Foxy's news was like a swift fist to the gut.
Stephan remained silent after the succubus announced her knowledge of Lillian's death, uncertain how to feel. He hadn't cared to ensure she died at his hands, but after killing the last two vampires himself, and with all the work he'd put into finding this one, the outcome somehow felt … anticlimactic.
Still, he wouldn't celebrate without solid confirmation, asking, “How do you know? Did you see her die?”
“No, but,” Foxy waved a hand toward the back hall, “remember the demon who bought me out for the night? He knows the people who killed her.”
“Who is he?” Maddox inquired.
A smile slowly lifted the corners of Foxy's mouth—a strange expression considering her answer was simply, “Isaac.”
“Who's Isaac?” Stephan asked, just as Maddox's head drooped forward.
“A pain in the ass,” the vampire muttered.
“You know him?”
“Only well enough to know his name should be trouble.” Following her answer, Maddox asked Foxy, “Why is he here?”
“Honestly? I think he's having those prophetic dreams of his mate, and they're driving him crazy.”
“Prophetic dreams?” Stephan looked between them in wait of an explanation.
“Yep, it's a sign for demons that they're about to find their mate,” Foxy stated, standing from her seat. “Isaac came in, paid me twenty-five k, and told me to dump the place out completely. No women, no men, nothing. The people who had to leave were pissed. It was rather touching, actually.”
Stephan could only imagine the uproar caused by a bunch of supenats who had to abandon their revelry. He hadn't spoken to very many demons before either—or Perosians as Ardilon called them—but if this Isaac was like any he'd met in the past, he'd probably gotten a kick out of the fuss.
Foxy led them to the back hall where several doors stood on each wall that were all a different color, and on the way past some of them, Maddox mentioned, “Hopefully he's in a good mood.”
“Why wouldn't he be?” Stephan inquired.
“Those dreams I mentioned have the tendency to make demons edgy,” Foxy explained. “Makes me glad I don't have a destined mate.”
The succubus led them to a pale green door near the back and lifted a hand to knock—but no answer came.
Sighing, she merely opened it and walked inside, allowing Stephan and Maddox to follow into a room that was decorated like a retro malt shop, complete with a booth, jukebox, wet bar, and a folding bed on the far wall—all in tones matching the door's color.
It looked as if the room would normally offer an interesting environment, but now? Everything was a mess, and Foxy didn't look pleased, her gaze focused on a man Stephan assumed was Isaac laying face down on the bed with a half empty beer bottle in his hand.
Yet, when the succubus called his name, he didn't respond.
“Isaac, I know you're not asleep.”
Still no response.
“Fine, I'll just have Pete come and toss your body into a trash bin.”
Finally, the demon muttered two pronounced words.
“Fuck. Off.”
Casting a brief glance at Maddox that said see what I mean?, the succubus stepped back and waved a hand to silently add your turn.
Smirking, Maddox remarked to the demon sprawled out on the bed, “That's no way to talk to a lady. I thought you might be happier to see me after all this time.”
“Who the fuck … ,” Isaac muttered, pushing himself up to look back. The moment his fiery eyes landed on the three of them, he asked, “Maddox?”
“The one and only.”
Grumbling, the demon lifted his beer to swig, and in seeing that it'd gone flat, he dropped it carelessly to the floor, causing Foxy to grumble. But he ignored the reaction in favor of stating, “Nice to see you're not dead. I'd do cartwheels to celebrate, but I actually don't care. So just tell me what the hell you want so you'll get the fuck out sooner.”
“Fine,” Maddox returned simply. “I was looking for Lillian Deavlis, and Foxy said you know who killed her.”
Pushing himself up as she spoke, Isaac sat on the edge of the mattress, scoffing when he heard the name. “I'm so sick and fucking tired of hearing about her I could puke. Or maybe that's the beer talking.”
Despite the implication that he'd had too much to drink, Isaac grabbed another beer from a pack next to the bed and cracked it open. The sight of it must have been strange to Maddox because she mentioned, “I thought you hated beer.”
“I do, but it tastes the way I feel, so … ”
Trailing, he stood from the bed before continuing, “As for Lillian, some friends of mine killed her a couple of days ago, but if you want details, you'll have to talk to them.”
“Then tell us where they are.”
Stephan watched as the demon walked over, stopping just a few feet short of where they stood while downing several gulps of the alcoholic beverage before he cringed and muttered, “Can't do that.”
“Why not?” Stephan asked.
“If it were any of your business, human, I woulda said why already,” Isaac retorted, and his tone had an edge that said he was not in the mood to be fucked with.
Even still, Stephan held his fiery gaze, having come too far to let anyone stand in his way, even a demon. But Isaac only looked mildly amused in response, asking Maddox, “Where'd you dig this guy up?”
“Actually, he dug me up, and if it was any of your business, I would've told you already.”
Stephan was impressed by the fire in her voice while Isaac gave a curious look. “He dug you up?”
“Yes. I was sealed in a tomb for seventy years, by Lillian. So as you can imagine, I'd really like to know what happened.”
“… Shit,” Isaac muttered, lifting his beer to down the rest of the bottle. Once it was empty, he tossed it over his shoulder to shatter on the floor nearby, then mentioned, “I'll be back.”
At that, the demon disappeared in a wash of flame.
“I hate it when he does that,” Maddox muttered.
“Why? Where do you think he went?”
“Probably to get Lillian's killers.”
“Probably?” Stephan echoed, following the women out of the room.
Foxy was the one who explained, “He could also be getting someone to kill you—”
“Or something,” Maddox interjected.
“—though,” the succubus continued, “if he'd wanted you dead, he would've done it himself. So it's doubtful he'll do anything more than just fuck with you for his own amusement.”
At that, Stephan groaned under his breath, preparing for any possibility.
As they returned to the bar room where Pete was still playing his game, Foxy told him to be alert for trouble. Immediately, the ogre put his cards down and stood from his seat, sticking close to the succubus.
Following the action, everyone lapsed into silence, waiting to see what the demon might bring back—and the more time that passed, the higher the tension ratcheted.
After several minutes of such anticipation, each person present was ready for war when Isaac announced from the door leading into the hall, “Okay, they're on their way.”
Everyone turned to face him, and he looked amused by their expressions. “What's wrong? Think I was gonna grab a couple harpies or something?”
“We didn't put it past you,” Foxy muttered.
Grinning, Isaac walked over to a table and pulled one of the chairs down to take a seat, admitting, “The thought crossed my mind, but Ulric's in Atlanta with his mate, said they'd be here in a few minutes.”
“Ulric?”
“The guy you wanna talk to,” Isaac explained.
While Foxy directed Pete to go wait for their guests, Stephan grabbed another chair and took a seat of his own across from the demon.
“Good, the sooner, the better,” he mentioned in relief. It was nice to actually get somewhere without a ton of hurdles to jump—and suddenly, h
e wondered if this would actually end up being the last place he needed to go.
With Lillian dead, his work was finished, so tomorrow evening at this same time, he'd probably be at the compound, celebrating by drinking himself into a stupor. And it's been a long time coming.
Stephan's eagerness for it was more profound than he thought it'd be. But the late night stakeouts, interrogations, fights with daywalkers protective of their masters, all of it was simply tiring, and he was ready to put it behind him.
With the thought in mind, the front doors of the bar opened and Pete let a draconian inside. Stephan could only assume he was Ulric, and the moment he appeared, Maddox groaned under her breath—vampires and draconians weren't the best of friends.
So Stephan decided to keep his guard up in case this turned sour.
There was also a fae in Ulric's company, and as the duo approached the table, he couldn't help thinking looks like this is it.
One more tip of the bottle before checking out.
17
♦ ♦ ♦
The moment Ulric stepped through the doors, Maddox barely checked a groan.
“Your friend's a draconian?”
“Yeah, so?” Isaac asked. “You looking for a meal?”
“Not at all,” she muttered, watching Ulric carefully as he neared the table.
Draconians weren't the natural enemies of vampires, but there was tension between the two races stemming from an injured sense of vampiric pride in that they couldn't drink draconian blood without suffering for it. In turn, this fact gave most draconians an overbearing, condescending attitude towards them, and being in their presence quickly became grating.
Of course, Maddox didn't share the sense of pride the rest of her kind possessed. Mathias even counted several draconians amongst his closest friends, including the Head of House Dra'Kai, an older draconian named Dalris who he'd spoken fondly of—but it didn't matter. Vampires regularly antagonized draconians for their arrogance, and messing with one meant messing with the entire House.
This, combined with a draconian's tendency to hold grudges as fiercely as werewolves, meant all vampires potentially courted death just being around them.
So Maddox would have to watch her step, especially with Ulric's mate present, a short, strawberry blonde sun fae with an ethereal glow to her skin as if it were made of sunlight—and the luscious scent of her blood was incredibly tantalizing.
Yet, seeing her reminded Maddox of Lillian's ritual, and the fact that it needed the sacrifice of a mortal born sun fae to work. Perhaps she tried to kill Ulric's mate and failed. If so, it would be doubly important for her to be on guard as draconians took nothing more offensively than trying to harm their mate.
But before a single word could be spoken, Isaac asked, “Hey Charlotte, any word on Edith yet?”
The fae seemed annoyed by the question. “It's been like two days, Isaac, and she can't call me from another realm.”
Maddox had no idea what they were talking about—unless this Edith was Isaac's mate, which seemed probable considering the demon grumbled in irritation over Charlotte's response and grabbed his drink again.
During the silence that ensued, Stephan took the opportunity to ask, “So you're the ones who killed Lillian?”
“Yeah,” Ulric answered, looking between them—and his expression as he regarded Maddox was particularly cold. “Why?”
“I've been hunting her for several years now,” Stephan explained. “Didn't care if I got to kill her or not, but if she's actually dead, then I wanted to know for sure.”
“Oh? And who's she?”
Ulric sounded just as wary of Maddox as Stephan had the night before—and she was getting extremely tired of being treated like a criminal.
Yet, and surprisingly, Stephan didn't paint her in a bad light. “Lillian fucked her over, too, and she's helping me with it. So what happened?”
The draconian didn't look as if he entirely believed the story, but still offered an explanation—albeit vaguely.
“Lillian had plans, duped the Rymid for several years to pull them off. So we stopped her.”
Narrowing her gaze at Ulric, Maddox asked, “What do you mean she duped the Rymid?”
“I mean she joined a faction in the mortal world under false pretenses just to find what she was looking for. But Lillian was actually a Kalar.”
Hearing this, Maddox couldn't help her incredulous stare. No wonder Lillian was always so relieved to get away from factional politics. She claimed to disagree with them, and did, but not because she thought things should change.
She simply didn't accept Rymid practices.
And I hate her even more. Maddox had been so misguided in their association, and felt like an utter fool now. Why hadn't she been more cautious, or just listened to Mathias? But she hadn't, and he'd paid the price for her stupidity.
At the first sign of tears threatening to spill, Maddox searched for a way to get her mind off of the depressing thoughts, and focused her attention on Charlotte. Knowing what Lillian had been searching for, she suggested, “Then you're mortal born, and Lillian tried to sacrifice you, didn't she?”
Sadly, that seemed to be the wrong question.
Suddenly, Ulric lunged for her, wrapping a large fist around her throat before she could even blink. Using the tight grip, he slammed her body down onto the table where Stephan and Isaac sat.
The votary quickly stood up, and in stark contrast, Isaac merely lifted his bottle before it could be knocked over and swigged the drink as Ulric snarled, “Why the fuck do you ask, vampire?”
Maddox couldn't draw in a breath to form an answer—and didn't need to. Immediately, her body burst into mist, easily escaping the draconian's grip.
Quickly, she moved away, reforming about three feet from Stephan. Ulric snarled, keeping a close watch the entire time, and tried to intercept her the moment she was solid again.
Yet Charlotte suddenly stepped into his path and braced her hands against his chest, exclaiming, “Ulric, don't!”
Thankfully, the draconian didn't take another step, but still sent an icy glare in Maddox's direction, made more menacing by the fact that he was now in Wrath—an altered state draconians possessed where their horns were visible and their markings glowed.
On a booming voice that matched his daunting visage, he demanded, “How many of you know about that fucking ritual?”
“I don't know!” Maddox retorted, finally realizing exactly why Ulric had attacked—he didn't want anyone to know his mate was mortal born, otherwise she'd be in danger all over again.
“Then how do you know about it?”
“Because I overheard Lillian speaking of it seventy years ago, and she sealed me in the grave to keep me silent.”
Growling, Ulric countered, “Bullshit, and even if it's not, the only reason you'd help a mortal find her is to cast the damned thing yourself!”
Maddox parted her lips to offer a defense, but Stephan interrupted them, asking, “What's the fucking issue here? Why the hell does it matter if Charlotte's mortal born?”
Ulric scoffed. “I'm not surprised the bloodsucker didn't tell you.”
Sighing, Maddox pointed out, “I told him about the ritual, I just didn't explain the components needed, and I don't even know all of them.” To Stephan, she added, “But I did know the ritual required the sacrifice of a mortal born sun fae, so I assumed, since they stopped Lillian, that Charlotte was the target.”
Stephan held her gaze for a moment, then slowly looked away, asking, “Fae can be mortal born?”
Somehow, his visage had gone pale, and Maddox tilted her head in curiosity as Charlotte explained things.
“If the father is mortal, then yes, but only daughters are fae, and it's rare. Lillian was hunting for decades before she finally found me, and I only narrowly survived. But we killed her, and several other Kalar magistrates a few days ago.”
“Wait,” Maddox interjected. “Was this at Page South Cemetery?”
; The fae nodded in confirmation, and Maddox exchanged a brief look with Stephan.
Everything had just come together—Lillian Deavlis was dead, and Mathias had nothing to do with it.
As disappointed as Maddox was over the lack of any information that might lead her to Mathias, she tried not to think on it too heavily in that moment. There was plenty of time to worry about him later, and for now, she informed the couple of Antoine Giroux as a courtesy.
“You two should know that we visited that graveyard earlier, and met another Kalar magistrate named Antoine Giroux who was investigating the disappearance of his faction mates. I don't think he suspects your involvement, but there's a chance, so be on your guard.”
Hearing this, Charlotte sighed in a tired fashion, taking Ulric's hand where he laid it on her shoulder. In turn, the draconian seemed surprised by the way Maddox so freely qualified the information, but didn't comment before Stephan asked another question about the fae.
“Charlotte, these mortal born fae … are they … human? I mean when they're children.”
“I can't vouch for all of them, but I was,” she began. “I spent my life as a human, and didn't even know what a fae was until Ulric told me about them.”
Silence ensued her explanation—mostly because of Stephan's reaction. He actually looked ill, and everyone watched as he randomly whispered, “That's what she meant.”
Narrowing her gaze over the strange comment, Maddox asked, “What are you talking about, Stephan?”
As if he only just realized he wasn't alone, Stephan glanced first at her, then at everyone else, and finally shook his head.
“Nothing,” he muttered, turning to walk to the door.
As he exited the club, Foxy remarked, “Well, someone's testy.”
Maddox agreed, wondering if she should follow him to learn what was going on. Stephan wasn't likely willing to talk about it, but, with an irritating sense of concern for the mortal guiding her steps, she found herself moving to the door anyway.
Stephan was already outside of the building by the time she reached him, making his way toward the street without showing any signs of stopping.
“Stephan, wait,” she called.
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