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“I will,” Nox replied, signaling to Nelson that it was time to go.
“One thing,” Clancy called after them and Nox turned, raising a brow. “How is their dogma wrong?” Clancy asked, making Nox grin.
“They think they can stir the Dagda with a great display of love and devotion, but that never works with gods.”
Clancy’s head pulled back. “It doesn’t?”
“Nah. The Dagda is the spirit of love and understanding, the literal light of all life. He is Eochaid Ollathair. That’s like trying to attract bees with…tinier bees. He is love and he has all the love.”
“Alright…” Clancy squinted thoughtfully. “How would you stir the Dagda?”
Nox’s nose wrinkled. “First of all, I wouldn’t. But, if I was going to, I’d take a page out of Greek mythology. What stirred Zeus? It was never a desire to be showered in the love of his worshipers.”
“That sounds…unhygienic,” Nelson muttered to himself.
Clancy laughed as he followed them to the door. “If I know you, Nox, the answer isn’t a beautiful woman, despite what mythology tells us.”
“Could be,” Nox said with a shrug. “Mythology tells us that the gods were often ruled by the more human aspects of their nature: the desire to procreate, to protect their offspring, to avenge a slight… I’d tempt him with something he loves or something he’s lost.”
“How the hell do you do that?” Clancy asked and Nox shrugged again.
“I haven’t given it much thought because it’s not something I’d ever want to do.”
Ten
Nox had to go to Adelphi so he could tell Heidi Hansen himself. He didn’t want her to be alone or hear the terrible news over the phone. She knew and had crumpled to the ground as soon as she opened the door and Nox had sat with her, half in the hallway, crying as they held each other.
This was how he knew their dogma was wrong, but Nox couldn’t explain without sounding bonkers. The Dagda could only see the pain and it was such a small scrap of sadness to offer something as big and intangible as the light of the world. What pleasure would he possibly gain from six terrified young women? Why would that sort of torment appeal to him? Who would imagine that the All-Father, Eochaid Ollathair, the good god, would be pleased to see six sacred feminine beings defiled and discarded in his name?
Nelson had done his best, bless his soul. He hunkered down next to them, taking a knee and stiffly pledging that he wouldn’t rest until he had found the persons responsible. Then, he had prepared cups of tea and stood guard in the hallway, scaring off nosey neighbors and a delivery man.
They were able to move Heidi to the sofa and had stayed until Merlin arrived to watch over her. Both Nox and Nelson were too wounded and angry to talk and were quiet as they crossed the Potomac into Arlington to meet with Sharon Cleary.
A mother’s frantic panic was like a rush of oxygen in a burning room. Nox’s rage swelled as Nelson grew more restless and determined while they searched Mila’s condo.
“You know something,” Sharon accused Nox, following him around Mila’s desk. “I’ve covered cases like this before and you have a profile, at least.”
Nox tipped his head at Nelson who was searching through Mila’s planner. “Agent Nelson is the profiler,” he said softly, not wanting to disturb Nelson. “I’m an expert on the occult and symbology so it would be best if I didn’t comment on the investigation. But we’re doing everything we can,” he stated, his voice trembling to match the fire burning in his belly.
“Thank you.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks with shaking hands. “I know she’s still out there and it’s killing me, not being able to go get my baby!” Her voice broke and Nox hurried around and helped her sit on a futon.
“Good. Hold onto that and let her know you can feel her and that you will find her. I told you when we first talked that I would make the FBI listen, and they’re listening now,” he whispered, pointing at Nelson.
She nodded, pulling in a deep breath and looking steadier and reassured as she watched Nelson. He was silent as he gently peeked beneath notebooks and moved knickknacks around Mila’s computer.
“You can look anywhere you want,” Sharon said. “You don’t need a warrant. I trust you and Mila will understand.”
Nelson shook his head. “She didn’t know her abductor so there won’t be anything in her drawers or hidden under her bed to help us find him. He’s here,” he said, waving his notepad at the desktop. “He only knew this much of her and she crossed paths with him when she was sitting here at this desk or he’s hidden in these notes and dates—the finer details of the days right before her disappearance,” he explained in his calm, rumbling tone.
“Okay…” Sharon rose and her shoulders pulled back as she went around the desk and sank into the chair. “Let’s see what she was up to the days before she disappeared. My name and birth year is the password because we never hide anything from each other.”
She was in and clicking through emails and Mila’s social media while Nelson looked over her shoulder, taking notes and discussing various relationships. Nox appreciated the opportunity to watch Nelson at work again. He was incredibly sexy, but Nox was grateful for a moment to step back and recover.
Clancy had worried that the crime scene would be traumatizing, but it was the emotional suffering of the living that took the heaviest toll on Nox. His heart had been broken when he saw what the new Tuath Dé had done in honor of the Dagda. He couldn’t fathom how they could have created something so beautiful in the clearing—an ingenious fusion of pagan symbology and nature—to have gone so very wrong by soiling it with pain and violence. The presence of the victim appalled and infuriated Nox, but the grief of the living created an ache in his soul and left him drained.
He excused himself and stepped onto the balcony for fresh air, shutting his eyes and seeking out the sun through the drizzle and the heavy clouds. He couldn’t see it, but Nox could feel the barest touch of warmth on his cheeks.
There was a soft tap on the door jamb and Nox cracked open an eye when Nelson leaned out onto the balcony. “Witches For Literacy League. Mila was a volunteer and Elsa had a lanyard.”
