Damn it.
The phone started ringing.
Damn it. It was Flint. I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Ms. Caspian? Uh, Penny?”
“Yeah?” I said.
“I, uh, wanted to apologize.” He wanted to apologize?
I was stunned. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“No, you’re right about the police being ineffective against the magical creatures in this town. It’s a problem. I may not agree with the way that you chose to solve the problem, but I appreciate your position. So, I’m sorry.”
“Well, it’s really fine,” I said. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have taken the law into my own hands.” That was how he’d put it, right?
“Like I said, I understand.”
“Well, good.”
“Good,” he said.
We were quiet.
He cleared his throat. “I guess you saw the news about Dahlia?”
“I did. How awful. I was actually just about to call you.”
“Really? So, you’d still be interested in helping me with this case?”
“Of course I would,” I said. “I feel… responsible for her death, like I should have already caught this guy.”
“You sound like my captain,” he said grimly. “I’m under a good bit of pressure here. When I showed up at this precinct, they were happy enough to relegate me to the magical creatures cases, whatever they might be. Most of them are pretty low profile. But now that the dragons are involved, well, that’s not good. So, unless I can make an arrest soon, I’m going to be pulled off this.”
“No!” I said. If Lachlan was pulled off it, then I couldn’t work on it either.
“Anyway, I could really use your help.”
“I’m here,” I said. “What do you need?”
“Well, about going to see the house?”
“Brody’s house,” I said, remembering. “The gargoyle.”
“Yeah, him. You said you’d come.”
“And I will. You want me to meet you there?”
“No, I’ll pick you up.”
*
“This is all, then?” Flint asked the real estate agent. We were standing in the empty living room of the house, which was a modest little three bedroom north of the city on the border of Delaware. Out here, there were still some places that were a little bit remote, unlike down in Sea City, where all the real estate was packed on top of itself. The house sat in the woods, and there were no other houses in sight. “There’s no basement or anything?”
The real estate agent laughed. “Basement? Out here? It’d get flooded. You’re not from around here, are you?”
“He’s from Texas,” I said helpfully.
The real estate agent winked at him. “I thought I recognized that accent.”
Oh, Jesus, she was flirting with him.
Lachlan seemed to realize it too. His demeanor changed, and he suddenly transformed into the charming sweet talker he could be. He laughed too. “Well, it’s a bit of a change of pace here, I will admit.”
“What part of Texas?” she said.
“Near San Antonio,” he said. “Uh, about the buyer? He tell you why he wanted this house?”
“He didn’t, but it was pretty obvious that he and his girlfriend intended to move in.”
“Girlfriend?” said Flint. “Another gargoyle?”
“No, I think she was human,” said the agent. “But it’s hard to tell with vampires. I assume she was his girlfriend, anyway, I didn’t really ask. She came with him to look at every house we saw, and they spoke as if they’d both be living here. Of course, he did purchase it on his own. He owns the house, not the both of them together, so maybe I’m mistaken.”
“Well, it’s good to know either way,” said Flint. “Did you happen to catch this woman’s name?”
“Sure, her first name was Debby,” said the agent. “But I guess that’s not much help.” She thought about it a second. “Actually, he did say her last name once. She gave him a hug, and he said, ‘Well, Debby Adair, will this work?’ And she said yes, and kissed him.”
“Thank you very much,” said Flint, grinning.
*
Flint hung up his phone. “Got an address for a Debby Adair. Want to head over there?”
I nodded. “Sure, I’ve got nothing but time.”
“It’s strange, then, isn’t it?” said Flint. “For him to have a girlfriend?”
“Especially a human one,” I said.
“This could be the thing that he was hiding, the reason why he lied to his family about Gina,” said Flint. “If we can confirm he spends all that free time with this Debby person, that would be enough to cross him off the list, I think. It would answer all my questions about him, anyway.”
“Mine too,” I said. “That would be a good thing, eliminating someone.”
“I need to make some damned progress on this case,” Lachlan muttered.
We got in his car and started driving back to Sea City. I watched the scenery through the window. Up north here, everything seemed a little subdued and sophisticated. There weren’t any gaudy Sunsations on every block and there weren’t any twenty-story hotels on the coast. We were a bit inland, and the narrow road went past small strip malls and over bridges and past marshes. Birds soared over everything, white gulls against the blue sky. I had to admit it was peaceful up here.
Still, I thought I might prefer the bustle and excitement of the area near my little hotel.
Then I saw a sign that made me feel cold all over. “There’s one of those Brotherhood lodges.” I pointed. The Brotherhood had set up as if they were some kind of service fraternity, like the Lion’s Club or Kiwanis. But they were just an organization where bigoted humans could gather and spew hate at each other over beer. It was galling when I heard that anyone took their money, but they did manage to give to local schools and libraries, and it made me sick.
“We should go in,” said Lachlan, slowing the car.
“What?” I said. “Are you crazy?”
“Look, we think that Otis Sanders is associated with the Brotherhood, and this is the local chapter, so he’d probably be a member here. And Killian Henderson, the strip club owner, said something about the Brotherhood. We’re right here. We might as well check it out.”
“I’m a dragon,” I said. “I can’t go in there.”
“They’ll never know that.” He pulled the car into the parking lot.
I dragged my hands over my face. “Maybe I should wait in the car.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said. “Come in with me. You should hear this if you want to help out with the investigation.”
I sighed. But then I got out and followed him inside.
*
The Brotherhood were in a building that looked like it had once been a fast food restaurant. The drive-through window was still on the side of the building.
The front of the building was all made of glass, but it had been hung inside with black fabric to keep anyone from being able to see in.
Lachlan pushed open a swinging glass door, and we entered.
The room we emerged into was lit with fluorescent lights and mostly empty. It was big and open, with two long stretches of rectangular tables running up the length of it.
At the edge of one table, in the far corner, were three men.
They were all a little thick in the middle with protruding beer bellies. All of them had on leather jackets and jeans. One wore glasses. Another had thinning hair. The third was missing one of his front teeth.
When we came in, all three of them stood up.
Flint got out his batch and flashed it. “I’m Detective Lachlan Flint. This is my associate Penny Caspian. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions.”
The men all approached us.
“About what?” said Glasses.
“Just general kind of questions, I suppose,” said Flint, giving them a reassuring smile. “About the Brotherhood.”
�
��Our organization is officially called Humans for a Wholesome Tomorrow,” said Thinning Hair.
“So, you don’t want to be called the Brotherhood?” said Flint.
“We just want to be understood as an organization that cares about the future,” said Glasses. “People get the wrong idea about us.”
Lachlan nodded. “I bet they do.”
No Tooth regarded us with suspicion. “If you’re cop, then you’re probably here because you suspect we did something. Well, we didn’t do it.”
Flint raised his eyebrows. “I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot, now. I’m here solely because I’m curious about what you guys do. Believe me, I can sympathize with your position. As a police officer, with all these monsters running around this city, it makes my job tough.”
“Look, we don’t want to hurt any of those magic mutts,” said Thinning Hair. “We just want to keep things separate.”
“Right,” said Lachlan, smiling. “Pure.”
“Exactly,” said Glasses, smiling as well.
“Let me ask you, do you have a member by the name of Otis Sanders?” Flint asked.
No Tooth coughed. “You can’t judge us by just one member. We’re an accepting bunch here, but we don’t condone what he does for a living.”
“Like I said,” Thinning Hair put in, “we don’t want magical creatures to get hurt. So, him being a slayer and all, that’s not what we’re about.”
“It’s just better for them things to be with their own kind is all,” said Glasses. “Not out in public with regular folks.”
Man, this conversation was starting to make me sick. I hated the Brotherhood. They were disturbed individuals, and it bothered me that they were allowed to exist or that anyone would join their ranks. But the truth was that they were growing, especially in this area. As more and more magical creatures came to Sea City, more and more humans joined the Brotherhood.
I couldn’t understand why. Surely people were more intelligent than that. Surely they weren’t all swayed by hate.
“You’re awful quiet, sweetheart,” said No Tooth to me.
“Just taking it all in,” I said.
“So Otis is a member of this club?” said Lachlan.
“Well, what do you mean by that?”
“You do have membership, don’t you?” said Flint.
“Yeah, there’s dues and all that,” said Glasses.
“So,” said Flint. “Is Otis one or not?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said No Tooth. “Why does it matter?”
“Only that I find it strange that he would have lied to me about it is all,” said Flint. “If this place doesn’t condone killing or violence like you say, then why would he want to hide his association?”
“We don’t know why Otis does anything,” said Glasses.”
“What’s this really about?” said No Tooth.
Thinning Hair cocked his head and looked closely at my chest.
At first I thought he was checking out my cleavage or something, and I blushed and felt like cold-cocking him. But then I realized he could see my talisman, because it was sticking out of my shirt. I tried to reach up and tuck it out of view.
But Thinning Hair shot forward and snatched it before I could. “What’s this?”
“Let go of my necklace,” I said.
He tugged it over my head. “This is magic shit.”
I shut my eyes. Damn it, why hadn’t I been paying better attention? Well, these were humans, and there was no reason to get too bent out of shape over it. I opened my eyes, locking onto Thinning Hair’s gaze. I peered deeply into his eyes. My voice came out low and soothing, bolstered by magic. “You want to give that back to me. You can see it’s not magic after all.”
“Oh,” said Thinning Hair in a low, sleepy voice. “Yeah, I guess not.” He started to hand it back.
“She’s using mind magic on you, Bill,” yelled No Tooth and leaped between us.
I held up my hand, pouring magic from it, lifting No Tooth off the ground.
And then I felt a sharp pain at the back of my skull.
Someone… behind me…
Everything faded out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I struggled to open my eyes. My head still hurt. It was pounding in the place I’d been hit, pounding in time to the beat of my heart. I groaned.
I was lying face down on rough wood. I raised my face up.
And the world started to shake from side to side.
“Penny,” said Lachlan.
I sat up. We were hanging in the air in some kind of makeshift cage that looked like a big box for chickens or something. There were slats of wood around us, letting us see out, letting in the light. Near as I could tell, we were hanging from a tree.
We weren’t anywhere near the place where we’d been when I lost consciousness. They must have transported us while I was out.
“What the hell?” I said.
“I just woke up a minute ago,” he said. “There were more of them in there. They got the drop on us from behind.”
I gingerly touched the back of my head. “So, you don’t have any idea where we are?”
“None at all,” he said.
“They have us strung up like animals.”
“Yeah, they’re definitely just a nice wholesome organization who doesn’t stand for violence,” Flint muttered.
“Bastards,” I said. “We have to get out of here.” I reached out with my magic. “I can unhook us from the tree, float the cage down to the ground.”
“Okay,” said Flint. “That sounds good.”
A gunshot in the distance.
The bullet slammed into the trunk of the tree, just below us.
We both hit the floor, flattening ourselves there.
“Jesus,” I whispered.
Flint raised his head. “They’re up there. At the top of the hill.”
“Damn it,” I said. “That’s too far away. It’s out of the range of my magic.”
“Yeah?” he said. “Well, lower us anyway. They’ll have to come after us.”
I started to reach out with my magic again.
Another shot.
This one splintered the wood above my head, missing me by mere inches. I let out a high-pitched keening noise.
“You okay?” said Lachlan.
“Yeah,” I said in a tiny voice. “Let me try to get us down again.” I reached out a third time. This time I was successful. I untied the rope and lowered the box to the ground.
Another bullet burst through the wood.
Inches away again.
I shrieked. “Jesus, it doesn’t matter, does it? We can’t get out of this box anyway. They’ll just shoot us.”
“Thus far, they don’t seem to be crack shots,” said Flint.
“I wish you had magic,” I said. “With two of us, we’d double the amount of area we could cover. We’d be able to reach them.”
Flint swallowed. “Well, okay. Let me drink your blood.”
I drew back. “That would only work if you were a vampire.”
He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
“You’re a vampire?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Lachlan opened his mouth. He was sporting fangs.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this,” I said.
“I’m not exactly happy about it,” he said in a tight voice. “Can I…?” He pointed to my wrist.
I gave it to him.
Another shot burst through the cage.
I dove into Lachlan’s lap to avoid it.
He sunk his teeth into my wrist.
It hurt.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Hurry up.” I cringed as I felt the tug of his mouth against my skin, his teeth deep inside my veins. I could feel my blood rushing out of my body, pumping out of my heart, down my arm, through my wrist, and into him.
But then… it was the strangest thing.
I could feel the blood as it left my body, as it flowed into Lachlan,
and I could feel myself sort of… inside him, my magic surging into his body, filling him up.
We were connected, as if we were one being.
The sensation was startling. It was powerful. It was good. Almost exquisite. It was as if I had somehow suddenly found my place in the universe, and it was right here, with Lachlan, my blood in him, his teeth in me, the two of us together something larger and more wonderful than anything we could ever be on our own.
I was abruptly aware of everything else around me in the world with crystal clarity.
My eyes were closed, but I could sense every blade of grass, every bud on every tree, every bird in the air, every speck of dust floating in the breeze. I could feel the clouds, the sky, the sun, the coldness of the space and stars beyond us all.
I heard the sound of another gunshot, the bullet’s explosion, its movement as it ripped through the air.
But it was just an annoyance. I reached out and plucked it from its path, dropped it to the ground so that it was ineffectual and pointless. I had never thought such a thing was possible. Sure, I guessed theoretically my magic should be able to stop a speeding bullet, but the precision of that seemed—
I heard Lachlan suck in air through his nose.
I opened my eyes to find him staring at me, his mouth still working at my wrist. His gaze burrowed into me, and his eyes were clouded, half-lidded.
I felt like we were suddenly drowning in each other.
Another gunshot, but Lachlan took care of that one, knocking the bullet off course.
I reached out and touched his face. I ran my fingers over his prominent cheekbone, over his jaw, felt the slight prickle of his stubble underneath his skin.
He shut his eyes.
I let out a tiny noise, a kind of sigh.
And then…
Abruptly, it was bad. I could suddenly feel that I was losing too much blood, and there was a dark, inky spike of terror coursing through me. I was sinking. I was going to be swallowed by that darkness, unless—
“That’s enough,” I gasped. “Stop it. Let me go.”
He didn’t. He kept sucking, his eyes slammed shut.
“Lachlan.” I could hear the fear in my voice.
He disengaged, throwing himself to the other side of the cage. He put his fingers to his lips. His hands were shaking. “Fuck,” he mumbled.
Fire Song (City of Dragons) Page 15
