I lightly touched his shoulder, very gently. Most vamps didn't like being touched and among ourselves a shoulder tap was the equivalent of a full-blown hug. "Brett, you just keep up what you're doing. But be careful. There is evil in the world far greater than you dream of. Sometimes it's hard to scare it away."
Pausing, I debated on whether to warn him about Dredge. We hadn't gotten that specific in our talk to the audience. But what good would it do? If Brett ran into my sire, Dredge would just mop up the floor with him. "Just keep alert, and don't play hero unless there isn't any other choice. I'll be in contact."
As he walked away, I looked over at Roz. "The Woodland Park Zoo is right up near the Green Lake district. Ten to one, Dredge or the newborns have a hideout up there."
"I'll scout around tonight," Roz said. "And you don't have to warn me what I'm up against. I know." He blew me a kiss and then took off out the door. As I watched him go, Camille came over and stared at his departing back.
"What do you know about him, Menolly?"
I shook my head. "Not enough. Too much. He's a mercenary, but he's out to get Dredge. I recognize the hatred."
She gave me a questioning look, but I shook it off. "Come on, we'd better start cleaning up. People are leaving and I want to stop at the bar after we're done."
As we began folding chairs, Camille's cell phone jangled the Gorillaz song "Dare." She glanced at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, it's Tim—Cleo. Let me take this. He never calls this late."
She moved aside and we went on cleaning up. Tim Winthrop, or Cleo Blanco as he was known in his alter ego, was a flamboyant friend of ours. Computer student by day, female impersonator by night, he was brilliant, smart, and funny. Tim's gorgeous boyfriend, Jason, had put a hunk of ice on his left finger. They were engaged and the wedding was set for summer. Tim also did the programming for the Supe database he and Delilah were building, and he was working for our newly revised OIA on a contingency basis, strictly need-to-know only.
All of a sudden, Camille let out a loud, "Son of a bitch!"
Delilah whirled around. "What is it?" she said, but Camille waved her silent, listening with a strained expression on her face, looking like she was going to throw up.
"We'll be right there. Get your butt into a safe place and don't come out until we get there and give you a safe word. I'll shout out… oh… babe in the woods. Got it?… That's right, don't come out till you hear me yell babe in the woods. We'll be there as soon as we can, Tim. Just hang on. Everything will be okay. I promise." She flipped her phone shut. "Leave the mess. We'll clean it later."
"What happened?" I dropped the chair I was holding. Whatever it was, it was bad enough to make Camille scared. That made it bad-ass bad.
She'd already hit the door and we scrambled to catch up to her.
On the way to our cars, she told us what happened. "After one of his shows, Tim and Erin stopped in at the Wayfarer for a drink. Then they walked by Erin's shop before going to a movie. Tim was in the back, changing out of drag when he heard Erin scream. He ran to the door leading into the front of the shop but managed to stop short. A group of vamps were dragging Erin out the door. They didn't see him before he had a chance to duck into the utility closet. That's where he is now."
Shit! Erin Mathews was owner of the Scarlet Harlot lingerie shop and president of the local Faerie Watchers Club, a human-based fan club focused on the Fae from OW. Erin was also one of Tim's staunchest supporters and one of Camille's close friends.
Camille was halfway to her car by the time she finished telling us. I looked around to see who had come with us. Wade, Iris, and Nerissa broke off in my direction. Zachary headed toward Delilah's Jeep. Trillian and Morio were hot on Camille's heels. As we pulled away from the curb, Camille was streaking down the road, her Lexus silent in the frost-shrouded night.
"Do you think there's any chance Erin will be alive?" Iris asked.
"First we have to find out who took her. If it was Dredge…" A thought had sprung to mind. One that I didn't want to entertain. Dredge was out there, hiding in the shadows. If Roz was right and my sire was out to make my life hell, what better way to start than by hurting my friends? Tim and Erin had been in the bar before they hiked the few blocks over to the Scarlet Harlot and everybody there knew they were close friends of ours. If Dredge was watching the joint, then it would have been an easy matter to follow the pair to Erin's shop.
Wade let out a low whistle. "You think it's your sire?"
I growled. "Don't call him that! I refuse to acknowledge any link to that murderous bastard."
"But you have to face the facts, Menolly," Wade said. "Denying that the link is there won't help you. In fact, it's going to hinder you."
"What the fuck do you mean?" I hated exposing this side of myself to Nerissa, who sat silently beside Iris in the back seat.
"Think about it. I'll bet you that he can follow you through the bond of his blood. Don't you realize that you'll always be tied to Dredge as long as that bond exists?" Wade stared at me. "What the hell did the OIA teach you?"
I bit my lip as I pressed on the gas. How could I have been such a fucking idiot? Of course Dredge could find me merely by the fact that he was my sire.
Wade cleared his throat. "You okay?"
"No, I'm not okay. That fucking sadist may have one of our friends. An FBH no less. I know just how far Dredge can twist the mind and body. He almost destroyed me. There's no way Erin can survive if he decides to torture her. And if he turns her afterward, we'll have to destroy her because she'll go stark-raving mad. How do you think I feel, knowing I may have to stake a friend who should never, ever have gotten mixed up in something like this?"
Nerissa leaned forward. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if he's this bad, why did the OIA let him live? Why didn't they deport him to the Subterranean Realms?"
"I see you've been talking to Zachary. That boy needs to keep his mouth shut before he says something to the wrong person." I deliberately took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't yell at you. Here's the deal. Dredge was on the list for deportation. We were ready to go in to verify what we knew and I was assigned to the case." I paused, trying to push back the tears that I felt sting my eyes. Blood was saltier than water. It hurt to cry.
"You don't have to go on," she said, but I stopped her."No. You deserve to know what you're headed into. If you want, I'll drop you off at a safe place and you can go home. Dredge wasn't deported because I failed at my job. He caught me. He tortured me. He raped me. He killed me and when I rose as a vampire, I went over the edge. By the time the OIA figured out what happened, he and the nest had moved on."
"How long did it take for you to… to return to sanity?"
I flashed her a cold grin. "Any day now, babe. I keep hoping."
She laughed, but her laughter was tinged with sorrow. "Oh, Menolly…"
"Seriously… it's okay now. I've adapted. But I went nuts for over a year. I couldn't tell the OIA a thing for a long, long time. You can't hold a trial when nobody's there. You can't deport someone you don't have locked away. Dredge and the Elwing Clan stayed on the move for a long time and the OIA didn't want to risk another operative going in. And I refused to go back. The rest, as they say, is history."
"Don't stop," she said quickly. "We have to get to your friend's shop as soon as possible. I want to be there with you."
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Nerissa couldn't see me, since I left no reflection, but I could see her, and her gaze was fastened on the back of my head. The look of desire was naked on her face and I could smell the perfume of her heat fill the car.
I caught Wade glancing at me, then back at Nerissa. A slow smile spread across his lips, making him look geeky-sexy. He gave me a wink and I saw the tips of his fangs extend.
"Don't say it," I said so quietly that even the werepuma shouldn't be able to pick it up. It was like whispering words made of mist that vanished the moment I spoke.
Wade winked at me. "You hooked a hot one," he whispered back. "Want to make it a threesome?"
"In your dreams, psych-boy." But I grinned back. I wasn't the only one repressing feelings. Wade was true to his ethics, but sometimes I thought he sublimated the predator within to the point where, one of these days, he was going to slip. When he did, I hoped it would be his mother he'd take out, for the peace and quiet of everybody in the vamp community.
"I'll just keep dreaming," he whispered back.
I ignored him this time. We had to focus on Dredge, who never slipped because he'd jumped into the shadows feet first and sucked them into himself until now his entire being reeked of the abyss.
Flipping on my left turn signal, I silently took the light and caught up to Camille. Delilah was right on our tail. And then we were there—the Scarlet Harlot. Parking was plentiful during the dark of the night, and I smoothly guided the Jag into an open space and flipped off the ignition.
Iris leaned forward. "Menolly, could this have something to do with what Grandmother Coyote asked you to do?"
Again the ton of bricks. Shit. Was I clueless tonight?
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I said, jumping out of the car. Was I going to have to stake Erin? And would Camille be put through the wringer, forcing me to obliterate her friend? "The gods are walking on our graves tonight," I muttered as I headed toward the door. "By the time we face Shadow Wing in battle we'll be demons ourselves."
And then the irony hit me and I laughed, my voice hoarse and scratchy. I was a demon. I was already on the wrong side, according to logic, holding on only by making the conscious choice to avoid diving into the hellfire. I ignored Iris's questioning glance as we ran to the door, steps behind Camille and her boys.
We blew through the door like a tornado, Camille and Morio with magic at the ready. Trillian had his serrated blade out. We immediately went into search mode, and Morio cast a Reveal Illusion spell. Nothing. After a few minutes, we were sure the shop was clean, and Camille called out the safe word that brought Tim out of hiding.
Dressed in Dockers and a thick sweater, he looked nothing like Marilyn Monroe, the current fave in his retinue. His short brown hair had grown out into a curly mop, and he had faint traces of stage makeup still dappling his face, but what struck me was the fear that lingered in his eyes.
"She's gone… They took her. I couldn't stop them. I knew that if I tried they'd—"
"Shush," Camille said as Delilah enfolded him in her arms and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. He leaned against her shoulder, looking war scarred and weary.
"Did you hear anything, Tim? Did they say where they were taking her? How many were there? What did they look like? I know you're upset, but you need to tell us everything you can remember." I hated to press him, he looked so bewildered, but the sooner we could go after them, the better.
Nerissa noticed a microwave on the side counter, along with a box of tea and a bag of Oreos. She hurried over and popped a mug of water in the microwave and in less than two minutes, pressed a steaming cup of peppermint tea and a few cookies into Tim's hands. "You're in shock. Eat, drink… the sugar and mint will help."
Wade started sniffing around the shop, trying to catch a scent, while Camille and Morio moved off to the corner and crossed hands. I caught his whispered comments to her.
"Breathe deep. Focus, now focus… the vamps live in the realm of death and we can reach there through the Summoning Dark Ones spell that I taught you last week. If we leave out the last stanza, we won't risk calling them to us. If we're lucky, this just might point the way to them. Add the Moon Mother's energy to the spell if you can."
"I'll try," Camille said. "I can bring down a silver arrow and we might be able to turn it into a compass."
I glanced at Delilah, who had caught the exchange. By now, we all knew Morio had been teaching Camille death magic, but I wondered just how deeply entangled she was becoming with the fox demon. Truth was, none of us knew all too much about him, nor did we know how far in the shadows he walked. He was on our side, Grandmother Coyote had made that clear, but I was beginning to think there was a lot more to him than he let on. Sex magic, death magic… just what kind of youkai was he?
Delilah shook her head and I let it drop. Now was neither the time nor place to enquire. We had too much to do. I turned back to Tim, who clutched the mug in his hands like a shield. He looked over at me and shuddered.
"You asked me some questions?" Haggard, he'd lost any fight he might have had. I could tell that we'd have to direct his every move to get anything useful out of him. It wasn't that he didn't want to help. He was just too exhausted to do anything on his own.
"Let's start with what you saw. Tell us every detail that you can remember." I motioned to Iris, who pulled out a notebook and pen. She had a photographic memory but I didn't want to take any chances.
Taking a deep breath, he let it out sharply. "I was changing in the back when I heard Erin scream. I pulled on my pants—I was naked—and by the time I got to the doorway leading into the main store, I could see three men. They had hold of Erin, and she was putting up a fight, but then one waved his hand in front of her face and she stopped, like she'd forgotten what was happening."