by Karen Lynch
“No. Oh wait. I think someone mentioned Los Angeles. Does that help?”
“More than you know.” I smiled at her. “As always, you’ve been a big help.”
“My pleasure.” She motioned for us to lean in. “Between you and me, I’m glad she killed him. I hate vampires, and that one always scared the hell out of me. Orias wouldn’t like to hear me say that about the clients.”
“About that,” I said in a low voice. “Do you know why Orias wouldn’t tell us about the girl? He didn’t care about you telling us.”
She frowned. “He’s been acting strange ever since they left. I don’t know what happened up in his office, but it’s almost like he can’t talk about it. I asked who they were, and he just shook his head and went back to his office.”
I looked at Chris, who shrugged. What could Sara and the others have said to the warlock to keep him from talking? He was a businessman above all else, but where would they have gotten the kind of money it would take to buy his silence?
I straightened and held out a hand to her. “Thank you, Paulina.”
“Anytime, Mr. Danshov. I hope you find your girl.”
“I will.”
Chris and I waited until we were a mile away from Orias’s before we said anything.
“Did you find that whole thing as strange as I did?” he asked.
“Yes.” I maneuvered around a large pothole in the dirt road. “But at least we know where the four of them are headed next.”
Chris made a sound. “I still can’t believe Sara took down Price. But if she hadn’t, we might never have known they were here.”
“That’s true.” She and I were going to have a long talk when I found her, but for now I was relieved she was okay and that I knew where to look for her next.
I glanced at the time. “It’s a good eleven hours to LA. We can be there by 9:00 a.m.”
Chris’s groan filled my headset. “Nikolas, we just drove for nine hours straight. I need food and a few hours of sleep before I hit the road again. So do you.”
“If Sara’s in LA, we need to –”
“Sara’s proven pretty resourceful so far,” he cut in. “And she has Jordan and two werewolves with her. She’ll be in better shape than you if you keep up this pace. Let’s stay in Albuquerque tonight and head out first thing in the morning. I’ll call the LA units and let them know to be on the lookout.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he said, “I won’t pretend to know how hard this is for you, but you’re acting with your heart now and not your head. You haven’t eaten since this morning, and you’ve barely slept since we left home. If you leave for LA now, you’ll spend tomorrow passed out in one of the safe houses. Not even your Mori can keep you going indefinitely.”
I ground my teeth together. Chris’s reasoning was sound, but that didn’t make me feel better about it. All I could think of was finding Sara. All my Mori wanted was for us to find our mate.
“We leave at dawn,” I told him.
“Dawn,” he agreed.
We ate and then went to the Albuquerque safe house. It was smaller than most and a bit crowded, but it wasn’t like we’d be there long. Chris bunked on a couch in the control center, and I took the couch in the living room. I made myself comfortable and closed my eyes, willing sleep to come. The sooner it did, the sooner I could wake up and get on the road again.
I was dozing off when my phone rang, jerking me awake. I reached for it where it lay on the coffee table and stared at the unfamiliar number for a moment before I answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello?” I said again when no one spoke.
There was a breath on the other end, followed by a hush.
I shot to a sitting position. “Sara? Is that you?”
There was no answer. I couldn’t sense her, but I knew it was her.
“Sara, talk to me,” I pleaded softly.
We hadn’t spoken since the morning in the medical ward, and my heart squeezed painfully from the need to hear her voice. I didn’t care if she yelled at me, as long as I could hear for myself she was okay.
“Sara?”
The line was silent, and I knew she’d hung up. I sat in the dark, hoping she’d call back, but after half an hour I lay down again. I finally fell asleep with the phone in one hand and my other hand rubbing at the hollow ache in my chest.
Chapter 29
“Nikolas, you heading out?”
I grabbed my phone from the counter and looked up as Wayne, one of the warriors stationed in Los Angeles, walked into the kitchen.
“I’m on my way to meet up with Chris and the others at Blue Nyx.”
Chris and I had stopped by the club to visit Adele the moment we got to the city two days ago, only to find out the succubus was out of town and not due back until today. Adele knew more about the Los Angeles underworld than anyone else in the city. Two young Mohiri in the company of two werewolves would not go unnoticed for long, and if anyone knew where to find them, it was Adele.
We’d spent the last two days scouring the city, visiting every club, informant, and cheap motel we could think of. LA’s supernatural community was the biggest in the country, and there were hundreds of species living here. It also had one of the largest vampire populations, which made me even more desperate to find Sara and get her away from here.
She’d called me again last night. It was a different number and she didn’t speak, but my gut told me it was her. I’d spent the short call trying to get her to talk, to no avail. I consoled myself with the knowledge she must be missing me too if she felt the need to call. I wished she would talk to me.
Wayne clipped a knife sheath to his belt. “I just heard that two girls were attacked by a vampire at a motel over near LAX. Everyone else is out, so I’m going over there. I could use some backup.”
I immediately thought of Sara and Jordan, and my stomach dropped. “I’ll go with you.”
Chris and the rest of the team were on route to Blue Nyx when I called to let him know where I was.
“You need me to come there?” he asked.
“No, go talk to Adele. She’s our best bet of finding Sara and Jordan if they’re here. I’ll meet you there.” I wasn’t going to take the chance of missing the succubus if she decided to leave town again.
The motel was a pay-by-the-hour dump with a flickering neon sign and peeling paint. A prostitute who couldn’t be more than sixteen approached me before I’d even shut off my bike, and I sent her on her way with a hundred-dollar bill and a warning. Not that I expected her to heed my advice to go home for the night.
As Wayne and I entered the lobby, a short balding man in a crumpled suit passed by us, reeking of cigarette smoke and sex. I knew before I went to the room on the third floor that Sara wasn’t here. She’d never stay in a rat hole like this.
“Prostitutes,” Wayne said as we stood in the doorway, looking at the bloody scene. “God, they can’t be more than eighteen.”
I stared at the two naked girls sprawled across the bed with their throats ripped open, their eyes wide and unseeing. I’d seen so many vampire victims in my lifetime I’d thought I was numb to it. But the sight of these two filled me with revulsion and rage. The longer I went without finding Sara, the more I feared her ending up in the hands of a monster like the one who’d done this. The thought shook me so much I had to leave the motel to calm down.
“The clerk called the police before we got here,” Wayne told me when he came outside five minutes later. “They don’t usually respond as quickly to this part of town, but they should be here soon.”
There wasn’t anything we could do for the girls, so we left. Wayne returned to the safe house to monitor activity from the control room, and I went to meet up with Chris at Blue Nyx.
After the scene at the motel, I wasn’t in the best of moods when I pulled up behind the black brick building that housed Adele’s club.
One of her security guys opened the back door for me when I rapped on it.
“Evening, Dolph.”
The seven-foot ogre gave me something that resembled a smile. “Evening, Mr. Danshov.”
The club was crowded with the usual patrons: demons, weres, Fae. Adele’s was one of the few places in the city where species that never mixed in the real world could party together. Although party was a loose term for what was going on here. It was after midnight, the time when Adele’s succubus magic was at its strongest, and when her customers cast off all inhibitions and took part in the real reason they came here.
All around me, I could hear couples and threesomes engaged in sex on the couches in the dark corners. On the dance floor, a blond faerie kissed a voluptuous nymph while one of his brethren pressed against her from behind. Soon the trio would leave the floor and find a corner of their own – or they might not. Faeries were notorious exhibitionists.
I found Chris talking to the bartender while the four warriors who’d accompanied him stood like sentries observing the room.
“How was it at the hotel?” Chris asked.
“Bad. Two dead prostitutes. We left before the police arrived.”
He grimaced. “Vampires don’t even try to hide their kills anymore.”
“I know. It’s getting bad out there.” I looked up at the window on the second floor that overlooked the club. “Have you seen Adele already?”
“Briefly.” He smirked. “I told her you were on the way, and she wanted to wait to see you instead.”
“Great,” I muttered.
I made my way to Adele’s office. A burly ogre named Bruce guarded the door, and he nodded in greeting at me.
“Miss Adele is waiting for you.”
Adele was reclining on a couch by the window, and she stood in one fluid movement when I walked in. She wore a silver dress that hugged her like a second skin, and her long blonde hair hung around her shoulders. Silver flashed in her violet eyes, and her skin was flushed from feeding off the sexual energy below.
The Mohiri had a no tolerance policy for Incubi and Succubi that fed off humans because the humans always died from such encounters. We made exceptions for demons like Adele who used her club to feed. Her patrons knew she fed from their energy, and they came here for the high. As long as she stayed clean, she was allowed to live.
“Nikolas,” she purred, gliding toward me. “It’s been far too long since you visited me.”
“Hello, Adele. I see things are well for you.”
She inhaled deeply. “Business has never been better.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I added two new rooms on this floor, and they are quite luxurious. For my more discreet customers.” She stopped in front of me and gave me a sensual smile. “Maybe this time you’ll finally accept my invitation to sample the delights of Club Nyx.”
Her hand slipped inside my jacket, grazed my abdomen, and then descended to the waist of my jeans. I caught it before it could go any lower and took a step back with a shake of my head.
Adele pouted without a trace of embarrassment and went to pour herself a glass of wine. “Next time, perhaps. What else can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for two Mohiri girls who came to LA two days ago.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Two Mohiri girls. Ah, maybe you are looking to sample some delights after all.”
I ignored her suggestive comments. “The girls are with two werewolves, so they’ll be hard to miss.”
Adele lifted a delicate eyebrow. “Mohiri and werewolves. I’ve seen a lot of things in this city, but that’s a new one.”
“I take it you haven’t heard anything then?” I said with a touch of impatience.
“No, but I’ve been out of town for the last week. I just got back tonight. I can put out some feelers and see what I come up with.”
“Thank you. That would be appreciated.”
“Always a pleasure to assist the Mohiri.”
She sat on the couch and crossed her legs so the slit in her dress showed bare skin to her hip. “I’m curious though. Since when do you track down runaway children?”
“One of them is the granddaughter of a friend.”
I wouldn’t reveal my true connection to Sara. Adele was an informant, but I didn’t trust her beyond that. I had many enemies, and if one of them learned Sara was my mate, they’d hurt her to get to me. I’d do anything to save her.
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for her then. Los Angeles is not a good place for young Mohiri on their own.”
“I know.” I smiled. “I’ll leave you to your business. You have the Mohiri contact number if you find anything.”
“Yes. I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear something.”
I started for the door, but stopped and turned back to her. “There is someone else I meant to ask you about. You haven’t heard anything about Madeline Croix being in LA, have you?”
Her glass stopped halfway to her mouth. “She’s the Mohiri who ran off years ago. You still haven’t found her?”
“No. I heard recently she might be here, and I figured I’d ask since I was coming to see you anyway.”
She licked her lips. “I don’t think I’ve heard about her. I’ll ask around, discretely of course.”
I nodded my thanks. “I hope to hear from you soon.”
“How did it go?” Chris asked when I rejoined him.
I inclined my head toward the main door, and he followed me outside.
“She hasn’t heard anything yet. She said she’ll see what she can find out.”
He let out a breath. “Well, if anyone can find them in this city, it’s Adele. It might take her a few days though.”
The meaning in his words was clear. I had to try to be patient for the next day or so. I hadn’t exactly been the best company since we left home, something he’d pointed out more than once.
“I asked her about Madeline too, but I didn’t say Sara and Madeline are related.”
Chris’s brow furrowed. “You think Madeline is in LA?”
I shrugged. “Something brought Sara here.”
A warrior named Hans walked up to us. “Anton was doing a sweep, and he found three dead vampires less than a block from here. He said we should come check it out.”
I wasn’t sure what was unusual about dead vampires, but I went anyway. We found Anton in an alley on a quiet street, bent over a body on the ground. When we got closer, I saw it was a dead mox demon. It looked like she’d been fed on by more than one vampire.
“I can’t make sense if it,” Anton said when we entered the alley. “Look around and tell me what you see.”
We did as he asked. Near the mouth of the alley lay a beheaded vampire. From the look of it, he’d been killed by a sword. Further in, I saw two more vampires. One had a crossbow bolt in his crotch, and his head looked like it had been ripped off. The other one was in half a dozen pieces at the back of the alley.
Chris stepped over a severed arm. “It looks like they were taken apart by an angry mob.”
“A mob with swords and crossbows?” I asked absently, bending to examine one of the bodies.
I stood and walked over to the mox demon. She had on a flimsy red dress; the kind people wore to a place like Blue Nyx. I’d lay odds she’d come from there before she was attacked. A place like that was bound to draw vampires looking for an easy meal. Most of Adele’s customers were in a euphoric, drugged-like state when they left the club, easy prey for a vampire. Since vampires couldn’t get past Adele’s ogre security, they’d wait for their meals to come to them.
“Demons?” Chris suggested.
“That’s my guess.” I straightened and looked around the alley. “Who else would come to the aid of a mox demon?”
“Good point.”
Anton called for backup, and we spent the next hour removing the bodies. Once we had all the parts bagged and in the van, the other warriors took them to an industrial park to incinerate in a furnace they used often.
Chris and I resumed our new nightly routine of visiting various u
nderworld clubs in the Los Angeles area. The problem with LA was its size. Without a way to track Sara, it could take weeks to find her. I was afraid we didn’t have weeks with the escalating violence here.
If Sara was here, she wasn’t hiding out in a hotel room. She was out here searching for Madeline. She’d proven she was stronger than we’d thought, but sooner or later, she was going to run into trouble she couldn’t handle.
As the night wore on, I found myself checking my phone and wondering if she was going to call again. Even though she hadn’t spoken when she’d called the last two nights, it eased my mind a little to know that wherever she was, she was thinking about me.
I’d given up on hearing from her when my phone rang just after 3:00 a.m. It was another unknown number, but I knew it was her before I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
I walked down the street, away from the were bar I’d just left.
“Sara? Will you talk to me tonight?”
I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t answer, but it didn’t stop the pang of disappointment. Before now, I hadn’t known it was possible to crave the sound of someone’s voice. Part of it was the bond that made me need my mate, but a bigger part was me. I missed her.
“Okay.” I let out a breath. “Tristan said you sounded tired when you called him today. I know you’re not sleeping. You know you can call me anytime, even if you’re not ready to talk yet.”
I looked up at the sky that would start to lighten in a few short hours. “It’s late. You should try to get some sleep. Call me again tomorrow so I know you’re all right. And Sara…I need to hear your voice, too.”
The line was so quiet I thought she’d hung up. Then, I heard a small sound like a muffled sob. “I’m okay.”
I closed my eyes, my shoulders sagging. They were just two whispered words, but they told me she cared and that she was hurting too. She might not be ready to talk things out, but she was reaching out to me.
The silence on the other end of the line told me she was gone. I turned back to the bar with renewed hope warming my chest. Tomorrow, she would call again, and I’d coax a few more words out of her.
