Chapter Eleven

"You found who?" Brigid straddled the chair in the diner, her black, leather-clad leg bouncing with the tapping of her booted foot.

"Kyle Scruggs," Deme repeated. "The maintenance man who'd gone missing three weeks ago."

"Well before Aurai disappeared." Selene shook her head. "What's happening now didn't start with our dear sister's disappearance."

"It started with the beginning of the semester when Aurai arrived on campus." Deme stood and paced next to the table. "From the looks of it, the girls of the Gamma Omega sorority are playing with fire."

"Do you think they've really conjured some kind of evil?"

Deme tipped her head toward Gina, whose hair was almost dry from her battle for life in the basement of the library. "Before the basement flooded, we found a book on monsters."

"Monsters?" Brigid's brows twisted. "Seriously?"

Deme nodded, her gaze steady on Brigid. "Seriously."

"The book actually found us," Gina added.

"How so?" Selene asked, her face open, curious.

"It fell out of a shelf on an aisle neither of us were anywhere near."

Brigid stood. "Could the Scruggs guy have pushed it out?"

"I don't think so." Deme paced again, coming to a stop in front of the table. "I think the sisters who died when Lion Hall burned down died fighting whatever it is we're up against now. And I think they were trying to tell us just what it is by showing us the book."

"And what is it?" Brigid asked.

Deme's gaze caught and held Gina's. "A Chimera."

Selene stared straight ahead, her eyes bright, far away. "Body of a lion, tail of a serpent and two heads, one of the lion and the other of a goat." She closed her eyes. "It has great power. It was what pulled at me back in Deme's dorm room."

"Are you sure?" Deme asked.

She nodded. "Yes. The voices…my dreams…were the sisters warning us away."

Cal, who up to this point had sat in a chair and held his silence, suddenly sat up straight and reached inside his coverall. "I forgot all about this." He pulled out two folders and handed them to Deme. "I think I can help you with names of at least two of the sisters who died in the fire. Seems there have been Chattox sisters on this campus in the past."

"Chattoxes?" Deme accepted the files and laid them out on the table. "Where did you get these?"

"In the student records room."

She ran her hand over the files, a strong current flowing through her fingertips. "Feel this." She guided Selene's hand to the folders.

Her other sisters reached out and the package glowed, levitating off the tabletop.

Deme slapped it down, glancing around nervously. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"But it did." Selene looked up at Deme. "Which proves it's them."

"What are the chances of running into a group of sisters with the last name Chattox?" Deme demanded.

"One in a bizzilion." Gina's voice was unsteady, her hand shaking as she pulled it away from the files.

Deme sat down hard. "I'm not liking this at all. It's way out of our league."

"Speak for yourself." Brigid crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been following strange occurrences for the past year in my efforts with the Chicago Police Department."

"You've had something like this happen before?"

"No, but some of the people I've come across in our investigations have been pretty darned scary."

"But as powerful as a Chimera? A creature that has been legended to manipulate others for its own gain?"

Brigid shrugged. "So it can manipulate others. We're smart, and now that we know, we can be ready."

Gina stared down at her hands, her face pale. "But we can't use our own powers. They work against us."

"Then we use our heads." Brigid's mouth thinned into a tight line.

"Whoa, wait a minute." Cal held up his hand. "And you think you're out of your league. I have no clue what you're talking about."

"I told you, cop, we're witches," Brigid said. "We have a certain amount of powers when we choose to use them." She smacked the back of her hand against his chest. "Keep up with us."

Deme smiled across at Cal. "It's true. When something isn't sabotaging our power, we can do some pretty amazing things." Her smile faded. "Up until now, we chose not to, preferring to keep a low profile so as not to draw attention."

"Why?"

"I personally have no desire to be dissected by some wacko scientist," Brigid said.

"It tends to make people look at you differently." Deme's gaze refused to meet Cal's. "Some of us just want to live normal lives."

"But you can't." Cal shook his head. "I have to admit, I didn't believe in all that crap about magic, but I can't begin to explain what's been happening on this campus. Unless someone is a truly gifted illusionist, which I doubt."

"So you believe us when we say we think there is a monster on this campus?" Gina asked him.

"I don't know what to believe anymore." Cal pushed a hand through his hair, standing the dark strands on end.

Deme noted how her sisters' gazes followed his movements. And why shouldn't they? He was a single, very attractive man. But that didn't help how her heart squeezed in her chest and her fists tightened.

Cal's hand dropped to the pocket on his coverall. "I have five names that could be the student who was attacked thirty years ago."

Brigid held out her hand. "I'll look into those since it doesn't have to be done on campus."

"Good. I want to check in with the lieutenant back at the office." Cal stood and stretched. "I'm almost afraid to get too far from campus now, given all that's happened. None of you are safe."

"And neither are Aurai or the students." Deme gathered her rental-car keys and handbag. "I should be getting back."

"Stay vigilant." Cal looked directly into her eyes. "Especially going near the garden."

His look and words warmed Deme all over. She wanted to walk into his arms and let him hold her until all the ugliness went away.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Selene said. "I have to go. Play practice is at five." Selene left the café.

"Me, too. Think I'll follow Cal back to the station and see what I can find online." Brigid slipped her helmet over her head and snapped the strap in place, her black hair flowing down her back.

"I'm going to search through the copies of articles we made and do more research on the Chimera." Gina gathered her purse, slinging it over her shoulder. "There has to be a way to stop it before it does irreparable harm."

"Seems it already has." Deme tapped the article at the top of Gina's pile of pages, the one about the burning of Lion Hall and the demise of five sisters just like them.

A shiver shook Deme from head to toe.

"I'll be at the hotel I'm sharing with Selene," Gina said. "You might check on her while she's at practice. That theater is on the garden axis."

Deme nodded as Gina slid by and exited with Brigid, tossing a wink over her shoulder as she let the door close behind her.

That left Deme and Cal alone. Well, as alone as they could be in a diner with a waitress, a cook and a cashier waiting for the evening rush of patrons.

Deme smiled. Her sisters were setting her up. She moved toward the door, pushing through to stand outside in the cool evening air.

Cal closed the door behind him and captured her hand, pulling Deme up against him. "I meant it. Be careful." He touched her cheek. "What happened earlier…"

"Won't happen again. We all know now not to use our powers." Deme closed her eyes and leaned into his palm. "Thanks, Cal."

"For what?"

She opened her eyes and stared into his. "For being there when I needed you." They stood so close, Deme could almost feel his heat. If she leaned nearer, she'd feel the beat of his heart against hers.

Cal closed the distance, leaning down until his lips hovered over hers. "Wouldn't have it any other way." He kissed her, drawing her into his arms and holding her tight. When their lips parted, he didn't release her, pressing his cheek against the side of her temple. "I don't think I've ever been more afraid in my life than when I saw Scruggs choking you to death." He chuckled. "Unless you count the time in the garden when the roots were pulling you into the earth." He sighed, his chest rubbing against hers deliciously.

Deme flattened her palms against him, loving the feel of his muscles beneath her fingertips—all that power tensed for action. "That's two times you've saved me in the past twenty-four hours. This could become a habit."

"Don't let it." He squeezed her again and set her at arm's length. "Go. I have work to do. If I stand here much longer, I'll forget what it was." His hands slid down her arms to clasp hers. "I'll come by and check on you later tonight."

Deme wanted to tell him not to, that she could handle being in the dormitory on her own, but her lips wouldn't let the words through. She wanted him to come. Wanted the reassurance of his presence in that creepy room she was obligated to occupy until they found Aurai and resolved the problems on campus. "Later."

She pulled her hands from his grip and turned to her car.

Behind her, the rumble of a motorcycle engine drew her attention.

Cal, straddling his Harley, roared out of the parking lot and into the traffic headed toward the station.

Deme wanted to be on the back of the bike with him, urging him to get far away from Colyer-Fenton and the craziness they'd found there.

Sisters, come to me! Aurai's call echoed in her head, reminding her of what had to be done. Standing around mooning over an ex-boyfriend wasn't getting her any closer to finding her sister.

* * *

Before the courthouse closed, Cal stopped in the records department and asked for help locating schematics of underground tunnels in the area of Colyer-Fenton College.

The lady behind the counter frowned and glanced at the clock. "We close in fifteen minutes."

Loading all his charm into one big, sweet smile, Cal leaned over the counter. "Please?"

The woman, probably in her late fifties, plump, graying and overworked, blushed. "Well…okay." She wheeled her mouse across the mouse pad, clicked her fingers on the keyboard and hit Enter with a flourish. "That should do it." She looked over the top of her reader glasses. "Mind you, it's old and probably not accurate anymore, what with the newer tunnels and subways built, but it's the only schematics I have on file." She stood, walked toward a printer and returned with a single sheet of paper. She handed it across the counter. "You might also try the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago for the Deep Tunnel schematics, as well. I haven't compared them to these so I don't know how they relate." She glanced at the clock again and gathered her purse from under her desk. "I have to catch my train, or I'd stay and chat."

Cal smiled. "Thank you." He left, tucking the schematic into his jacket before climbing on his motorcycle and heading for the station.

Traffic being hell, he didn't arrive until well after five, narrowly missing being hit at least three times by motorists too busy talking on their cell phones to pay attention to those around them.

Lieutenant Warner sat behind his desk, an empty coffee mug beside him, staring at the computer screen.

Cal knocked on the door frame and leaned into the office. "You look busy."

"Please, deliver me from reports." Marty pushed back from the keyboard and rolled his shoulders. "I miss the days of being a beat cop."

"Know what you mean."

"Whatcha got?"

"Been a busy day on campus." He filled in the boss on the activities of the night before and the incident in the basement of the library to include the names of the victims of similar events thirty years ago.

Cal looked at his boss, expecting him to question the roots grabbing people and the water issue in the basement, but he didn't even blink.

When Cal finished his report, Marty nodded, his brows drawing together. "You mean to tell me these two sequences of events might be related?"

With a nod, Cal pulled the schematic of the rail tunnels from his jacket and laid it across the desk. "Another thing. While I was in the basement of the student commons, I found a trapdoor leading to a level even lower than the basement."

"Lower than a basement? How can that be?" The lieutenant slipped a pair of reader glasses onto his nose and leaned over the schematic.

Cal pointed to the map, his finger on the street running through the Colyer-Fenton College campus. "As you know, beneath the older streets of Chicago is a labyrinth of railroad tunnels built for the movement of freight during the early nineteen hundreds."

"Yeah. I remember stories the old cops used to tell about troubles with vagrants finding their way down in there. They did a big push to seal off the entrances to keep them out."

"Well, I think they missed one." His finger traced the line beneath the campus that ran through the five-building circle surrounding the closed-off garden at the center of campus. "I'll check the basements of the other four buildings in this area to see if they have similar access to the train tunnels."

"Good idea." Lieutenant Warner looked up. "Are we to the point where we should evacuate students from campus?"

Cal drew in a deep breath and let it out before answering. "No. I'm not sure who all is involved in this. If there really is a creature traversing the tunnels, that's one thing we'll have to deal with. If someone human is making it appear to be a creature, we need to catch him in the act. Right now, I haven't even got a suspect. I need more time to investigate."

"That missing girl doesn't have time."

"Tell me about it." Cal's chest tightened. Deme took personal responsibility for every one of her sisters. To lose one would be devastating.

"Are you ready for reinforcements?" the lieutenant asked.

"Not just yet."

"Even to check out the basements?" Marty shook his head. "After the near-drowning incident, you don't think you need help? Sounds to me like you do."

Cal's fists clenched. He'd almost been too late, and he didn't even want to think about that. Deme and Gina would have been lost. "We managed."

"Barely, by the sounds of it." Lieutenant Warner nodded. "Fine. I'll wait another day before sending more help. In the meantime, what can I do for you?"

"Help Brigid find more information on the names I gave her. She's not as familiar with some of the systems available here."

"I'll get one of the detectives to assist." He looked over the top of his glasses. "Anything else?"

"Yeah." Cal crossed his arms over his chest. "You didn't even bat an eyelash when I mentioned the abnormal attacks. Why?"

Lieutenant Warner's lips turned up briefly. "I've been working this city a lot longer than you have, Cal. Some crazy stuff has passed over my desk and before my eyes. I don't take anything for granted, and neither should you."

"You believe all this magic stuff?"

"All I got to say is keep an open mind and watch your back."

Cal went straight for the war room, where he found Brigid hard at work on the computer. "Any luck?"

"You're not going to believe what I've found." She turned the laptop toward him and maneuvered the cursor to a tab on the browser, then clicked. The website was the courthouse records page. On it were the names of Diane Baker and Richard Masterson.

"That would make her married name, assuming she took her husband's surname, Diane Masterson."

"Bingo."

"I need to let Deme know."

"Right. Nothing is coincidence. And look at this." She clicked on another tab and a genealogy site appeared with a family tree dating all the way back to the early sixteen hundreds of Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. At the top of the tree were five women, all by the surname of Chattox. To the far right was one Anne Chattox. "It gets weirder." Brigid clicked on Anne Chattox's name, bringing up a new screen with a full-length story of the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612. With it was a drawing depicting a figure of an old woman dangling by the hangman's noose.

Brigid's body shook. "I get a chill every time I look at that picture." She rubbed her arms.

"Can't say that I blame you. Bring up the previous screen."

She clicked the back icon and the tree reappeared. "If you follow it through the centuries…" She scrolled down through the names of each generation until she came to bottom. "Voila! There we are. The five Chattox sisters of the present. Gives me the creeps." She rolled the screen up a little. "And there are our counterparts from thirty years ago. Apparently not every sister has five girls, but at least one in every generation does and they keep their maiden name to pass on to their daughters."

"Did your mother know about this?"

Brigid snorted. "I always thought she was a throwback to the women's liberation movement, that that was why she kept her maiden name and had it inscribed as our maiden name on the birth certificate. Wish she was still alive. I have a lot of questions for her."

"Are any of your aunts still alive?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Aunt Rose lives in Portland. I think we're about due a familial visit."

"A phone call will do for now. We need you too much here."

"Gotcha. I'll check with Deme and see if she'd like to do the honors."

"Do you always check with your oldest sister before making decisions?"

Brigid cocked a brow at him. "Seriously?" She shook her head. "No. But when it comes to our search for Aurai, I defer to her. I want my sister back as much as the rest of us."

"Good work. I'll check out Dr. Masterson's office and see what I can find."

"How you gonna get in without her knowing?"

Cal held up the set of master keys his supervisor had given him that morning and smiled. "It pays to be working on the inside."

"No fair. Next time I get the undercover job."

"Next time?"

"Yeah. You don't think this is the only case you'll be working for the Special Investigations Team, do you?"

Cal hadn't thought of that. "You've been working with them for a year?"

"That's right. Mostly on arson investigation cases."

"Your forte is fire, right?"

"You got it. I have an uncanny sense of smell where fire is concerned. I can tell exactly where a fire started and even visualize an arsonist as he's lighting it."

Cal nodded. "Impressive. What else can you do?"

"I've been known to throw a few fireballs when needed." Her eyes opened wide and she smiled. "Oh, and I have some pretty cool friends. Check this out." She snapped her fingers and two bright spots of flame appeared out of thin air, hovering over her hand like spirits. Then they took off and flew around the room, buzzing past Cal, singing the hair around his ear.

"Hey!"

"I call them dragonflies."

Cal ducked and batted at the little creatures as they dived toward his head. "Yeah? Why?"

"They have nasty little tempers and they breathe fire."

As Cal swatted at the pests, one of them turned on him and shot a stream of flame at him. Cal grabbed a pad of paper and held it up in front of his face. "Call them off."

Brigid snapped her fingers again and the two dragonflies disappeared in a puff of smoke. She waved her hand to clear the air. "Sometimes they set off the fire alarms." She smiled across at him. "Still a disbeliever in magic?"

"You put on a very convincing show."

"It would have gotten me hanged in the witch trials, hands-down." She stood, crossing her arms over her chest. "So what's up between you and my big sis?"

Unprepared for her sudden change in conversation, Cal didn't have a canned answer. "I don't know."

She pinned him with a dark-eyed stare. "Are you the one she ran away from a year ago?"

He shrugged, reluctant to discuss Deme with her sister. "If you mean were we seeing each other a year ago and she left for another job, then yes."

"She not only left Chicago, she left the country." Brigid took a step closer, her hands dropping to her hips. "What did you do to her to make her run?"

Cal shook his head and smiled. "I asked her to marry me."