Going over to him, Ant crouched beside his service dog, running his hand along Able’s shoulders, as he tried to work out what his companion had found. The German shepherd leaned into the touch briefly, then returned his attention to the wall, hackles raised.
“What’s he sensing?” Viktor moved to stand between Ant and the rest of the room, positioning himself as a physical barrier out of pure instinct.
“I think it’s just the ambient magic here. It’s really bothering him.” Ant stood, brushing rug fibers from his knees. The wards around the estate were so old that it was as if they’d become a thick blanket pressing against his magical senses.
“That doesn’t make sense.” Ant could understand Viktor’s confusion. “Able is around your magic all the time and accompanies you to the Academy. You can feel the magic from that place before you even get in the building, and that’s without the wards around our house.”
“But none of that magic is blood magic, dark magic, or whatever else is in the walls here.” Ant tried to think of how to explain. “The residual energy here is extremely chaotic. Traumatic events have saturated the soil and structure over decades, possibly centuries. For Able, it likely manifests as a sensory assault similar to what I experience when I conduct a reading, except it’s constant rather than triggered by touch. To be honest, it’s not something that’s come up in any of the readings I’ve done before now.”
Viktor’s expression darkened. “Yes, well, you’re right about the traumatic events around this place. Claudius used to thrive on them, and I doubt that’s changed. He’s never been particular about where he feeds, and he sure as hell doesn’t care what happens to any bodies he might leave after he’s done. That’s why I don’t understand why we’re here in the first place.”
“Perhaps because Ronald Finch was someone a person would miss.” Ant wasn’t bothered by Viktor’s harsh words, even though he knew from an academic perspective that other people might be upset by his mate’s blunt nature. He simply filed the information away as relevant context for understanding Claudius’s psychological profile.
“That would explain the density of the dark energies, however,” Ant added. They were impacting him almost as much as they did Able. He moved toward the bedroom they’d been allocated. Everything appeared clean, but the room still carried that faint musty smell that suggested the room was rarely used. “No one’s stayed in these rooms recently.”
“The east wing’s for people Claudius doesn’t trust.” Viktor followed him into the bedroom, immediately checking the windows and testing the latches. “It’s far enough from the main bedroom areas used by residents, easy to seal off if something goes wrong, and far enough from the perimeter wards that if someone tries to run, Claudius would be alerted before they reach the tree line.”
“Then it makes sense that he’s put us here.” Ant set his bag on the bed and began unpacking, putting his toiletries in the bathroom and his changes of clothes in the wardrobe. He left his mobile phone on the nightstand, noting that it had no signal bars at all.That will make keeping in touch with Bridget difficult,but Ant put that out of his mind for now. Doing simple things like unpacking his bag helped calm his nerves.
“Do you believe Claudius views us as potential threats, or simply nuisances?”
“Oh, he sees us as a threat, that’s for damn sure.” Viktor’s voice was tight. “His first words to me were insulting. He ignored you completely until you spoke up. He then tried to belittle you, causing you to repeat your credentials as if the asshole was hard of hearing, and then, when he couldn’t control you, he went back to provoking me instead. You should’ve just let me turn him into a pretzel.”
Ant paused in his unpacking, looking over at his mate. Viktor’s shoulders were rigid, his hands were flexing open and closed at his sides, and through their bond, Ant could feel the lingering fury still simmering.
“I think I understand why you’re upset,” Ant said carefully, “but Claudius’s behavior was simply posturing, which you’d already predicted he would do. The way I see it, he’s operating from a position of insecurity.”
Viktor turned from the window, eyebrows raised. “Insecurity? Babe, he runs this entire territory. He’s got money, power, and enough vampires loyal to him that he could wage war if he wanted to.”
“Yes, but he also just had a human forensic accountant murdered in his home, and now the Justiciary has sent a high-level mage and his super-powerful vampire mate to investigate.” Ant moved to stand in front of Viktor, deliberately making eye contact. “Claudius is worried. His greeting was designed to establish dominance and test our boundaries because he’s uncertain whether we represent a genuine threat to his operation. When both you and I refused to be intimidated, he lost that psychological advantage.”
Some of the tension eased from Viktor’s posture. “You did make him look like an ass in front of his own guards.”
“I corrected his factually inaccurate assumptions about my professional role,” Ant said. “If that embarrassed him, the fault lies with his decision to make those assumptions in the first place.”
Viktor’s mouth twitched, the first hint of a smile breaking through his anger. “That’s my mate. Logical even when rabid vampires are trying to play head games.”
“His attempts at manipulation were transparent.” Ant reached out and took Viktor’s hand, feeling the immediate rush of information that came with skin contact. “You’re still afraid Claudius will hurt me.”
Viktor’s fingers tightened around Ant’s. “He’s going to try. Maybe not physically, but he’ll test you. Pushing boundaries is his standard MO and if he thinks he can get away with it…” Viktor’s eyes flashed red. “I won’t let him.”
“I know.” Ant squeezed Viktor’s hand. “But we’re not defenseless, and surely Claudius is intelligent enough to recognize that attempting to harm a Justiciary investigator would have severe legal consequences. He’ll posture and intimidate, but he won’t act unless he’s desperate.”
“And if he gets desperate?”
“Then I’ll defend myself accordingly, and I imagine you will, too.” Ant tugged Viktor toward the bed. “But right now, the most pressing issue isn’t Claudius’s ego. The issue is the ambient magic saturating this estate. I wanted to conduct the scene reading within the hour, which means I need to be centered first. Otherwise, the sensory overload from the chaotic energies will interfere with my ability to focus on Ronald Finch’s specific energies.”
Viktor sat on the edge of the bed, pulling Ant to stand between his knees. “What do you need?”
Ant hesitated. For him, the ambient magic was like standing in a room filled with dozens of overlapping conversations, each one pulling his attention in a different direction. With the way his brain was wired, he struggled to filter the noise, to separate relevant information from the background chaos. Usually, Able’s presence was enough to keep him grounded. But here, even Able was struggling, and that made things even more difficult for Ant.
“I realize this is going to sound strange, especially given our current location, but I need you to help me block out the external stimuli,” Ant said finally. “Physical intimacy creates a strong enough sensory anchor that should override the ambient interference.”
“Hang on a minute, while I work out what that academic word salad meant.” Viktor’s expression morphed from stress to something far more intense. “Correct me if I’m wrong, butdid you want me to fuck the anxiety out of you before you go investigate a murder scene?”
“That’s an inelegant but essentially accurate summary, yes.”
“Babe, you know I’m always happy to help, although I’d rather make love to your sexy body in broad daylight, in a cemetery right next to a church, just as Sunday services are finished, than here.” Viktor’s hands settled on Ant’s hips, thumbs rubbing small circles against the fabric of his pants. “But are you sure? This place is hostile with a capitalH, and if Claudius sends someone to check on us…”
