Poison City (35 page)

A guard walks past the cell. He glances in, his eyes skipping over Lilith, not even seeing her. He looks at me sitting on the floor, frowns, then moves on.

‘What do you want?’

‘I came to offer you a deal,’ says Lilith.

‘A deal?’ I laugh. ‘You killed my wife. Why the fuck would I make a deal with you?’

‘I did not kill your wife.’

‘Of course you did. You threatened—’

‘Indeed, I threatened. But I decided my aims would be better served by staying on your good side. What happened tonight wasn’t us.’

‘Then who?’

‘Who do you think? How many people did you cross last night? And before then? You stirred up a hornet’s nest by looking into the sin-eaters. The powers that be don’t like their personal absolution service tampered with.’

I look away.

‘How did your gun come to be at the scene?’ asks Lilith.

‘It . . . it was in my locker. At the Division.’

‘Yes. The Division. Where my kind cannot enter unless invited. So that alone should tell you it wasn’t me.’ Lilith walks forward and squats down in front of me. She reaches out. I flinch away but she just strokes my cheek. ‘I want to talk to you about something. About your world.’

‘My . . . ?’

‘Your world. Dayside. I want you to honestly tell me, right here and now, that humanity is doing a good job looking after it. Looking after the people. Governments, corporations. You think these . . . things . . . have your best interests at heart?’

‘I never said they did.’

‘Look around you. Your whole world is corrupt. From the ground up. The oil that makes the world turn is corruption. Power. Nepotism. Bribery. Look at your people. They are murdering, raping, doing . . . unspeakable things, things we “monsters” find just as repellent as you do. And they get away with it. Those things you saw last night . . .’ She shakes her head angrily. ‘Those people are animals. No – less than animals. Animals do not kill for sexual thrills. Animals kill to eat. Some of us “monsters” kill to eat. Is that not more honest than what you saw last night?’

I shake my head, not liking that fact that she’s making sense. After last night, after today . . .

I look away. I agree with everything she’s saying.

‘Humanity is out of control, Tau. There are three hundred and forty births every minute and only one hundred and ninety deaths. You do the math. How long before the world becomes unsustainable? For
all
of us? In this country
alone
the population is set to double by 2050. That’s only thirty-five years away. And it’s not as if you treat those extra people well. There are one hundred and forty-four reported rapes every day.
Reported
. That’s not counting those that are too scared to go to the police.’

‘I know all this!’ I say. ‘I’m a cop. I see it every day.’

‘I’m just trying to explain why I want to do what I want to do. A clean slate, London. It’s not as if the whole world would be wiped out. There will be no flood. This time, I will be by God’s side. I will wake him up to what is wrong, wake him up to the world’s sins, and I will guide him in his judgements. This time the victims – the innocents – will be spared.’

‘What are you asking me for?’

‘I want Jengo’s soul.’

I stare at her.

‘I was there last night, you know. I saw you.’

‘What were you doing there? Were you at the party?’

Her eyes turn cold. ‘Do not insult me. I was there for Stefan. But since you killed him, Jengo’s soul is my last means of finding the Sinwalker. I can’t find any of the others. They’ve gone into hiding.’

‘I wonder why.’

She says nothing. Just stares at me.

‘What will you do? If you find the Sinwalker?’

‘Kill it. Let God have his sins back, his memories. His wrath will be great, but as I say, I will be there to guide him. And the first to feel his anger will be the angels who created this Sinwalker in the first place. The angels who let the world become what it is. The angels who lied to him.’

‘You want to destroy the world.’

‘No. I want those who deserve punishment to
face
punishment. All the killers who walk free. All the corrupt millionaires who profit from the pain of others. All the war criminals, the generals who bomb hospitals and schools, who murder innocent children. All the politicians who steal while those they are supposed to serve do not even have running water.’

She pauses to let her words sink in.

‘Your world – Dayside – operates under one supposed absolute truth. The word of law. But your law has proven to be corrupt. It can be bought. Evaded. I want to bring something else to Dayside. I want to bring justice.’

Her words ring in my ears. I stare at her, trying to deny the vague flutterings of excitement in my stomach. Her words . . . her words mirror my own thoughts. What she says is true. There
is
no justice.

‘How would you rule? What kind of governments would be set up?’

‘We would not rule. Once all the guilty are washed away, Night and Day can co-exist. Nothing will change. Elections. Democracy. All that will remain. The only difference being that my people, the Nightsiders, will not be forced to hide. Your kind has had their chance, Tau, and they broke the world. Let us fix it.’

My mind goes back to last night. To the depravity. To the innocents slaughtered. To the laughter I heard echoing around the mansion, the sense of . . . entitlement they all gave off. Like what they were doing was their right.

I see Becca’s face. They killed her. They killed her to protect their sick way of life. I clench my fists. And what of Cally? The law didn’t help her. Her killers got away with it. One doesn’t even know he’s done anything wrong. Where’s the justice there?

But . . . no. This is insane. Who am I to decide this?

Anyway, it would just be more of the same. Nothing would change. Oh, maybe for a hundred years or so. But then entropy would set in. Those in power would want more power. Because that’s the problem. It’s never enough.

‘Here’s the thing, Gideon Tau. We will win one way or the other. You must have noticed the changes in orisha behaviour. We – they – have decided that enough is enough. The war is coming. Whether it happens this week, or next year, or five years from now. It’s on its way. And unless you have an army of soldiers trained the way you and your squad are trained, you’re going to lose. At least this way, you have a way to
control
the change. To be
part
of it.’

She gets to her feet, paces to the bars and looks outside. ‘I’m going to find the Sinwalker, London. I’d like your help. It will make things simpler. But if not, I’ll just have to search for more sin-eaters. They’re around somewhere. Overseas, maybe. Might take a bit longer, but I’ll find them in the end.’

I say nothing, thinking back to all those Monday morning items in the files. About the fae moving, about the creatures up north coming out of their hiding places. We’d all noticed the orisha were acting odd.

But a war?

‘I can offer you an incentive,’ says Lilith.

I focus on her.

‘I can offer you the killer of your daughter.’

My breath catches in my throat. ‘What?’ I whisper.

‘My sin-eater. He will know who the killer is.’

‘What good does that do me? He won’t even know what he did.’

‘Once I locate the Sinwalker, I will kill my sin-eater. I’ll have no need of him anymore. The sins he took will return to those who committed them. Your daughter’s murderer will know what he has done. And you will know who he is. All I ask is for you to bring me the ramanga’s soul.’

She waits. I stare at the floor, my thoughts racing furiously. A way to get justice. A way to put her to rest. Properly.

‘You owe these people nothing, Tau. Look at you. They have framed you for the murder of your ex-wife. If you do not help me you will end up in prison for the next twenty years.’

I swallow against the bile in my throat. If I’m in prison, Cally’s killer will remain free, not even knowing what he did. And all those bastards in power will carry on with their sick games.

Fuck it. The world deserves to burn.

‘Fine,’ I say, locking eyes with her. ‘I’ll do it.’

Chapter 18

The thing about making difficult decisions is that once they’re made, it becomes a matter of justification. And once you’ve got the justification down, it becomes a matter of acceptance. Convincing yourself there really is no other choice.

Lilith gets me out of prison. She simply pushes the cell door open and we stroll out into the late afternoon. No one even looks in our direction. We’re invisible to them.

Which also means the fact that my car is impounded at the rear of the police station means nothing. Lilith leans past a cop watching repeats of
Isidingo
(one of the worst soaps on television and the dog’s favourite), grabs the keys from the security booth, and we drive straight out the parking lot without a single challenge.

‘Stop here,’ she says after we’ve put a bit of distance between us and the station. I pull over. She watches me. I stare back.

‘We still have a deal?’ she says.

‘The ramanga’s soul for my daughter’s killer.’

She nods. ‘When will you get it?’

I check my watch. It’s four in the afternoon. ‘I’ll go in after five. Won’t be as many people then. Should take me an hour or so. Say . . . seven?’

She nods, hands me a piece of paper with a number on it. ‘Call me when it’s done.’ She gets out the car. ‘Try not to let your conscience gain a voice. I know your type.’

‘Where has my conscience gotten me up till now?’ I ask. ‘You keep your end of the deal, I’ll keep mine.’

She stares hard at me, trying to see inside my head. She’s still not sure whether to trust me or not. If I could open up my soul to let her see I would. I’m tired. Let them bring the world down. What comes after the fall can’t be any worse that what we already have.

I find a coffee shop close to the Division headquarters to kill some time. I nurse a cappuccino, watching the customers come and go. I should feel something for these people. I know I should. How many will survive the changeover? How many will have a life in the new world?

I
should
feel something, but I don’t. I’m all out of emotion. I don’t have anything left. Besides, if they’re innocent, if they’re good people, they’ll be fine.

Let them be responsible for their own lives.

After five I head out, joining the rush hour traffic then turning onto the Division off-ramp. Down beneath the road and onto the dirt track on the other side, the gates approaching fast.

I steel myself, grip the wheel tight, ready for the pain, for the wards to push me out.

They don’t.

I breathe a sigh of relief as they swing open and I drive through. I was worried Ranson would have taken my clearance away. Hell, maybe no one even knows what happened.

I knock out the coded greeting on Eshu’s silo. The door appears in the concrete and I hurry down the steps.

‘Weren’t you arrested?’ he asks, glancing over his shoulder at me.

‘Misunderstanding. All cleared up.’

‘Oh.’ He turns back to his computers, utterly disinterested.

‘Who’s still around?’

‘Armitage. She’s in her office.’

Shit. I make my way along the corridor outside Eshu’s prison, considering my next move. I could hide away, wait for Armitage to leave. That would be easiest. But I owe her more than that. I want to see her. To say goodbye.

I take the elevator up and knock on her door.

‘Go away!’

‘It’s me.’

The door is yanked open and a surprised Armitage stands on the other side.

‘London?’

She grabs me into a tight hug. I stiffen, surprised. Her cheek presses against mine. Her skin is dry, cold.

She pushes me to arm’s length. ‘I’m so sorry. Are you OK? What are you doing here? I heard they arrested you.’ She pulls me into the office and closes the door. ‘’Course, I knew it was all rubbish. You kill Becca? Do me a favour. No one here believes it. No one.’

‘Thanks.’

She goes to her desk and pours me a drink. I take it gratefully, gulp down the whisky.

‘So . . . what happened? I’ve been on the phone to the Divisional Commander since I found out. Which, I’ll have you know, wasn’t that long ago. The buggers were trying to keep it under wraps.’

I shrug. ‘Not sure. Think they found another suspect. An eyewitness or something.’

All lies, but by the time Armitage finds out the truth, it won’t matter.

‘The Divisional Commander?’ I ask. ‘What about the arrest warrants?’

‘Told him it had nothing to do with me. That if the SSA carried on trying to arrest me I’d go to the press.’

‘That worked?’

‘For the moment. Not sure if he’s in on the conspiracy or not. If he is, I’ll be arrested first thing tomorrow. If he’s not, reckon the SSA will try something more sneaky.’