“By that Alterant?” Grady floated off the sidewalk.
“Yes. Get back over here,” she hissed at him.
“Oh. Didn’t realize I drifted.” His flickering form moved back as though blown gently, but there wasn’t a breeze to be had. His gaze puckered with concern. “That ain’t right to come after you every time another one shifts into a beast.”
“True, but we’re in the minority with that opinion.” What was it going to take to move this along?
“How much you know about that Birrn killed this morning?” he asked.
She flexed her jaw muscles. Patience. “Give me a break tonight, Grady. I got a lot to do and not much time.”
“You wouldn’t be so wound up if you did something other than work at night. Maybe found you a nice young man to give you a—”
“Grady!”
“—back rub.” He pulled off a look of mock despair a Catholic mother would be proud of. “Not much chance of that happening when you can’t even get a date.”
“I’m not wound up.” Yet. “And I can get a date, old man.”
“Better an old man than an old maid. Who dates a woman that lives underground like a mole and has weirdos for friends?” His lips stretched into a dog-happy grin. No sense of urgency at all—a luxury of the not-entirely-dead, which Evalle couldn’t afford.
“You have a twisted sense of humor, Grady, but I wouldn’t call you a weirdo.”
“Was talkin’ ‘bout Tazer and Quill, those two goons you hang out with.”
“His name’s Tzader. Z! The T’s silent and it’s Quinn, not Quill. He and Quinn are not weirdos or goons.” She tapped her foot. “Can we move this along?”
“And that thing you call a pet—”
“Grady!” She no longer felt guilty about her surprise for him. “Back to my demon problem. Please, for the love of Macha.”
“Which you still haven’t explained,” he interjected. “I’m surprised those two goons aren’t here helping you.” The irritating rascal didn’t take a breath. “But you don’t need them or anyone else. Some hard tail come at you, he’d end up with his ass booted into next week.”
She was glad one person, even if he was dead, had faith in her ability to defend herself.
Grady scratched at his beard. “But that’s another reason you can’t get a date. Men want a sweet woman, not some Amazon what’s gonna kick their butts.”
How did he always manage to run so far off track? “We are not discussing my love life—”
“That’s for sure. Nothin’ to discuss.” Grady’s bushy eyebrows lifted in an all-knowing way as he nodded.
“If you don’t stick to the topic, I’m going to someone else.” Evalle wiped a bead of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, prepared to dicker. “I’m out of time. You ready to shake?”
“No free nothings.”
“Like that ever changes? Here’s my deal. We’ll shake if you agree to share everything you know about the Cresyls and Birrn who were here in the Atlanta area over the past forty-eight hours,” she said, spelling out the specifics.
He acted like he considered it, but they both knew he wouldn’t walk away. “You got it.”
She pulled her thumb free from her jeans pocket and extended her hand. Due to fear that too much power shared would alter the normal state of a Nightstalker, VIPER rules forbade an agent from shaking for more than ten seconds without special dispensation. A rare exemption she’d seen allowed only once when national security had been at stake.
But with her level of power, she could give a Nightstalker human form for ten minutes with a five-second shake.
“Ready?” she asked, glancing around to make sure they were still alone. The only living thing anywhere close to this dark stretch was some poor old vagrant across the street covered in newspapers and sleeping shoved up against the hospital’s back wall.
Grady’s hand trembled when he started reaching for hers. He licked his lips, anticipation blooming in his sagging gaze until he paused and pulled back. “What’d you bring me?”
She shook her head, refusing to tell him what was in her shoulder bag. “Not until we shake.”
“Should have made that part of the deal,” he grumbled and stuck out rough fingers that had fought to survive. “Do it.”
When her hand touched his, heat spread across her palm with the energy flowing from her.
The exultation on his face always plucked at her heartstrings. His life had come down to ten-minute visits to this world. She could go to other Nightstalkers, who would agree in a snap to anything she asked, but Grady was far more intelligent than the rest when it came to information, and the grouch behaved like a grandfather who gave unsolicited advice.
Her fantasy of a grandfather, since she’d never had one she knew of.
Within seconds, Grady’s body turned completely opaque, his dark flesh hung loose with age, but the old coot’s body emitted a quiet strength.
She withdrew her hand. “Start talking.”
“What’s my surprise?”
Evalle sighed and dug into her shoulder bag for the McDonald’s sack filled with a hamburger, French fries and a bottle of water she lifted into view.
“You’re kidding, right?” The look he gave her questioned her ability to chew gum and walk.
She ignored the hiss of irritation that slipped from his lips and pointed out, “Last time you said how much you miss the taste of hamburgers.”
He rolled his eyes to the heavens as if someone up there would explain demented women to him, then swung around, searching the other side of the quiet street. Grady limped over to the homeless guy asleep.
Evalle would have zapped him with a lick of power if not for her aversion to hurting Grady in any way. Especially during his ten minutes of Nightstalker nirvana. “You forget you owe me information and that I’m on a tight schedule?”
He slipped a half-drunk bottle of wine from the bony fingers of the comatose bum and limped back. “I agreed to talk after we shook, but not how soon after.” He downed a swig of wine and jerked the bottle away. “Lord Almighty, that sucks.”
“What? Is your palate spoiled by Mad Dog 20/20?” She grabbed the bottle away from him. “I need answers.”
He sighed as he stared longingly at the bottle. “The Cresyls were on a leash, part of a spell. What were you doing with the Birrn?”
Figures that Grady would know about her fighting the Birrn. “Where’d you hear about that?”
“Those two junkyard heathens.”
She rubbed her hand over her forehead. “I’ve got to find those twins and shut them up.”
“They’ll sure as hell spill their guts if someone grabs ’em and plays hard.”
She didn’t have a nurturing bone in her body, but if someone hurt either of those two teenagers, she’d make that person beg for death.
Grady reached for the wine. “What have you got on the demons?”
She pulled it away again. “One of the Cresyls killed the human, then the Birrn ate the Cresyl. The Cresyls set me up, but I don’t know if it was to bait me into a trap or any Alterant who happened to be here.”
“You’re the only one I’ve ever heard of that ain’t caught yet.”
That was the unfortunate part. But she could hope there were more, couldn’t she? Just one more would shed doubt on the death being related to her powers. “Oh, and here’s the kicker—the Birrn had Celtic markings.”
Grady shook his head. “That don’t make sense with the Birrn bein’ Nigerian.”
“Yeah, I know. So where does a Celtic connection come in? Every way I look at this, I still come up with someone out to set me up by making the mauled human appear to be an Alterant attack.”
“Here’s what I got.” Grady finally turned serious. “The Cresyls were on a spell leash connected to the Birrn. That would mean the Birrn’s master was controlling all three demons.”
She handed him back the bottle. “I’ve never heard of that, but we could fill a library with w
hat I don’t know about demons. What about the Celtic link?”
Grady turned the bottle up, swallowing a long gulp. “The majik holding the Cresyls was Noirre.”
That sent a shiver through her. Tzader’s lead for the traitorous Belador had something to do with Noirre majik. But Tzader was too involved in something to break free or she’d have heard from him telepathically by now.
“Any idea who conjured the majik?” Evalle glanced up when Grady didn’t speak, and she caught him considering his answer. Oh, she knew that look, and it was trouble. “Don’t even think to negotiate a new deal.”
He covered his heart with the bottle in his hand. “I’m hurt that you’d question my integrity that way.”
Nightstalkers had no integrity or loyalty as a rule, willing to sell the same information over and over as soon as they could shake again. But Grady had been different, an exception to the rule, and he’d protected intel in the past.
However, that show of insult on his face right now was nothing more than an act.
He belted down another quick slug and wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his flannel shirt. “Most likely, it’s a witch conjuring Noirre, but that doesn’t rule out another being, since we ain’t got a Who’s Who directory of black majik folk around here. There ain’t been a Noirre in the south for the past fifteen years I been hangin’ loose. Only ones I ever heard of worked alone.”
Evalle smiled at how he described his years of being a Nightstalker as “hanging loose.” More than once she’d wondered if Grady was the derelict vagrant he presented to the world with his ragged speech or if his core personality was the highly educated man who peeked out from beneath the charade at times.
But that didn’t matter right now. If he was right about a lone witch being behind the Noirre majik, she jumped to the only conclusion she could.
Adrianna.
The witch who came from a long line of corrupt witches. After all, most witches were good people who harmed no one. That was their code: Do no harm. Whatever you send out into the universe will return to you threefold. That kept almost all witches in line. However, there were those who did dabble with the darkness, and Evalle couldn’t rule out the possibility of the Medb being here either.
But still she couldn’t let the thought of Adrianna go.
Those like Adrianna and her family who danced on the dark side didn’t adhere to those happy pony rules. They were the deadliest of all because they had no conscience, and all that mattered was what they wanted.
If Adrianna really was here to work in VIPER’s favor and not turn on them, her first test would be finding the witch behind the Birrn.
Would that help or hinder Evalle’s position if Adrianna found out the Birrn had been looking for an Alterant?
Then again, she couldn’t see Adrianna doing anything to benefit her.
The heavens grumbled, threatening to turn this into a full sauna evening.
“I’ve got to make the most of tonight. That all you got on the demons?” Evalle gave her watch a quick glance. Grady would start to fade soon, then he’d be hard to find for an hour or two.
VIPER didn’t want her mentioning the Ngak Stone even though Grady would know about it being lost in Atlanta two years ago. But he might have something new to share if she positioned the question creatively. “Or anything else? Any unexpected energy floating around? Maybe a female with unusual powers who’s new on the scene?”
He took another swig. “Not part of the original deal.”
She should take his bag of French fries back, but the whining would be worse than pulling a sack of trick-or-treat candy away from a four-year-old. Not a pretty sight on a ghoul his age. She tried a sly approach. “I need intel now on anything unusual and quick. Something to show VIPER I’m on the ball.”
Grady shrugged. “And I’m running out of my anytime minutes. Want to shake again?”
“You know I can’t shake for another hour.”
“Then give me an hour of prime time Wednesday night.”
She grunted a disparaging noise at the ridiculous request. Even from Grady. “Want the Brooklyn Bridge while I’m at it?”
He growled and stomped around, putting on a show to let her know she’d ticked him off. Then he stopped suddenly, concentrating on something. His eyes stared off into the black skies.
She kept silent, since that was how he looked when he listened to some invisible spirit.
His lips moved without saying a word, then he flinched at something he heard before his gaze shot to her. “That’s all I got on the demons, but Kardos has more.”
She frowned at that. “What does he know?”
“Not sure, but I heard he and his brother were outside the Iron Casket when the Birrn caught him.”
“I’d believe Kardos was stupid enough to hang out in the parking lot of Deek’s nightclub, but not Kell. What makes you think Kardos knows more?”
“Because he’s at the Iron Casket right now.”
“Inside?”
“Yep.”
She didn’t like the suspicion raised in her mind at hearing all that. Had she made a mistake with Kardos and Kellman? Had they set her up with a demon? She just couldn’t believe that but would give Kardos a chance to explain. That meant her next stop was the IC.
Someone shoot me. She absolutely did not want to deal with the owner of that nightclub tonight. Or any other night, for that matter. “Can’t that boy stay out of trouble for five minutes?”
“He don’t seem worried about making his next birthday, that’s for sure.”
Yeah, and the first thing Kardos was going to explain when she found him was how he’d gotten past Deek’s tight security that didn’t allow teens into the club. “Okay, bud. Back to—”
Grady started fading. “I don’t have nothing for sure yet, but there’s a synergy moving through the city. I might have more later if you want to trade something like … more time.”
She’d lose him for a couple hours now, because unlike the other Nightstalkers, who tried to stay in one spot so they could be found easily, he tended to reappear anywhere in a ten-block area. “You be here when I come back with information on that synergy.”
His form flickered as he took a deep drink before answering. “You know I ain’t got no control over where I go next.”
“You would if you’d just concentrate when you start fading.”
“Like I need to be stressed out over anything at this point in my life? I am dead, dammit.”
“Yeah, and if you don’t get me the info I need, you’ll be even deader.”
He laughed. “Like you’d ever do me that way.” He guzzled the last of the booze before he faded out and the bottle tumbled to the ground.
Evalle felt a tingle run down her spine. Something in the air wasn’t right, but she didn’t know what it was.
The stone has been found.
She had no idea whose voice that was. Yet it’d been crystal. She shook her head to clear it. Was that a witch messing with her?
Or a warning sent by Grady?
She didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. She had to do what she had to do. Turning around, she headed back to her bike so that she could go to the last place she wanted to.
May Macha have mercy on her, because Deek would not.
ELEVEN
Evalle rode fast to the Iron Casket in a quick downpour that knocked a couple degrees off the hideous temperature but did nothing to beat down her concern over Kardos and the possible danger he might be in.
Over and over, she saw him being bludgeoned or worse if one of the staff had discovered him in the club. There were so many hideous things that could be done by ancient beings to a young person, especially an untrained male witch.
Just thinking about it made her blood run cold.
She parked her bike in a half-filled parking lot and turned off the engine. She couldn’t believe she was about to head into Deek D’Alimonte’s territory alone. An immortal centaur who could morph into a human, Deek owned
the Iron Casket and was without a doubt one of the nastiest creatures who’d ever lived. No one knew why really. He just hated the entire universe.
I am courting death here.
There was serious bad history between the Beladors and Deek. He had no patience for any of their kind, and if he saw her inside, there would be a brawl.
Just don’t let me get arrested.
All she had to do was retrieve one pain-in-the-ass male witch before Deek saw her. Dame Fortune, don’t be on vacation tonight. ’Cause she was about to need her badly.
Evalle quickly scanned the area, looking for threats. Whoever was seeking her probably had even more demons gunning for her. Every shadow could hide an assassin or demon whose only mission was to take her unawares.
Rule Number One: Stay Vigilant.
She put on her sunglasses and checked the back pocket of her jeans for cash.
Kardos was so going to pay her back for the cover charge. Little snot. She headed for the entrance. The rain was fading. Droplets clung to her vintage BDU shirt. Not as stylish as most of Deek’s clientele. But that was all right. She wasn’t here with the same intent as the rest of the patrons, looking for a victim or a lay. She was here to beat sense into one severely testosterone-poisoned idiot.
Deek’s warehouse had multifaceted panels of slanted black and silver covering the entire outside. Panels that gleamed in the rain. In full sun, she’d bet this place flashed like a polished black diamond.
Deek had turned the inside into a showcase of black marble and glitter intended to lure a Fae to the sparkle like a werewolf to fresh meat. Then the ever surly Deek had forbidden any Fae to tread here. If any were dumb enough to do so, it invited a major ass-whipping.
Next on his kicking list—a male witch not yet twenty-one.
The real question was, how had Kardos gotten past the two bouncers who looked like Goth gargoyles standing outside the door? She hoped the teenager hadn’t used majik to gain access, because Deek would kill anyone who used majik in his place.
Anyone.
Even more frightening, she couldn’t see any way Kardos would have gotten past those two guards without majik.
As she neared the front door, the dull staccato of throbbing music vibrated through her. She smiled at the first of the two black-swathed mountains she reached. “Any chance I could go in for five minutes without paying? Just got to find somebody, then I’ll be right back out?”
Blood Trinity Page 13
