The Revenant flew back against the wall, denting the drywall and sliding down in a heap. He was a supernatural; he’d heal himself just like he’d healed Will’s body from the fight. I walked over, knelt down, and tapped his cheek with the barrel of the gun. His eyes popped open. “I need to find my daughter, and you’re going to help me, got it?”
He rubbed the back of his head as he straightened. “You didn’t have to shoot me. Look, I’m a decent spirit. Did everything legal-like. No need to go all ballistic on me.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Get up. You take Will’s body, then you take his responsibilities.”
“Says who?”
“Says this.” I waved the gun. “And the little part of the soul-bartering contract where it says you must complete any unfinished business of the mortal’s life before going about your own.”
“You read that part?”
I walked to the front door. “Standard operating procedure. Let’s go.”
I slid into the driver’s seat of the Mustang as the Revenant fumbled with the passenger door handle. Grief swelled my chest. I slid the gear into reverse as Will got in, just catching the flash of blue and white as a patrol car turned down the street.
“What’s your name?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror as I drove off in the opposite direction. Better to separate this being as far from the real Will as I could. As it was, it was near impossible to look at him without wanting to weep.
“Rex.”
“Rex?”
He straightened Will’s shirt. “It’s short for something you could never pronounce.”
“Right. Did you or Will hear where they were taking Emma?” I knew he still held enough of Will’s last memories to answer for both of them.
“No, they didn’t say. Pretty much just beat the piss out of him while a female came in and took out your daughter.”
Swift rage flared up again, but this time I absorbed it, biting my cheek hard, and forced it into something I could handle: cold, calculating vengeance. This bitch, whoever she was, would pay for touching my kid. “Did you know her?”
“No. She was Abaddon, though.” He snorted. “No mistaking their cold, bitchy demeanor.”
The rhythmic sound of the engine became loud in the ensuing silence. I operated the Mustang on autopilot, not really seeing the cars passing by or the traffic lights, just driving with my fingers in a death grip on the steering wheel, and my heart shriveling beneath my ribs.
Rex chuckled softly, the sound so much like Will that I could almost pretend it was him sitting beside me and not this parasitic spirit.
“What?”
“That kid of yours is as tough as nails,” he said, staring out the window. “She bit the bitch and drew blood, said her mom was going to kick her ass.”
The thought of Emma having to fight made me sick inside and more fearful than I’d ever been in my life, but that she’d stood up for herself—I was proud of her. Cursing, not so much. Tears sprung to the surface. I didn’t know whether to be proud or horrified.
“They weren’t going to hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He lifted the shirt and smelled a spot that was free of blood. “I like this cologne.”
I ignored that last comment. “How would you know?”
“Abaddon bitches are brutal. If she didn’t rip your kid’s head off for biting her, that means she was ordered not to. Simple deduction.”
A tiny kernel of hope sprouted in my heart. I nodded without looking at Rex, and we drove for several minutes in silence.
Will had sold his soul because he thought he didn’t have a chance with me. I wanted to scream. Same old Will. There might have been a chance for us in the future, but it had been too soon. He was always so impatient, always so ready to turn to otherworldly means. The betrayal and guilt nestled deep in my gut like burning sulfur.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Rex said suddenly. “You can’t bring him back.”
“Oh, Rex.” I shot him a candid look. “There are always loopholes. You more than anyone should know that.”
I’d dealt with a few spirits from the demon family tree before: Revenants, and their evil cousins, Wraiths. But I was far from an expert. The one thing I did know: nothing was permanent except death, and even that could be overcome. I was a perfect example of that.
“Yeah,” he said, sounding unconvinced. “Good luck with that.”
I shot him a cynical smile and then focused on the road.
“Where are we going?”
“You know how to use a gun?”
“No.”
I tossed him my Nitro-gun. I had a backup in the waistband of the jeans. “Well, you better figure it out because we’re going to Abaddon headquarters.”
I dialed Hank’s number repeatedly and still got no answer while Rex studied every inch of Will’s face in the visor mirror, making muttered comments here and there, but overall pleased with his new appearance. When he lifted the waistbands of Will’s khakis and boxers and took a look at the equipment, I’d had enough and swatted him hard on the arm.
“Ow!” He rubbed the spot. “You didn’t have to hit me.”
“Just shut up and sit still.”
My thumbs tapped on the steering wheel, my whole body revved and ready to blow. CPP headquarters was housed in a mid-sized glass office building in Five Points, not far from the deli where Hank had picked me up earlier.
When this was all over I was going to sleep for at least a week. In the last two days I’d been beaten, shot at, possibly seen enough naked men to last a lifetime, been beaten again, and torn two of Bryn’s outfits. And now my worst fears had come to pass. My family was in jeopardy. My insane ex-husband had sold his body and soul. And my little girl was gone.
As I drove the car into the underground parking deck below the office building, my heart rate kicked into overdrive. The guard at the gate stopped us, but flashing my badge was all it took to get us in.
Once parked, Rex and I headed to the elevator. Our steps echoed loudly in the vast concrete emptiness. The extra ammo rubbed against my ankle bone, but it only fueled my focus and rage, which I considered good things at the moment.
In the elevator, we were treated to an orchestral version of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” Yeah, I thought, it’s going to be another long-ass night, indeed.
“She’s going to be fine, you know,” Rex assured me, his shoulder brushing against mine.
“Shut up and don’t talk about her.” I stepped forward as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
Gun drawn, I marched straight down the hallway, passing large glass-fronted rooms on either side where day workers folded flyers and answered phones. Farther down, the glass ended and a few office doors lined the hallway. At the end, a light spilled underneath one of the doors. Someone was working after hours.
Who needed to use the knob when kicking the damn door felt so much better?
Releasing my frustration, and without halting my stride, I kicked out. The door flew back on its hinges and knocked a hole in the drywall behind it. My gun pointed chest level, straight ahead, I continued into the room without missing a beat.
Otorius jumped up from his leather chair, pants down and penis bouncing. The horror on his face deepened to a scarlet red as he fumbled to cover himself. A human female’s head appeared, turning to look curiously over the top of the polished desk as Otorius cursed in Charbydon and grabbed the waistband of his boxers and pants.
“Put your hands up,” I commanded. God, I was going to be evil, but I couldn’t help myself. Much like the jinn, when I saw an opportunity, I took it.
His hands stilled.
“Put your hands up … now.”
My innuendo was clear. Promising revenge in his coal-black eyes, he dropped his boxers and pants and then lifted his arms. I slid my gaze to the package dangling semi-limp and pink between his legs, and let out a disappointed sigh. “Not very impressive.” I’d always wondered about the sex of off-worlders. But his was pretty much the same as an average human male’s, except Otorius wasn’t circumcised, which made sense.
The female, an intern by the look and age of her, slowly slid her purse off the desk and held it to her chest like a shield. She wore a preppy pink button-down shirt, tight jeans, and her brown hair pulled back with a barrette. “Um, I guess I should be going now.” She edged around the desk; face pale, eyes wide, and so freaking young it made me wince.
“Sorry, sweetheart, you’re not going anywhere. Rex?”
“Yeah,” he said from just beyond my right shoulder.
“Find something to tie her with and then put her in a closet in one of the main rooms. Don’t worry,” I told her, “someone will find you in the morning.”
Her lips trembled, and she started to cry as Rex took her arm. I didn’t feel bad at all. In fact, I was helping her to figure out the important things in life, and sucking Abaddon dick wasn’t one of them. She could thank me later.
Once we were alone, Otorius spat out, “I can’t wait to watch you die, brougá.”
“Oh, enough with the brougá already. Move around the desk.”
I stepped back. Had I not been pissed beyond belief, seeing him shuffling around the desk with his pants around his ankles, his hairy white legs a stark contrast to his black slacks and shiny dress shoes, would’ve been laughable. But as it was, I was ready to kill him.
Leaning my hip on a nearby accent table, I held his fuming stare for a moment. “I’m going to be very clear on what I’m about to say.” I spoke slowly and with enough conviction that he nodded. “Tell me where my daughter is, and your penis stays intact.”
Simple and effective.
Pale dots appeared on his face, slowly replacing the red until he was covered in an ashen pallor. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Do you know what this is, Otorius?” I asked, motioning toward the gun. “It’s a Nitro-gun. It freezes things. Freezes them so badly, they can shatter into a million … little … pieces.”
Rex groaned behind me, and I glanced over to see him moving his hand protectively in front of his—Will’s—crotch. “Damn, that’s brutal. God,” he groaned again, “it hurts just thinking about it. And I thought Abaddon bitches were cruel.”
I gave him a droll look and then turned my attention back to Otorius. “Well?”
“Goddammit, Madigan, I don’t know where your fucking daughter is!” he barked, panic making his voice tremble. His hands dropped a fraction. He wanted nothing more than to cover himself, to protect himself. In an act of defiance and desperate instinct, he did it anyway.
And I fired.
Rex and Otorius screamed at the same time. The beam shot out and froze both of Otorius’s hands. He leapt around the room, screaming in pain, unable to separate one hand from the other and nearly tripping over his trapped ankles.
Adrenaline pumping through me, I moved forward and grabbed him, shoving him face-first onto the desk, his arms over his head, hands still linked, and his bald ass pointing skyward. I stood at his hip and grabbed his neck, holding him down as hard as I could and fighting myself to remain in control. “Tell me!” I shouted. “Tell me where she is right now, or I finish the job!”
“I don’t know!” He sobbed and blubbered against the desk. “I don’t know! I don’t know!”
“Charlie, I think he’s telling the truth,” Will’s voice reached beyond the firestorm in my head. No. That wasn’t Will. It was the swindling, hustler body thief. Rex.
“Shut up,” I snarled, blinking tears back because I knew he was right. Otorius didn’t know where my daughter was.
“Where’s the ash lab?” I asked instead.
“I don’t know, I swear. I only know that the Sangurne N’ashu needs heat and moisture to grow. A hothouse maybe. It takes seven years for one flower to bloom, so it’d have to be an established place. That’s all I know.” I eased my grip on his neck. “You can’t stop him, Charlie. You’re in way over your head, and he’s waited too long for this.”
“For what?” I squeezed harder and he laughed.
“He’d hurt me far worse than you ever could.”
Otorius’s hands finally unlocked, but one was so burnt with frostbite, it had turned completely black. The other hand, which had been under the first, came out in much better shape.
He’d lose the hand.
But it was no more than he deserved. I hauled him off the desk and shoved him at Rex, whose look of horror at seeing a semi-naked male bearing down upon him was actually pretty damn amusing. He caught Otorius, holding the Abaddon representative at arm’s length and shooting me an incredulous scowl. “What the hell do you want me to do with him?”
I sat on the edge of the desk, tired. “I don’t care. Tie him up and put him in the closet with what’s-her-face.”
“Her name is Darlene, and she’s from Michigan,” Rex said frankly. “What about his pants? I’m not pulling them up and he can’t do it with his hands.”
“Then leave them,” I shot back. “Just get him out of my sight.”
Rex rolled his eyes at me and then slowly led Otorius from the room. I’d just made one hell of an enemy, I thought, looking after them.
Emma. Where are you?
The fist squeezing my heart was so great, I set the gun on the desk and then sank down to the floor, hugging my knees and gasping for breath at the same moment tears flooded down my face. I couldn’t control it any longer.
I’d lost her. My little girl.
My hands delved into my hair and I squeezed hard, pulling on the roots as I rocked back and forth. Pressure and heat built in my face and chest. I screamed, a frustrated sound torn from my very soul. My body shuddered as my wail turned to racking sobs.
A body sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms. I knew it wasn’t Will, but it smelled like him and felt like him and spoke soothing words like him. I held on tight, releasing the tears into his shirt, my head tucked under his chin as his hand rubbed my back. “We lost our girl,” I sobbed against him. “We lost our baby.”
“Shhh.” He soothed my hair in long strokes. After a long moment, he said, “I’ve never met a more determined mother than you, Charlie. You’ll find a way. Don’t lose faith now.”
His softly spoken words broke through the grief.
Drawing in a deep breath, I raised my head and looked into the eyes of the man I’d loved for so long, wishing he was there. “I thought you guys were all … bad.”
Rex’s smile was awkward, but flattered. “Common misconception. Not all demon spirits are bad. The Wraiths, running around and possessing humans against their will, making their heads spin around and launch nuclear barf from twelve feet out, kind of gave us all a bad name.” I laughed. “Mostly, we just want to experience life, physical life, that’s all. The last body I was in was an old fart who’d had a heart attack in his forties. I made him the sensation of The Wolf’s Lair Dinner Theater. Starring role six seasons straight. You might have heard of me. James Eblehard.”
I shook my head.
“Yeah, well, I could have made him the greatest actor the world has ever seen, but all he wanted was dinner theater stardom.” He sighed deeply. “It was an utter waste of my talent. Anyway, he told his wife I’d take over when his time came. She asked me to stay and I did. We Revenants care, no matter what you might have heard otherwise.” And then he fixed me with a glare. “But if you tell anybody about this, I’ll have to cut out your tongue.”
I sniffed and eased back. “And if you tell anybody I lost it, I’ll cut off your—”
His hand shot up. “No need to paint a picture! I get it.”
Surprised I was able to smile and actually mean it, I stood, grabbing my gun from the desk and sliding it into the holster.
Rex and I left the second floor to the sounds of banging and muffled shouts for help. “God help the poor soul who finds Otorius,” Rex muttered.
“So where to now?” Rex asked when we got into the car.
“You’re cooperating pretty well.” I glanced over, finding it odd, despite what he’d told me in Otorius’s office.
“I told you, I’m a decent guy. I do every possession by the book. Contract says I got to tie up loose ends, then that’s what I’ll do. Besides, I haven’t had this much excitement in eons. Except” —a pointed finger shot up—“when I met Shakespeare in Bankside.” He sighed. “The Globe … now that was theater.”
I started the car and slipped it in first. “We’re going to my sister’s.”
Rex pulled down the visor mirror and inspected his face. “How do I look?” He adjusted the bloodstained shirt, frowning at the big splotches of dark red and the huge area of wetness from my tears. Talk about self-involved. I didn’t need to look in a mirror to know my face was still puffy and splotchy from crying and my hair was sticking out at all angles.
“My sister doesn’t go for your type, trust me.”
He huffed at me. “No need to crush a man’s ego.”
“You’re not a man,” I reminded him. “You’re a parasite who swindled my husband.”
“Oh, look at you now, calling him your husband. He wouldn’t have needed me if you had been open to calling him that before.”
Ouch. “Shut the hell up.”
My cell rang. It was Bryn. “Yeah,” I answered, giving an evil look to Rex.
“Charlie,” she said breathlessly. I stiffened; the panic in her voice was all too clear. “Hank is here.” Her voice choked on tears. “You need to come back.”
“Already on my way.” Hanging up, I cursed under my breath. “Fuck.” What else could go wrong? I tapped the steering wheel, thinking, as I dropped the gear in third and passed a dump truck. “Can you heal others?” I asked Rex.
“Just my host body.”
“Figures.”
Once we parked, I fished in my pocket for Bryn’s cloaking charm, intending to use it at the entrance to Mercy Street. The last thing I needed was to deal with the black mages or any other renegade waiting to ambush me.
Underground was still lit up. People milled about, watching workers set up for a block concert. I pulled Rex closer to the storefronts and rounded the corner to Mercy Street.
“Hold it right there.”
We stopped dead in our tracks, running straight into the barrel of a 9mm as a figure in a black cloak and hood stepped from behind a large potted fern.
Violet and indigo eyes glowed from the darkness inside of the hood. Sian.
Without thinking, I twisted the gun from her hand. “You fucking bitch!” A stunned expression paled her smooth gray skin as I shoved her back into the alley and slammed her against the rough brick wall with one hand braced flat against the middle of her chest and the other holding her own gun to her throat. “Maybe I should just kill you and see how Daddy likes the feeling.”
Confusion creased her brow. “What?”
“The second debt. He tried to kill my husband and my daughter is missing.” I pressed the nozzle deep into her neck. “She’s eleven years old.”
A profound weight settled on my shoulders. I couldn’t keep the tears from rising to my eyes, but I did keep them from spilling over. Music drifted into the alley. The band, tuning their instruments in spurts of funky guitar strokes and sudden drumbeats, accentuated the fact that this entire day had been an insane combination of disbelief, heartbreak, discovery, and loss on a monumental scale. I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Sian’s hand came up slowly and pulled the hood off her head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she said in a tone saturated with horror and condolence.
“Right.” I waved the gun in front of her nose. “So, what, you just decided to come topside to show me your new toy?”
She swallowed and averted her gaze. “Well, no, I didn’t know what exactly I was going to do, but … despite what my father wants, I can’t work topside. And the only way I could think was to get rid of you or make you bargain with me,” she said lamely.
“Holy shit. You’re a hybrid,” Rex said in awe as it dawned on him.
She blinked back instant tears. “You see? You see why I can’t go out in public? I can’t do it.” Her anxiety and vulnerable state emanated blackness into her purple-and-blue aura.
Her entire demeanor was so different than when I’d first seen her, and she must have seen the thought pass across my face because she said, “I try to be strong in the den, to show my father I am like a jinn … But even there they hate me. So I have to be like stone, like nothing matters.”
“Did you know your father is working with Mynogan?”
“Yes. My father struck a bargain to make the ash. They bring us the Bleeding Souls and we extract the milk and then send it to a lab where it’s made into powder. Father calls their bargain Step Two.”
“Any idea where the flowers are grown or where this lab is? Or where they’d take a child?”
“None. I’m sorry. The lab is run by Cassius Mott, though, if that helps. I don’t know where it is except that it’s in or around Atlanta somewhere.”
Three steps. Mynogan grew the flowers, Grigori extracted them, and Cass turned them street-friendly. But what the hell Mynogan needed me for was still a mystery.
“Next time you decide to go confront somebody,” I said, lifting the gun in front of her face, “you might want to turn off the safety.” I shoved her gun into the back of my jeans and turned to leave.
“But what about the job? I just told you things my father would kill me for! You’re supposed to help me now! I can’t—”
I paused and looked over my shoulder. “Yeah, well, you won’t have to worry about it much longer because Daddy will be dead or in jail.” I resumed walking. “Preferably dead.”
As I passed Rex, I grabbed his bicep to usher him out of the alley. He walked backwards three steps, lifted one hand to his ear, and mouthed the words call me to Sian.
Completely ignoring him, I scanned the open area at the head of the alley. The charm wouldn’t cover Rex, but I was hoping the black mages wouldn’t be on the lookout for Will. The undercover officer had seen Will now a few times, so he shouldn’t give him any trouble at Bryn’s door.
I had to grab Rex’s hand and drag him behind me. He was like a child and easily distracted by the sights and sounds of Underground. It made me wonder how long it had been since he’d found himself in a young body.
Bryn let us in on the first press of the buzzer.
My pulse pounded hard, but not from my run up the stairs. Hank was back, and I prayed it wasn’t as bad as it had sounded over the phone. Rex followed at a leisurely pace, trailing his hand along the wall as he progressed.
Inside, my heart nearly dropped to the floor when I saw Hank lying on the couch, and a tearstained Bryn kneeling at the coffee table, hands shaking as she lit incense and mixed a healing drink of herbs, blessing it under her breath.
I went down on my knees, afraid to touch him. His big body spilled over the cushions, one hand dangling to the floor. Dried blood matted his blond hair. Bruises covered his knuckles and face. My lion had fallen. I bit my lip hard, until the skin popped and a warm drop of blood hit my tongue.
Bryn gasped suddenly and bumped into me in her haste to scramble away, her back hitting the love seat. Over my shoulder I saw Will’s rugged form filling the doorway. Bryn’s wide brown eyes were fixed on him. Then she glanced at me, the gold and copper flecks bright with fear. She swallowed. “That’s not Will.”
“I know. That’s Rex. He stole Will’s body.”
Rex slung me an exasperated glower. “Not stole.” He stepped into the room, scanning every detail. I knew he was experiencing Will’s memories of this place, but as Rex, he was seeing it for the first time. As if on an afterthought, he turned back to Bryn, studying her just as intently as he had the surroundings. “William bargained to win back Little Miss Sunshine here. Don’t ask me why.”
“Go to hell,” I responded with the most withering glare I could muster.
Bryn’s face paled. Her hand fluttered to her neck as tears filled her eyes and fell over the rims. Her voice was barely a whisper as the cruel understanding dawned on her. “Emma.”
I didn’t have to answer. She understood. The tears trailed silently down her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell as though she had trouble breathing. She put her head in her hands and doubled over, rocking and mumbling the words, “Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God …”
Watching her fall apart was cracking my own self-control, and I couldn’t lose it, not now, not when Emma needed me the most. I went to reach for Bryn to shake her out of her shock and grief, but right before I touched her, she lifted her head, sat straighter, and sniffed. The grim copper gleam that came into her eyes startled even me. “I need to make a call.” She staggered to her feet and went into the kitchen.
Gently, I touched Hank’s shoulder. “Hank? Can you hear me?” He shrank away. Swollen eyelids slit open. He turned away from me. “Hank?”
“Leave me alone, Charlie,” he rasped out, his voice barely a whisper, but loud enough for me to hear true pain, and what sounded like blame.
“Hank. I didn’t leave you alone. Carreg was there to help. I had to get back to Em. You heard what Mynogan said.”
“Yeah, Carreg the Almighty wasn’t quick enough to stop this.” He lifted his neck. Both ends of his voice modifier had been fused together. Despair lodged in his throat. “It won’t come off.” And I knew what that meant. His greatest asset, his greatest power, was gone.
Stunned, I dropped back, my rear end landing on the carpet and my stomach folding into tight knots. The utter desolation in Hank’s eyes left me cold and despondent. And when he turned his back on me, I felt a keen sense of loss. I went to pull him over, to try and explain, but his eyes were closed and his breathing slower. He’d passed out.
Bryn came back into the room. Determination seeped from every pore. Still in shock, I stood, not knowing what to do next.
A knock sounded at the door, but the buzzer hadn’t gone off. I grabbed my gun, flicked the safety, and trained it on the door, but Bryn came up beside me, one hand on my shoulder and the other stilling my hand. “Reinforcements,” she said. “He won’t appear inside, but the landing I’ve allowed.”
With a deep, fortifying breath, she walked to the door and opened it. A tall male dressed in black leather pants and a dark green silk tunic that fell to mid-thigh stepped inside at her invitation.
A gorgeous, creative green aura swirled around him. The fact that I was now identifying auras before the actual person should have come as a surprise. But the figure in the doorway pretty much trumped that.
The reinforcement grinned at me. “Detective.”