Darkness Hunts (DA 4) (21 page)

“Who else was with you in that tunnel today? Azriel obviously wasn’t.”

I hesitated, but there was little point in lying. Especially since Quinn already knew. “Jak.”

“Have you lost brain cells or something?” There was an edge of incredulity in her voice. “Why the hell are you messing around with him again?”

“Because I needed someone who knew the streets and who could mix it up with street scum without raising suspicions.” I couldn’t quite hide my irritation. I’d really had enough of people questioning my judgment today. “He’s a source, nothing more.”

She studied me for a moment; then a warm grin broke loose. “Spoken like a true daughter of mine. Your mother would be horrified.”

I smiled. “She always did blame you for my wild ways.”

“Yeah, she did.” Her grin faded. “So tell me about the hellhounds.”

I did so. Once I was out of the shower, she sealed the few wounds that were still bleeding, patched up the rest, then fetched me some clean clothes. When I was dressed, she dragged me into her arms and hugged me fiercely.

“Ris, we’re here if you ever need help. Remember that.”

I blinked back sudden tears. “I know, but—”

“But you are incredibly stubborn and want to do things your way.” She stepped back, a slight smile twisting her lips. “You really
could
have been mine, we’re so damn alike. Which is why I’m reminding you. I don’t want you making the same mistakes I did.”

“I won’t.”

Her gaze searched mine for several seconds, and her smile become stronger. “You won’t seek help, you mean.” Her voice was wry. “Not unless you absolutely have to.”

I didn’t say anything. She laughed, then caught my hand and tugged me toward the living room. “Let’s go get you fed, before you fade away into nothing.”

*  *  *

I’d made it through three meat and salad sandwiches and was feeling a hell of a lot more sociable when the phone rang. The ringtone told me it was Rhoan, and trepidation tripped through me.

I swallowed to ease a suddenly dry throat, then hit the vid-phone’s
ANSWER
button. Rhoan’s expression was grim. “He’s made contact.”

“And?”

“We have a name—Vonda Belmore.”

I frowned. “Why would he give you her name? It makes the hunt far too easy.”

“Yeah, that’s what’s got us worried.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Where are you?”

I hesitated. “At your place.”

He groaned. “Don’t tell me Riley’s listening—”

“Yes, she is,” Riley said mildly, over my shoulder. “And she’s very interested in the reason why you’re involving Risa in Directorate business.”

“Because I have no other damn choice, that’s why. Look, I’ll explain everything later. Right now, we have a murderer to hunt, and Ris
has
to be in on it.”

“Is this something I can help with? I have more experience than Ris—”

“Yeah, but that’s not going to help in this case. She made contact with the killer on the astral plane before she knew we were after him, and now he won’t deal with anyone else.”

“He’s a murderer. He should be dead, not dealing with anyone, least of all Risa.”

“The problem is, he’s a fucking ghost and we can’t find him. We have to use Risa to have any hope of tracking him down, but trust me, we’ll take good care of her.”

“I trust you, Rhoan. I just don’t trust the killers you hunt.”

She squeezed my shoulder, then walked away, leaving me feeling warm deep inside. I might have lost my real mom, but in very many ways, I still had another.

“I’ll send you the address,” Rhoan said. “Meet me there in twenty minutes.”

“Will do.”

I hung up, then grabbed the last sandwich as I stood.

“To repeat myself, be careful,” Riley said, her expression concerned.

I smiled grimly. “As Azriel has already noted, I’ve lost more than enough blood for one day. I’m not intending to lose any more.”

“I don’t think it’s your intentions she’s concerned about,” Quinn noted.

I half smiled, then walked around the table, kissed them both, and said, “I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything stupid. I promise.”

And I hoped like hell it was a promise I could actually keep.

*  *  *

The address Rhoan sent me was for a small house in Campbellfield. It was off a busy main street, on one of those long blocks that had been subdivided years ago, with a second dwelling built at the back. That was the one we were interested in.

I sat on a brick fence on the opposite side of the road. The rumble of trucks and cars going past was so damn loud that the clatter of a helicopter overhead was almost lost to it. The air was an unpleasant mix of exhaust, rubber, and the various scents coming from the fast-food shops down the road, and my nose twitched against the need to sneeze.

I glanced at my watch. We still had a couple of minutes to wait, and frustration swirled through me. It was tempting—very tempting—to just head in myself, but I’d promised Riley to be careful and that wasn’t exactly careful-type behavior. Besides, I wasn’t at the top of my game right now—in fact, a gnat could probably overpower me with very little effort. I needed sleep, and I needed more food despite everything I’d already eaten. But most of all, I needed the bad guys to be sensible and give me a break.

And seeing as I couldn’t control
them
in any way, shape, or form, I guessed the sensible had to come from me.

I sighed wearily and leaned against Azriel’s shoulder. He didn’t move, didn’t react, didn’t wrap his arm around me and pull me closer, but the skin-on-skin contact was still oddly comforting.

“Is there anyone inside?” I asked eventually.

“A woman, a man, and a child in the first house. No one alive in the second.” Amusement warmed his otherwise formal tones as he added, “And before you ask, there’s no one dead, either.”

“So if this
is
the next victim’s address, he might already have her.”

“That is more than possible.”

I glanced left as a black Ford turned into the street. Rhoan. Given the Directorate plates, it couldn’t be anyone else.

The car slid to a halt in front of us. There were two men inside, but only Rhoan climbed out. He didn’t look happy.

The trepidation that had been up until now little more than a muted background buzz suddenly sharpened. I straightened. “What’s up?”

“This whole setup. He’s deviating from his previous MO and I’m not liking the possible reason.”

“You think it’s some sort of trap?”

“It can’t be anything else,” he growled. “We’ve done a quick background check on Vonda. She turned vamp about one hundred years ago, and has been leading a relatively low-profile life ever since. She works the night shift at the Ford vehicle factory in Broadmeadows and doesn’t socialize much.”

I frowned. “What about feeding? How does she cope with that if she doesn’t socialize much?”

He shrugged. “She probably uses synth blood. They’ve gotten better at manufacturing it in recent years.”

A fact he knew because his vampire half sometimes demanded blood, even if he didn’t have the teeth to go with the hunger. “So Vonda has nothing in common with the other victims?”

“Other than that she seems the least likely target for a serial killer, no.” He spun around and studied the houses on the opposite side of the road. “She lives with her sister, who also works at Ford. We had an infrared-equipped helicopter sweep the area a few moments ago. There’s three people in the first house, but no one is at home in our target house.”

He was half vampire and had infrared vision himself, so he didn’t really need the helicopter to tell him that. Maybe he just didn’t want to get too close to the house and spook our quarry—not that he was inside from the sound of it.

“It’s not much of a trap if there’s no one inside.”

Rhoan glanced at me. “Just because we can’t detect any form of body heat doesn’t mean there’s nothing waiting.”

Like a spell of some kind. I shivered and rubbed my arms. “What did he say when he rang?”

“He gave us the name, and said for you to be in the house—alone—by two p.m. if we wish to save his next victim.”

I glanced at my watch again. “Then I’d better get moving. We’ve only got a few minutes left.”

“I know.” He studied me, expression worried. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

I touched his arm. “I’m fine. Azriel will be with me, and he can’t afford to let anything happen to me.”

Rhoan’s gaze went past me briefly. “Okay. But you’re wearing these, so I know what is going on.”

He pulled two blue stones out of his pocket, and I studied them with interest. “I’m gathering they’re not just earrings.”

“One is a camera, the other is a mic. Until this case is over, I want you to wear them.”

My gaze jumped to his. “Um, you know I love you and all, but there’s certain parts of my life I have no desire for you to see or hear.”

“And I’m sure I wouldn’t want to know about them, either.” Amusement briefly crinkled the corners of his gray eyes. “You can turn them off easily enough—you just press the left stone once. Two presses activates them again.”

“What about when I shower? Do I have to take them off?”

“No.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He pressed the two stones onto my earlobes. They had to be some form of nanotechnology, because the stones warmed the instant they touched my skin, and they clung to my earlobes without anything to actually secure them. He lightly squeezed the right stone, then stepped back. “Karl, you getting the picture?”

“Yeah,” the man inside the car said. “Sound, too.”

“Good.” His gaze came back to me. “At the first sign of trouble, I’ll be in there.”

“I’ll be fine. Really.”

He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. He wasn’t worried about my ability to protect myself; he just didn’t want to see me hurt.

I headed across the road. My gaze swept the first building, but came to a halt at the security camera.

“Azriel, you might want to become invisible.”

He did so immediately, then said,
You suspect he might have hacked into the security system?

Well, not him specifically if he’s blind, but someone working for him certainly could. It’s safer for me if they don’t know about you.

You’re considering your own safety?
His mental tones held an edge.
This has to be a first.

Sarcasm doesn’t become you, reaper.
Even if it was true.

I walked down the side of the first house. Though I couldn’t see anyone, the curtains twitched, a clear indication that someone was watching.

It is the woman,
Azriel commented. He hesitated, then added,
Her thoughts are odd.

Odd how?
I scanned the second house as it came into sight. There was another security camera perched on the side of this house and metal protection bars on the windows. Obviously Vonda and her sister didn’t trust either their neighbors or the neighborhood.

They are vacant. It is like she has nothing else to do but look out the window.

Maybe she hasn’t. Or maybe she’s been made to take something.
I doubted her behavior was a coincidence, given the reason we were here.

I rounded the corner of the first house and headed for the front door of the second. The security door was thick and heavy, just like the bars on the windows. I twisted the handle and it opened, as did the wooden front door. My stomach began to churn. This was
way
too easy.

Possibly,
Azriel said, and it took me a mental moment to remember what he was replying to.

What about the man and the child in that house? Are they okay?
I pushed the door open with my fingertips. The air inside was fresh and cool, and ran with the scent of femininity.

They sleep
. He paused.
Deeply
.

Something in the way he said that had me looking around before I remembered he wasn’t actually visible.
What do you mean?

Just that it does not appear to be a natural form of sleep
.

So they’re all drugged up?
I took a cautious step inside.

I do not know much about drugs, but as I have said, this sleep is not natural
.

And he didn’t like it, which no doubt meant there was something wrong. Something we should check out.

I stopped just inside the door, my bottom lip caught between my teeth as my gaze swept the room. The furnishings—though sparse—were of good quality. The main living area was L-shaped, with a kitchen tucked in the shorter end of the room. There was a hallway to my right, with a number of doors leading off it.

I couldn’t see anything out of place, nor could I hear anything or anyone. Which I guess wasn’t surprising; Azriel had already said there was no one here. I flexed my fingers, then headed into the hallway. A quick check revealed two bedrooms—one messier than the other—a bathroom, and a small laundry with a door leading out into an even smaller courtyard. There was nothing odd to be found, and no sense that Vonda had, in any way, feared for her life.

But then, neither had Dorothy Hendricks, and our hunter had been bleeding her to death here while burning a brand into her forehead on the astral plane.

I retreated back through the living room and went into the kitchen. It was small, neat, and filled with the latest in cookware—which was an odd thing for a vampire to have.

I crossed my arms and walked over to the front window, staring at the back of the first house. The back door was ajar and there was no security or wire door in place. Which seemed odd with a small child in the house, even if he was asleep.

Is the woman still standing where she was?
I asked.

She has not moved since we appeared on the other side of the street
.

Which was
not
normal behavior. Not for the mother of a small child. Sitting, I could understand. Even catching a nap. But simply standing there like a zombie? I’m sure looking after a young child made mothers the world over sometimes feel like the rambling dead, but this was definitely something stranger.