Authors: Liz Schulte
Corbin’s eyes trailed to Dempsey as we walked through the door, with a glimmer of hunger shining in them. “You brought me a snack. How thoughtful.”
“No,” I said sharply, dropping the bags at the entrance. “He’s here to help.”
“Unless your plan is to distract the vampires with dinner, love, I don’t think he will be much use. Might as well let me feed.”
“Hilarious,” I said. “He was working the human side of the murder cases. Most of them we can attribute to him.” I hooked a thumb at Thomas. “We’ve had a breakthrough with the others, though. We’re close to finding the skinwalker.”
“While that’s fascinating, I’m going to have to say no.” Corbin pressed his foot harder against Thomas’s neck. “Our plan for Paolo is the priority. That’s the only objective that we have tonight. You can deal with your distractions on your time.”
“That might be your only objective, but it isn’t mine,” I said. “I say we solve the murder, kill Paolo, and then take down the council. In that order.”
“Absolutely not.” Corbin folded his arms across his chest.
This was why I didn’t work with a partner.
“That’s quite the list you have there.” Sy’s voice came from behind me, more serious and colder than I had ever heard it.
I glanced back at him. “You almost missed the party.”
He didn’t look amused. “It helps when you’re invited to the party. Or are even informed of the location or what’s happening.”
I’d done what I thought was best for him. I wasn’t going to apologize for that, and he wouldn’t have done anything differently. This was why we would never work as a couple. It was hard enough to work together as friends. “Well, you’re here now. That’s all that really matters. Holden has kept you in the loop. I have it covered. We didn’t need you.”
He nodded, looking down at Thomas then to Corbin before finally back to me. “Where are you with the case?”
I tossed him the bag with Amos’s tattoo. “This is Amos. He was my New Orleans version of you. Quintus thinks that it isn’t a loup-garou killing people, but a skinwalker, which is why it’s—”
“Leaving the tattoos. Smart,” he said. “I could have probably told you that faster, but whatever. Apparently you went to everyone but me.”
Great. So obviously we were going to be mature about this.
Eye roll
. “Well, I had orders not to talk to you. Remember? I didn’t want to get you in trouble.”
His chin tilted up. “You managed to break your directive and talk to Holden, Corbin, Thomas, and Quintus,” he said, not letting me off the hook. He squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“I made a judgment call.” What did he want from me? Did he want me to admit that I was less worried about the people he named than I was about him? Because I wasn’t going to do that. It may be absolutely true, but I didn’t have to say it. He should have known. I returned his glare with my own.
“Yes, I think your point is very clear.” I couldn’t read a single emotion on his face, which was so unlike Sy, I had a momentary doubt it was him at all. The skinwalker took Amos—had it taken him too? My heart stuttered in my chest as my hands fumbled for a knife.
Please not Sy,
I sent up to whoever was listening. I went to him and jammed the knife into his shoulder, holding my breath.
“Ouch,” he said, calmly pulling the knife out. “I’m not your skinwalker.”
“I want to see.” I lifted the sleeve of his t-shirt and watched the wound close before I released my breath. “It’s you.”
He simply stared at me.
“Let’s get on with this. We have a limited amount of time,” Corbin said. “And I am tired of waiting.”
Sy could bitch at me later when everything was handled and we were back in Chicago, drinking at the Office. Everything would be normal again. “Fine. I will work with Corbin on a plan to take out Paolo, and you”—I nodded to Sy—“work with Dempsey on the skinwalker. We need to know how all the victims connect and figure out what the skinwalker wants.”
“Paolo has a place in the Abyss. He has a function. If he is removed, who will take that spot? It’s not as easy as just killing him. There will be consequences. Have you thought about those?” Sy’s demeanor was patient, yet his words were still clipped.
“He had vampires openly slaughter humans tonight in the street because Corbin and I got away with Thomas when he tried to kill us. He kidnapped me.”
Sy’s jaw tightened. “Corbin could once again take his position of his own free will and none of this would be necessary.”
Corbin’s lip curled back.
Before he could say anything, I hurried on. “Paolo has already taken two people who were important to him away. What’s to keep him from doing it again? He knows the only way to hurt Corbin is to use Selene.”
Sy’s cheek twitched.
“Like it or not, to protect your family, we need to help him. If the elves had killed Selene and your mother then tried to force you to come back to them, would you have done it?” He didn’t like Corbin, or really vampires in general, but Sy doted on his cousin. Maybe because he’d thought she was dead for so long, or maybe their relationship was nothing like mine with my sister. Either way, I knew it would strike the one nerve that would change his mind.
He didn’t say anything for a long while, just stared into nothing, then finally he shook his head ever so slightly. “I wouldn’t go back.” His eyebrows pulled together. “But it isn’t the same thing. Corbin is a vampire. He knows his race. In fact, how many other vampires has he done this same thing to? I understand why you feel sorry for him, but this is their way. We can’t change that.”
“Why are we still talking about this? It doesn’t matter what the bartender thinks.” Corbin tried to usher me into the tiny kitchen, but I didn’t move.
I wanted Sy to understand. This wasn’t just a whim. It was partly for him too. It would endanger Selene’s life and possibly start a war. “It matters to me.”
Some of the stiffness eased from his shoulders as he looked at Corbin. “Do what you have to do,” he said. “But be prepared for the consequences.”
Corbin’s laughter was a bitter thing.
Sy’s eyes narrowed. “If Selene is hurt because you caused a war for the sake of vengeance, I will personally find a way to break the bond and kill you. It isn’t threat. It’s a promise.”
Corbin’s black eyes darkened, but he nodded. “Selene will not be harmed.”
Sy looked at me. “I can’t talk you out of getting involved in this, can I?”
I shook my head. “I was involved in this from the moment I set foot in this city, maybe even before. The council saw to that.” I tossed him my duffel. “The files are in here. Corbin, bring Thomas with you.” I started for the kitchen.
Corbin lifted him easily from the floor and dropped him unceremoniously into one of the kitchen chairs. I took off the gag.
“Thanks,” Thomas said, stretching his mouth. “Would you mind taking off the chains? They’re starting to pinch.”
While Thomas was still the loup-garou, there was always the chance he would come after me. “The chains stay. This is your chance to prove your worth, Thomas. It might be the last one you have.”
He shifted in the chair the best he could. “How about I save you again? Would that make you believe me when I say I never intended for any of this to happen?”
Corbin snorted.
“Corbin expects to die. He expects the war, but he doesn’t care because he has nothing to lose,” Thomas said, running his tongue over his lips. “It’s a suicide mission and he knows it. He’s taking you with him.”
Corbin leaned back in his chair. “Dying is damn near impossible for me.” He glanced at me. “If you don’t want to come, I won’t think any less of you. I truly have no interest in harming you at this time, but you can also make your own decisions. I wouldn’t dream of telling you how to spend your lives.”
He thought I would die. Though it wouldn’t be the first time, it wasn’t going to happen tonight. This was what I was born to do. Paolo had thrown down the gauntlet and I wasn’t going to walk away from that. “If Paolo wants a fight, then he’s going to have one. Where is he staying? We should hit him just before morning. He will be more relaxed and believe that we won’t attack tonight.”
Corbin glanced at his watch. “He has a house here. My guess is he’d be there. It’s a fortress. Hardly any windows, and there will be extra people around. Only two entrances. He won’t be running scared from us. He already thinks that he won the moment you handed over Thomas. Everything has gone according to his plan so far. That might be used to our advantage.”
“That’s wrong,” Thomas said. “He’s scared. Paolo never had guards when you were with him, but as soon as you pulled away he got them. You’ve always bought the legend. Everyone did.” Thomas shook his head. “Paolo painted this picture of himself that was larger than life. He killed every vampire who ever crossed him. He is supposedly the oldest and strongest among us, but where is the proof?
You
killed everyone who crossed him. He never lifted a finger. Before you, I imagine there was someone else. Paolo probably got sick of him, or he started asking too many questions and then he killed him. Friendly fire, so to speak. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands since my exile. I’ve looked back through the records. Paolo’s story is thin.”
“Why did you question his story?” I asked.
That small, almost shy smile curved on his lips. “I’m a skeptic. He was too concerned with finding a way to control Corbin. Why if he was this all-powerful vampire would he need me to manipulate Corbin?”
How could so many people just believe something because that was what they were told to do? It didn’t make sense to me. I had never done anything but question the rules I was forced to follow my whole life. Then, of course, there was Thomas. He was never who he appeared to be, so recognizing that quality in other people couldn’t have been such a stretch. “Isn’t there some unspoken rule about liars having to stick together?”
There was a flash of sadness, but how was I supposed to know if that was put-on for sympathy or because I had actually hurt him? It didn’t matter. Not anymore. “Perhaps, with the right incentive, I could reform.”
Corbin brought the two front legs of the chair down with a snap. “Fine. Let’s say none of his stories are true. He’s still old. I can feel that. It can’t be manufactured. His age alone makes him a threat.”
That was an excellent point. “Then why would he be scared?” I asked.
“Paolo is old, but he has never been strong,” Thomas said. “It’s the best-kept secret in the Abyss. Everyone believes the legend because he surrounds himself with the strength of the unambitious. You’ve heard him say it—Corbin doesn’t want to lead, but he has a knack for killing. Paolo has used that to build his own mythology. It wasn’t strength that got him to where he is. It was pure, old-fashioned cunning. He is ruthless and he is cold. He isn’t loyal and he will turn on you as soon as he finds a more worthy replacement.”
“And who would that be? You?”
Thomas shook his head. “I was never in the running. I know too much. I question too much. I can’t be controlled.” Thomas smiled at Corbin. “It’s my personal opinion that he looks for stupidity.”
“This is such bullshit. I have seen him…” Corbin trailed off, mouth pressing into a thin line. “He does mostly maneuver.”
“And he’s good at it,” Thomas said. “That was my role. I was the maneuver to keep you in line, and I was paid handsomely for it.” He refocused on me. “Enough that if you kill him, I could leave here and this world for good. I’d never bother you again.”
“If that’s true, why did you get involved with the demons? Why did you try to change Maggie?”
If there were wheels in his head, smoke would be coming out of his ears.
“When you take this long to answer, I know you’re lying,” I said.
“It’s not an easy answer. I was officially wanted by the vampires. I had bounty hunters and other vampires chasing me, but I still had obligations to Paolo, and he wanted me to stay close. I got involved with some demons because they made me an offer that was too good to pass up. All I had to do was change this girl who was cute and willing. I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t ask. Is it so awful that I didn’t want to be alone?”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. Of course it was all about him. It was always about him. Thomas had never made a sacrifice in his life. I looked at Corbin.
“He can’t help us,” he said. “I told you not to listen to him.”
“I know the house.” Thomas leaned forward. “I’ve stayed there. If you untie me, I can draw it. I know where Paolo sleeps and I know where the guards are stationed. I can get us in.”
“You aren’t coming with us,” I said.
“If you make it inside, you are going to need all the help you can get,” he said.
“Why? It won’t save your life. No matter what happens or what you do, I’m still going to kill you,” Corbin said.
Thomas’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “I have a debt. If I’m going to die, then I’m running out of time to pay it off. Let me help you.”
It was first legitimately honest thing he had said all night…or a hell of a good lie. However, the past couldn’t be ignored. Every time I had ever trusted him, he stabbed me in the back. Every. Single. Time. The first time was on him. The second time was on me. A third time and… I closed my eyes. “Take the chains off.”
This was such a bad idea.
“You’ve got to be joking.”
I didn’t respond to Corbin.
“What about the curse?”
“I can control it,” Thomas said. “I have managed this long.”
Finally I opened my eyes. “Have you been in the house, Corbin?”
Corbin’s jaw flexed.
“That’s what I thought.” Everything in me said this was wrong and that Thomas knew exactly what he was doing. Everything but one part: my stupid, stupid heart. It said he deserved a chance to redeem himself before he died. I wouldn’t stop Corbin from killing him, but I could give Thomas a chance to do one good thing in his life. To just once make the right decision. “We need him. I don’t like it any more than you do, but we need his expertise. We don’t have to trust him.”
Corbin looked disgusted. “I think you like it a little more than I do.” But he undid the chains, dropping them to the floor and standing with his back to the wall, ready for an attack.
Thomas cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “Much better. Do you have a pen and paper?”
“No,” I said. “You’ll have to make do.”
“Fine.” He leaned over the table and drew a box with his finger. “This is the house. There’s an entrance here and here.” He marked the invisible box with Xs at the front and back of the structure. “Most of the windows stay shuttered all the time, and several of them are bricked over on the inside.”
“How do we get in?” Corbin asked.
“One of the doors will be the easiest way. Security cameras are set up covering every inch of the outdoors, and humans are employed to keep up appearances.”
“I am not really hearing a lot of solutions from you,” I said.
He held up his finger. “Patience. The time you selected to attack is probably the best. There will be a guard shift change, from vampire to human. The humans will be easier to subdue.”
“We’re not hurting any more humans.”
“You don’t have to kill them. Just knock them out. They’ll be fine. Whatever you do, it will have to be quiet and fast. From the time you enter, you will only have seconds to make it inside. If we try to cause a distraction or interrupt the security camera feed, they will know they are under attack. How are you at picking locks?”
“The lock won’t be a problem.” The hand of glory would take care of that. It would get us through any locked door, no matter what sort of lock was on it.
Thomas gave me a dubious look. “It has to be fast.”
“She said she has it covered,” Corbin said.
Of all people, Thomas was the last one who needed to know I possessed the hand. Corbin only knew because he was with me the one and only time I’d used it before now. Sy had wanted me to destroy the hand, and that was probably what I should have done, but I couldn’t deny it was a useful tool, and I hated to get rid of it.
“Where do we go inside?”
“That depends on which door we go through,” Thomas said. “I think we should go for the front. First, those cameras will have more human traffic. So they will be less likely to notice if someone walks by. Second, if they are waiting for an attack, they will expect the back.”
Corbin shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how we go in. They are going to see us. We have to go in fast and hard enough that they don’t have time to respond. No matter what he thinks, Paolo doesn’t hire fools. Well, except for maybe one.” He gave Thomas a pointed look.
“Okay, how about this? We blast by the humans at vampire speed—I’ll hitch a ride with Corbin—kill the initial inside guards, and then charge Paolo’s bedroom. He won’t have any choice but to face us. If we take out the downstairs guards, then how many would he have still with him?”
“Hard to say,” Corbin said. “What about the elf? Can’t Sy just transport us inside?”
“Sy’s not going to get involved. This is our fight. He isn’t an option any more than Selene is,” I said.
Corbin quirked an eyebrow, but nodded. “Then we’ll do it the hard way. Chances are before we clear the guards, Paolo will hear us and descend with everyone he has left.”
Thomas nodded. “That’s probably right.”
“Okay, then we’ll be ready.” I stood up. “I’m going to see what Sy and Dempsey have come up with.”
The pictures and stats of all the victims were laid out in chronological order, starting with Gus. Oddly though, the next three victims were human. Why would a human go to visit a ghoul? I picked up the file on the human and scanned the details, looking for anything that would point me in the right direction. Maybe she had been visiting the cemetery. “Humans can’t see ghouls, right?”
“Not unless her eyes were opened or she’s a witch,” Sy said.
A pair of my pants stuck out of the duffel bag. The corner of the note Thomas had sent me was sticking out of the pocket. I hadn’t checked the pockets in Falcon’s clothes. She had to have found something, or why did the skinwalker kill her or the others? I grabbed her bag and sank down to my knees as I rifled through all of her pockets, until my fingers hit a slip of paper. It was a receipt, but on the back was written, “Coven: Patricia, Helen, Virginia, Alice, and Marie.” I looked back down at the names of the humans.
“They’re witches. Falcon knew,” I said. “I didn’t think about checking her pockets, and the hotels cleared most of the other rooms.”
Sy smiled. “That explains how the skinwalker chose those three. You didn’t find a connection between them?” he asked Dempsey.
Dempsey shook his head. “They didn’t live near each other, and as far as we could tell, they had never met.”
Maybe each one had noticed something was off about the other one when the body was snatched. Whatever it was, Hatchet must have caught on too, because he was the next victim. “How long did it take for you to notice Hatchet was gone?”
Sy shook his head. “Not long. I had a weird phone call from him. Hatchet never called in, but he did and said it was a werewolf and I needed to come help. I told him to take care of it. Then he didn’t call back. That’s when I sent Falcon.”
Falcon had gone looking for Hatchet. So it was possible she’d followed his trail directly to the elf, who was the next victim in line. I nodded. “What do we know about the elf?”
“Not much. Loner. Friends with Hatchet, I think.”
And so we went down the line until McNeil, and then the trail dried up. We couldn’t connect McNeil to any of the following human deaths. I took out the loup-garou murders, which left only a couple that fell somewhere between the two types of crimes scenes. They had the same staged feeling, but looked more loup-garou-like in the violence.
“What did McNeil do while she was here?”
Sy crossed to look at the picture of her crime scene. “I’m not sure. I told her to get in touch with Amos, and I warned him she was coming. He said she never contacted him.”
I frowned. That wasn’t the impression I had when I spoke with him. I thought back over our time together. Every time I held a knife to him, he’d stiffen and never fight back. Then earlier tonight I’d stabbed him—accidentally, but I still stabbed him. “Can I see that tattoo again?” I asked.
Sy tossed me the bag with the skin, and I laid it out on the floor, spreading it flat. I’d only seen the tattoo once, but I remembered it fairly well. I wet my finger and ran it over the smudge at the top then checked the tip. What were the chances that Amos had a fake tattoo? “This isn’t Amos. Amos wasn’t Amos,” I said. “I think I was working with the skinwalker the whole time. The tattoo isn’t real. The skinwalker took McNeil and then took Amos. I thought it was weird that Amos never used his ability to change his appearance. If I were a doppelganger, I’d do it all the time. But, I figured it just wasn’t his thing. But he couldn’t because he was the skinwalker.”
“Why leave you the skin?” Dempsey chimed in. “Announcing who he was…it doesn’t make sense. What would it get from doing that?”
“That depends on what it wants,” Sy said. “If it wants the council, then maybe it does make sense.”
“What about these people?” Dempsey asked, tapping each file that came after McNeil. “Why did he take them?”
“He didn’t,” I said. “They were decoys. The skinwalker wanted the council involved. Even as Hatchet he called Sy and told him there was a wolf. Obviously, he had never seen a wolf attack, because none of these scenes actually looked wolflike at all. He used McNeil to get to Amos, who was the last host body the skinwalker took, before today. I think that’s why he didn’t come after me. Amos had better connections. Had I not accidentally stabbed him, he could have stayed in there until it got what it wanted. Now it could be anyone.” Including anyone in this room—except for Sy, who had already been tested.
I looked at Dempsey, who held up his hands. “You want to test me, don’t you?” he said as he took out a knife and ran it down the top of his forearm. Blood welled, but he didn’t appear to be in a lot of pain. “Satisfied?” He held it out to me so I could see the cut. I nodded and he pulled his sleeve back down.
Who else could it be? Corbin and Thomas had been here the whole time. Neither of them could have left the skin for me. The three vampires in my room were dead. It wanted me to see something. Did it have to do with the tattoo? “Do you recognize this?” I asked Sy.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t have any significance to me. Do you have any other idea who the skinwalker could have taken?”
I shook my head as we hit another wall. “After Paolo’s, I will start looking for them.”
“What do you think he wants?” Dempsey asked.
It wanted the council down here. The only reason I could think for that was that it wanted someone on the council, but I couldn’t say why. Was it striving for position or revenge?
“You know, if the skinwalker wanted to get to the council and it took Amos, it’s possible a council member came to see him after you left again. They weren’t happy with his inability to control you. They expected more,” Sy said, obviously on the same track as me.
I snorted. “I expected more from them.”
Sy shifted his feet. “I told them that they had to let you work, that you didn’t like to be micromanaged, but Leilah wasn’t a fan of that idea. She likes to be in control.”
“Dragons.” I shook my head. “So basically you’re saying the skinwalker might already be a council member,” I said. Well, that would suck. In any of their forms, it would make it infinitely harder to take it down.
Sy nodded. “It’s a possibility. At the very least, it is worth checking out.”
“The only thing that really bothers me is why did he wait this long? I mean, you can pretty much see them whenever you want. Why not call them and immediately take the one you want? Obviously not the whole council, but tricking one member into seeing you wouldn’t be hard. One prayer and Holden would be here within minutes.”
“Amos wasn’t like me. He didn’t know them. And him asking for a meeting would definitely be suspicious. That’s why he petitioned that we take care of this ‘werewolf’ issue. He couldn’t get a meeting. Not before Leilah had the idea to send you. The council is selective in who it chooses to hear. Even among the people it employs. The council prefers to call the meetings than to appear for them.”
So Leilah sent me down here and then skinwalker Amos pushed me toward the vampires. He told me the council was corrupt and that they were basically willing to sacrifice me for the sake of vampire peace. “And that’s the only reason I was sent. Leilah’s whim.”
Sy shook his head. “No. You were sent because you agreed to come. Other than that, I don’t know why she chose you, not for certain. I suspect you aren’t far off in your suspicion that she was helping Paolo.” He stood up. “Clear the slate with Paolo and catch the skinwalker. Holden and I will stand with you before the council. We will get to the bottom of what happened here.”
I nodded, standing next to him.
Sy leaned down and pressed his lips against my temple. “Be careful, Femi. I expect you to come back. If you have any trouble, get word to Olivia. She will send us.” A moment later, he vanished from the room.
“You want a lift back to the city?” I asked Dempsey, who stared at the spot where Sy had been with a grim expression. The poor guy’s head would probably explode. I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes.
He blinked and looked at me. “What was that?”
“We’re about to head back to the city. You coming or staying?”
“I’ll come,” he said. He was pale and the bags under his eyes were getting darker. It was easy to forget how fragile humans were. “What’s next? What can do?”
“Nothing at all. You get to go home, and I will call you in the morning to let you know how it went.”