm, it was due only in part to the blanket clamped under her arm. The other part being due to the body tucked up behind her and arm thrown loosely over her waist. With an embarrassed flush she could tell he had lost his towel some time in the night. Enjoying the closeness, she closed her eyes again and pretended to sleep a little while longer.

Waking sometime in the morning hours, Drew felt Cassie's petite body shift against him and he knew by listening to her breathing that she was awake. He continued to lie touching her, part of him wanted to lean down and kiss the nape of her neck to see what she would do but he didn't want to risk losing what he had.

Feeling her body accept and curl into him, seeing her olive skin against his whiter skin yet untinted by the summer sun brought him back to the last time he'd lain with her. Drew wished he could see her face, it was easier to tell what she was thinking. Although there were times when even then she was closed to him. It occurred to him those were the times when her defenses as she called them, were up.

When the clock glowed nine forty-seven there was a knock at the door. Cassie jumped up, rushing to open it for the Doctor before she woke Drew. Running a hand over the dark, glossy hair she'd gotten from her father's side, she was grateful for it's thick texture that prevented it from getting too wild, regardless of how she slept.

"May I come in?" Dr. Jones took in Cassie's attire and raised an eyebrow. "Or should I come back?" Both eyes went wide and her focus shifted to somewhere behind Cassie.

Turning she saw that Drew had come to stand in the doorway. His towel was wrapped securely about his waist, arms crossed over his chest. She swallowed and pretended to be unaffected by the sight.

"Here, I found these on your doorstep." The doctor held up a bag. The clear plastic afforded a clear view of Drew's neatly folded clothes within. "Why don't you go put them on?" She ordered flatly and tossed the bag he caught easily. All amusement had fled her features.

While he was dressing in the bathroom, Cassie took control of the conversation, directing it away from the discomfort her charge's unusual sleeping attire caused. "How's Brandon? Has there been a change?"

Letting the awkward moment pass, Dr. Jones turned her attention back to the young woman in front of her. "Yes, he's growing more agitated." A flash of her disturbance leaked through and Cassie's insides flipped. "The one who's bound him is coming."

Drew stepped out of the bathroom in his jeans, his shirt still in his hands, forgotten in his eagerness to hear her update face to face. "He's moving? Is he talking?"

Dr. Jones' experience did not make these sorts of things any easier. "No, he isn't talking, not clearly. It's mostly tossing and muttering although I can't make out anything of any importance." She turned back to Cassie. "I've heard from Research. Revelation has been mentioned in three police reports. Cocaine related deaths are up however, and a number of those follow a line from Tampa to Jacksonville all in the last year. We're thinking those are ours as well. Eight of the cases we're investigating involved suspected overdoses and the deaths of three drug dealers." Her gaze flashed up to Drew. "One was not long after the incident two nights ago behind your club. Four ounces of Revelation measured and marked were found on the bodies."

"Pritchard is killing drug dealers? Why?" He ran a hand through his hair, it hadn't fared the night as well as Cassie's.

"There's more." The doctor added quietly. "The other dealer was found dead inside his apartment in Gainesville three days ago. His body was set on fire in the bathtub. There was too much damage to tell the cause of death but no smoke in the lungs. He was dead before the fire was set."

"Pritchard wasn't in Gainesville three days ago." Drew shook his head, creases in his forehead. "He was here. He came to the club."

"Yes, but Brandon was in Gainesville three days ago." Dr. Jones extracted a piece of paper from her pocket. "I found this receipt in his pocket. He parked in a ramp a few blocks from the dead man's building. The time on the receipt is less than an hour before 911 got the call about the fire."

Faced with indisputable evidence that his brother was a killer, Drew felt his world collapsing. He had relied on Brandon to take care of him, placing him in this position allowing Terry Pritchard to get his claws in and put him up to this. Their parents were an accident, he'd convinced himself of that. After the accident that left them orphaned, Brandon had stopped practicing. He'd stopped using magick until Drew had gotten himself in trouble and he'd used it to turn things around. The timing was right, he knew he was right.

Whatever deal had been struck between Pritchard and his brother had led to this. And it had been Drew who had unknowingly forced his brother to make that deal. He was faced with the cold truth that his brother was a murderer. He was lying nearly dead in the next room, tied by deeds and who knew what else, to a megalomaniacal bastard all because of him. It echoed in his mind until it was all that he could hear. Without a word Drew spun on his heel and walked into the bedroom, emerging a few seconds later with his shoes and a stack of cash.

"Drew where are you going?"

He didn't answer, sliding his shoes on his feet and lacing them hurriedly, jaw firmly set.

Cassie was scared stiff. She was supposed to keep an eye on him and Julia had specifically told her to keep him here until they returned. Cassie was still on probation, new magickal stylings or no she had to toe the line and losing Drew was both personally and professionally out of the question.

"Drew, wait. I'm coming with you." Cassie ran into the bedroom coming out hopping one legged while she pulled shoes on, jeans shoved under one arm and her bra balled up in her fist.

He was nose to nose with the doctor who was guarding the door. Neither looked like they were going to give way. He spoke calmly and quietly to Cassie without breaking off from Dr. Jones. "I have to go alone. It's too dangerous for you."

"That's why I have to go. It's dangerous. You're my responsibility Drew."

That brought his head around. Eyes narrowed, he spat furiously. "When are you going to get that I am not your problem? Look what happened to the last person who tried to save me! I will not let that happen again."

He turned back to the doctor and Cassie could feel it on her skin as he wielded his influence over her, his determination making him formidable. She steeled herself against it.

"Let me go." He commanded.

Dr. Jones wavered. Cassie could see that she was drained from a night of caring for Brandon and not up to a face off. Shadows under her eyes and exhaustion paled skin spoke of a night spent working and using up her reserves caring for her patient. Raw as he was, Drew had the advantage.

"Move Doctor or I will move you." Drew's eye twitched, he was unused to this amount of power running through him. If he wasn't careful he was going to fry himself. It was one of the main reasons Veritas had the Academy for any who showed a strong ability whether they went on to work for the organization or not. To be untrained was dangerous for the individual as well as those around him.

One too many uncontrolled witches had brought on both the Enlightenment as well as the Dark Ages. Veritas had been relentless in their pursuit and education of magickal practitioners the world over since the Inquisition as a matter of self-preservation. And here was Cassie on her first solo assignment ready to go rogue with an untrained witch capable of massive destruction and an incredible potential for collateral damage.

Seeing it as the only reasonable solution, Cassie stepped up beside Drew and pulled rank on the doctor. Investigators, even juniors like her, could command a healer. The procedure dated back to the days when military might ruled supreme. "Dr. Jones, I order you to stand aside. I am hereby taking responsibility for this man and I alone will answer for his actions."

The doctor watched her for two heartbeats. Drew wisely kept his mouth shut seeing this as the path of least resistance, although Cassie could see the cording standing out on his arms, fists clenched tight at his sides. With no other option, the doctor stepped aside.

"Cassie please, wait until tonight. Julia and Quan will be here and you will be far more capable of facing this together than alone. Taking an untrained witch against one you know to be dangerous is against protocol." Her brown eyes were troubled, not angry as she pleaded with Cassie to listen to reason.

The pleading got under her skin and Cassie was wavering when she saw Drew pulling back his shoulders, getting ready for round two. It was her duty to protect him, even if it was from himself. The Directors would not accept ignorance as an excuse for using his magick on a healer. She intervened quickly, holding one hand chest high. "It's an order Doctor. Stand aside."

Unhappy and unable to do anything about it, Dr. Jones did as she was commanded. "You're being foolish." She told them as they went past her and opened the door. "You're both going to get yourselves killed and who knows how many more, and for what?" The doctor aimed her argument at Drew given that he was the driving force behind their defection. "To get your licks in against someone powerful enough to not only drain but bind a witch without ever having any formal training? This man is strong and he's unpredictable. Please," she held out a hand to Cassie. "Please think this through."

Cassie heard Grandmother's warning again, her visions overlapping in her mind. Drew was the man in the mask and she was powerless to control him. Her soul would suffer greatly, she could feel the blackness coming. Bringing her eyes to the doctor's Cassie sighed, feeling old. "This is my path. I have to follow it."

Drew was in the hall waiting to speak when she closed the door behind them.

Her blood was still up and she was in no mood to debate the issue. "You take me or you don't go."

The look in her eyes stopped him from protesting further. If push came to shove he wouldn't be able to beat her magick to magick. Grudgingly he had to admit that, with her he stood a better chance of surviving than without her.

They got in the elevator and Cassie stepped into her shoes, the rest had to wait. "Where did you plan on going first?"

"My place, I need some things." "Like what? A gun?"

A flicker of doubt glimmered in his eyes and he asked, less sure of himself. "That'll work, won't it?"

She gave him a small smile. "We aren't superheroes. Our bodies are the same as anyone else's." Her brow furrowed. "You just have to be careful about letting him know you have a gun. That's where it can get tricky with a witch."

"How's that?"

The doors opened and Cassie waved him out first.

Cassie shrugged one shoulder. "We still don't know what he can do, Chaotics are hard to figure. He might be able to convince you to shoot yourself or me for that matter." She headed for the front doors to hail a cab. "Maybe he can bend metal and the gun will blow up in your face, who knows." Out went her hand as a yellow car pulled up under the awning.

Drew waited next to her, wondering what the hell he was doing. He almost turned back, ready to wait for Cassie's partners. Then he saw his brother, not as he was upstairs. He saw Brandon on the ice, playing hockey at one of his last games before he'd quit. Brandon had been a god on the ice; he was unstoppable. Every stride, every time he caught a pass and maneuvered it past a guard to take a shot on the net he was sure of himself. That was the Brandon Drew was fighting for. The Brandon who had disappeared that night fourteen years ago, the one who had lost all of that when he'd been left saddled with a kid brother too scared to face the world. A kid who was too afraid to make decisions for himself. He'd waited for his brother to tell him what to do after that. That kid was gone and so was that self-assured brother. If Drew ever saw Brandon again he wanted it to be as equals. It was time for him to help Brandon for a change.

He shut the door of the cab and gave the driver his address, casting a glance over at Cassie. She nodded at him and sat back. He glimpsed the clock on the dash and eased back into the well-traveled leather seats. There was plenty of time for him to do what he needed to, the question was would he when the time came.