“When I lived in the Castle, I had a young friend who was an incubus. His mother taught me. Constance was kind to me because I looked out for her son.”
Talia picked up the reader and opened the cover. The book looked well used, the pages scribbled over with crayon. “What about the hellhound children? Do they go to school?”
“We’re still looking for someplace that will take them. Half-demons aren’t welcome in very many places.”
Talia put the book down, trying to distance herself as a blast of anger roared through her gut. Humans complained that the other species didn’t integrate well into society—but how could they, when access was barred to something as basic as elementary education?
Mina put a tray with tea and cups on the table.
“Why not set up a private school?” Talia said. She wondered if anyone had published educational materials suitable to other species. See Were-Spot Run. See Spot Eat Dick and Jane. It had possibilities.
Lore put his hand over Talia’s. “Can we do that?”
She noticed Mina looking at their hands, and slid hers away. “Sure. It’s not simple to get through all the paperwork, but setting up a private school can be done. I can help.”
Lore still watched her intently. Just being the focus of his attention made Talia’s mouth go dry, and that loss of control made her cautious.
“Just like that?” He sounded incredulous.
She shrugged. “You could even make funding it an election issue.”
Lore’s eyes narrowed, as if he were imagining the possibilities.
Mina didn’t look happy. The old woman’s expression insisted that Lore belonged to the hellhounds, not to a vampire waif. Talia doubted her credentials would impress the likes of the old woman and Mavritte. Forming any kind of a permanent bond with their Alpha, even a business arrangement, would probably spell trouble.
The realization turned her insides to stone, but a large part of her didn’t care. I have a master’s in education. This is about the kids.
Lore’s cell rang. He flipped it open. “Hey, Bevan.”
Mina poured tea and silently slid a cup across to Talia. She took a tiny sip to be polite. It wasn’t blood, but she could get a small amount of hot liquid down without feeling sick. Lore stood and took his call into the next room. Without him, Talia had a sudden pang of awkwardness, and she cast about for a topic.
“How many school-aged children are there?” she asked Mina.
The older female shook her head. “There was big fight to leave Castle. Many have no parents. For every house where hounds live, there live two or three young.”
Talia wasn’t sure how many that was, but it was a lot. “Orphans?”
Mina looked confused. Maybe she didn’t know the word.
“They have no mother or father,” Talia prompted.
“They have pack. They have what they need.”
They need a school.
She was spared by Lore’s return. “I’m heading over to Bevan’s place. I’ll make it quick.”
“What’s up?” Talia asked.
“Just a fire I have to put out. The Elders have decided they need their own meeting house. He has some suggestions, but I have to figure out how the pack is going to pay for renting a room in the community hall. I don’t know why Obar Ranik’s basement isn’t good enough anymore.”
Mina sorted. “Osan Ziva is jealous. She thinks the Prophets belong to everyone, not just Ranik.”
Lore sighed. “It’s the season.”
Talia was intrigued. Did every community have its petty disputes? “What season?”
“The first full moon after the solstice. Our winter holiday. Now that we are out of the Castle, we can keep the old traditions.”
“It is when Prophets give blessings,” Mina said. “We have feast.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Lore gave a rueful grimace. “Only if I find a room so the Prophets don’t play favorites. I’ll be back in half an hour. This isn’t a priority, but it’s the best way I can catch all the hound warriors at once. They’ve been looking for Belenos, but no luck. We’ve got to rethink the search.”
“Hard to smell one vampire in a city full of strangers,” Mina put in. “Not pack business.”
Lore let that pass without comment. He touched Talia’s shoulder. “You’ll be okay?”
“Sure.” Actually, she dreaded being left to make small talk, but she wasn’t going to complain.
Mina slurped her tea, the noise disapproving, as Lore left the room.
Talia put on her best face and turned back to Mina. The old woman’s stony look rekindled Talia’s dread of being thrown out into the snow. Lore’s back was turned. The incentive for Mina to make nice would drop like a stone. What do I talk about? Kids? Teaching? Her usual fallbacks were danger zones because of the school idea.
Talia gave what she hoped was a warm smile. “My grandmother always gave me her mending to do when I went to her house. She made me learn to darn socks.”
“Smart woman.” Another derisive slurp of tea.
The conversation died. Talia toyed with her mug. The bright, primary colors in the room felt like a heat lamp. She was going to start sweating any moment.
Osan Mina suddenly spoke. “Lore needs hellhound woman. There will be no pups until he takes mate. The females do not become fertile.”
Talia set down her tea before she spilled it. Too much information!
“Really?” Her voice was too high. She wondered if that was what Mavritte had meant about Lore being the pack father. “How is that possible?”
Mina’s eyes were unexpectedly compassionate. “That is our tradition. That is how it must be. He has one mate. We die, we are reborn, we find mate again. Paired always. Never outside pack.”
Despite her shock, Talia felt a puzzle piece fall into place. Half demons were immortal, and yet hellhounds aged and died. Reincarnation. That was how they could be both eternal and mortal at the same time.
Talia rubbed at the design on the side of her mug. “Lore hasn’t—uh—connected with his female yet?”
Mina shook her head. “Castle killed many who do not come back. Packs are smaller. Loved ones gone for good.”
It was true that souls could be destroyed—or at least taken out of the reincarnation circuit—by powerful magic. “She’s gone forever?”
Mina shrugged. “Who knows? It is one thing an Alpha can never prophecy.”
Talia was getting confused. Did he have someone waiting or not? “You don’t know who your once and forever mate is before you meet them?”
“Strong hounds find them. The weak die alone.” She gave Talia a hard look. “Alphas must be strong. Finding mate is test.”
Talia got the picture. If Lore didn’t take a mate, not only was the pack supposedly infertile, but he would look like a weak leader. In beast packs, weak leaders were killed.
Irritation and alarm prickled through her. So why was Lore paying so much attention to a Hunter-turnedvampire? She was the worst possible girlfriend he could have. Was she a last-minute fling before he got down to the business of being a literal father to his people? Talia folded her arms, more upset than she had any right to be.
Girlfriend? Get real. They’d slept together. It wasn’t like they had a committed relationship.
I’m prettier than Mavritte.
I’m also deader.
Thick, sour jealousy threatened to suck her down.
Lore had meant more to her than a onetime fling. She was pretty sure he felt the same way, but maybe he wasn’t thinking like an Alpha. Talia had little to lose. He risked far more by being with her. Why the hell is he doing it?
Why the hell was she letting him? People close to her got hurt: Tom, Max, Michelle. Call it bad luck or a vampire curse; she didn’t need to add Lore to the list.
A sharp rap came at the door. With that unnerving swiftness Talia had seen in Lore, Mina was out of her chair. “Who is it?”
She asked the question in English
. How does she know it’s not one of the hellhounds?
The knock repeated and then the door opened. Apparently, Mina didn’t keep it locked.
Whoever it was called from the front entry. “I’m looking for Lore.”
Talia recognized the voice, but it took her a moment to place it. By the time she searched her memory, the speaker was in the kitchen. She jumped up, putting her chair between herself and the visitor.
Chapter 25
“Detective Baines,” she said, her voice tight.
“Talia Rostova,” he returned. The detective looked tired and cold, but there was triumph in his expression. “I was looking for Lore in hopes that he could tell me where you were. This is even better.”
He’s going to try to arrest me for murder. How do I play this?
Mina gave a low growl and blocked him from moving a step farther into the kitchen. Baines pulled his police ID out of his coat pocket, holding it in plain view. “This is police business. I suggest you stand aside.”
“This is my home. No place for humans.”
The old woman’s vehemence warmed Talia’s heart, even if it was for Lore’s sake.
“Then perhaps Ms. Rostova would like to come with me onto neutral ground, like down to the station.”
“Talia is our Madhyor’s guest. I look after her. You not taking her.”
It didn’t take a genius to see that this wasn’t going to end well. She wasn’t going to accept Lore’s protection if that meant getting the pack grannies arrested. “Osan Mina,” Talia interrupted. “It’s all right.”
Mina gave the detective a look that should have flayed the skin from his flesh, but she stood to one side. “I get Lore.”
Talia gripped the back of the kitchen chair. “That would be a good idea.”
Pulling herself to her full height, Mina strode out in a swirl of skirts. When the front door slammed, Talia felt the tension in the room spike. She was alone with the cop, and he smelled warmly human. Hunger began to toy with her self-control, a cat flicking at its feathery dinner.
Baines pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat down. The gesture reminded Talia of her father carrying the chairs of his wife and then his daughter to the oblivion of the garage. The table was the battleground for who had the right to eat, much like a lion’s pride crowding in for a share of the kill.
There was no issue of permission as far as Baines was concerned. He apparently took whatever chair he liked. In his own way, he was an Alpha, too.
“Sit down,” he said, meeting Talia’s eyes for a microsecond before they slid away. Despite his confident pose, he was wary of her vampire abilities. She was too new to be expert at hypnosis, but he couldn’t know that.
Talia sat. She was stronger and faster, but she still had butterflies. Baines’s confidence was a weapon all its own. The one thing that comforted her was the conversation she’d overheard when they’d taken away Michelle’s body. Baines had been more open-minded than the others.
“It was brave of you to come into Spookytown alone,” she said.
“How do you know that I don’t have backup?” As if to even the score, he took out his firearm and placed it on the table, his hand resting on the silver-plated grips. Silver to indicate it had vamp-killer bullets.
“An educated guess. It’s too cold to leave someone standing outside, and I doubt too many humans would like to stand on the street in the dark in the middle of monster territory. Not unless they had a SWAT team handy.”
He made a good imitation of a chuckle. “You’re a smart woman.”
“It’s just logic. What do you want?”
“I thought if I could get you alone, you might talk to me.”
“Isn’t that a bit naive?”
“That depends on whether or not you answer my questions.” He leaned back in the chair, completely casual except for the weapon. “That’s all I want for now.”
“Do I get a lawyer?”
“No. The law hasn’t gone that far for nonhumans. At least, not yet. Did you kill your cousin?”
She’d seen the question coming, but hadn’t expected it so soon. “No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“There’s evidence that the timeline doesn’t work. I got home too late.”
“What evidence?”
“Perry Baker has it.” Talia suddenly realized it was an illegal surveillance tape. She could be getting Perry into trouble. The worst part was that Perry might never wake up to care.
“Baker’s in the hospital unconscious and flirting with organ failure. Where is this evidence? What is it?”
Talia shook her head. “If I tell you, you’ll send your men to find it. I know what they think of nonhumans. They’d like to shoot us on sight. Do you think I’m going to turn my safety over to their goodwill and professionalism?”
Baines gave her a long look. His heart rate was quick, but steady. Alert, but not afraid.
Talia picked up the teapot. “Thirsty?”
“No, thank you.”
She warmed up her own tea. Not that she wanted it, but she was determined to look as cool and collected as the detective.
Baines cleared his throat. “You’re looking for guarantees.”
“I’m looking for fair play.” Talia’s mind felt clear, almost detached. It was the zone she fell into when trying to make a difficult shot, or to teach a class a difficult concept. She could see everything, action and reaction, how each choice would change the pattern of what came next.
Baines watched her, not moving. “What does fair play look like to you?”
“If you agree to my terms, I’ll do my best to give you the evidence so that your department can forget about me and move on to finding the real killer. If you don’t want to play ball, leave here now, but you leave alone. If you try to take me with you, you won’t make it out alive. I don’t want to sound ruthless, but you’ve backed me into a corner.”
“Who is the real killer?”
“Belenos, King of the East.”
“Your old sire?”
“There’s good circumstantial evidence.” Perry had found surveillance tape with Belenos on it, and it had been at the university. If the tape with her arrival back at the condo was in the same place, everything she wanted was in his office at the U.
“What’s Belenos doing here?” Baines asked. “Is he nuts? This is Omara’s territory.”
“He is frigging crazy,” Talia agreed.
“What’s between you two, anyway?”
Talia looked down at her hands, picking at her chipped nail polish. Memories felt like heartburn, hot and bitter.
“About a year after I was Turned, Belenos came out here on some harebrained scheme. Omara took Belenos captive for a few months. The high-level vamps are always fighting, but he must have really ticked her off because she played with him in a bad way. When he came back he was crazier than ever. She’d broken his body, but she’d done something to his mind, too.”
Talia took a breath, trying to steady her stomach. “He slaughtered half his court the day after his return.”
She closed her eyes, replaying the scene in her head. “His house has this white stone floor. The blood soaked in. Apparently it takes some kind of super-industrial cleaner to get it out, but he won’t let anyone do it. He likes to walk on the stains where he tore their heads right off their bodies and the blood sprayed all over his feet. And over the rest of us who were still standing there, waiting to be next. Anyone who tried to run was next.”
Her body remembered the moment just as well as her brain, and nausea rose in a sweaty tide.
“What set him off?”
“It hurts him that he’s not beautiful anymore. He thought we were mocking him.”
“Were you?”
She gave a single, low bark of laughter. “No way. We were terrified. The only good part is that there weren’t enough guards left to cover all the exits from Belenos’s house of horrors. That gave me an opening to beat feet. I bolted and never
looked back.” With a suitcase full of cash.
Baines was chewing his lip. Humans never understood that monsters were people, but also monsters. They were misunderstood, just not in the way the dogooders thought.
Talia cleared her throat. “Now, do you want the evidence or not?”
He paled a degree. “I go with you. Otherwise it will be useless in court.”
“Agreed.”
“Am I safe?”
She looked pointedly at his gun. “As long as I am.”
There was every chance Baines could turn on her. He might even have a whole detachment waiting just outside the Spookytown border. She couldn’t know—but this was the best shot she had of getting justice for Michelle and freedom for herself. If she could help nail Belenos’s ass to the wall, so much the better. Humans might be useless against necromancy, but they had the weight of law and bureaucracy on their side. That had its own kind of relentless horror.
Baines nodded. “When we’re done, we’ll talk about that guy who jumped through the wall.”
Talia felt a pang, but if this was her night to set things straight, she couldn’t falter. It would break her heart, but she knew she’d have to make Max accountable for what he’d done. He was human. Baines was the human police. “I’ll tell you what I can. In a place of my choosing.”
The moment she said it, she felt like she was going to throw up.
“Are you all right?” he asked, real concern in his voice.
“Let’s just go before Lore gets back.” She cast another glance at the gun.
If things went south, she didn’t want him in the way.
This was her risk to take. He had a pack that needed him.
Chapter 26
Friday, December 31, 7:15 p.m.
101.5 FM
“And a Happy New Year’s evening to all you listeners out there in Radioland. This is Signy White, your pinch-hitting hostess for tonight on CSUP, your super supernatural station. Errata Jones is off.
“To begin tonight’s countdown to the New Year, it’s only natural to look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. There’s an election in three weeks that might bring us the very first nonhuman to sit on city council.
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