by Liz Schulte
Moss dangled from the bald cypress trees canopying the still waters. Animal sounds surrounded us, making my ears twitch as the boat’s motor hummed, catapulting us through the murky water.
“Do you have life jackets in here?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You don’t want that. It will only make the gators more interested in you.” He winked.
Give me mountains any day. I hated water.
We seemed to go on forever before a tiny, weathered cabin on stilts came into view and Dempsey started to slow down. He tied the boat to a half-rotten dock, and offered me his hand to help me out. Water surrounded the house. What did he have against dry land? I ignored his hand, taking large hopping steps off the deck and up the equally unsafe stairs.
“Where are we?” I asked at the top of the stairs, my fingernails digging into the railing.
“It was my grandfather’s,” he said. “No one will find us here unless they have a boat, and then we’ll hear them coming. Even cell phones don’t work out here.”
I nodded. That was probably true, that the location would keep away fae or probably a dozen other creatures, but I guessed they would have to know we were here to begin with. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you again after last night.” I pried my fingers from the railing and went into the house. The inside was cleaner than I would have guessed. “You come here a lot?”
He shrugged. “When I need to think.” He dropped down into one of the four wooden chairs surrounding the table made from an old door. “Let’s start with what you are.”
I sat down next to him. “I’m a Sekhmet.” He gave me the anticipated blank look. “I am a descendant of an ancient Egyptian goddess of fire, war, healing, and vengeance.”
He leaned his elbows against the table and put his head in his hands. “You’re a delusion.”
I pinched him hard enough to make him jump. “Can a delusion do that?” He didn’t laugh. Couldn’t win them all. “You can see me without my necklace on. Your eyes are open to the Abyss. New Orleans is bursting with my kind—well, not like me, but paranormals. You had to have seen more horrible creatures than just me.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t say you were horrible. Just surprising. And I haven’t seen anything, except the loup-garou. That’s all.”
It was my turn to be dubious. “Not even a vampire?”
He licked his lips. “I know there are people who think they are vampires—”
“Not those,” I said. Humans, as weird as they were, for some inexplicable reason, were absolutely fascinated with vampires. They wrote books about them, made movies and TV shows, dressed like them, and utterly romanticized them, even though most vampires saw them as little more than fast food. “Those are the groupies. I’m talking about the real ones. They probably stay in tight-knit groups. They are alluring and charming, yet creepy. Sometimes they stand really still. The best way to spot one is to watch them move.”
“How is that different?”
“Two ways. First, they are dead, so movement is unnatural. If they aren’t trying to blend, or forget to blend, they are still as a corpse. Second, when they do move, they have to be careful not to move too fast. They’re generally strong and quick, so that isn’t always easy. What that leaves you with are jerky, calculated movements. Trust me, once you know what to look for, you will spot them everywhere.”
He nodded. “What else?”
I gave him a helpless gesture. “If you have a story about it, chances are it’s real. We really don’t have time for me to tell you about an entire world.”
“Where is this world?” he asked. “How do you get here?”
“It is overlapping with your world. At least pieces of it are. For the most part, humans can’t see us, but we can see them.”
“And the curse, that’s from you guys?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I seriously doubt it. I would guess it’s a human curse. Most races in the Abyss control their magic usage. Witches, on the other hand, are very human and very free to do as they please.”
His mouth dropped open. “A witch.”
“Could be a hoodoo priestess. These are the things we need to figure out, but they aren’t a priority yet. We also need to know the origin of the original curse. And we need to know the exact terms of the curse, but still more important than any of that is to stop whoever is doing these killings. Now, I looked at your cases, and three of them look like they might belong to the person I came here to find.”
“The three that we only found pieces of,” he said.
“Exactly. Were you able to match the bite marks?”
He nodded. “The lab’s findings were inconclusive. As for the loup-garou, I have researched as much as I could. Most everything is made up, or stories to scare children. But what happened to me was real. What’s happening to these people is real.” His tired cognac eyes met mine. “I just don’t understand how I lost the trail.”
I tapped my foot. “Just because the curse was created by a human, doesn’t mean it only affects humans. My guess is that it was passed to someone from the Abyss. You couldn’t track it once it crossed the line. How far back were you able to track this curse?”
He shook his head. “Not far. It comes and goes, and then records get fuzzy. If we find the origin of the curse, can it be stopped once and for all?”
“I don’t know, but I know people who might have the answers.” I couldn’t focus on this now, though. “And when we find the killers, we’ll take care of the curse. I promise.”
He nodded.
“The crime scene today, how was that? About the same?”
He blew out a breath. “Pretty much. Most of the body was left behind, but it was ripped to shreds. The entire chest cavity was emptied.”
“Pictures?”
He pulled out his phone and set it on the table. The blood was the first thing I noticed. It was absolutely everywhere this time. Also, this was the first body found indoors. The pile of mutilated flesh left behind was barely recognizable as human. “What was taken?”
“What makes you think anything was?” he asked, eyes narrowing at the picture.
“You said most of the body was left behind. So…” I gestured for him to continue.
“The brain, heart, lungs. I’ll know more later,” he said. “The skull appears to have been smashed.”
My fingernails clicked against the table. “Were you able to identify him?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. The owners of the house were both out of town and accounted for. They said no one had a key, or should have been in their home. They are headed back as we speak.”
I stood up, stretching. “We need to know who he was.”
“You think he knew the killer?”
“Possibly. Why was this one inside? Why was that different? Were the other bodies moved? If so, where did the killings happen?”
“That’s why I called you. I thought maybe you had a lead I had missed, or you’d see something that I didn’t. What case are you working on? You said they were two different killers.”
“It’s hard to say.” I glanced back at the picture. “The murders look different, but there are also similarities in them. In my crime scenes, only pieces of bodies were found. There wasn’t a lot of blood and there wasn’t much of the bodies left. All the pieces had something man-made, whether it was a tattoo or piercing or whatever. It’s all very precise and staged.”
He shook his head. “You’re right. That’s not like this. A couple of mine were closer to that, though.” He picked his phone back up. “So you are some sort of police officer for the other kind?”
“Not really. We don’t have laws like you do. I’m a bounty hunter. I was assigned to investigate this.”
“To catch the killer.”
“I doubt they want him caught as much as dealt with.”
He paused for a moment before he nodded.
All-too-familiar black smoke filled the room. Dempsey scrambled back, but I waited. I guessed we weren’t obscured from everyo
ne. “Hey, Holden,” I said before he was fully formed.
He took a moment to glance around the room. “You disappeared…again. People have noticed,” he said, ignoring Dempsey entirely. “You are piquing their interest.”
I crossed my arms. “And you came to what? Bring me back? Or were you worried about me?” I pressed a hand to my heart. “I’m touched.”
He gave me a stony look. “They don’t know I’m here. Who’s the human?”
“Detective Garett Dempsey.” He offered Holden his hand.
Holden shook it, actually being civil for once, but the moment their hands touched, Dempsey froze.
I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes and he didn’t even blink. “What did you do to him?”
“He’s fine,” Holden said. “This is a good spot. If Sy hadn’t known where you were, I wouldn’t have found you.”
“How’d Sy know?” I said, slightly annoyed he’d frozen my human. However, it was nice to have someone I could completely trust to talk to.
He shrugged. “I assumed you told him.”
Damn faeries. “You came all this way just to tell me the council is interested in what I am doing? Didn’t we already know that? Why didn’t Sy come, or better yet, one of you call?”
“They’re watching Sy. They expect him to interfere, and he still isn’t a full member. I am and I’m harder to follow. Phones aren’t the best line of communication right now. If you need either of us, work through Olivia.” As an angel, Olivia didn’t need a phone. All I had to do was pray to her and she’d hear me, impossible to trace. “Leilah is too interested in what is happening here. Have you seen anything that would have piqued her interest?”
“Chuckles, you’re worried. You really love me.” I laughed as he curled his lips, looking like he wished he had never said anything. “Not really. Honestly, there is so much happening right at this moment that I have no idea which part she ever wants me to handle. First, we have the bodies I was supposedly sent to investigate. While there isn’t much to go on, it’s definitely not a wolf—like I said. Second, the humans apparently have a loup-garou issue that, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with our murders, and third, suddenly the vampires have their panties in a wad over Thomas and are now targeting me. I am willing to believe the loup-garou might be a coincidence in timing, but the vampires suddenly being interested in me at the exact time I was sent to their mecca is a little too much to chalk up to fate.”
Holden’s eyes narrowed and his jaw flexed.
“What do you know about Leilah’s involvement with vampires? Or is this part of the council’s test, and why are they even testing me? I don’t want to join.”
“Maybe you should have asked these questions before you signed the contract.”
I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t I supposed to be working alone? Why are you even here?”
“As far as the rest of them knows, you are working alone…mostly. They are aware of the human, but unconcerned about him. You are positive it isn’t a werewolf?”
I nodded. “I told you that from the start. There is nothing werewolf-like about this. Werewolves want a pack. They don’t want to indiscriminately kill. They indiscriminately recruit. There’s a difference. These are precise killings. Pieces are being selected to leave behind. Yes, there are bite marks, but they almost look like they’re trying to make the victims look like something else. The whole scene appears staged.”
He paced a couple steps in the small cabin. “Baker never trusted the council. I don’t know the particulars. However, I tend to agree with him. They each have their own agenda that they are willing to protect to the death. I don’t know why Leilah is interested in you or if she has any side arrangements with the vampires, but Olivia and I have theories.”
“Like?”
“They know you’re close to Sy and that you have worked with us. Not everyone was thrilled when I was recruited to the council. They don’t seem to be able to predict how I will react or where I will fall on issues.” Holden looked a little smug.
“I’m sure you do nothing to enhance that feeling, either.” This wasn’t Holden’s first time navigating the politics of our world. As a jinni he had lived most of his immortal life under the thumb of both jinn and demon rule. He obviously knew how to play these games or he wouldn’t still be alive. With Olivia in the mix, the council may have bitten off more than they could handle with those two. Then again, that was also probably why he was recruited. Better to have them with you than against you.
“If they like games, I can play them,” he said, taking a couple more impatient steps around the room. “The vampire angle is concerning, though. What exactly have they done?”
I gave him the rundown on Corbin’s kidnapping of me, then the assisted escape. “I don’t know what his angle is in this. He wants Thomas. He has always wanted Thomas.”
“And is he here?”
I nodded. “He sent something to my hotel room.” I shook my head. “I need to find him and find out what in the hell is happening.”
“Talk to Corbin again. See if you can get a straight answer out of him. I will make some inquiries as well. If you do manage to find Thomas—”
“I know, I know.” I held up my hand. He didn’t have to say it. If I found him, I should turn him in and take care of this mess once and for all.
“You aren’t going to do it, are you?”
I met his green eyes. “Would you have turned in Olivia?”
“Do you love him?” he asked, just as conversationally.
I scowled at the thought. “No.”
“Then it isn’t the same. Turn him in. He has only caused problems.”
That was truth. “They’ll kill him.”
He nodded. “You can’t say he doesn’t have it coming.”
Again the truth. Thomas knew what he was doing and the price he would have to pay for it from the start, but it never stopped him from doing exactly what he wanted to do. I just never thought I’d be the one to bring about his death. “I’ll think about it.”
Holden nodded, looking Dempsey up and down. “What about the human?” he asked. “For all we know, he’s the one who is doing this.”
“But why? What does he have to gain? If it is him, he’s not aware of it.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’d close the council’s case first and get them off my back, if it were me. As far as anyone else is concerned, I’m not helping you, because that is in direct violation of your contract.” He shot me the “I still can’t believe you signed that” look. “But if the vampires are the real reason Leilah sent you here, then whether or not you solve the case won’t matter. Either way, you are in a bad position.” He stared off at the wall as if listening to something else entirely. “You know, if you needed help that the council couldn’t regulate, a good person to contact would be—”
“The coven? I know. Sy already mentioned them.”
He shook his head. “They’re on their radar. Sy is too close to them and they have caused too much trouble to be completely ignored. Stay away from them.”
I frowned. “Who else is there?”
“Quintus,” he said. “Guardians only concern themselves with humans, and they rarely break the rules, so the council generally avoids them. I don’t know how much help he would actually be, but at least you know you can trust him, and he could keep an eye on someone for you. Like him.” He hooked his thumb at Dempsey.
Holden was a flipping genius.
“Olivia and I will always come if you need us.”
I nodded. “I know. Hug Charlie and Baker for me, and unfreeze my human. That can’t be good for him.”
Holden smiled a little, snapped his fingers, and then left the same way he came.
Dempsey blinked several times, head swiveling about. “Where’d he go?”
“Chuckles isn’t a people person.”
He turned back to me slowly. “His name is Chuckles?”
“Yes.” I patted his shoulder, barely containin
g my smile. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 11
