If she wanted backup? I’d get backup. And hope Gunthra didn’t laugh out loud when she saw me.
After a quick detour through Gryphon headquarters, we were on the road again. Bridget had insisted I get my protective charm updated, and she and the two additional Gryphons who would be our backup armed themselves with salamander fire-forged blades.
Since I didn’t feel like explaining why I didn’t need the charm, I let the lab Gryphon draw a new series of protective glyphs on my back. That was as much defense as I was permitted to bring. Only the real Gryphons got real Gryphon weapons. I thought of my own salamander fire-forged knife, Misery, at my apartment, but I didn’t need it. I mean, my apartment was in Shadowtown, for the love of dragons. I felt silly enough going to an interview with a posse.
Lucen would likely laugh himself to tears if he heard about this.
For the Gryphons though, it was serious business. They had more than the average resistance to pred power, but only I had my immunity. Their protective charms would help, but for them, this was entering enemy territory. Once, I’d have thought no differently, and I tried to focus on that, although it was hard empathizing when their anxiety made me jittery.
Soon enough, the two SUVs pulled up outside of Gunthra’s Gothically weird house. On the way over, I’d explained to Bridget that I was acquainted with the Dom from my stint as the furies’ patsy, but I left out the details, and thankfully Bridget didn’t ask many questions.
It was fairly early for Shadowtown, and the street was quiet. Relegated to the back of the group, I stood with my hands in my pockets, casting glances down the road. Any minute I feared seeing a satyr I knew. Lucen would just laugh, if I was lucky, but Devon would probably try to sabotage my standing with the Gryphons for his own amusement.
Bridget knocked a second time on the heavy door. It opened a moment later, and Gunthra’s servant regarded us with comical disdain, but no surprise. Certainly he and Gunthra had realized who was outside.
“My lady has a very busy morning,” the goblin said. “You will have to set up an appointment for later.”
Bridget’s hand brushed over her knife’s sheath. “Your lady has to answer some questions. We can do it now, or she can come down to headquarters with us. I promise you, that will take far more time.”
The door shut in her face.
The Gryphon standing next to me pulled out a stick of gum. “Always the same game with this one.” He offered the pack around.
Spearmint. Ugh. I was already tasting enough of that because of their nerves, and I held up a hand to decline. “Wouldn’t you need a warrant to bring her in?”
“Not to question her, although it’s easy enough to get one if we need it. But Gunthra’s just playing games. It’s about power. She can’t let us in until we threaten her or else she loses face.”
That sounded about right. The various pred races only got along because they all hated the Gryphons. So they were always watching each other, an eye open for weaknesses. Cooperating with the Gryphons counted.
Gunthra’s door opened again, and the door goblin frowned at us even more deeply than before. With his grayish-brown skin, he looked like a woodcutter had gone a little too deep with his knives and chisels. “She will see you.”
“I expected so,” Bridget said with perfect composure.
I had to give her credit. Internally, she was as rattled as anyone there, but for a change, her subdued manner served her well. Of course, if I could sense her nerves, so could the goblins. But at least she put on a good show.
The goblin’s disdain turned to disgust as he spied me bringing up the rear, and I fought to keep from laughing.
Gunthra, however, was not so discreet in her acknowledgment of me. She was seated on the same couch as she had been yesterday, but there was no tea and treats set out on the table. Nor did the goblin servant close the door behind us after we entered the room. He left it open, and I suspected he, and any security Gunthra kept around, were waiting nearby and listening to every word.
“Miss Moore, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” Her smile was genuine enough. She was enjoying the expressions of surprise she’d elicited from Bridget and the others. “Hard at work, are you?”
“As you can see.”
Fortunately, that was the last thing Gunthra said to me during the conversation that followed. Bridget did her best to get the Dom to cough up information on the goblin who took Eric’s soul, and Gunthra played dumb.
“It’s come to my attention that this thing happened, yes.” Her large eyes shifted my way, and her lips upturned in a sly, not-quite-there smile. Test me, she was saying. Give me a reason to let them know that you were the one who told me.
So I played dumb, too, and let Bridget and the others waste all our time by asking Gunthra questions that she pretended she couldn’t answer.
Five minutes into the most fruitless interrogation ever, Lucen sent me a text. Peachy. He’d arranged for me to meet with Dezzi later. I slipped my phone away, both wishing for the end to Bridget’s questions and that they’d never end so I wouldn’t have to deal with my own interrogation.
Obviously sensing my mood, Gunthra flashed her large eyes my way. “Everything all right, Miss Moore?”
I faked a smile. “Everything’s fine. Thanks for asking.”
Jaw clenched, I waited for her to say something else and expose what she knew about me, but Gunthra was smarter than that. She had to realize if she said anything to make the Gryphons distrust me, it would make getting the files she wanted more difficult.
I gestured for Bridget to get on with it, and soon we were back on the fast track to nowhere.
“That worked real well,” the gum-chewing Gryphon muttered as we left.
Bridget unlocked the car door. Her face remained placid, but I could sense her annoyance. “I didn’t have high hopes, but Gunthra’s on alert and knows we’re taking this seriously. She’s going to want to take care of the problem so we don’t come back. We just need to keep watch on the fallout and try to intervene when we get an opening.”
“How do you keep watch?” I asked, getting in the car.
Bridget didn’t answer until we’d left Shadowtown behind. “There are preds we can put pressure on for information. They act as our eyes and ears on occasion.”
“They don’t simply cooperate, do they?” I couldn’t imagine that.
“No. We have leverage on a few. No different than how the police lean on informants.”
I waited for more information, but Bridget wasn’t forthcoming. Giving up, I changed the subject. “So now what? We wait around and see if Gunthra shakes anything loose?”
“Now, since Marshall’s lawyer was a bust for the contract, I focus on getting access to Marshall’s information other ways. From what you’ve said, it sounds like Marshall’s brother was stonewalling me while he tried to get everything tied up in court. We fight that.”
“How?”
“By making it very clear to the brother that this is a legal investigation and any attempt to block us gaining access to what we need will be considered obstruction. Once we have the legal authority to do so, I take a team and search Marshall’s house for the contract in an official capacity. At the same time, we reach out to the rest of the family, question them and Marshall’s associates. Even if Marshall never spoke a word directly about his addiction to any of them, he might have said something that we can use. He might even have mentioned the goblin by name.”
“And what do I do?”
“I was hoping you could catch up on Shadowtown gossip. Someone’s got to know who Marshall’s master was. Preds talk.”
She had a point. They must, but none had ever done so in my presence. “If the goblins know we’re searching for this person, they’re not going to talk in front of me.”
“But the satyrs and harpies might.”
Maybe. Neither of those races cared for the goblins, but whether they would have any information on which goblin had snagged the famous Eric Marshall for an addict—that was another story.
“Think you can talk to your satyr acquaintances soon?” Bridget asked.
I tapped my phone, pondering the text from Lucen and my meeting with Dezzi later. “Yeah, I can talk to them soon.”
Getting any useful information was another thing entirely.
Chapter Nine
Back at my desk, I discovered a thumb drive and a note from Tom explaining that it contained all his information on the furies. I had to give credit where it was due—that was a much faster response than I’d been expecting.
He’d also left me a book. Faded black, with creases in the corners and a disintegrating cover, it looked like it might fall apart if I opened it. Tom had stuffed a lot of similar books in his office, a few of which I’d snooped through once. When I’d accused him and his fraternity of ruining my life not too long ago, he’d tried pressing one of those books on me, so it wasn’t surprising he was doing it again. Perhaps the only surprising thing was that this wasn’t the same book as last time. He must have found a creepier one to replace it.
Maybe I’d skim it later. I wanted to stop at my apartment to get Misery and mentally prepare myself before my meeting with Dezzi. I pocketed the thumb drive, which I figured I’d read before passing its contents on to Gunthra, and stuck the book in my backpack. Then I checked both ways down the hall and dashed for the exit. Tom’s habit had been to work late, and I didn’t want to be caught trying to sneak out without our meeting.
At home, I changed into a pair of jeans and a clean shirt, then strapped Misery around my hip. Although I had no need to take the knife into a meeting with Dezzi, feeling the sheath against my thigh comforted me. I’d acquired the blade around the time I’d acquired the information about what I was. We were on this journey together. It only seemed right to have it with me when I spilled my guts.
Besides, wearing a salamander fire-forged knife made me feel a bit like a badass. Silly as that might be, I would take whatever mojo I could fake because I was so not looking forward to this conversation.
Leaving Tom’s thumb drive on my bureau, I silently and quickly rehearsed what I was going to say to Dezzi. Then I squared my shoulders and took off for The Lair and whatever it would hold for my future.
The bar was open for business, but Lucen had moved a couple tables around, effectively turning the back of the room into a semiprivate seating area. Apparently he didn’t think the conversation at hand warranted opening the bar late for true privacy, which I took to mean he didn’t consider my forthcoming confession that big a deal. I hoped he was right and that Dezzi wouldn’t treat it as such.
As for myself, I still considered it a big fucking deal, but I’d live. Lucen was right about one thing—better Dezzi hear it from me than from him.
Lucen set an empty glass in front of me. “I thought you might want something. You’re nervous.”
“With good reason.”
“Horrible reason.”
“You don’t know that.” I took the bottle of Jameson’s that he set on the bar and poured myself a heavy shot. “This is my deepest, darkest, dirtiest secret. I haven’t told anyone else.”
Lucen poured himself a shot to go along with mine. “I like the sound of deep and dirty. Anyway, little siren, other people do know it. Gryphons know it. Gunthra knows it. Don’t you think you’ll be better off with people who are on your side knowing it too?”
“Since when are the satyrs as a whole on my side?”
He downed his shot and cupped my hand in his. “Since you saved Dezzi’s backside.”
If you’ll recall, I was trying to save a bunch of humans, not the satyrs. On some level, I was certain Dezzi understood that, but supposedly she’d appreciated the way I’d handled the situation, allowing her to escape any legal issues for Lucrezia’s crimes. Alas, that had mostly been luck. Not that I was admitting it.
“What if Dezzi expects me to bend my knee to her like the rest of you do?”
Lucen laughed and stuck the bottle away. “No oaths or pledges of loyalty are required.”
“Uh-huh. What about stabbing me with a pin and making us satyr sisters?”
“You been drinking before you got here?”
“No, but I should have been.”
Lucen came out from behind the bar, trailing his fingers down my arm. His touch soothed my nerves in spite of myself. “Relax. You’re one of us, and Dezzi is the Dom for this region. She needs to know the truth, and it will most likely work in your favor. Dezzi protects her own, and she likes you.”
To be fair, I liked Dezzi too, as much as was humanly—or inhumanly—possible, all things considered. Every interaction I’d had with her suggested she was fair, and, like Lucen had said, she took care of the satyrs under her. She’d even taken in one who’d been cast out by another domus.
That said, she was a damn powerful pred, and in my experience, no one ever got to be damn powerful by being kind and generous all the time.
The Lair’s door opened as I drank the last of my whiskey. Dezzi had arrived. All the satyrs in the bar quietly deferred to her in their own ways as she walked past, and she stopped to talk to most of them. Her dark eyes, however, remained fixed on me. I pushed the empty shot glass aside, watching her right back. I wondered if she noticed my unease, and if so, what she made of it. Lucen hadn’t told her what the meeting was about.
Tall and curvy, with perfectly unblemished dark skin, wide eyes and an enviable set of eyelashes, Dezzi was nothing if not memorable. Today, just a few of her long braids wrapped around her horns. When she moved, she swayed like a queen, and when she spoke, she commanded authority, though her voice was soft.
Lucen jokingly referred to her as “mother”, although I didn’t think she was the one who’d made him a satyr. Devon was the only one who I knew owed their magical second life to Dezzi. And on cue, the bar’s door opened a second time, and in strode Dezzi’s lieutenant.
I swallowed, cursing my stupidity. Bad enough that I was about to confess my darkest secret to someone I could barely call a friend. I hadn’t counted on spilling my guts to Devon as well. In hindsight though, I should have expected it. Devon wouldn’t be an effective backup if he didn’t know everything that Dezzi did.
Together, Lucen, Devon and Lucrezia had once made up Dezzi’s inner triad—or the three top-ranking members of her council. Since Lucrezia was now in Gryphon custody, awaiting trial for murder, that left a vacancy.
“Did Dezzi choose Lucrezia’s replacement yet?” I asked Lucen as Devon also stopped to talk to a satyr on his way toward us.
Lucen set a pitcher of beer and some pistachios on the table for us. “No. So no one else will be joining us, if that’s what you’re asking.”
It was, so I nodded in reply. Adding another satyr to this conversation would be worse, especially since there were few others on Dezzi’s council whom I knew by name.
Across the room, Devon winked at me. Raising an eyebrow in return, I hopped off the stool. Glad one of us was cheerful.
He came up behind me as I contemplated which chair to grab. I was feeling defensive, so I wanted my back to the wall, but that meant I’d be hemmed in all sides by my company.
“So Jess has a secret,” Devon said close to my ear.
I’d noticed the faint clove scent of his magic a second earlier, but had been lost in my thoughts. Now I jumped, and the realization that I was sensing his power left me flustered. Damn it, that shouldn’t be happening, and it was one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t want him here.
Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I inched away from him. “Hardly a secret,” I said, thinking on what Lucen had pointed out a moment ago. “It’s just not common knowledge, and the blond one behind the bar thinks you should be let in
on the news.”
Devon smirked. “Will it answer the question of how you got past my wards at Purgatory?”
“Still hung up on that, are you?”
He pulled out a chair and sat, affecting a lazy, disinterested manner that didn’t fool me one bit. “You keep not answering the question, so yes. You know what they say, the chase is often what makes something exciting. This uncommon knowledge, everything you keep covered up and out of my reach—the more you dodge and deflect, the more intrigued I become by what you’re withholding until it’s all I can think about. All I dream about. So close I can almost taste it. It makes life hard.”
Heat spread across my chest, driven by the intense expression in his eyes. Clearly he wasn’t talking about the wards anymore.
“I might have the explanation about your wards, yes.”
His smirk morphed into an evil grin. “Well, that solves one of my hang-ups. Now when are you going to do something about the other?”
Before I could escape, Dezzi appeared at Devon’s side. Lucen followed with a glass of wine for her. I grabbed the closest chair and sat, trying not to fidget. Dezzi took the seat to my left. Although I could see the rest of the bar over Devon’s shoulders, his height and Lucen’s broadness to my right formed a warm wall around the table. I felt cut off, trapped in our own room after all.
Everyone was silent while Dezzi sipped her wine, then she gestured to me. “My number two called this meeting because he said you have important information to share.”
“Wait, you’re number two?” I stalled, glancing at Lucen.
“I was promoted since Lucrezia’s gone. This is your meeting, Jess.”
In other words, get on with it.
I took a deep breath, feeling three pairs of eyes drilling into me and three auras of magic assaulting my senses. Unlike the other two, Dezzi’s was faint, but the strength of the power she emanated suggested that I had her full attention.
“Fine. So here’s the thing. You all know I have unusual abilities for a human. The reason for that is because…” Living with the knowledge for a month made it no less difficult to get out the words. My tongue wanted to trip over them, but somehow I forced the correct sounds to form, though they did so slowly and ugly. “Because I’m not fully human, or maybe not human at all, depending on your perspective.”
[M__M 03] Misery Loves Company Page 9
