Hunter's Trail

Oh . . . crapnuggets. I met Corry’s eyes. As if she’d heard her mother, she looked away guiltily. Corry had told her mom about the Old World. That was understandable, but very, very bad.

Corry was technically part of the Old World, so she was allowed to know anything I wanted to tell her about how things work. Her mother, however, was purely human, and if Dashiell found out a human knew . . . he’d most likely kill her. We had to make sure Dashiell didn’t find out. I added that to my mental list of impossible things to do.

I took a deep breath and processed the question. Had vampires killed my mother? “No, it wasn’t one of them,” I answered, hoping I sounded at least a little reassuring. It was one of us, I added silently. Olivia had been a null when she’d killed my mom and dad. But Ellen Tanger didn’t need to know that.

I promised her that I would bring Corry home after we’d talked for a bit, and hung up my phone. When I looked back at Corry, her arms were still crossed over her chest. “You see what I’m dealing with?” she said petulantly.

I put the phone back in my pocket. “You told her about vampires,” I said carefully.

Her arms uncrossed as she balled her hands into fists. “I had to!” she said defensively. “She had all these questions, and—”

I held up a hand, “It’s done, Corry. I’m not going to yell at you. But do you understand that you may have put her in danger?”

Her eyes widened. “No . . . I mean, I knew I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but . . .” she swallowed hard. “Is she . . . what’s gonna happen?”

I thought that over for a moment. It was too late to press Ellen’s mind—erasing memory only works shortly after the event in question, and she’d obviously known for a while. “I gotta think about it,” I said at last. “For now just tell your mom she can’t ever talk about knowing, even in front of me. Even in front of you. You never know who’s listening.”

Subdued, Corry nodded. “And you’ve got to give her a break, kid,” I added. “She just found out that a whole world of magic exists, and everyone in it wants a piece of her little girl. She is balls-out terrified.” Corry shrugged noncommittally. Her face was creased down in something resembling a pout. I repressed a sigh. This wasn’t exactly what I needed right now.

“She said you’ve been sneaking out at night,” I ventured. The girl reached one hand up to play with a little bead necklace, not meeting my eyes again. “Any particular reason?”

A beat passed, and then Corry looked right at me, pain in her eyes. “I’m not a child,” she burst out. “Not anymore. If I want to go out, I should be able to.”

“Where do you go?” I asked mildly.

She looked surprised for a moment, her hand going still at her throat. “I just walk,” she said hesitantly. “To the movies, or a bookstore. There’s a coffee shop that’s open late; sometimes I go there. I just . . . don’t want to be alone,” she confessed. “But I don’t want to be with anyone who . . . knows.”

Well, shit. Once again, I felt woefully inadequate. I wanted to help her, but I was not a frickin’ family therapist. There were layers of anguish here, and I had no idea how to peel them back for Corry. I considered telling her to talk to her actual therapist, but that seemed dismissive. “Have you told your mom that?” I said carefully.

The girl’s face clouded over again. “She doesn’t get it,” Corry muttered. “Not like you.”

Ah. I saw where this was going. Corry had cast me as the rebellious mother-alternative folk hero. Jesse and I had rescued her once, and now she thought I could save her again. I wished it were true.

She was right about one thing, though—she and I were connected. I knew, in a simple, calm kind of way, that I would die before I let her get hurt again, and that she needed to stay far away from me. “Corry, I wish I could say that things have calmed down for me now, but that’s not how it is. My life is dangerous. And after everything you’ve been through, the last thing in the world I want is for you to get hurt.”

Corry took a deep breath, meeting my eyes, and when she spoke again her voice shook, like she was delivering a speech she’d practiced. “About that,” she began. “I know what you said, and I get it. But a lot has been going on for me, and I feel like there’s this whole other . . . there’s this part of my life . . .” She waved one wrist in a frantic circle, searching for the right words. “It’s like having your back turned to the ocean, you know? It’s just big and vast and I don’t understand any of it, and I’m way overwhelmed.” Her hands, which had been fidgeting in her lap again, suddenly stilled. “I need you, Scarlett,” she said quietly. “I know you’ve been trying to protect me by keeping me out of it, but I need to know how to protect myself. I can’t get blindsided again. I want in.”

I stared at her. Well. Goddammit.

Chapter 15

After Jesse had helped destroy Kathryn Wong’s body, he’d steered his car away from Will’s house only to pull over on Temescal Canyon Road, unsure of where he even wanted to go. He was reluctant to head home when he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep any time soon. His apartment was a tiny bunker that functioned as half sleeping place, half storage compartment; it had zero appeal for him when he was this keyed up.

He turned the engine off, staring out the windshield. The nova may have killed Kathryn Wong, but it was Jesse and Scarlett who’d erased her. She had been a full person, with her own thoughts and parents and probably a hold list at the public library. And they’d just . . . wiped her off the board. And no one would ever know.