Woman King

CHAPTER 31

Aidan watched Olivia and William walk into the elevator. He waited until the doors closed before turning to speak with Elsa.

“Why do you think she doesn’t show up in any of the videos of the robbery?” Elsa asked, simultaneously sending a text to summon Gabriel to join them. “We watched footage of every angle of the building, at the exact time she is supposed to be there, but she doesn’t register in any of the images.”

Aidan put his fingers to his lips to signal someone was coming. The door opened and Gabriel stepped into the room, followed by Madeline Kline. Their faces were grim; it couldn’t be good news if their presence was required.

Everyone took as seat as Aidan began to speak.

“We have two pieces of information to report,” Aidan said. “First, Olivia appears to have the ability to disappear, or at least appear to be invisible when she’s hurt or when she experiences acute distress. We’ve reviewed several short videos of the robbery filmed by bystanders and there isn’t a single image of Olivia outside the building at the time the car jumped the curb and smashed through the storefront.”

Madeline grimaced. “That’s absurd,” she said. “She’s human. It’s impossible for a human to have such a gift. Maybe she’d already left the area when the video was taken.” Her remark sent an almost imperceptible shudder through Aidan and Elsa. If someone in the room had been looking carefully for a response, it would have been seen as a telltale sign of a body reacting to a lie. But no one was watching, so it went unnoticed.

“Not exactly,” said Elsa.

“What do you mean not exactly? ” Madeline asked. “Either she’s human, or she isn’t. Can she be tracked with the homing device when she’s invisible?”

“Yes, we did track her,” Aidan said. “That’s how, in addition to her own pleas for help, we knew she was in trouble after the robbery. We don’t know if she actually was invisible to those around her—we have to assume she was—but it would explain why the thieves locked on to her mentally and tried to blind her instead of shooting her dead in the street.”

And with that, a hush came over the room. Gabriel had remained silent all this time, his lips pinched shut. Aidan looked over at him, his eyebrows raised.

“Later,” he said curtly. “What’s your other piece of news?”

Aidan looked down at his hands for a moment before speaking. “Olivia recognized someone from the footage we cataloged of the robbery. She saw him pacing outside Nikola’s office a few weeks ago, while she was waiting for you.”

“Merde,” Gabriel said. “She was certain?”

Elsa nodded. “Yes, quite. In fact she was prepared to go off herself and ask Nikola directly. Aidan stopped her.”

“Those damned Serbs,” Gabriel said. “The whole country is crawling with the undead, and they all love to fight in wars and steal jewels.”

“Calm yourself, Gabriel, it’s not only the Serbs,” Aidan answered. “Much of eastern and central Europe is full of Others with criminal records that stretch back to the Balkan wars and beyond.”

Gabriel wagged his finger at Aidan. “I have asked Nikola and Zoran to remember their responsibilities to this organization,” he said. “They smile at me and then go and do whatever the hell they want. They couldn’t care less if the human race perished tomorrow.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Madeline said. “Both Serbia and Croatia have applied to become members of the European Union. As head of the Croatian National Bank, Zoran must maintain some semblance of respectability and ensure stability in his country. Croatia’s acceptance into the EU depends on it.”

“I’m not sure Zoran even knows what’s happening,” Aidan said. “He’s been in Brussels for weeks now in his capacity as head of the bank. It’s possible Nikola is doing this all on his own.”

“Alone, together or with one thousand of his comrades, it doesn’t matter,” Gabriel said. “There can be no connection between the Council and a band of jewel thieves.”

“My friend,” Aidan said, coming to place his arm on Gabriel’s shoulder. “These thieves no doubt are all members of the Serbian Mafia. And half, if not all, of the mafia are Others, mostly werewolves and vampires that have survived for centuries, outliving the Nazis, Stalin, even Tito. Why would they care if their presence disturbs the Council?”

Gabriel stood up, a thin, brittle smile on his face. “I’m not a fool,” he said. “I know they don’t care. And I know that many of them have little regard for humans. But we must find out whether Nikola has compromised the Council and its operations to help a crime ring. Our organization has existed for centuries to help in subtle and not so subtle ways to ensure the survival of our kind. Acting as a home base to a ring of international jewelry thieves falls outside the parameters of our mission.”

Elsa and the rest of the group wore pained expressions.

“Nikola is shrewd and ruthless. He will not like us looking into his affairs,” she said.

“Then I shall have to do it with the utmost care,” Aidan said. “The utmost care.”